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Dexter Boomstick

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When the world descends into a madman's twisted imagination, Dexter “Boomstick” Reynolds, a 30-year-old sporting goods store manager with legendary bat-swinging power, must find his way back to the beautiful Roxanne before she lands in the clutches of the madman, and self-proclaimed Pig Monster, Roy Hecht.

Will the mysterious Golden Slugger baseball bat, business casual attire, and devilishly good looks be enough for Dexter to prevail?

45,000 words of horror, romance, and adventure. Dexter Boomstick contains explicit language, violence, and sexual content.

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 20, 2018

19 people are currently reading
51 people want to read

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M.P. Lombardo

6 books11 followers

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5 stars
7 (15%)
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18 (40%)
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Holly (spoopyhol).
84 reviews368 followers
February 22, 2018
‘When the world descends unto a madman’s twisted imagination, Dexter “Boomstick” Reynolds, a 30-year-old sporting goods store manager with legendary bat-swinging power, must find his way back to the beautiful Roxanne before she lands in the clutches of the self-proclaimed Pig Monster Roy Hecht.’

This was a very solid and imaginative story - I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the apocalyptic scenario. My enjoyment doubled when I reached the last half of the book - the story gained a lot of depth with the exploration of Roy’s character. I became extremely invested in the whole story after the descent into the villain’s backstory. In fact, I’d read a whole new book about ‘The Pig Monster’, as I think it would be a very interesting exploration of mental illness!

The characters, some more than others, felt very well rounded and complete. Joe, Roy and Gabby felt like the most thought out characters and I think I would have liked just a bit more depth with Dexter, seeing as he’s the main character and is, in himself, a very interesting human.

The reason that I’m giving 3 stars instead of 4 (because I think this has real potential to be a 4 star book), is the slight grammatical and punctuation errors. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed/edited with a quick read through from the author and it would just complete the novel. It’s apparent that this is his first book, since a writer’s signature style can only really be developed through experience!

The ending was quite sudden, and whilst I’m sure the author is working on a second Boomstick book, stories within a series still need to have complete conclusions so they can work as standalones if the reader doesn’t wish to continue the books (if that makes a lick of sense to any of you).

I definitely can see potential in this if it was to be formed into a series of books, I would definitely read more about Dexter and ‘The Pig Monster’ Roy Hecht.
Profile Image for Nila (digitalcreativepages).
2,672 reviews223 followers
January 22, 2018
Can nightmares playing in one man’s head become a reality?

Apparently so….. And this is running the theme of this book. I started reading this book thinking it to be a sci-fi thriller, but it soon overtook dark tones of a horror. I have to admit I was a wee bit scared… Just a tiny sliver of fear coursed through me, just asking….

What if it becomes true… What if it is true…

Dexter Boomstick, as he is known as, is the main character and the hero who rescues everyone, including his girlfriend, Roxanne. He works in a sporting store as the manager, when one fine day, an electrical storm brings some preternatural, unearthly characters into the town, and it is upto Dexter and his magical bat to save the day, his town, and his girl friend.

I have never come across a story about a golden baseball bat which has such magical properties, that it could beat up weird bizarre characters which suddenly pop up into the story. A novel idea by the author, M. P. Lombardo who has done a good job in writing a horror/thriller with fantastical grotesque characters

This is the author’s debut work, and he has done a good job to bring about a thriller which slowly turns into a horror. The plot is fast-paced, and there is enough action to keep the reader interested in the book. What left me taken aback was the author, M. P. Lombardo’s strength of imagination. He has come up with so many different horrific characters that I am almost left thinking, where in the author’s brain, did these characters reside?

There are a few incidents which don’t add to the story which I feel were not needed, they only added to the shock value. Also the plot could have been tighter and the chapters ought to have flowed better.

