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Bad man
From Dathan Auerbach, the author of the horror sensation Penpal, a hauntingly dark novel about a young boy who goes missing, and the brother who won't stop looking for him.Eric disappeared when he was three years old. Ben looked away for only a second at the grocery store, but that was all it took. His brother was gone. Vanished into the sticky air of the Florida Panhandle.Five years later, Ben is still looking for his brother. Still searching, while his stepmother sits and waits and whispers for Eric, refusing to leave the house that Ben's father can no longer afford. Now twenty and desperate for work, Ben takes a job on the night stock crew at the only place that will have the store that blinked Eric out of existence.Ben can feel there's something wrong there. With the people. With his boss. With the graffitied baler that shudders and groans and beckons. But he's in the right place. He knows the store has much to show him, so he keeps searching. Except Ben misses the most important thing of all.That he should have stopped looking.
Hardcover
First published August 7, 2018
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About the author
Dathan Auerbach
4 books1,485 followersDATHAN AUERBACH was born in the southern U.S. and has lived there for most of his life. In 2011, he began posting a series of stories to a forum dedicated to horror. After a Kickstarter campaign that raised over 1000% of its goal, he was able to release the revised and expanded versions of his story as the novel Penpal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,057 reviews
January 1, 2021
Last book of 2020, finished on a strong note! Dathan Auerbach definitely excels with the creep factor, especially writing about terrible events involving children. Like Penpal, the ending is not what you’d think - or hope for.
August 15, 2018
As a long-time browser of r/NoSleep and fan of Dathan’s work, when I learned that Bad Man was being released, I was so excited. To learn that he was coming out with his first ever full-length novel—and his first new work in way too long—had me rushing to request this one, and I was beyond excited when I was approved for an ARC. That said, the end result left me with some very mixed thoughts about the execution of this story.
First, let me say that if you find yourself particularly susceptible to stories about child abduction, proceed with caution on this one. As a mother to a two-year-old, I rarely pick up books about kidnappings because they tend to wreak havoc on my emotional wellbeing, but since it was Dathan writing this one, I decided to give it a chance. While I never felt like I needed to DNF it, there were a few times where I had to put down my e-reader and do something else for a while, and I definitely shed a few tears (and cuddled my kiddo a lot in between chapters). The best execution of the entire storyline is the grief, and it is just written out so flawlessly that you can’t help but feel your heart break right alongside Ben’s.
The rest of the book’s various facets left me feeling ambivalent, frankly. It seemed as though every individual aspect to the storytelling just took things a little too far: the atmosphere was magnificently immersive until it became too repetitive, the red herrings were a whirlwind until they became too unreliable, and the unreliability of Ben’s narrative was a tremendous source of suspense until it began to feel like plot holes. More than anything, the slow burn of the story’s buildup was perfect for creating a nauseating sense of dread, until it reached a length at which I found myself simply ready for it to hurry up and end. Each of these complaints boil down to one thing: if this book had been 50-100 pages shorter, I bet it would have been a perfect 5-star read for me.
All of that aside, it was obviously still an enjoyable read; that 3-star rating is more of a 3.5, and there were a lot of lesser aspects that I thought were great touches of detail. Ben is disabled and overweight, and while there is a bit of fat-shaming and ableism in regards to both of these things, I enjoyed the complexity it lent to his overall struggles and the back story he eventually came around to giving, explaining how he received his injury, and what that lack of mobility did to the rest of his daily life experiences.
Was Bad Man a perfect read? No. It’s lengthy, it misses opportunities left and right, and to be totally fair, the ending left me with a sense of dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to shake in the days since I finished reading it. Regardless, Dathan has a knack for plot lines and creepy settings, and my slightly lackluster response to this story will absolutely not slow me down when it comes time to reach for his next release, whenever that may be.
Content warnings for child abduction, abuse, fat shaming, ableism, substance addiction, racism, brief slur usage
All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Doubleday Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!
He’s not coming home. It was the only echo that seemed to get louder over time, and Ben couldn’t deny that it had changed him, worn him down.
First, let me say that if you find yourself particularly susceptible to stories about child abduction, proceed with caution on this one. As a mother to a two-year-old, I rarely pick up books about kidnappings because they tend to wreak havoc on my emotional wellbeing, but since it was Dathan writing this one, I decided to give it a chance. While I never felt like I needed to DNF it, there were a few times where I had to put down my e-reader and do something else for a while, and I definitely shed a few tears (and cuddled my kiddo a lot in between chapters). The best execution of the entire storyline is the grief, and it is just written out so flawlessly that you can’t help but feel your heart break right alongside Ben’s.
The sound was what Ben noticed the most. There was so much less to hear now, but Ben still listened.
The rest of the book’s various facets left me feeling ambivalent, frankly. It seemed as though every individual aspect to the storytelling just took things a little too far: the atmosphere was magnificently immersive until it became too repetitive, the red herrings were a whirlwind until they became too unreliable, and the unreliability of Ben’s narrative was a tremendous source of suspense until it began to feel like plot holes. More than anything, the slow burn of the story’s buildup was perfect for creating a nauseating sense of dread, until it reached a length at which I found myself simply ready for it to hurry up and end. Each of these complaints boil down to one thing: if this book had been 50-100 pages shorter, I bet it would have been a perfect 5-star read for me.
Every person has a day that transforms trust into a choice, when he learns that people lie for reasons all their own.
All of that aside, it was obviously still an enjoyable read; that 3-star rating is more of a 3.5, and there were a lot of lesser aspects that I thought were great touches of detail. Ben is disabled and overweight, and while there is a bit of fat-shaming and ableism in regards to both of these things, I enjoyed the complexity it lent to his overall struggles and the back story he eventually came around to giving, explaining how he received his injury, and what that lack of mobility did to the rest of his daily life experiences.
I’ll never leave you, Ben’s heart sobbed. Tell him. Tell him that I’ll stay with him forever. Even if that means neither of us can never ever leave, I’ll stay.
Was Bad Man a perfect read? No. It’s lengthy, it misses opportunities left and right, and to be totally fair, the ending left me with a sense of dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to shake in the days since I finished reading it. Regardless, Dathan has a knack for plot lines and creepy settings, and my slightly lackluster response to this story will absolutely not slow me down when it comes time to reach for his next release, whenever that may be.
Content warnings for child abduction, abuse, fat shaming, ableism, substance addiction, racism, brief slur usage
All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Doubleday Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!
July 17, 2018
3.5/5 stars
Eric and Ben are not only brothers, but friends. Ben is Eric's older brother and not only loves his brother, but is extremely protective. One day, while at the small Northern Florida town's grocery store, Eric goes missing. Eric's disappearance becomes a media circus for the town, and the family is distraught. Ben is devastated, but also feels responsible, and he will stop at nothing to find his younger brother—knocking on doors, putting up flyers, and searching for Eric daily. Five years later, the town's police force is exhausted with Eric's search, but Ben continues his search for his beloved brother. Ben has now graduated high school, but his drive is dismal, to say the least. While searching for work, Ben ends up landing a job as an overnight stock rep for the grocery store that Eric disappeared from. While working at this grocery store, Ben senses that things are not quite what they seem—his boss is a total jerk, while the staff all seem to be hiding secrets of their own.
Bad Man is a character-driven, coming of age, creepy tale that will keep you guessing until the end. I have never read anything by Dathan Auerbach before, but I've heard good things about Penpal, so I was excited to pick this up. This story differs from many stories that I've recently picked up— Bad Man takes place in the south, but has a "middle America" vibe. The book is slightly homophobic, while it's characters are non-elitest and ignorant. At first, I almost immediately stopped reading once the gay jokes came out by the characters, but then had to remember the time and place in which this story takes place. We never get an exact answer to when this story takes place, but I get '80s or early '90s vibes. I grew up in New York all my life and live in somewhat of a liberal bubble, so my patience with socio-economic insults and generalizations is lacking, so reading Bad Man was kind of cathartic for me because it allowed me to see a world in which I do not live, but is still part of the country that I call home. What makes Bad Man so interesting, is that it's a crime-fiction novel that also deals with a lot of social concepts that America has been polarized for: racism, sexuality, gender norms, etc. While I found the story lacking in horror, I thoroughly enjoyed it's raw and real characterizations of it's characters. I teetered between 3 and 3.5 for my rating until the end—the story's wrap up is not only satisfying, but insanely creepy and shocking.
Thank you Doubleday Books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Bad Man will be released August 7, 2018.
Eric and Ben are not only brothers, but friends. Ben is Eric's older brother and not only loves his brother, but is extremely protective. One day, while at the small Northern Florida town's grocery store, Eric goes missing. Eric's disappearance becomes a media circus for the town, and the family is distraught. Ben is devastated, but also feels responsible, and he will stop at nothing to find his younger brother—knocking on doors, putting up flyers, and searching for Eric daily. Five years later, the town's police force is exhausted with Eric's search, but Ben continues his search for his beloved brother. Ben has now graduated high school, but his drive is dismal, to say the least. While searching for work, Ben ends up landing a job as an overnight stock rep for the grocery store that Eric disappeared from. While working at this grocery store, Ben senses that things are not quite what they seem—his boss is a total jerk, while the staff all seem to be hiding secrets of their own.
