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Vanity Kills

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Vanity Kills

By: Erica Summers
Narrated by: Jake Blagburn
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About this listen

Haunted by his tragic past, Jack LeBlanc, a heavily scarred introvert, finds himself volunteering for the clinical trial of a miraculous new tissue-regeneration drug nicknamed Obsidian. Jack and the other test subjects soon discover that the medication is not what was promised. They’re about to find out the hard way that the pills have nightmarish consequences and that Jack’s pained conscience isn’t the only thing with teeth.

With every pill taken, one thing becomes more clear: the path to perfection will be paved with gore. From the author behind Bad God's Tower, Writhe, and Mantis comes a truly unsettling, Cronenberg-style body horror novel that will make your skin crawl and have you questioning every pill you take.

©2023 Erica Summers (P)2024 Erica Summers Horror

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Critic reviews

"Definitely one of my favorite reads this year!" - Justin Boote, author of They Are All Monsters

"Summers drops you right into the story and refuses to let you look away." - Mia Coppola Faller, author of Buried Women Speak

"Vanity Kills is creative, terrifying, and beautifully written." - Nat Whiston, author of Feel Her Pain.
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Listener received this title free

Loved the narration of Jake Blagburn, who brings out suspense and thrills

Jack is suffering from flashbacks from a accident four years earlier. The accident left him severely disfigured. Jack is struggling with the way he looks. He is was once a handsome, popular and confident man. When offered a chance with a clinical trial for a new drug, he grabs it with eager hands.
At the trail he meets Iris a kindred spirit in Iris. They become close.
When Jack meets the Doctor in charge of the trials for the first time, he knows the familiar face, his guilt and the thought of truly being cured, makes him stay
and continue on.

Mick is part of the trial, he's wheelchair bound and also hoping to be healed. He is also Jack's friend. Mick believes some people are being given a placebo. So he decides to take matters into his own hands, the pills get into the wrong hands.
Everyone seems to be healing though, Jack seems to be getting worse. His nightmares are getting worse too, more real.

This book will have on your toes.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

kills

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Listener received this title free

This was my second try at a book by this author. The first book wasn’t really for me but I’m glad I gave it another go. This book was an excellent medical thriller/revenge story. It was fast paced and keep me interested. The characters were interesting, believable and the dialog was realistic. I don’t want to spoil the story by giving anything away but I will say you should definitely pick this one up if you enjoy horror. Heads up — this book can be a bit graphic at times so watch out for triggers.
I listened to the audio and the narration was very good and added to the overall effect of the story.

Hardcore revenge story with realistic characters…

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Listener received this title free

I did enjoy this one, while it wasn't Erica's best, there's still plenty to enjoy and it does go to some crazy places!

Good shlocky fun

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Listener received this title free

I thought this was a very impressive book, combining wince-inducing body horror with strong characterisation, and an interesting take on the medical sub-genre. I was initially unsure of how easy it would be to keep track of a fairly large cast of main characters as we are introduced to them at the start of the new drug trials, but Summers does an excellent job of making them all feel distinct, and fleshing out their personalities.

Vanity Kills is very well written, with impressive prose throughout, which only adds to the effectiveness of the gore once it starts. There were frequent moments in which the descriptions were so visceral and vivid that it was easy to imagine them playing on a big screen, and disturbing enough that you can imagine the likes of Cronenberg or Ducournau salivating to get the chance to bring those effects to life. Some of the best examples of body horror I can remember reading in a long, long time.

The narration from Jake Blagburn was excellent throughout, giving just enough personality to each protagonist to make it easy to differentiate between who was currently speaking, and to keep the listens interesting. The pacing of his reading combined with the fast nature of the plot made this absolutely breeze by for me, finishing the audiobook in a little over a day.

This is an easy recommend to anyone interested in medical & body horror, with a compelling story crafted around the more disgusting moments, and a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming.

A fast paced, gory listen

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Listener received this title free

Another great story from this author! It's a thriller, it's a body horror and it also contains an important message underneath all the dreadful things happening. Thanks also to the narrator Jake Blagburn for making the characters real and for the perfect acting!

I was surprised more than once as the plot never went were I thought, keeping me on my toes. I found the writing really on point with every word serving a purpose, either in the moment or down the line. As for the characters, well I did sympathise a lot with all of them, and for all the horrible things, I couldn't not have an emotional attachment to them. And that's the thing in this story, even characters I know I should have hated, I just couldn't.

As mentioned, this is a body horror and whilst I agree that our society is losing control of what's really important, I know I probably would have acted the same way as Jack and the others, and I would have tried to tackle some mental and emotional scarring in the same way, thinking that would have solved the problem. What the protagonists find out though, is that some things can't be solved that easily and they learn an important lesson just a little too late.

Thanks to the author and Rusty Ogre Publishing for the opportunity to listen to it and this is my honest opinion.

Great body horror and thriller with characters you'll get attached to!

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