But these can be overlooked, as the author more than compensates with his out of the world freakish characters and reasoning. So, this quirky book is to be read with an open mind, expecting insane, sudden things happening, an absolute flight of fantasy, away from the real, normal world into an absolute world of one man’s horror and the abominations that he unleashes….3.5 stars rounded up to 4
Profile Image for Mindi.
1,426 reviews272 followers
March 6, 2018
This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 stars

So I think I was expecting this to be a little more of an homage to Evil Dead and all things Ash, and I was pleasantly surprised that Lombardo used a couple of references to that franchise, but then made a story that was his own.

I've read a fair share of indie horror books and self-published books, and typos and grammatical errors are something I can forgive in a book that doesn't have a bigger publisher, or any publisher for that matter. I appreciate that people are passionate enough to write and get their creations out into the world, so I've learned to let those go. If I pick up a book from a major publisher and it's full of grammatical issues and typos, then I'm going to have a major problem.

Here's what I liked: I liked most of the male characters. I liked the scene in the sporting goods store, (Did anyone ever watch the awesome show Reaper? It only lasted two season, but for some reason the scene in the sporting good store was giving me Reaper vibes. I loved that show.) I also liked the concept. One unstable man's crazy monsters coming to life to wreak havoc on Long Island is fun. There's potential here, but there were also a number of flaws for me.

Here's what I think didn't really work for me: I didn't like any of the female characters. They were all weak and needed saving. And Gabby's obsession over Dexter got old fast. I get that the Evil Dead franchise sort of had this tongue-in-cheek damsel in distress thing going on (especially Army of Darkness), but if you are writing a book about women in Trump's America they need to be stronger. I also I thought that parts of the book felt a bit disjointed or overly long. The entire section about the Bullhorn Acacia Plant didn't really have any relevance until it became a monster, and even then I'm not sure how Roy even knew about it, since he didn't move in with his aunt until after the plant was disposed of.

So while I did have a few issues with the book overall, I will say that Lombardo does horror gross-out comedy pretty well. Although I'm hoping that maybe in book 2 he can let the ladies have a moment to kick ass.
Profile Image for exorcismemily.
1,452 reviews357 followers
March 6, 2018
"Whatever is going on has changed everything. Whatever just happened on that house wouldn't have happened yesterday."

2.5⭐

Dexter Boomstick is a creative monster story - the story follows multiple characters as they deal with the new creatures in their town. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although the book was interesting, and has a fun & colorful cover, I had some issues. I'm going to talk about my biggest one first - sexism. There are two aspects to the women in this book; they either need to be saved, or they are only there for sexual gratification. There are two main female characters in the book - Roxanne & Gabby. Both of them need to be saved by men, and neither of them make a positive impact on the story. Roxanne is solely a damsel in distress, and isn't even in the book very much - the idea of her is in the book a lot more. Gabby is obsessed with a man in the novel, and doesn't care about anything else. At this point, it probably would have been better to just leave women out of the book.

Then the secondary women come in - they are only there to be sexual objects, and one character is relentless in obsessing over another character's fake boobs. There's also a very strange sex scene that just seemed gratuitous, and I didn't understand what it added to the story since it was never brought up in the story again.

The phrase "male nurse" was used multiple times, so sexism is happening in all directions in this story.

There are lots of different aspects to this story. Some sections had a lot more detail than others, and occasionally it was to the point of distraction since this may have caused other situations to be lacking in detail. For example, there were multiple pages about the villain's uncle instead of more info about the villain, and why he was the way he was.

The story was disjointed - partially because of what I just explained, and partially because of how much it jumped around. At least one of the scenes ended with a character arriving, and then a later chapter explained what that character was doing before he got there. It got kind of confusing.

Multiple different monsters were introduced, and then barely seen. It was just a lot of different events that didn't really have a common thread - I understand that there's going to be another book, but I at least need some things to be answered. The ending occurred abruptly, and you have to read the next book if you want to understand what happened in this one.

This story did have some good moments - I think there were some promising horror aspects, and I would have liked to know more about the monsters. It was a very inventive story, and MP Lombardo has an excellent imagination.
Profile Image for Michelle {Book Hangovers}.
461 reviews190 followers
April 1, 2018
I had a lot of laughs reading this one. Plus some WTF moments as well! I was expecting a comic book when I opened it up. To my surprise, it was not. But the story still gave me comic book vibes.