Bad Man is a character-driven, coming of age, creepy tale that will keep you guessing until the end. I have never read anything by Dathan Auerbach before, but I've heard good things about Penpal, so I was excited to pick this up. This story differs from many stories that I've recently picked up— Bad Man takes place in the south, but has a "middle America" vibe. The book is slightly homophobic, while it's characters are non-elitest and ignorant. At first, I almost immediately stopped reading once the gay jokes came out by the characters, but then had to remember the time and place in which this story takes place. We never get an exact answer to when this story takes place, but I get '80s or early '90s vibes. I grew up in New York all my life and live in somewhat of a liberal bubble, so my patience with socio-economic insults and generalizations is lacking, so reading Bad Man was kind of cathartic for me because it allowed me to see a world in which I do not live, but is still part of the country that I call home. What makes Bad Man so interesting, is that it's a crime-fiction novel that also deals with a lot of social concepts that America has been polarized for: racism, sexuality, gender norms, etc. While I found the story lacking in horror, I thoroughly enjoyed it's raw and real characterizations of it's characters. I teetered between 3 and 3.5 for my rating until the end—the story's wrap up is not only satisfying, but insanely creepy and shocking.
Thank you Doubleday Books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Bad Man will be released August 7, 2018.
August 2, 2018
When I learned I would be getting an advanced reading copy of, Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach, I went ahead and ordered his first book, PenPal.
Horror readers are really polarized about PenPal, falling pretty consistently on one side of the fence or the other. A little research on the internet taught me that PenPal was a novelization of Auerbach’s collected subReddit stories that he then published through his own imprint after the stories gained a huge following. After reading it, I would say that I’m on the side of the fence of fans that felt like PenPal was original, unsettling and creepy.
I was excited by the potential I was seeing in the compelling and realistic narration and was eager to see it develop further in a longer, more linear storyline.
Bad Man is the story of a young man named Ben who is looking after his younger brother when he disappears suddenly in a local grocery store.
Haunted by the lack of closure Ben receives about the mysterious disappearance, he becomes obsessed with finding him--even to the point of taking a job, some years later, in the same grocery store where the tragedy happened.
Dathan set up the story well in the beginning of the novel: Compelling character development with our protagonist, Ben, lots of ambiguous clues to collect and mull over and an interesting cast of characters to scrutinize and grow suspicious of as the story moves along.
However, pretty early on, I began to lose interest. The author spends copious amounts of time with detailed descriptions of the grocery store and in the minutia of Ben’s work days. A few co-workers are introduced and there are some long stretches of dialog that wore on my patience. I found myself yearning for the author to return to the mystery or to start building some suspense and tension.
A character named Marty is introduced and while he’s an interesting person, I felt like he was distracting and pulled attention away from Ben. His character arc was frustrating to me--there were several times I recognized some unmotivated behavior and I had to re-read scenes to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Much like if you watch a stage play where the actors wander to and fro upstage and downstage during a scene or a monologue without any real cause to do so--in the acting business, that’s called unmotivated blocking and Marty was guilty of that so often I became irritated by it. The author’s notes at the end about that particular character softened me a little more to him but it didn’t clarify any of the questions or confusion I had to his actual involvement in the story.
This book had a lot of issues for me. The writing had some solid moments of greatness where I would begin to hope that the hook was right around the corner, only to turn down an empty path that led to nowhere again. The plot shuffled along giving me the sense that this would have made a much better story if it were tighter, cleaner and leaner. Given the success of PenPal and the solid character development in Bad Man, I would definitely give Dathan Auerbach another read so I hope he has more creepy stories that need to be told!
Horror readers are really polarized about PenPal, falling pretty consistently on one side of the fence or the other. A little research on the internet taught me that PenPal was a novelization of Auerbach’s collected subReddit stories that he then published through his own imprint after the stories gained a huge following. After reading it, I would say that I’m on the side of the fence of fans that felt like PenPal was original, unsettling and creepy.
I was excited by the potential I was seeing in the compelling and realistic narration and was eager to see it develop further in a longer, more linear storyline.
Bad Man is the story of a young man named Ben who is looking after his younger brother when he disappears suddenly in a local grocery store.
Haunted by the lack of closure Ben receives about the mysterious disappearance, he becomes obsessed with finding him--even to the point of taking a job, some years later, in the same grocery store where the tragedy happened.
Dathan set up the story well in the beginning of the novel: Compelling character development with our protagonist, Ben, lots of ambiguous clues to collect and mull over and an interesting cast of characters to scrutinize and grow suspicious of as the story moves along.
However, pretty early on, I began to lose interest. The author spends copious amounts of time with detailed descriptions of the grocery store and in the minutia of Ben’s work days. A few co-workers are introduced and there are some long stretches of dialog that wore on my patience. I found myself yearning for the author to return to the mystery or to start building some suspense and tension.
A character named Marty is introduced and while he’s an interesting person, I felt like he was distracting and pulled attention away from Ben. His character arc was frustrating to me--there were several times I recognized some unmotivated behavior and I had to re-read scenes to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Much like if you watch a stage play where the actors wander to and fro upstage and downstage during a scene or a monologue without any real cause to do so--in the acting business, that’s called unmotivated blocking and Marty was guilty of that so often I became irritated by it. The author’s notes at the end about that particular character softened me a little more to him but it didn’t clarify any of the questions or confusion I had to his actual involvement in the story.
This book had a lot of issues for me. The writing had some solid moments of greatness where I would begin to hope that the hook was right around the corner, only to turn down an empty path that led to nowhere again. The plot shuffled along giving me the sense that this would have made a much better story if it were tighter, cleaner and leaner. Given the success of PenPal and the solid character development in Bad Man, I would definitely give Dathan Auerbach another read so I hope he has more creepy stories that need to be told!
July 30, 2018
DNF @ Page 140.
I gave this book two chances. The first seventy or so pages didn’t grab me, so I started over. Things went better, until . . . I became bored. And more bored. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough here to carry a novel. A young man’s younger brother goes missing in a grocery store, and said young man gets a job in said grocery store a few years later.
This is the author’s first full-length novel, and it shows. The story feels endless, rambly . . . and just not interesting.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy. This one releases on August 7.
I gave this book two chances. The first seventy or so pages didn’t grab me, so I started over. Things went better, until . . . I became bored. And more bored. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough here to carry a novel. A young man’s younger brother goes missing in a grocery store, and said young man gets a job in said grocery store a few years later.
This is the author’s first full-length novel, and it shows. The story feels endless, rambly . . . and just not interesting.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy. This one releases on August 7.
March 5, 2018
When I think about what makes a good horror story, one of the most important components is the atmosphere. Auerbach sets us up in a small Floridian town and then strips us of all sense of security and comfort. He surrounds his characters with grief, poverty, and suspicion, and therefore creates a perfect setting for this creepy tale that weaves real-life horror with a little something extra.
Eric has been missing for five years and no one has any answers as to what could have happened to him. His big brother, Ben, was the last one to see him and seems to be the only one committed to still searching for him. When Ben takes a job at the same store where Eric went missing, strange things begin to occur that convince him that someone does know what happened to Eric and they're trying to reach out to him. But is it to help him or to stop him from asking questions?
The Bad Man will leave you guessing. The unreliable narrator, the creepy store setting, and Ben's shady coworkers and friends all manage to introduce more questions as you read than they answer. I found the book to be quite engrossing; however, the ending was wholly unsatisfying in that there were several strings left hanging that made even the epilogue seem incomplete.
I would recommend this book to lovers of horror and mystery that don't mind a story that leaves you with lots of questions at the end. This one isn't tied up with a neat little bow. And if you don't mind filling in the blanks for yourself, this is definitely the book for you.
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Doubleday, and the author for providing an ARC of this book for me to read and review.**
Eric has been missing for five years and no one has any answers as to what could have happened to him. His big brother, Ben, was the last one to see him and seems to be the only one committed to still searching for him. When Ben takes a job at the same store where Eric went missing, strange things begin to occur that convince him that someone does know what happened to Eric and they're trying to reach out to him. But is it to help him or to stop him from asking questions?
The Bad Man will leave you guessing. The unreliable narrator, the creepy store setting, and Ben's shady coworkers and friends all manage to introduce more questions as you read than they answer. I found the book to be quite engrossing; however, the ending was wholly unsatisfying in that there were several strings left hanging that made even the epilogue seem incomplete.
I would recommend this book to lovers of horror and mystery that don't mind a story that leaves you with lots of questions at the end. This one isn't tied up with a neat little bow. And if you don't mind filling in the blanks for yourself, this is definitely the book for you.
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Doubleday, and the author for providing an ARC of this book for me to read and review.**
July 18, 2018
Nota real: 2.5 estrellas
Este libro lo tenía todo para encantarme: un niño desaparecido misteriosamente, símbolos extraños, un pueblo pequeño, personajes que parecen ocultar terribles secretos... sin embargo, me resultó pesado y algo desesperante.
La editorial me envío un ARC sin correcciones, por lo cual, quiero pensar que a la versión final un buen editor le metió mano y -quizá- muchos de los problemas que tuve con la forma en que está escrita la historia, se corrigieron.
Ben es un adolescente con sobrepeso (lo cual nos van a recordar cada tres párrafos) y con una discapacidad motriz, resultado de un accidente que sufrió en su infancia. Esto no le previene de cuidar y jugar con su hermano menor, Eric. Un día, su madrastra les pide que vayan a la tienda de autoservicio a comprar los ingredientes para la cena. Mientras Ben está intentando tener todo en orden, Eric desaparece misteriosamente.
De aquí la historia brinca 5 años, Ben tiene ahora 20, ha terminado al fin la preparatoria y está desesperado por conseguir un trabajo para ayudar a su papá y a su madrastra a pagar las cuentas. Como se imaginan, nada ha vuelto a ser lo mismo desde que el pequeño Eric desapareció. Es así como Ben consigue un trabajo en la misma tienda de autoservicio en la que su hermanito desapareció.
Su turno es nocturno, por lo cual, nos vamos a encontrar en el ambiente perfecto para que cosas extrañas, manifestaciones ¿sobrenaturales? y extraños símbolos comiencen a aparecer, indicando que la desaparición de Eric tiene que ver con algo mucho más siniestro que un simple secuestro.
