Grimm Awakening

by Bryan Smith

Private investigator Jack Grimm wakes up in a seedy motel room in Hell following an epic bender. The resultant blackout renders the circumstances of his arrival in the devil's domain murky at best, though a mysterious note provides a clue. Thus begins Jack's tale of fear and loathing, which plays out against a backdrop of glitz, gangsters, and gunfire and includes a trip to the mortal realm's center of decadence and sin. Las Vegas,baby. So hold on tight. It's gonna be a wild ride.

Black Voltage Series #23
This edition contains a bonus story not included in the Hard Rain Edition.

Genres: Horror, Ebooks

246 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Bryan Smith is the Splatterpunk Award-winning author of more than forty horror and crime books, including 68 Kill, the cult classic Depraved and its sequels, as well as The Killing Kind, Slowly We Rot, The Freakshow, and many more. Bestselling horror author Brian Keene called Slowly We Rot, "The best zombie novel I've ever read."

68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.

Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published by Undaunted Press in 2004 as a chapbook, Brian Smith’s humorous horror/ fantasy about main character private investigator Jack Grimm awakening after a serious drunk in hell, on a mission to track down a woman, is a bit uneven.


Jack Grimm is aided and abetted by a crew of sidekicks that causes humor to move the plot along utilizing action , magic, demons and sorcerers. First up is Lucien, Jack’s hell hound shape shifter friend who can change from human form to hell hound form at will. Then there is Andy, a sorcerer and Jack’s drinking budy who manipulates the portals through dimensions and regions and different times. And then we have Raven Rainbolt, a dark haired goddess who must decide if she wishes to help Jack.


Another interesting character is “Bugsy” Siegel one of the men behind Murder Inc. , the top association of contract killers in decades who also created Las Vegas. Siegal is now reformed and joins in the shenanigans that abound in this action filled adventure of Jack trying to find retribution and his ex-wife.


The bonus story in this book is “Walk Among US” is a humorous horror/science-fiction story concerning aliens abducting humans. Jack and all four of the friends from the previous story also appear in this yarn.


I love Bryan Smith’s work, however, this may not be one of his best efforts. The bad guys and their minion are a bit two dimensional at times, but there is a lot of drinking , smoking and lust to make this and enjoyable read.

[John The Crippledgimp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was a fun just cool ass ride through hell. I will say that its been awhile since I've read me some Bryan Smith and this just made me realize that I need to read more from him because he is such a good storyteller and he is able to just suck you in right away and keep you there. All that being said this one was different from the other books that I have read from this author. This was I guess you could say a crime noir\mystery\thriller\supernatural horror. This wasn't filled with all the gore that I am used to reading when I read Bryan Smith but it was still a awesome violent ride with awesome characters a very enjoyable entertaining story that kept me turning pages till the end. I highly recommend this and anything Bryan Smith he rocks

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Signed chapbook with a fragment that would later become a novel of the same name.

[Steven jb · Rating 1 out of 5]

A detective who is touted as a good detective but never does any detecting; a famous gangster who is never a gangster; new plot devices springing up in mid story without any preparation; a plot that keeps twisting into existence with add-ons here and there; a battle sequence that rambles on and is boring; characters and dialogue more wooden than pine plank; and the glorification of booze as a substance of great medicinal value--this reminds me of another book I hated and rated one star. This was not typical of Bryan Smith's other novels. It was just awful.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wildly uneven book by Smith. The first half was excellent. Jack Grimm waking up in Hell, and the whole setup was great, I thought I was in for a great ride but then it all fizzled out. First of all even though he was in Hell, he was a PI and there was no PIing whatsoever. The plot became ludicrous and the only saving grace for me was the violence, which, thankfully, Smith delivers. Do not make this your first Bryan Smith book. He is a great writer and this one falls way short of the mark.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent supernatural gumshoe novel. Hope to see more Jack Grimm novels.

[Noigeloverlord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Bryan Smith's best but still better than most other writers best

[Johnny morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very good supernatural detective novel that kept me interested to the last page. i recommend you get yourself a copy and start reading pronto.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Jack Grimm character after his story in Highways To Hell. Would love to see a whole series of books on him and his team.

[Matt McRoberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story