Bad Man (Blumhouse Books)

I'm not going to write a long detailed review about this book as I neither read that much or know much about literature. With that said.I quite enjoyed this book due to the atmosphere the author managed to build. With a pretty unique story I always wanted to get back to and read more. Like Dathan Auerbachs previous book Penpal it keeps a pretty slow pace with very detailed descriptions of everything. I've read some reviews and noticed that some readers did not finish the book due to its slow pace which I can understand. It took over a hundred pages before something happened. I wasn't bothered by it but if you're looking for an action filled book or have a shorter attention span this might not be for you.As for the print it is a high quality product. I really enjoyed the design of the book overall as it was pretty different.Overall I give the book 3.5/5!I recommend it if you're not looking for an action packed or eventful book but more of an suspenseful thriller.

The main fault with this book is that it is just too long.Any tension or interest that starts to build is slowly extinguished by the excess.There were some interesting characters here but they didn't really go anywhere which was frustrating and annoying.I hoped that the novel might be resurrected by a good ending but sadly that wasn't to be either.I see Dathan has written a previous book but after reading this I would not be tempted to buy it.

3.5 of 5 starsI completed Bad Man a week or two ago but didn’t want to review it straight away as I wanted to think on it some more, particularly the ending, and give myself some room for thought. I’m glad that I took the time for reflection because to be honest I didn’t enjoy the ending at the time and I think it left me a bit unsure about how I felt overall. Having taken some time I can say that this story gets certain elements spot on but I do have a few niggles.The TL:DR version is that I think this could have been shortened to keep it a bit more punchy, and, I don’t think I’d call it horror – yes, I understand that a little boy going missing is horrible, horrific, your worst nightmare even – but, for me, putting a horror label on this story felt a little bit off, or, not off, but it had me expecting the story to go in a different direction than the one it went in. What I would say is this is a tense and suspenseful thriller about a horrible crime.At times the emotions are so rife that you could cut a slice straight out of the atmosphere and serve it up on a plate. Basically, the key event upon which the whole story hinges is any parents’ worst nightmare – but, to be clear this isn’t horror in terms of blood curdling gore, creepy things that lie in wait under your bed wearing a ski mask and ending in a gruesome slasher type of murder spree. There are no supernatural monsters here nor ghosts or ghouls. I think maybe it’s my own perception that is at fault though because when I see ‘horror’ I immediately think of the above type of scenarios and so ultimately find myself with skewed expectations. My own fault really. That being said, if you go into this read expecting less supernatural horror and more grimdark thriller I think you’ll be closer to the mark.The start of the story is gripping. We read along as Ben recounts the day that his three year old brother Eric went missing. These opening scenes make completely compulsive reading, my heart was in my throat and even though I knew what was going to happen (read the blurb) I couldn’t help acting like a kid in a theatre wanting to shout warnings at the innocent protagonist who is blissfully unaware of the menace looming in the background. These opening scenes are just chock full of emotions.Now shoot forward five years. Eric was never found and his family have suffered the sort of collapse that you would expect in the wake of his disappearance. Ben’s stepmother never leaves the house, she keeps Eric’s room like a shrine. His father struggles to make ends meet and is barely making the mortgage and Ben himself has been in a car accident that left him with such serious injuries that even now walking is painful for him. In an attempt to help the family Ben searches for a job but the only one available is at the store in which his brother disappeared. Fate can be cruel – but Ben is out of options, he needs a job and at the same time, providing he remains unrecognised, he thinks this will provide the perfect opportunity for some do-it-yourself detecting.What I really enjoyed about this novel was the way the author plays with your emotions. He can surely write a scene that will have you gripping the book, knuckles white because you’re so tense. The sense of despair is palpable and the mystery of what really happened is the key motivation to set you off racing through the pages. Where did Eric end up, is he still alive, will Ben ever find him or have the closure that he so desperately longs for? Curious minds want, nay, need, to know.The setting is also really well done. Set in a town that is itself struggling with the decline in jobs and the subsequent rise of crime and poverty. There is again an overwhelming sense of apathy or misery about the place. It all feels very gloomy and helps to really set the scene.Now, my criticisms. There are a lot of red herrings thrown into the mix here. One part of me thinks the author was trying to portray Ben as a ‘headless chicken’ running around mindlessly chucking out accusations. Which in turn led the detective in charge of the investigation to wash his hands of Ben – he’s too much trouble, too ready to point the finger and cause pain to others. So, I think the intentions were good but the result felt a bit meandering and it ended up pulling me out of the story a little or just feeling pointlessly mystified – particularly when I eventually reached the ending which had something of a rushed feel. I came away feeling disappointed and not really knowing why. I didn’t think the mystery was clearly resolved and I had issues that felt open.Again, on reflection, that original disappointment has lessened, I’ve given the ending some more thought and in context of the actual title even had a little light bulb moment. But, and perhaps I’m not always the sharpest knife in the drawer and I can admit to that, – even though my pondering has resolved some issues I still have niggles that remain.Overall, I enjoyed this, definitely enough to check out this author again. His writing is impressive and apart from this feeling a little bit bloated in places it’s an intriguing story – in fairness though, the jury is still out about the ending.I received a copy through Edelweiss courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Throughout this book I was torn between the slow pace and the author's skill at building tension and atmosphere, and so, halfway through the book, almost gave up. Another reason for this was that I kept bracing myself for the supernatural horror to appear, only to be disappointed each time the tension started building up (into an empty climax). At 200-odd pages in, in search of a reason to persevere, I watched an online review, learning that this isn't a supernatural horror in any shape or form, and that the story creeps along at snail pace to the end. So this wasn't altogether the fault of the author, just a case of me having to manage my expectations. So, with this in mind, I continued reading.The writing is compelling; Dathan Auerbach is highly adroit at painting a world and giving mundane places almost human-like character (the grocery store, the cardboard baler) and creating an atmosphere of foreboding and dread. Characters sometimes behaved in implausible ways, reminding me, in that sense, of some of Ray Bradbury's work (Something Wicked This Way Comes comes to mind), which often took me out of the story. Then, other times, the dialogue was just plain confusing. I got the overall sense that the book was in dire need of a rewrite/edit, skimming at least 100 pages off its length.So, in conclusion: this is not a supernatural horror, and it is definitely not a page turner - it took me three days to read, which felt more like weeks - and I've never had such a love/hate relationship with a book - but it has that elusive X-factor, that I have never experienced with any other book, which kept me going to the end. Would I recommend it? No, it was way too much of a hard slog. Would I not recommend it? Again, the answer is no. The writing, overall, is too good :)In my very conflicted novice opinion, this one is worth 3.5 stars

Bad Man starts off with strong with an engaging opening but it soon loses focus and meanders along. I kinda liked the book but it could have been a whole lot better if it was refined and cut down, there’s too much padding that really needed editing. I did like the ending though… it just took too long to get there!