Suena súper, ¿no? El problema es la forma que tiene de escribir Auerbach. Es tediosa, lenta y desesperante. Hay un puñado de buenas ideas en esta novela, el autor intenta incorporarlas todas y acaba por no poder concretar ninguna satisfactoriamente. Otra cosa que me molestó es que nunca se especifica el año en el que la historia está ocurriendo (al menos en mi edición, que todavía no está corregida). Asumí que fue algún punto en los 90, ya que nadie tiene celulares y tener un discman es lo más común de la vida.
Hay momentos muy tétricos, lo malo es que se vuelven planos porque no se logran conectar con el resto de la trama. Parece ser que finalmente llegaste a un punto de mucha tensión y de pronto todo se vuelve a caer. Muchos de los que parecen los más grandes misterios quedan sin resolver o se les da una explicación más bien decepcionante.
En fin, como les digo, quiero pensar que la edición corregida probablemente sea mucho mejor que lo que a mi me tocó leer. Además, me chismearon por ahí que no falta mucho para que salga en español y quizá la traducción sea más fluida y fácil de leer.
Como dato curioso, el primer libro de Auerbach "Penpal" surgió a raíz de los creepypastas que él publicaba en Reddit y que se volvieron extremadamente populares.
Este libro lo tenía todo para encantarme: un niño desaparecido misteriosamente, símbolos extraños, un pueblo pequeño, personajes que parecen ocultar terribles secretos... sin embargo, me resultó pesado y algo desesperante.
La editorial me envío un ARC sin correcciones, por lo cual, quiero pensar que a la versión final un buen editor le metió mano y -quizá- muchos de los problemas que tuve con la forma en que está escrita la historia, se corrigieron.
Ben es un adolescente con sobrepeso (lo cual nos van a recordar cada tres párrafos) y con una discapacidad motriz, resultado de un accidente que sufrió en su infancia. Esto no le previene de cuidar y jugar con su hermano menor, Eric. Un día, su madrastra les pide que vayan a la tienda de autoservicio a comprar los ingredientes para la cena. Mientras Ben está intentando tener todo en orden, Eric desaparece misteriosamente.
De aquí la historia brinca 5 años, Ben tiene ahora 20, ha terminado al fin la preparatoria y está desesperado por conseguir un trabajo para ayudar a su papá y a su madrastra a pagar las cuentas. Como se imaginan, nada ha vuelto a ser lo mismo desde que el pequeño Eric desapareció. Es así como Ben consigue un trabajo en la misma tienda de autoservicio en la que su hermanito desapareció.
Su turno es nocturno, por lo cual, nos vamos a encontrar en el ambiente perfecto para que cosas extrañas, manifestaciones ¿sobrenaturales? y extraños símbolos comiencen a aparecer, indicando que la desaparición de Eric tiene que ver con algo mucho más siniestro que un simple secuestro.
Suena súper, ¿no? El problema es la forma que tiene de escribir Auerbach. Es tediosa, lenta y desesperante. Hay un puñado de buenas ideas en esta novela, el autor intenta incorporarlas todas y acaba por no poder concretar ninguna satisfactoriamente. Otra cosa que me molestó es que nunca se especifica el año en el que la historia está ocurriendo (al menos en mi edición, que todavía no está corregida). Asumí que fue algún punto en los 90, ya que nadie tiene celulares y tener un discman es lo más común de la vida.
Hay momentos muy tétricos, lo malo es que se vuelven planos porque no se logran conectar con el resto de la trama. Parece ser que finalmente llegaste a un punto de mucha tensión y de pronto todo se vuelve a caer. Muchos de los que parecen los más grandes misterios quedan sin resolver o se les da una explicación más bien decepcionante.
En fin, como les digo, quiero pensar que la edición corregida probablemente sea mucho mejor que lo que a mi me tocó leer. Además, me chismearon por ahí que no falta mucho para que salga en español y quizá la traducción sea más fluida y fácil de leer.
Como dato curioso, el primer libro de Auerbach "Penpal" surgió a raíz de los creepypastas que él publicaba en Reddit y que se volvieron extremadamente populares.
April 1, 2025
I didn't know anything about this book before I started it. The cover hinted at retail horror, one of my favourite types if horror, so I figured why not. There is indeed a retail horror aspect to this book which I did enjoy. The characters were pretty good too. For the most part I did like this book but the last 20% of the book just were not it for me.
August 23, 2018
BAD MAN, by Dathan Auerbach, is the first book I have read by this author. While there were some horrific elements (the loss of a child would hit just about anyone as horror), I saw this as more of a mystery/sometimes delving into fantasy. I found myself reading just to get to the ending and final solution.
That being said, I just don't think this book was right for me. There were things that I considered more "sad" than "horror" here, and that just wasn't what I was hoping for. Also, I felt that there was a LOT of excess information that we really didn't need at all--the book could easily have taken out over a 100 pages, without missing any crucial information.
Personally, just not my taste, but I'm sure it would appeal more to a different audience.
**I received an arc of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**
That being said, I just don't think this book was right for me. There were things that I considered more "sad" than "horror" here, and that just wasn't what I was hoping for. Also, I felt that there was a LOT of excess information that we really didn't need at all--the book could easily have taken out over a 100 pages, without missing any crucial information.
Personally, just not my taste, but I'm sure it would appeal more to a different audience.
**I received an arc of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**
August 7, 2024
This was awful. I’m proud of myself for finishing it 😂. Big brother loses little brother at the grocery store. Big brother tries to find him. That’s the plot. Ok fine. But very little or NOTHING happens for long stretches of this novel. It is so slow. Ben, the older brother, is a horrible character. He isn’t likeable. I didn’t care if he found the kid or not. There are things that get mentioned like they’re going to be important to the plot but they are forgotten. Also, terrible payoff at the end.
⭐️ 1/2
⭐️ 1/2
August 20, 2018
To be most accurate, Dathan Auerbach's Bad Man is a good 3.5 star rating for me. Two children stumbling upon a body is where we begin this tale. Who's body we're unaware of at the time but there's much speculation once we get into the girth of the story.
Ben is charged with going to get groceries for the family with his young brother Eric. As he and Eric shop for their belongings, the younger of the two needs to use the bathroom. After a mishap with Eric's stuffed animal in an effort to clean him, Ben looks up to find that his younger brother has disappeared.
Everyone's worse nightmare is to lose their child anywhere especially with the amount of crazies in the world. Imagine being a young boy and carrying the guilt of the loss with you everywhere you go?
Bad Man skips ahead five years and continues with Ben looking for his lost little brother. He receives a job in the very grocery store that he lost Eric in. Against his (and his parents') better judgement, he works the night shift stocking the shelves. Ben hopes he might find something he may have missed over the years.
Ultimately, what kept me drawn into this novel is not only the hope that Ben finds Eric, but it is Ben and his incredible drive. He's an overweight kid with a bad leg as a result of a car crash. At times this handicap renders him almost useless, but he finds a way to persevere. He walks miles and miles knocking on doors, talking to neighbors, even breaking into places where his brother might be hidden.
There's not a day that goes by that Ben isn't haunted with Eric's ghost...
This also leaves us readers with trying to decipher between what's real and isn't. There were many moments I figured that Ben was going through some sort of psychological breakdown and that things were definitely looking strange. Even with this title being touted as horror, I didn't get that element of suspense or supernatural until a little later in the novel but by then I was over it.
Auerbach does a great job of introducing a sympathetic protagonist that carries the weight of the story for so long that I wanted him to be just taken out of his misery. I guess it was my misery as well. Is Eric alive? Will he be found? All signs point to some crazy places but I just need to know. This is my gripe. The anticipation of the ending only to be left with an unfulfilled feeling. There's a big plot twist that I feel was never really explained or explored. Yes going that route of the plot twist may have seemed obvious, but you can't put miscellaneous information out there and expect readers like me not to wonder what happened to it.
Essentially, Dathan Auerbach's Bad Man is an interesting and compelling read. Although I wasn't too happy with the ending, taking this journey with anyone else. His drive and determination kept me hooked. I felt that Ben didn't deserve the hardships he'd been dealt and I hoped that he would be OK. Please read to find out if he is OK...
Copy Provided by Doubleday Books via Netgalley
The Author's Note is worth reading at the end!!!
Ben is charged with going to get groceries for the family with his young brother Eric. As he and Eric shop for their belongings, the younger of the two needs to use the bathroom. After a mishap with Eric's stuffed animal in an effort to clean him, Ben looks up to find that his younger brother has disappeared.
Everyone's worse nightmare is to lose their child anywhere especially with the amount of crazies in the world. Imagine being a young boy and carrying the guilt of the loss with you everywhere you go?
Bad Man skips ahead five years and continues with Ben looking for his lost little brother. He receives a job in the very grocery store that he lost Eric in. Against his (and his parents') better judgement, he works the night shift stocking the shelves. Ben hopes he might find something he may have missed over the years.
Ultimately, what kept me drawn into this novel is not only the hope that Ben finds Eric, but it is Ben and his incredible drive. He's an overweight kid with a bad leg as a result of a car crash. At times this handicap renders him almost useless, but he finds a way to persevere. He walks miles and miles knocking on doors, talking to neighbors, even breaking into places where his brother might be hidden.
There's not a day that goes by that Ben isn't haunted with Eric's ghost...
This also leaves us readers with trying to decipher between what's real and isn't. There were many moments I figured that Ben was going through some sort of psychological breakdown and that things were definitely looking strange. Even with this title being touted as horror, I didn't get that element of suspense or supernatural until a little later in the novel but by then I was over it.