Loved the concept. These guys stuck in the old crazy man’s f**ked up imagination. Action packed and jokes left and right. I wasn’t to keen on the whole mushy puppy love banter between Dexter and Roxanne. But I get it. Man wants to save the love of his life.

Pretty good story. I was definitely entertained enough to want to read a second book. It gets a strong 3.75 Stars!
Profile Image for Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows).
1,798 reviews367 followers
May 7, 2018
Now this is quite the interesting book! First the cover has that graphic novel feel which I think makes Goodreads wrongly putting it into the Graphic Novel genres... let's be clear, it's NOT... though it would be fun to see it made into one!

This is a pretty easy read, under 200 pages and shows that Lombardo has a keen sense of bringing some crazy monsters to life. My favorite parts were reading about them and I did cringe a couple of times. I did feel the story got a bit disjointed - are we in the present or the past? It wasn't crystal clear at times and I had to flip back to see if I missed anything.

Let's discuss the characters a bit. Most of the men seem very misogynistic - except for Dexter, who apparently is the perfect man... and strong if he can easily wield a bat made of gold (do you know how HEAVY that thing would be?!). Gabby apparently didn't care if she died or not as long as Dexter paid some attention to her, but alas, he only has eyes for Roxanne, his girlfriend who he's trying to find in the mix of all the madness and she plays an extremely small role. Joe felt like that old dirty uncle you try to avoid at family reunions.

I need more answers! Why do the monsters have a hard on for Dexter? What was the blackness and why were they in and out and um.. that scene in the desert. What?! I'm... baffled to say the least. The content doesn't bother me honestly, I just didn't know how it fit in exactly.

I did enjoy this as almost a satire type book - everything felt a bit cartoony or graphic novel type and that is NOT a bad thing AT ALL. Lombardo has quite the imagination and I'd like to see him take that further.. which I assume he will be since this is just Episode #1.

Thanks so much to the author for this copy :D
Profile Image for Lars (theatretenor) Skaar.
313 reviews34 followers
March 5, 2018
First let me say thank you to @dexterboomstick for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review!!! Can’t thank you enough!
Dexter Boomstick by M.P. Lombardo
An apocalyptic tale of 30-year-old Dexter, a man known for hitting the cover off of baseballs back in the day, who works at a sporting goods store and is handed this gorgeous bat made of gold by his manager. Little did he know that within minutes he would need this bat to save his life as the world descends into madness care of a psychopath named Pig Monster!
I don’t want to give too much away but as it turns out Pig Monster is a man named Roy Hecht who has somehow brought his f’ed up imagination and drawings to reality! 😳😱
Dexter needs to save his coworkers and boss and rescue his gorgeous girlfriend, Roxanne!
Guys, this book was F-U-N! I love the concept of this golden bat and how that comes to be. Love that. Love Dexter as a character, wish I could have gotten a little more on him and his backstory (maybe book 2?). Love Pig Monster as the bad guy and his absolute madness that has overtaken him.
The writing at times felt a little raw, maybe not polished enough for what I’m used to reading. The story was great, if not a little disjointed at parts. The characters were great and the overall concept really works for me! I thought maybe I wouldn’t care for the over the top comic book style feeling, but once you know it and get used to it, I can dig it! It’s fantasy and I’ll admit fantasy has never been my strongest suit.
I had a fair amount of trouble with the spelling and grammatical errors. There’s quite a few of them. Not that I couldn’t see what was meant when words were left out or spelled wrong. There were some typesetting errors. Hard returns where not needed, etc.
I think polish up the errors and the overall flow a bit for Dexter Boomstick 2: Electric Boogaloo (😂😂 - that’s not the real title people!) and you’ve got a great series and character!!
I had to give it a 3.5/5. REALLY looking forward to book two tho to see Dexter and his awesome Boomstick kick some more ass! 🤘
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Profile Image for Joshua Grant.
Author 24 books277 followers
November 23, 2018
While taking some obvious inspiration from the classic Evil Dead, M.P. Lombardo’s Dexter Boomstick is its own enjoyable animal. Dexter Boomstick’s life gets turned upside down pretty quickly in this post apocalyptic thriller. It’s actiony and fun, but I also enjoyed that it sported a bit of depth and emotion as well. A good read for anyone who loves the greats like Shaun of the Dead or Evil Dead!
Profile Image for Alex | | findingmontauk1.
1,571 reviews91 followers
March 8, 2018
Dexter Boomstick is a book that I kept seeing pop up all over Instagram it seems.  “Why don’t I have this, too?!” I cried out.  And it’s as if the bookstagram gods parted the skies and I opened up my inbox and saw a message from the author, M.P. Lombardo, asking if I wanted a copy of the book.  HELLZ. YEA. 
 

