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Idols & Cons
by
S.S. Michaels (Goodreads Author)
Jake Wolfram is the biggest, slickest, sickest pop star of our time.
Drug-dealing voyeuristic punk, Jake, is yanked from poverty and into the white-hot spotlight after witnessing a crime committed by his neighbor, Damien Tungsten, front man for the boy band, In Dreams.
Jake lives life on the run, hiding in the limelight, and resenting every single minute of it. He’s relentl...more
Drug-dealing voyeuristic punk, Jake, is yanked from poverty and into the white-hot spotlight after witnessing a crime committed by his neighbor, Damien Tungsten, front man for the boy band, In Dreams.
Jake lives life on the run, hiding in the limelight, and resenting every single minute of it. He’s relentl...more
Kindle Edition, 256 pages
Published
(first published November 10th 2011)
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Though I’m sure to upset some authors and publishers who, understandably, want five-star reviews, I’ve my own definition of the five-star system.
*One Star: A crime against God and man.
*Two Stars: Poor, or otherwise not ready for publication.
*Three Stars: A solid work worth the money/read.
*Four Stars: A superior, award-worthy achievement.
*Five Stars: A standard setter, a work to stand the test of time, a work to be studied and read again and again….
“Idols & Cons,” by S.S. Michaels
****
Yes, tha...more
*One Star: A crime against God and man.
*Two Stars: Poor, or otherwise not ready for publication.
*Three Stars: A solid work worth the money/read.
*Four Stars: A superior, award-worthy achievement.
*Five Stars: A standard setter, a work to stand the test of time, a work to be studied and read again and again….
“Idols & Cons,” by S.S. Michaels
****
Yes, tha...more
For a first novel, IDOLS & CONS is pretty great. Author S.S. Michaels has an admirable knack for character and a nifty facility with plot. Told from the points of view of various characters, the voices of the narrators are beautifully developed in a way that many similarly structured novels lack. The reader never has to wonder which character is speaking; the voices are that clear.
Nick Cato's review sums up the plot and subtext pretty well, so I won't reiterate it here. Suffice it to say tha...more
Nick Cato's review sums up the plot and subtext pretty well, so I won't reiterate it here. Suffice it to say tha...more
There’s a deep division in the horror writing community of late. There are those writers who, inspired by other writers, produce literature. Then there are those authors who look to film and television for their inspiration. Their monsters don’t come from Shelley, Stoker, or Poe, but emerge from the scripts of True Blood and Hostel. The action races, the dialogue comes in quips, and the story’s framed in film style shots. S.S Michaels’ Idol and Cons falls squarely into the latter
The story is b...more
Idols & Cons is a chilling, surreal trip from drug dealing to stardom. John is a teenage drug dealer living in a slum apartment in a gentrified area of L.A. He deals drugs to help his mom make ends meet, although through her alcoholic haze, she doesn't know what he is doing. John's only friends are his rich neighbours: Damien, the lead singer of a boy band, and Patrick, a trust fund rich, wannabe famous, artist. These are the main characters that tell the story.
The story gets bizarre when Jo...more
The story gets bizarre when Jo...more
Idols & Cons is S.S. Michaels' debut novel, published by Omnium Gatherum. What a great way to start off a writing career. The book is a fast read that also moves along at a good narrative clip. It is written in the first person, but also changes character perspective from chapter to chapter as necessary. While not a new idea it is put to good use. It starts off with Jake, who is also John for much of the novel. It's an element of the somewhat fluid timeline, but it manages not to confuse if...more
To say that S.S. Michaels' Idols & Cons is about sex, drugs, and pop music is completely accurate, but this book is also about three very powerful motivators: desperation, fear, and ambition. Michaels creates a set of characters, led by Jake/John, and dangles stardom over their heads like chum on a string. In return, each has no choice but to play the part of the shark.
I'll skip the summary, as you can read the product description on your own, and cut straight into the meat. Idols & Cons...more
I'll skip the summary, as you can read the product description on your own, and cut straight into the meat. Idols & Cons...more
S.S. Michaels' debut novel Idols and Cons tells the tale of the lengths some people will go in order to become famous. Some do it for the fortune, some for the glory and yet some want the recognition purely to change who they once were in order to make, what they see as, a better life for themselves. Idols and Cons is told in the first person , however, there are several storytellers. There are three main narrators who, each with their own chapter, deliver the details of the story to us. John, l...more
John is a drug-dealing (and taking) punk living in a seedy section of Los Angeles, sketching and playing his guitar. His neighborhood has been overrun with yuppies and celebrities looking to be hip. John's also a voyuer, and Damien--the singer for a popular boy band--lives right across the street. John's used to watching Damien bring home groupies for sex romps, but one day things go a little overboard and the singer accidentally kills a teenage girl. He wraps her in a carpet and throws her in a...more
Jake Wolfam lived his entire life dealing drugs and cheating people every chance he's had, always trying to reach for his dreams. Every day, he sought to change the circumstances that kept him and mother poverty-stricken to no avail. Yet when he witnesses a murder, committed by his neighbor, mega-rockstar Damien Tungsten, he's unexpectedly thrust into the limelight as a means to keep him quiet about what he knows, much to his friend Patrick's dismay.
You see, Patrick found the body Damien tried t...more
You see, Patrick found the body Damien tried t...more
Idols & Cons by S.S. Michaels is disturbing, humorous, creepy, and fascinating all rolled up into one. It’s a story about a kid named John Thomas (lol) who somehow seems to fall to the top of the heap in a world of chaotic, crazy, and often psychotic characters. After voyeuristically witnessing an accidental murder by boy band lead singer Damien, and then numbly taking a part in creatively disposing of the body with the up and coming artist Patrick who discovers it in a dumpster, John unwitt...more
Drugs. Sex. Fame. Murder. Art. All eyes are watching Jake Wolfram. Lights. Cameras. Fame. Drugs. A four hundred mile per hour ride from the gutter to the stage, and back again. Idols & Cons is a dark lens into the sordid making of a celebrity. A gut-punch? Yeah. Gritty? Yeah. A relentless, lightspeed ride. Michaels has real guts and she'll hand you yours at the end...if you can pry your hands off the seats. Drugs. Sex. Fame. Murder. Art. Lights. Camera. Bang!
In a dog eat dog world, Jake Wolfram figures it's better to dine in style and he makes sure to get every scrap that's coming to him. Idols and Cons follows Jake from his poor slum beginnings to pop stardom in mere months. However, this novel is a fresh take on the celebrity rags to riches story and you won't find any heartwarming do-gooders here. Along the way to the big time Jake witnesses murder, art and mayhem. But everybody knows you can't really take a frog and turn him into a prince, no ma...more
I won this book from Goodreads a few months ago and thought it was okay. The first half didn't really do it for me. It seemed like a lot of the language was in there just for show and the voices for the different characters were too similar. After Jake got in the band, I started liking the story more but overall it was just wasn't my cup of tea.
This is a vivid, intelligent, gritty read. S.S. Michaels will have you cringing, but also whipping through pages at high speed. I highly recommend this novel... to grown-ups. I look forward to seeing what S.S. Michaels has in store for us in the future.
Overall, the book is well written and interesting, but the end is abrupt and unsatisfying.
Dec 02, 2011
Nicola
marked it as wishlist
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S. S. Michaels is a writer of transgressive fiction and horror, and is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA). She is an editor for Evil Jester Press. She has lived abroad, traveled widely, jumped out of an airplane and driven a race car. She has worked in film and television. She currently lives on the Georgia coast.
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