Auerbach does a great job of introducing a sympathetic protagonist that carries the weight of the story for so long that I wanted him to be just taken out of his misery. I guess it was my misery as well. Is Eric alive? Will he be found? All signs point to some crazy places but I just need to know. This is my gripe. The anticipation of the ending only to be left with an unfulfilled feeling. There's a big plot twist that I feel was never really explained or explored. Yes going that route of the plot twist may have seemed obvious, but you can't put miscellaneous information out there and expect readers like me not to wonder what happened to it.
Essentially, Dathan Auerbach's Bad Man is an interesting and compelling read. Although I wasn't too happy with the ending, taking this journey with anyone else. His drive and determination kept me hooked. I felt that Ben didn't deserve the hardships he'd been dealt and I hoped that he would be OK. Please read to find out if he is OK...
Copy Provided by Doubleday Books via Netgalley
The Author's Note is worth reading at the end!!!
July 22, 2018
This ARC was provided to the Night Worms by Doubleday in exchange for an honest review.
I've been thinking about how to review this one for a few days now. Some of the Night Worms actually had a discussion about the book before we reviewed it. We almost never do that, but it seemed like something that was necessary because a few of us were struggling with the rating for this book.
Basically, I think there is a good story here, I just felt like this novel is overly long. It's starts with an utterly terrifying situation. A young boy takes his 3-year-old brother to the local grocery store to pick up some items for his parents, and his younger brother disappears. The book then flashes forward 5 years, and it's at this point that the story starts to crawl. The younger brother is still missing, and Ben, the protagonist and older brother, can't stop blaming himself and continues to look for his brother. He even takes a stocking job at the grocery store where his brother disappeared.
Somewhere around the halfway point the book sort of picks up and you start to think that maybe some answers will be revealed, but it's literally not until the very final pages of the book that you truly know what happens. And those pages between the middle of the novel and the end are a slog. I was trying to finish this one up, mostly because I needed to know after investing so much time in it, but also because my family was waiting for me to eat with them, and I literally said out loud at one point "this book is never going to end". It just keeps going, and actually becomes confusing and a bit hard to swallow when you finally learn the fate of Ben's brother. I honestly feel that this book could have been half as long and much more effective. So much of the book seems to exist just to force the reader to question every character in the novel.
There's an interesting and sad story here, I just feel like ultimately it was buried under too many false clues and obfuscation. There are whole passages where the protagonist just walks for hours and it seems like things of that nature could have been trimmed down significantly. This one would have worked so much better as a much shorter novel.
I've been thinking about how to review this one for a few days now. Some of the Night Worms actually had a discussion about the book before we reviewed it. We almost never do that, but it seemed like something that was necessary because a few of us were struggling with the rating for this book.
Basically, I think there is a good story here, I just felt like this novel is overly long. It's starts with an utterly terrifying situation. A young boy takes his 3-year-old brother to the local grocery store to pick up some items for his parents, and his younger brother disappears. The book then flashes forward 5 years, and it's at this point that the story starts to crawl. The younger brother is still missing, and Ben, the protagonist and older brother, can't stop blaming himself and continues to look for his brother. He even takes a stocking job at the grocery store where his brother disappeared.
Somewhere around the halfway point the book sort of picks up and you start to think that maybe some answers will be revealed, but it's literally not until the very final pages of the book that you truly know what happens. And those pages between the middle of the novel and the end are a slog. I was trying to finish this one up, mostly because I needed to know after investing so much time in it, but also because my family was waiting for me to eat with them, and I literally said out loud at one point "this book is never going to end". It just keeps going, and actually becomes confusing and a bit hard to swallow when you finally learn the fate of Ben's brother. I honestly feel that this book could have been half as long and much more effective. So much of the book seems to exist just to force the reader to question every character in the novel.
There's an interesting and sad story here, I just feel like ultimately it was buried under too many false clues and obfuscation. There are whole passages where the protagonist just walks for hours and it seems like things of that nature could have been trimmed down significantly. This one would have worked so much better as a much shorter novel.
August 7, 2018
If you'd like to see a video review of BAD MAN, click HERE. If you prefer written reviews, read on!
BAD MAN follows the story of a young man named Ben whose life has been crumbling around him ever since his little brother was kidnapped at a grocery store five years ago while in Ben's care. In hopes of finding his brother, Ben takes on a job at the grocery, feeling like the store might hold the secret to his brother's disappearance. Sure enough, he may be right.
While this novel is categorized as horror, I would simply call it a thriller. The story is dark, sure, but it never reached too far into the darkness that I felt like I was reading a horror story. There was some creepy dream imagery, but that's about all. So don't go into this expecting anything but a mystery/thriller.
Therefore, BAD MAN focuses less on scares and more on characters, especially Ben and his coworker Marty who he meets when starting his job at the supermarket. I really liked Marty as a character and found it sweet that Dathan Auerbach based the character off a real-life friend who he once worked with at a supermarket.
Since the book does focus more on the emotional aspect of the story, there were times when I felt attached to what was happening, but I wasn't as moved as I wanted to be. I believe the reason for this is BAD MAN's pacing. Auerbach takes his time with the story, the twists being few and far between. The book either could have been cut down or there could have been more added in place of the meandering scenes.
Slowness aside, BAD MAN has a strong suit and that is it's characters and the doubts each one raises in the reader. You really can't trust anyone. Even Ben himself shows signs of being untrustworthy. The novel does a fine job of digging into the darkness of every person, no matter how nice they may seem. This adds to the overall paranoia and desperation of Ben's obsessive search for his brother.
In the end, I can't recommend BAD MAN, but I can't not recommend it either. It really depends on what you like as a reader. Just don't go into this expecting a page-turning horror story.
BAD MAN follows the story of a young man named Ben whose life has been crumbling around him ever since his little brother was kidnapped at a grocery store five years ago while in Ben's care. In hopes of finding his brother, Ben takes on a job at the grocery, feeling like the store might hold the secret to his brother's disappearance. Sure enough, he may be right.
While this novel is categorized as horror, I would simply call it a thriller. The story is dark, sure, but it never reached too far into the darkness that I felt like I was reading a horror story. There was some creepy dream imagery, but that's about all. So don't go into this expecting anything but a mystery/thriller.
Therefore, BAD MAN focuses less on scares and more on characters, especially Ben and his coworker Marty who he meets when starting his job at the supermarket. I really liked Marty as a character and found it sweet that Dathan Auerbach based the character off a real-life friend who he once worked with at a supermarket.
Since the book does focus more on the emotional aspect of the story, there were times when I felt attached to what was happening, but I wasn't as moved as I wanted to be. I believe the reason for this is BAD MAN's pacing. Auerbach takes his time with the story, the twists being few and far between. The book either could have been cut down or there could have been more added in place of the meandering scenes.
Slowness aside, BAD MAN has a strong suit and that is it's characters and the doubts each one raises in the reader. You really can't trust anyone. Even Ben himself shows signs of being untrustworthy. The novel does a fine job of digging into the darkness of every person, no matter how nice they may seem. This adds to the overall paranoia and desperation of Ben's obsessive search for his brother.
In the end, I can't recommend BAD MAN, but I can't not recommend it either. It really depends on what you like as a reader. Just don't go into this expecting a page-turning horror story.
June 20, 2025
Fuuuh. That was...something. We are starting 2022 on quite a strong note, I think!
I'm hesitant to talk much about this book in fear of spoiling anything. Is it a psychological...horror? Thriller? Mystery? Something in-between, I would say. Incredibly atmospheric, I felt this constant undercurrent anxiety about every little thing, and Ben's POV gave me claustrophobic feelings.
Ben is the kind of unreliable narrator that makes you, after some time, doubt absolutely everything, makes you jump to conclusions even though you know you shouldn't. The story kept me guessing helplessly till the end, it's full of red herrings and mostly I was in a constant state of "what the fuck" - which I bet not everyone likes, but it kept me on the edge and invested.
The story really kind of reminded me of good old King's novels. There are some unexplained things and not everything seemed very plausible, but at the end of the day, it was an incredibly haunting, a bit heavy, devastating story about a missing kid and his older brother looking for him in their small town. As the premise said, Ben probably should've stopped looking...
My only real complaint is that it easily could've been shorter, the first half was very slow, and I didn't feel the tension truly building at first. On the other hand, the last 70 pages or so were a real rollercoaster.
Also, the prologue is, after finishing the story, a real icing on the cake. Beautifully and subtly misleading. Hindsight is twenty-twenty...
A shout-out to the Author's note, aww. I may or may not have shed a tear...
I'm finding out I really enjoy Auerbach's storytelling, so I'm looking forward to more of his books, despite their (frankly baffling to me) low ratings.
I'm hesitant to talk much about this book in fear of spoiling anything. Is it a psychological...horror? Thriller? Mystery? Something in-between, I would say. Incredibly atmospheric, I felt this constant undercurrent anxiety about every little thing, and Ben's POV gave me claustrophobic feelings.
Ben is the kind of unreliable narrator that makes you, after some time, doubt absolutely everything, makes you jump to conclusions even though you know you shouldn't. The story kept me guessing helplessly till the end, it's full of red herrings and mostly I was in a constant state of "what the fuck" - which I bet not everyone likes, but it kept me on the edge and invested.
The story really kind of reminded me of good old King's novels. There are some unexplained things and not everything seemed very plausible, but at the end of the day, it was an incredibly haunting, a bit heavy, devastating story about a missing kid and his older brother looking for him in their small town. As the premise said, Ben probably should've stopped looking...
My only real complaint is that it easily could've been shorter, the first half was very slow, and I didn't feel the tension truly building at first. On the other hand, the last 70 pages or so were a real rollercoaster.