Starting out, I love the premise of the book and the underlying story.  Lombardo’s creativity is on another level with some of the things he comes up with (especially some of the “monsters” or “demons”).  A downside here is that I wanted even more of his creativity to shine through.  The monsters/demons seemed to come and go in a matter of paragraphs.  I did not really have enough time to let the terror build up inside me.  I was able to read enough about them to want more but then I was disappointed when nothing else came.


On to the characters.  I definitely enjoyed the titular character, Dexter.  He is a confident guy who knows how to swing that golden bat!  If you don’t have a strong lead, the rest of the book can crumble around it.  One scene in here I really loved was when Dexter was in attack mode and we are told to imagine Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” song playing.  I TOTALLY pictured it and could see each jump and swing of the bat to the rhythm of the song.  I loved that Lombardo was able to make that scene even more alive and real in this experience.


Then there is Joe.  I love Joe, I hate Joe, and  I also love to hate Joe.  He is the quintessential fratty douchebag kind of guy that we have all been annoyed with over time.  But he still makes me laugh and I gotta love him for that.

Roxanne is Dexter’s girlfriend and I wish we had seen more of her.  It would have been interesting for her to be a stronger character and allow us to see through her eyes what all is going on.  All we really get is a lot of, “Oh, Dexter, I am so scared! Save me!” type stuff.  But maybe she was excluded to draw some mystery onto whether or not she was alive or dead the whole time?  Who knows!  I just wanted more of her and I wanted her to be stronger and less co-dependent. 

NOW we get to Gabby.  Gabby.  I never liked girls like this.  Thirsty, desperate, pathetic, homewreckers.  Leave Dexter alone and support his committed relationship, yo!  HE DON’T WANT YOU!  

 
This is a 3.5 out of 5 read for me.  It was fun, campy, and had certain horror elements that I thought were executed well.  I do recommend this to people and at 170 pages, it can be ready fairly quickly if needed.  Thanks to M.P. Lombardo for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and I definitely look forward to seeing this series continue and grow!  And I want to read more about the scary monsters!
Profile Image for Chelsea (chelsea.wilde).
113 reviews33 followers
October 3, 2018
I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the author.

When I first saw this book floating around bookstagram I thought it was a graphic novel. Covers can be misleading! But my opinion still stands that this would have worked really well as a graphic novel with the right illustrator! It was fun and the second half of the story really grabs your attention and holds it until the end! There were a lot of laughs and a solid WTF moments to bat, no pun intended ;)

It is an imaginative, well thought out story, yet the execution is what was lacking in some areas more than others. The story was full of characters that became well developed but then we got left off wondering what is and what is to become of others? I felt we spent more time learning about the villains uncle rather than the villain itself. I would also like to learn more about the monsters and their origins! Like I said, imaginative for sure! And I assume it was leading us to a second and maybe third book?

I would say that the female characters could have had more depth. I really enjoyed Roxanne but I didn’t like the whole damsel in distress aspect. I don’t want the only main female characters to be sexual objects for men gratification, who need saving.

