Cadaverous -Jay Bower

5 stars

Cadaverous is full of small town nostalgia, bangin’ circle pits, and felt tailor-made for me as I could relate so much to the setting, the characters and the events (no I’m not sacrificing anything…leave my basement door alone). It’s louder than hell and absolutely metal!

There are exactly three things young people can do in the Midwest small town: conform to expectations, get in trouble, or join a band! I think Jay really captured this well with Brownsville, and Gaige, Nick, Mitch, and Landon made me think back to all the bands that popped up around here when I was in high school.

I honestly really feel for Gaige. He did a lot of horrible things, but he’s just a kid stuck in a small town and desperate to get out by any means necessary to make a name for himself and his band. And by the time he realized how much he’d lost along the way, it was far too late, and he was beholden to a force more sadistic and deadly than he ever could’ve imagined. I definitely feel the worst for Nick and Landon; those poor guys just wanted to play some cool music with their friends. They weren’t involved in any sinister unsanctioned forces, and yet they arguably suffered the most and didn’t even know why.

Cadaverous was such a fun read with its ties to the eclipse earlier in the year, too. It really brought the story full circle and gave it more depth as it was a setting I could relate to (even though my eclipse experience didn’t end with the complete destruction of all the non-believers…bummer). I can’t wait to revisit Brownsville again in the future and see what other horrifying secrets this little Illinois town holds!

Robert Frost says, “Some say the world will end in fire / Some say ice.”  I say neither….we’re ending in heavy metal, baby!