Also, the prologue is, after finishing the story, a real icing on the cake. Beautifully and subtly misleading. Hindsight is twenty-twenty...
A shout-out to the Author's note, aww. I may or may not have shed a tear...
I'm finding out I really enjoy Auerbach's storytelling, so I'm looking forward to more of his books, despite their (frankly baffling to me) low ratings.
August 16, 2018
Despite my best efforts, after making it nearly halfway through this book I just could not bring myself to go on and had to DNF. I kept hoping SOMETHING would happen to keep me engaged and it didn't. It shouldn't take nearly 200 pages for a book to reel me in, and from what I can tell, this one was never going to. I certainly cannot speak for everyone and would never say "do not buy this book!" Because everyone is different and what I found to be boring and quite repetitive, someone else may find intriguing. But for me, it definitely felt like way too much of the same thing with the very occasional "spooky" aspect tossed in as an attempt to keep the reader wanting more. For me it was a failure and I doubt I'll be giving this book a second chance in the future.
April 24, 2020
After reading Auerbach’s other novel Pen Pal and loving it, I had very high expectations for this one and they were met and even surpassed! I enjoyed this book even more than Pen Pal and that’s saying something. The story was just so gripping, it sunk its claws into me right at the very beginning and didn’t let go until I was left completely shook at the end. I know a lot of people found this book slow and that nothing happened but I have to disagree. I thought the pacing was spot on for the story and the tension slowly mounting and the little details starting to come together was perfect. This story ranges from mildly creepy at times to full blown terror and I absolutely LOVED every second of it!
January 27, 2018
Review: BAD MAN by Dathan Auerbach
An engrossing horror novel which seems to start out carefully, but almost immediately segues into flat-out horror, from then on BAD MAN is non-stop horror, tragedy, grief, suspense, terror. There are no "normal" folks in this story (except perhaps Clint, Ben and Eric's father, store cashier Chelsea and a neighbor, James) but I think these are present more as a reflective backdrop in which we watch the dysfunctional, the villainous, the evil, and the barely-human abusers.
This novel is rife with the constant churning ups and downs which must be common in all cases of abducted or missing children, or runaways, when the child has not been located, either alive and recoverable, or deceased: the long durations without news, the mistaken or willfully intentionally false sightings, the unending grief, the fraying of family connections, the awareness that the loved ones left behind no longer hold a connection with "normals" (read: the unbereaved). But throughout the horror is unrelinquished and unmitigated. Throughout is the Shadow of the Store, in which or from which a joyful three-year-old boy "disappeared." Throughout is the oppressive influence and personality of Store manager Bill Palmer. There is something wrong in this quiet, almost backwater, North Florida town. There is something wrong at the Store. There is a lot wrong in the protagonist. In the end, who or what is the responsible, the culpable party--and why?
An engrossing horror novel which seems to start out carefully, but almost immediately segues into flat-out horror, from then on BAD MAN is non-stop horror, tragedy, grief, suspense, terror. There are no "normal" folks in this story (except perhaps Clint, Ben and Eric's father, store cashier Chelsea and a neighbor, James) but I think these are present more as a reflective backdrop in which we watch the dysfunctional, the villainous, the evil, and the barely-human abusers.
This novel is rife with the constant churning ups and downs which must be common in all cases of abducted or missing children, or runaways, when the child has not been located, either alive and recoverable, or deceased: the long durations without news, the mistaken or willfully intentionally false sightings, the unending grief, the fraying of family connections, the awareness that the loved ones left behind no longer hold a connection with "normals" (read: the unbereaved). But throughout the horror is unrelinquished and unmitigated. Throughout is the Shadow of the Store, in which or from which a joyful three-year-old boy "disappeared." Throughout is the oppressive influence and personality of Store manager Bill Palmer. There is something wrong in this quiet, almost backwater, North Florida town. There is something wrong at the Store. There is a lot wrong in the protagonist. In the end, who or what is the responsible, the culpable party--and why?
December 23, 2018
A long, sad and painful read of a young man, Ben, who years ago, was in charge of watching his little brother, Eric, only to lose him at the local grocery store.
The recanting of the chain of events is distressing. Sometimes it makes sense, other times it seems skewed - by other people’s reactions? Is there a cover up by the police? Why are there no leads or clues? Is Ben hallucinating? The stepmother and father are emotionally damaged as a result of the kidnapping of their young son. Is there something bigger or sinister out there?
Ben literally beats himself up every day for this loss since he was responsible for Eric and now Eric is gone. Ben is not a healthy guy and this loss weighs on him heavily. There are no clues, no dog searches, no missing persons reports on the hotline. No interested action by the police.
Ben tries to keep Eric alive in his mind, with his drawings and his posting of Eric’s missing child posters. Ben continually canvasses the neighborhoods trying to get a lead on his missing brother. This poor guy is trying so hard; it appears as if everyone else has given up and it’s all on his shoulders. But then, Stampie, Eric’s stuffed toy he had in hand when he went missing, shows up, years later at the grocery store lost and found box. Now Ben becomes a possessed individual; he believes Eric is alive and is somewhere close.
Most of the pages in this book were of Ben continuously and tediously searching for Eric and working a job as a night stocker at the exact same grocery store where Eric was abducted; which is really weird. Ben has continual interactions with the police and other townfolk and grocery store staff that really clouds the details of this crime. We know something is up, just as Ben thinks, but we don’t know what is is, dammit! No one can quite get a read on anything, though there are lots of possibilities.
And then...
the end started to get more confusing and chilling to me and finally left me with a deep, dark dreadful feeling in my stomach.
3.5 stars for this one
The recanting of the chain of events is distressing. Sometimes it makes sense, other times it seems skewed - by other people’s reactions? Is there a cover up by the police? Why are there no leads or clues? Is Ben hallucinating? The stepmother and father are emotionally damaged as a result of the kidnapping of their young son. Is there something bigger or sinister out there?
Ben literally beats himself up every day for this loss since he was responsible for Eric and now Eric is gone. Ben is not a healthy guy and this loss weighs on him heavily. There are no clues, no dog searches, no missing persons reports on the hotline. No interested action by the police.
Ben tries to keep Eric alive in his mind, with his drawings and his posting of Eric’s missing child posters. Ben continually canvasses the neighborhoods trying to get a lead on his missing brother. This poor guy is trying so hard; it appears as if everyone else has given up and it’s all on his shoulders. But then, Stampie, Eric’s stuffed toy he had in hand when he went missing, shows up, years later at the grocery store lost and found box. Now Ben becomes a possessed individual; he believes Eric is alive and is somewhere close.
Most of the pages in this book were of Ben continuously and tediously searching for Eric and working a job as a night stocker at the exact same grocery store where Eric was abducted; which is really weird. Ben has continual interactions with the police and other townfolk and grocery store staff that really clouds the details of this crime. We know something is up, just as Ben thinks, but we don’t know what is is, dammit! No one can quite get a read on anything, though there are lots of possibilities.
And then...
the end started to get more confusing and chilling to me and finally left me with a deep, dark dreadful feeling in my stomach.
3.5 stars for this one
July 26, 2020
I absolutely cannot believe this book is 387 pages. It goes on and on and on and nothing of significance happens. The story - the real story hidden in all those pages - could have easily been told in a novella-length book, and it would have been a much better story.
An abduction occurs, a boy disappears, but all is not as it seems with that. And that is the only reason I slogged through all three hundred eighty-seven pages(!) of this book. From the way it was written, I could tell that I couldn't just flip to the back and see what happened. For the record, I didn't anticipate the solution, but by the time I got to the end, I really didn't care. I had planned to read the author's first book, Penpal, but after rereading the description of that book and comparing it to this book, I can see that it is more of the same, and would be a total waste of time, as this book was.
An abduction occurs, a boy disappears, but all is not as it seems with that. And that is the only reason I slogged through all three hundred eighty-seven pages(!) of this book. From the way it was written, I could tell that I couldn't just flip to the back and see what happened. For the record, I didn't anticipate the solution, but by the time I got to the end, I really didn't care. I had planned to read the author's first book, Penpal, but after rereading the description of that book and comparing it to this book, I can see that it is more of the same, and would be a total waste of time, as this book was.
August 14, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/08/14/...
Is there anything more heart-wrenching than a tale about a child gone missing? For protagonist Ben, there is no deeper anguish. Five years ago, his little brother Eric disappeared from a grocery store while Ben was supposed to be taking care of him. A moment of distraction was all it took. One second, the three-year-old was there, and the next, he was gone. Search teams scoured the area and the police also looked into all suspects that could have taken the little boy, but nothing ever came of any of the investigations. Soon, Eric’s photo joined the dozens of other children on the missing persons bulletin board, where their faces gaze back faded and forgotten.
But Ben has never stopped looking. He is now twenty, and the years since Eric’s disappearance have not been kind to him or his family. His stepmother has retreated into herself and his dad’s job is no longer enough to pay the bills. Ben desperately needs work, but in a cruel twist of fate, the only place that would hire him is the very supermarket where Eric went missing. Working the nightshift as a stock person, Ben quickly learns the ropes from his new buddies Marty and Frank, and as hard as it is being back in a place with so many painful memories, for a while there, things didn’t actually seem so bad.
Unfortunately, that calm doesn’t last. After a couple weeks, Ben can’t shake the feeling that something is very wrong with the store, the people there, and the entire town. A disturbing find in the lost-and-found bin suddenly reignites his search for Eric, leading to another flurry of printed flyers and house-to-house calls. There’s no one left that Ben feels he can rely upon or trust—not his parents, not his colleagues, and most definitely not the police detective James Duchaine, the man who was put in charge of Eric’s case.