I had some issues with grammatical and punctuation errors throughout, and that definitely contributed to a lower star rating but overall it was a good first novel for MP Lombardo and I think time and practice will only lead to perfection!
Profile Image for Katey.
Author 3 books33 followers
April 30, 2018
**I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.**

Dexter “Boomstick” Reynolds is a 30-year-old store manager with a hidden talent that helps him become THE monster-slayer and hero when his town seems to turn into a psychotic man’s nightmarish fantasy. Can Dexter keep his small group of friends alive and safe while he tries to get across town and find his beloved girlfriend, Roxanne? And what’s with these strange plants and pissed off ants?

I first want to clarify this book in no way has a zombie plot like the Walking Dead or Ash versus the Evil Dead. I have never watched either of these two shows; however, I did give them a quick google search before writing this review just to verify there were no similarities and I did not find any. This book focuses on paranormal entities and has a small Twin Peaks vibe. (Or Strangers Things vibe if you aren’t into old 90’s TV shows like I am!)

I really enjoyed how this book was written. It’s in third person and every couple chapters gives you an intertwining story through the eyes of every character in the book. The character building writing this way, while brief, was just enough to help you understand personality and a little bit of everyone’s contribution to the story.

In a way, I felt bad for Dexter’s character because throughout the entire book everyone is turning to him to decide “What do we do now?” and to protect them from the strange creators roaming the town. He’s consistently keeping his cool and staying level headed throughout most of the book. Gabby does step up in a survivalist way and I found that her character complimented Dexter very well. Her clear romantic interest in Dexter, I personally, found normal and amusing because not a single female alive can say they haven’t related at least a LITTLE to that type of emotion. Roxanne, Dexter’s girlfriend, was absent a good portion of the book and does seem like the “damsel in distress”; however, I am very cautious to critique characters this early into a beginning book series. Lots could change over time with the characters’ personalities or behavior. So at this point, I’m excited to “stay tuned” and see how it all unfolds.

Also, I want to throw out there that Dexter’s feelings and behavior towards his girlfriend, Roxanne, is totally “hashtag: relationship goals’!

Without giving too much away, the creatures were scary, weird and slightly random; just the way I like them. The settings were fun, interesting and scary. The book was self published and there are some spelling and grammatical hiccups, but not many and it didn’t disrupt the story in any way. I personally think, for being a self published, this book’s cover art and overall paperback product was very impressive.

We all have those authors that we read one book and immediately get hooked and will read anything or just about anything they write in the future. I cannot wait to read the next book and am genuinely excited for whatever this author may release in the future and because of that, I give this book a 5 out of 5 rating.

If you are interested in checking this book out, I highly recommend visiting the author’s website: https://dexterboomstick.com/darrenmay... and reading his short story that further discusses one of the characters in the book and gives you a great taste of the author’s writing style.

You can buy this book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Dexter-Boomsti...

Happy reading, amigos!!
Profile Image for Rebekah Kennedy.
38 reviews6 followers
June 13, 2019
I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but really enjoyed this one! Dexter Boomstick is a 30 year old sporting goods store manager, and turns out to be the town’s only hope, when his girlfriend disappears and all hell breaks loose in his town.

This was a fairly quick read and an easy to follow story. I found the creatures in this book were highly imaginative and I would have loved to have seen more of them. Lombardo has an awesome imagination when it comes describing the villains of the story and what they were capable of. There were also several “loose ends” that were tied up later on, which I found really clever. It was fun to see how the pieces were going to fit together. It does end quite abruptly, but I’m assuming another book is coming. My one gripe would be that the women characters were not as fleshed out as the men. They ended up being rather superficial, so I hope they are largely expanded on in the coming books! 3.5 stars for me. Overall it’s a fun, violent, monster filled book!
Profile Image for Bethany.
40 reviews29 followers
May 9, 2018
I really struggled with how to rate this one. For starters, thanks so much to the author for sending me a review copy on exchange for my review! There was a lot I liked about this story. A few moments had me thinking “what the hell” just to turn around to think, “well that’s clever.” We definitely have a strong lead character in Dexter-very reminiscent of Ash from the Evil Dead in certain moments. I do wish the female characters were more emotionally developed instead of just romantic interests. This is only book one, of course, so I hope to see them grow into strong female characters as the series continues. My other wish is that we spent more time with the monsters! They were really imaginative and the way in which they tie in to the narrative is really cool. I wanted to feel more suspense and see them on scene a little longer. Side note-this would be a great graphic novel! ;) Overall, would say this is a 3.5 Star read for me, but I am interested in seeing how the series progresses! Book #2 is due out in 2018 from what I understand, so now is a great time to check it out and see what you think!
Profile Image for Jackie McCarthy.
39 reviews8 followers
July 1, 2019
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

So...my honest opinion? What the actual bleep did I just read?!? Monsters, The Pig Man and a solid gold bat come together to give us a story about the apocalypse and one man’s journey to save his beloved.

What kept me going here was the humor. The small quips and one-liners, along with plenty of gore, made this story. Being from Long Island, I loved the setting specifically because I could picture the scenes. There was plenty of action and a lot of characters. Personally, I would have enjoyed the characters developed a bit more, especially the 2 female characters. I did have an issue with how they were explained. It felt a bit stale and outdated, like women are essentially helpless.

The story moves very quickly and while some characters do seem unnecessary and some of the wording a tad jerky, the premise is original and wholly fun. As a debut work, this story is exactly what was promised: a man, a golden bat and the end of the world. I do look forward to future work by the author, and hopefully a second book for our dear friend Dexter.
Profile Image for Stephanie Gould.
2 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2018
I'm the narrator of the upcoming audiobook version of Dexter Boomstick and I LOVE this book so much!
Profile Image for John.
129 reviews9 followers
November 2, 2018
An interesting read

Of you the dark humor of Army of Darkkness, Boomstick is your guy. Those old little league skills come handy when all he'll breaks loose. A unique golden bat made of stolen crucifixes turns out to be the one saving grace for a small town. And yes, his name is Boomstick.
Profile Image for Missy (myweereads).
776 reviews30 followers
April 23, 2018
“They’re in my head. They’re in my head. There’s in my head. They’re in my head. They’re in my head”

Dexter Boomstick by M.P. Lombardo is the story of 30 year old Dexter “Boomstick” Reynolds, a store manager at a sporting goods shop who was a legendary bat swinger back in the day. He finds himself in the possession of a real gold baseball bat which he has to use against the self proclaimed Pig Monster, Roy Hecht because he’s kidnapped his girlfriend Roxanne.

I went into this book blind and I’m glad I did as it made the reading experience even more bizarre. The book was not what I expected it to be at all!!!

Dexter is the protagonist and he’s such a kind hearted character. His role in this story is to make everybody feel safe and he does just that. We meet an array of other characters which fit perfectly into this bizarre tale.

The story itself was surprising. I didn’t think I would laugh as much as I did reading a book about monsters and brutal death. The humour is what I loved about this novel and the big reveal towards the end. It’s hard talking about a book without revealing too much.

This is a fast paced monster story that reminds us that feeding the demons in our heads can make them real. It makes several nods at some brilliant horror stories I’ve seen on screen and read over the years and with the humour a fun read as well. Definite 3.75 🌟 So if you’re looking for a short, funny, monster horror read then pick up Dexter Boomstick!!

Huge thanks to M.P. Lombardo for sending me a copy of your book and I look forward to the second part in the Boomstick saga 😁
Profile Image for Janice Clark.
Author 4 books9 followers
February 5, 2018
I'll get my gripe out of the way first: "book 1" suggests there's a "book 2" but doesn't tell you it's a serial (ending with a cliff-hanger, to be continued) as opposed to a series (each book a stand-alone with complete story arc). However, the book is well-written, very imaginative, and moves along rapidly. There's a lot of violence, a high body count, and a much higher "ick" factor than I care for, but that's a matter of taste. The bat is an especially interesting gimmick.
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