I was kind of torn on my feels for this book. For days, I wavered between rating it 3 or 4 stars before settling on something in the middle. There were certain things I really liked about it, but there were also areas that I felt were weak or fell short of my expectations.
First, the positives: there were moments in Bad Man that were truly terrifying. You don’t even have to look too far beyond reality to find the horror either; hundreds of kids go missing each year, and I can’t even imagine what an awful, desperate, and helpless ordeal it is for the parents and loved ones. This novel opens on the worst day of Ben’s life—the day he lost his beloved little brother. As a mother of a three-year-old, reading this entire sequence made my skin cold and my stomach feel hollow. Ben’s panic and guilt tore at my heart. His pain and fear became mine, and I felt like crying.
For better or worse though, I didn’t find the rest of the book to be so harrowing or intense, though the story still contained its fair share of emotionally traumatizing moments. In many ways, Bad Man is more mystery than horror. Dathan Auerbach handles suspense well, keeping the reader guessing even when not a lot is happening on the page. Most of his characters are there as suspects, their secrets revealed to us slowly as their backstories are told in dribs and drabs. Ben himself is an enigma that we are warned not to fully trust. Grief touches people in different ways, and the uncertainties surrounding our protagonist’s memories is a source of much tension and conflict.
Unfortunately, this compelling atmosphere was not always present. There were times when the author dropped the ball, particularly in sections where the plot meandered and dragged. Certain threads were also picked up but never carried through and I wasn’t always sure if these were supposed to be red herrings or just Auerbach trying out different twists that he didn’t quite know how to pull off. Because this is his debut novel, I’m sort of leaning towards the latter. There are definitely pacing issues, and I didn’t think the novel as a whole had to be so long. The rambling, convoluted jumble that was the ending probably could have used some polish too, for I got the sense that the author might have forgotten to tie up a few loose ends.
Overall, I liked Bad Man, but as a horror/mystery novel, there were things that could have been done better. Author Dathan Auerbach has already found much success with Penpal, a series of interconnected short stories posted to Reddit, but I think he’s probably discovered that a full-length novel requires a whole different level and process of planning and writing. If this debut is any indication though, I believe he’s on the right track, and I look forward to see what he does next.
Is there anything more heart-wrenching than a tale about a child gone missing? For protagonist Ben, there is no deeper anguish. Five years ago, his little brother Eric disappeared from a grocery store while Ben was supposed to be taking care of him. A moment of distraction was all it took. One second, the three-year-old was there, and the next, he was gone. Search teams scoured the area and the police also looked into all suspects that could have taken the little boy, but nothing ever came of any of the investigations. Soon, Eric’s photo joined the dozens of other children on the missing persons bulletin board, where their faces gaze back faded and forgotten.
But Ben has never stopped looking. He is now twenty, and the years since Eric’s disappearance have not been kind to him or his family. His stepmother has retreated into herself and his dad’s job is no longer enough to pay the bills. Ben desperately needs work, but in a cruel twist of fate, the only place that would hire him is the very supermarket where Eric went missing. Working the nightshift as a stock person, Ben quickly learns the ropes from his new buddies Marty and Frank, and as hard as it is being back in a place with so many painful memories, for a while there, things didn’t actually seem so bad.
Unfortunately, that calm doesn’t last. After a couple weeks, Ben can’t shake the feeling that something is very wrong with the store, the people there, and the entire town. A disturbing find in the lost-and-found bin suddenly reignites his search for Eric, leading to another flurry of printed flyers and house-to-house calls. There’s no one left that Ben feels he can rely upon or trust—not his parents, not his colleagues, and most definitely not the police detective James Duchaine, the man who was put in charge of Eric’s case.
I was kind of torn on my feels for this book. For days, I wavered between rating it 3 or 4 stars before settling on something in the middle. There were certain things I really liked about it, but there were also areas that I felt were weak or fell short of my expectations.
First, the positives: there were moments in Bad Man that were truly terrifying. You don’t even have to look too far beyond reality to find the horror either; hundreds of kids go missing each year, and I can’t even imagine what an awful, desperate, and helpless ordeal it is for the parents and loved ones. This novel opens on the worst day of Ben’s life—the day he lost his beloved little brother. As a mother of a three-year-old, reading this entire sequence made my skin cold and my stomach feel hollow. Ben’s panic and guilt tore at my heart. His pain and fear became mine, and I felt like crying.
For better or worse though, I didn’t find the rest of the book to be so harrowing or intense, though the story still contained its fair share of emotionally traumatizing moments. In many ways, Bad Man is more mystery than horror. Dathan Auerbach handles suspense well, keeping the reader guessing even when not a lot is happening on the page. Most of his characters are there as suspects, their secrets revealed to us slowly as their backstories are told in dribs and drabs. Ben himself is an enigma that we are warned not to fully trust. Grief touches people in different ways, and the uncertainties surrounding our protagonist’s memories is a source of much tension and conflict.
Unfortunately, this compelling atmosphere was not always present. There were times when the author dropped the ball, particularly in sections where the plot meandered and dragged. Certain threads were also picked up but never carried through and I wasn’t always sure if these were supposed to be red herrings or just Auerbach trying out different twists that he didn’t quite know how to pull off. Because this is his debut novel, I’m sort of leaning towards the latter. There are definitely pacing issues, and I didn’t think the novel as a whole had to be so long. The rambling, convoluted jumble that was the ending probably could have used some polish too, for I got the sense that the author might have forgotten to tie up a few loose ends.
Overall, I liked Bad Man, but as a horror/mystery novel, there were things that could have been done better. Author Dathan Auerbach has already found much success with Penpal, a series of interconnected short stories posted to Reddit, but I think he’s probably discovered that a full-length novel requires a whole different level and process of planning and writing. If this debut is any indication though, I believe he’s on the right track, and I look forward to see what he does next.
September 4, 2018
Ahhhhh.... frustrated, frustrated, and frustrated 😩
Penpal was one of my most favourite reads last year - I adored it. Ever Since the moment I finished it I’ve been constantly googling Dathan to see if I can find out when and if he was publishing more work. It felt like a long wait!
I was SO keen to download this book the moment it became available for my kindle, and happily paid the full price for it, something I seldom do if I can help it.
I began with baited breath and it soon became apparent to me that this was not going to be like Penpal, in fact this was not a great read at all.
As hard as I tried I just could not get to grips with it, it was confusing and meandering all over the place.
I persevered because for all its faults I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and the concept of the story itself was brilliant, but I’ve been left with so many unanswered questions.
I still don’t think I could tell you what happened in the end... and I loved Dathan’s epilogue more than the book itself.
It won’t deter me from reading his future work but I can’t help but feel hugely disappointed with this 😩
Penpal was one of my most favourite reads last year - I adored it. Ever Since the moment I finished it I’ve been constantly googling Dathan to see if I can find out when and if he was publishing more work. It felt like a long wait!
I was SO keen to download this book the moment it became available for my kindle, and happily paid the full price for it, something I seldom do if I can help it.
I began with baited breath and it soon became apparent to me that this was not going to be like Penpal, in fact this was not a great read at all.
As hard as I tried I just could not get to grips with it, it was confusing and meandering all over the place.
I persevered because for all its faults I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and the concept of the story itself was brilliant, but I’ve been left with so many unanswered questions.
I still don’t think I could tell you what happened in the end... and I loved Dathan’s epilogue more than the book itself.
It won’t deter me from reading his future work but I can’t help but feel hugely disappointed with this 😩
April 27, 2018
I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Now this is what I was looking for when I said I wanted a good mystery.
Ben's younger brother, Eric, disappeared from the local grocery store five years ago while Ben was in charge of watching him. It's ate away at Ben over the years and he's never stopped looking. With his family on the verge of losing everything because his depressed stepmother no longer works, Ben is forced to take a job at the only place in town hiring. The very store his little brother disappeared at. He makes friends with the odd people who work there and explores the store every chance he gets. Someone begins leaving clues to his brother's disappearance.
I'm not giving away anything else. You need to experience this one for yourself.
The great thing about this book is the multiple red herrings the author has going. One moment you think you have the mystery solved and the next chapter, you receive a new clue that points you in someone else's direction. I always love a good mystery that I cannot figure out half way through the story. This book kept me coming back for more.
Well written, great characters and a fabulous mystery. If you're looking for those things, you can't go wrong with Bad Man.
Now this is what I was looking for when I said I wanted a good mystery.
Ben's younger brother, Eric, disappeared from the local grocery store five years ago while Ben was in charge of watching him. It's ate away at Ben over the years and he's never stopped looking. With his family on the verge of losing everything because his depressed stepmother no longer works, Ben is forced to take a job at the only place in town hiring. The very store his little brother disappeared at. He makes friends with the odd people who work there and explores the store every chance he gets. Someone begins leaving clues to his brother's disappearance.
I'm not giving away anything else. You need to experience this one for yourself.
The great thing about this book is the multiple red herrings the author has going. One moment you think you have the mystery solved and the next chapter, you receive a new clue that points you in someone else's direction. I always love a good mystery that I cannot figure out half way through the story. This book kept me coming back for more.
Well written, great characters and a fabulous mystery. If you're looking for those things, you can't go wrong with Bad Man.
July 17, 2018
2.5 Stars
Ben lost his little brother Eric in a grocery store. His family has had a hard time moving on from the incident. Ben decides to take a job at the grocery store where his brother went missing. That's where the troubles start.
This story had a lot of atmosphere. There were times were I was confused as to what was going on. The story dragged a bit throughout, and I felt that the story left a few things hanging in the end. The book overall left me wanting more.
I received an e-copy of this book for review from Edelweiss
Ben lost his little brother Eric in a grocery store. His family has had a hard time moving on from the incident. Ben decides to take a job at the grocery store where his brother went missing. That's where the troubles start.
This story had a lot of atmosphere. There were times were I was confused as to what was going on. The story dragged a bit throughout, and I felt that the story left a few things hanging in the end. The book overall left me wanting more.
I received an e-copy of this book for review from Edelweiss
April 17, 2022
3.5 Stars
This story had the elements and tropes that I tend to love in horror. The narrative was creepy and unsettling with its fragmented narrative structure. The story had a good build, but failed to achieve a satisfying climax. This was a good filled with potential that sadly just missed the mark.
This story had the elements and tropes that I tend to love in horror. The narrative was creepy and unsettling with its fragmented narrative structure. The story had a good build, but failed to achieve a satisfying climax. This was a good filled with potential that sadly just missed the mark.
June 30, 2018
I got a lot of questions
April 14, 2021
Outstanding! Just finished this novel of total devastation, and personal loss...Absolutely devastating and extremely emotional!!! Review coming tomorrow! I WEPT for 20 minutes after finishing this, coming of age, and love for a little brother thriller! You must LISTEN to this one....and do NOT miss the 'Authors' NOTE' at the end!!! Grab your tissues!
Here is my video review from my channel AreYouIntoHorror here:
https://youtu.be/gbHiVoeMb00
-Brotherhood
-Love and Hope
-Personal loss of a child
What do you consider horror? Demons, ghosts, haunted houses? I consider horror to be anything that scares me and or leaves an impression on me that i will soon not or ever forget.....and this book was true horror; but Horror of the human kind, and that can be the most horrifying. This is most definitely NOT the earlier mentioned type of horror! No ghosts, or supernatural elements, so do NOT expect that.
Author Dathan Auerbach writes with a keyboard or pen dipped in dread and reality; get ready for 'Bad Man'.
The story takes place one summer morning in Northern Florida; 15 year old Ben and his little 3 year old brother Eric are walking to the local grocery store for family groceries and needs. Eric has his favorite possession of his in his arms, his stuffed and very dirty Rhino. As they walk and talk, they get to the store, and playing hide and seek and getting sidetracked they get in line at the check out. 'Ben, I have to go to the bathroom.........' Eric tells his big brother. After arguing with Eric about his saying he didnt have to go when asked earlier the kind looking man in line behind them offers Ben some money to have Ben pay for his stuff and he tells Ben..."I can take him"......are you serious?
Getting out of line the boys head to the back of the store to the bathroom, and an argument starts out about how dirty that stuffed animal is, and while the boys are in the bathroom; Ben realizes that Eric has disappeared from the stall!!! Instant panic ensues as Ben runs thru the store and to the front check out cashier; Chelsea asking everyone 'Have you seen my little brother!! He is Gone!!!'
Jump ahead 5 years-
Now 20 year old Ben is living at home in a household where his stepmother still buys gifts and holds birthday celebrations for Eric knowing he will never be coming home again. Their father is in a dead end job and money is bleak, so Ben decides to take a night stocking job. A job at the SAME store where Eric; 5 years prior disappeared from! Living with the extreme guilt and blame for his brothers disappearance, it is hard for Ben to walk into that store; let alone start to work there late at night when his mind and memory of his little brother start to take over. This store is in the most peculiar of places, and small town where everyone could be and IS a suspect of child kidnapping and possibly worse!
Ben befriends fellow emplyee and stock trainer Marty, and the two young men become very close friends very close. Once Marty realizes who Ben is, this story unfolds in a way that if you are not already hooked into this suspenseful and mind numbing thriller; you might as well DNF it! Ben is bound determined to not and never give up looking for Eric. Two weeks into his new job, Ben realizes there is something weird and wrong with this store......slowly and mysteriously the clues start showing up in his work locker, messages from someone who Ben KNOWS the location of where Eric is and whether he is alive or dead.......and what is that smell in the store? What are the weird symbols and words that are written and painted on the terrifying and creepy as fuck cardboard baling machine in the warehouse part of the store? Not only is there something wrong with this store.....the people in and around this store are even worse!
You have store clerk Chelsea who was there the day Eric came up missing.....
Marty, Bens friend who has secrets of his own that he is keeping from Ben.....
Beverly, the long time store bakery employee who has been making a cake every year for Eric on his birthday at the request of Eric's mother.....
Police Detective James Duchaine who has always thought that Ben was behind his brothers disappearance.
Clint, the boys grieving and hard working dad who still cannot face reality of the loss of his 3 year old son.
and Ben....the protagonist who has lived with the worst guilt ever, losing his little brother!
Now, you must go into this book not expecting to have supernatural scares, and gore and ghosts....there is none of that here. Well there ARE scenes that are very intense and disturbing, but this is a thriller of the best kind!!! And it is so well written that you are not soon to ever forget it, I know i never will.
I listened to the audiobook version of this and I am SO glad I did because if I hadn't I do not know that it would have had the same impact on me. This book DEVASTATED me in the most effective way, that after I had finished the last; and most gut wrenching pages of Bad Man; finding out what the title meant, and WHO was the 'bad man' that i got up from my location.....walked to the kitchen and SOBBED! And I do not mean just cry.....I wept. Get ready to experience Dathan Auerbach's 'Bad Man' You will (or won't you?) be glad you did.....I hope?
5 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Here is my video review from my channel AreYouIntoHorror here:
https://youtu.be/gbHiVoeMb00
-Brotherhood
-Love and Hope
-Personal loss of a child
What do you consider horror? Demons, ghosts, haunted houses? I consider horror to be anything that scares me and or leaves an impression on me that i will soon not or ever forget.....and this book was true horror; but Horror of the human kind, and that can be the most horrifying. This is most definitely NOT the earlier mentioned type of horror! No ghosts, or supernatural elements, so do NOT expect that.
Author Dathan Auerbach writes with a keyboard or pen dipped in dread and reality; get ready for 'Bad Man'.
The story takes place one summer morning in Northern Florida; 15 year old Ben and his little 3 year old brother Eric are walking to the local grocery store for family groceries and needs. Eric has his favorite possession of his in his arms, his stuffed and very dirty Rhino. As they walk and talk, they get to the store, and playing hide and seek and getting sidetracked they get in line at the check out. 'Ben, I have to go to the bathroom.........' Eric tells his big brother. After arguing with Eric about his saying he didnt have to go when asked earlier the kind looking man in line behind them offers Ben some money to have Ben pay for his stuff and he tells Ben..."I can take him"......are you serious?
Getting out of line the boys head to the back of the store to the bathroom, and an argument starts out about how dirty that stuffed animal is, and while the boys are in the bathroom; Ben realizes that Eric has disappeared from the stall!!! Instant panic ensues as Ben runs thru the store and to the front check out cashier; Chelsea asking everyone 'Have you seen my little brother!! He is Gone!!!'
Jump ahead 5 years-
Now 20 year old Ben is living at home in a household where his stepmother still buys gifts and holds birthday celebrations for Eric knowing he will never be coming home again. Their father is in a dead end job and money is bleak, so Ben decides to take a night stocking job. A job at the SAME store where Eric; 5 years prior disappeared from! Living with the extreme guilt and blame for his brothers disappearance, it is hard for Ben to walk into that store; let alone start to work there late at night when his mind and memory of his little brother start to take over. This store is in the most peculiar of places, and small town where everyone could be and IS a suspect of child kidnapping and possibly worse!
Ben befriends fellow emplyee and stock trainer Marty, and the two young men become very close friends very close. Once Marty realizes who Ben is, this story unfolds in a way that if you are not already hooked into this suspenseful and mind numbing thriller; you might as well DNF it! Ben is bound determined to not and never give up looking for Eric. Two weeks into his new job, Ben realizes there is something weird and wrong with this store......slowly and mysteriously the clues start showing up in his work locker, messages from someone who Ben KNOWS the location of where Eric is and whether he is alive or dead.......and what is that smell in the store? What are the weird symbols and words that are written and painted on the terrifying and creepy as fuck cardboard baling machine in the warehouse part of the store? Not only is there something wrong with this store.....the people in and around this store are even worse!
You have store clerk Chelsea who was there the day Eric came up missing.....
Marty, Bens friend who has secrets of his own that he is keeping from Ben.....
Beverly, the long time store bakery employee who has been making a cake every year for Eric on his birthday at the request of Eric's mother.....
Police Detective James Duchaine who has always thought that Ben was behind his brothers disappearance.
Clint, the boys grieving and hard working dad who still cannot face reality of the loss of his 3 year old son.
and Ben....the protagonist who has lived with the worst guilt ever, losing his little brother!
Now, you must go into this book not expecting to have supernatural scares, and gore and ghosts....there is none of that here. Well there ARE scenes that are very intense and disturbing, but this is a thriller of the best kind!!! And it is so well written that you are not soon to ever forget it, I know i never will.
I listened to the audiobook version of this and I am SO glad I did because if I hadn't I do not know that it would have had the same impact on me. This book DEVASTATED me in the most effective way, that after I had finished the last; and most gut wrenching pages of Bad Man; finding out what the title meant, and WHO was the 'bad man' that i got up from my location.....walked to the kitchen and SOBBED! And I do not mean just cry.....I wept. Get ready to experience Dathan Auerbach's 'Bad Man' You will (or won't you?) be glad you did.....I hope?
5 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
August 2, 2018
ARC provided by Doubleday in exchange for an honest review
I first became familiar with Dathan Auerbach several years ago when he was known as /u/1000Vultures on Reddit. He wrote the serial-creepypasta series, Penpal, in the /r/nosleep subreddit. No Sleep’s subreddit has one rule: “Suspension of disbelief is key here. Everything is true here, even if it’s not.” In other words, it is a subreddit for authors to post their horror stories and readers/commenters had to go along with it. It’s a creepy good time.
Dathan Auerbach eventually published Penpal into a full length novel, and then once I heard he wrote Bad Man , I really wanted to read it. Luckily Doubleday Books reached out to me and offered me an ARC!
Bad Man begins with brothers, Ben and Eric, who are out having a normal day shopping for groceries. Ben suffers leg pain from an old injury, so he’s not having a good time shopping with his distracting three year-old brother, Eric. Then Eric disappears. Five years later, Ben ends up getting a job as a stocker in the same grocery store from which Eric vanished. Ben believes the answers to his brother’s disappearance lies within those grocery store walls.
Right away the writing style and spook-factor reminded me a bit of Stephen King. I was immediately pulled into the story as soon as Eric disappeared. Add in some suspicious coworkers, a terrible boss, and shady towns folk, and I was hooked. Not to mention the cops in town were horribly useless. Really this book had all the elements of a fantastic horror-crime story. I had a hard time putting this book down and there were so many twists. I was honestly guessing until the very end.
And even though it’s never specified, I believe the book takes place sometime in the 80’s or 90’s. An era without cell phones and digital cameras. I love books in these settings because it makes everything so much more complicated. You have no way to google police reports or snap a photo of a suspicious person on your phone. Ah, the good ol’ days.
A few things that ultimately led to a three star rating are minor. I felt like the book was too much of a slow-burn for my tastes. It felt like things really didn’t start to pick up until I passed the 60% point. Also several scenes were a bit too over descriptive for me (for example there was an entire page about fixing a cabinet, and several pages describing a baler.) I know lots of readers enjoy descriptive scenes for the world building, so I think this writing style just wasn’t for me. As for the ending, I was left feeling unsatisfied.
With my minor qualms aside, I truly thought the horror elements were strong. There were so many scary parts! Auerbach really knows how to reel us in with his creepy-campfire storytelling while still weaving in themes of brotherhood, love, and hope.
I suggest you read Bad Man with the lights off to get those extra creepy vibes.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
I first became familiar with Dathan Auerbach several years ago when he was known as /u/1000Vultures on Reddit. He wrote the serial-creepypasta series, Penpal, in the /r/nosleep subreddit. No Sleep’s subreddit has one rule: “Suspension of disbelief is key here. Everything is true here, even if it’s not.” In other words, it is a subreddit for authors to post their horror stories and readers/commenters had to go along with it. It’s a creepy good time.
Dathan Auerbach eventually published Penpal into a full length novel, and then once I heard he wrote Bad Man , I really wanted to read it. Luckily Doubleday Books reached out to me and offered me an ARC!
Bad Man begins with brothers, Ben and Eric, who are out having a normal day shopping for groceries. Ben suffers leg pain from an old injury, so he’s not having a good time shopping with his distracting three year-old brother, Eric. Then Eric disappears. Five years later, Ben ends up getting a job as a stocker in the same grocery store from which Eric vanished. Ben believes the answers to his brother’s disappearance lies within those grocery store walls.
Right away the writing style and spook-factor reminded me a bit of Stephen King. I was immediately pulled into the story as soon as Eric disappeared. Add in some suspicious coworkers, a terrible boss, and shady towns folk, and I was hooked. Not to mention the cops in town were horribly useless. Really this book had all the elements of a fantastic horror-crime story. I had a hard time putting this book down and there were so many twists. I was honestly guessing until the very end.
And even though it’s never specified, I believe the book takes place sometime in the 80’s or 90’s. An era without cell phones and digital cameras. I love books in these settings because it makes everything so much more complicated. You have no way to google police reports or snap a photo of a suspicious person on your phone. Ah, the good ol’ days.
A few things that ultimately led to a three star rating are minor. I felt like the book was too much of a slow-burn for my tastes. It felt like things really didn’t start to pick up until I passed the 60% point. Also several scenes were a bit too over descriptive for me (for example there was an entire page about fixing a cabinet, and several pages describing a baler.) I know lots of readers enjoy descriptive scenes for the world building, so I think this writing style just wasn’t for me. As for the ending, I was left feeling unsatisfied.
With my minor qualms aside, I truly thought the horror elements were strong. There were so many scary parts! Auerbach really knows how to reel us in with his creepy-campfire storytelling while still weaving in themes of brotherhood, love, and hope.
I suggest you read Bad Man with the lights off to get those extra creepy vibes.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
June 23, 2018
I enjoyed Bad Man very much.
The progressive creepiness was a delight and the highs and lows of the progression were spaced nicely. Even when the progression slowed to a snail's pace, it still managed to build ever so slightly--plenty to keep you interested and moving forward waiting for the next burst.
Most characterizations were full, rich, and tone-setting; those that were not aided in building the suspense factor as the reader was fed tidbits of information about the character. Readers will find themselves doubting almost every character in the book at different times and that added to the tension throughout.
Is Ben (the protagonist) dreaming this? Is he mis-remembering? Is he nuts? Are these people real or figments of his imagination? Auerbach bounces you back and forth between these thoughts deftly, expertly, and he does it in such a manner that you are always a bit off kilter when you come to a stopping point.
On the surface, the story is simple enough: little brother wanders off while in the care of big brother. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. But what Auerbach does with this simple story is unusual, frightening, suspenseful, and twisting.
Why not 5-stars?
In my opinion, the book dragged on a bit and could have lost about 75 pages. I would have liked it a little tighter and faster-paced. There was also a meandering sub-plot about a private school that was never resolved to my satisfaction and one main character whose motive was never fully revealed.
As an aside, like Auerbach, I worked my way through undergraduate school in a grocery store and I really enjoyed that little nostalgia trip--he nailed it.
In the event there are others out there who have heard of Auerbach only through his internet reputation, I want to put your mind at ease--I did not want to like this book because of a prejudice. When I saw "Reddit horror sensation Dathan Auerbach delivers a devilishly dark novel..." I'd already made up my mind that he was an internet flash-in-the-pan. When I learned that Auerbach had done a Kickstarter to raise money for his first novel, Penpal, I was especially leery.
But, you know, things change. Techniques change. Publishing has changed. I was wrong. And not for the first time, either.
One word of caution to readers, though: Pay attention to the Prologue. Strict attention. It's short--only 3 pages--and I almost didn't get through it. Take your time with those 3 pages. They're written in a style totally different from the rest of the book so don't let that throw you like it almost threw me. It's important. When you've finished the book, go back and read it again. I think it should have been both the prologue and afterword.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the book, but in closing, let's get something straight. Dathan Auerbach has a very devoted following on Reddit. One negative word or criticism about anything he's done will get you a handful of threatening tweets, a dozen bad reviews of your own work, and assorted cheap shots. That's not Auerbach's fault. Yes, it's stupid and infantile, but don't hold it against him. He's a helluva writer.
The progressive creepiness was a delight and the highs and lows of the progression were spaced nicely. Even when the progression slowed to a snail's pace, it still managed to build ever so slightly--plenty to keep you interested and moving forward waiting for the next burst.
Most characterizations were full, rich, and tone-setting; those that were not aided in building the suspense factor as the reader was fed tidbits of information about the character. Readers will find themselves doubting almost every character in the book at different times and that added to the tension throughout.
Is Ben (the protagonist) dreaming this? Is he mis-remembering? Is he nuts? Are these people real or figments of his imagination? Auerbach bounces you back and forth between these thoughts deftly, expertly, and he does it in such a manner that you are always a bit off kilter when you come to a stopping point.
On the surface, the story is simple enough: little brother wanders off while in the care of big brother. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. But what Auerbach does with this simple story is unusual, frightening, suspenseful, and twisting.
Why not 5-stars?
In my opinion, the book dragged on a bit and could have lost about 75 pages. I would have liked it a little tighter and faster-paced. There was also a meandering sub-plot about a private school that was never resolved to my satisfaction and one main character whose motive was never fully revealed.
As an aside, like Auerbach, I worked my way through undergraduate school in a grocery store and I really enjoyed that little nostalgia trip--he nailed it.
In the event there are others out there who have heard of Auerbach only through his internet reputation, I want to put your mind at ease--I did not want to like this book because of a prejudice. When I saw "Reddit horror sensation Dathan Auerbach delivers a devilishly dark novel..." I'd already made up my mind that he was an internet flash-in-the-pan. When I learned that Auerbach had done a Kickstarter to raise money for his first novel, Penpal, I was especially leery.
But, you know, things change. Techniques change. Publishing has changed. I was wrong. And not for the first time, either.
One word of caution to readers, though: Pay attention to the Prologue. Strict attention. It's short--only 3 pages--and I almost didn't get through it. Take your time with those 3 pages. They're written in a style totally different from the rest of the book so don't let that throw you like it almost threw me. It's important. When you've finished the book, go back and read it again. I think it should have been both the prologue and afterword.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the book, but in closing, let's get something straight. Dathan Auerbach has a very devoted following on Reddit. One negative word or criticism about anything he's done will get you a handful of threatening tweets, a dozen bad reviews of your own work, and assorted cheap shots. That's not Auerbach's fault. Yes, it's stupid and infantile, but don't hold it against him. He's a helluva writer.
May 31, 2023
A decent setup leads to a disappointing read. When a three-year-old vanishes at a Florida supermarket, his older brother becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. Years later, he takes a job at the scene of the vanishing and soon discovers a strangeness about the store. This book didn't hold my interest and at some point I started rooting for the evil grocery store to take the older brother too. Thumbs down. Read something better.
January 29, 2025
This book had me from page one till the last. A few things in it were too much added on that didn’t need to be there, but the journey through the mind of the brother was so wild and distressing, it grieved me so badly. Such a chain of events. It’s definitely a must read.
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