Reviewed by Dan 

WARNING – Contains WAY too may triggers to list…

if you can be OFFENDED, don’t read this story!

TITLE:  Acid

SERIES: Don’t Read in the Closet 2015, Love is an Open Road

AUTHOR:     Wulf Francu Godgluck & S. van Rooyen

PUBLISHER:  M/M Romance Group @Goodreads

LENGTH:     78 Pages

BLURB:

Dear Author,

This is obviously a real tough guy – he likes his guns, booze and cigarettes. His new robo arms are pretty damn awesome, even if the story of how he lost his normal arms isn’t pretty and it took a long time to get used to the new ones. He’s a man of action, not words, and you’ll never hear him spout sappy declarations of endless love. The love of his life clearly needs to be just as tough to keep up with him.

Basically, I want a story with this tough guy and his equally tough love interest(s). Romance shouldn’t be the main focus of this story, I want a kick-ass plot with at least a bit of world building, please! Established couple or not, ménage or not and the genre is up to you. Kinky sex would be a huge plus, but only if you can work it into the plot. I’m fine with whatever ending works for the story, I don’t need a HEA. Every shade of consent is fine by me. Kink-wise I’m pretty much open to anything, even extreme stuff like med-kink and sounding.

Photo Description:

A man with bionic mechanical arms sits in a dusky room holding a cigarette between his robotic fingers. A shot glass with amber liquid in his right hand. Faded scars and wounds cover his collar bone and abdomen; he stares at nothing, obviously bored with the world he lives in.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

REVIEW:

If you can be offended by anything, this isn’t the story for you. This wins the award for the darkest, most bizarre story I’ve ever read. It is like a view into the madness that runs around in Wulf Francu Godgluck’s mind! It jumps around, kind of like the ravings of a lunatic, but in some strange way it dragged me in and kept me reading. I’m not sure the flipping around of storylines and flashbacks worked well in my opinion? I just don’t know…..

I’m not even sure where to start with the review. It is one seriously fucking twisted work, even for Wulf.  Maybe I should be blaming S. van Rooyen, but I suspect most of this is Wulf’s ranting!

The story starts out with a guy with bionic arms popping some guy’s head like a rotten fruit and brain matter splattering all over the place. Then it descends into utter madness. We have rapes of both males and females, usually followed by the death of the raped individual. We have cannibalism. We have torture, we have mutilation, and we have post WW3 human/animal combo mutants who were created by human experimentation on other humans to try to save the race from a deadly worldwide plague. We have lots of strange body fluids, castration with a bionic leg, and even some sounding with added electricity if I remember correctly…it was hard to tell since I had one eye closed at that point like I was watching a horror movie!

This story is so dark that I don’t honestly think most people will like it. It is going to be continued at some point, as it ends in a cliffhanger, but my honest question would be why? I’m not sure if I would continue reading??? I personally was conflicted. It was kind of like that fatal accident on the highway that you can’t look away from. That was how this story was to me. I couldn’t look away, so I finished it right before turning my light out for the night…then tossed and turned, reliving the experience (not recommended). Now it is the next morning and it is still running around in my brain.

I’m going to make a strong statement, and use it as a warning! I would only recommend this book to people who are looking for a post WW3, human experimentation gone wrong, brutal, multiple rape, murder, blood and gore type of story. I’m sure there is an audience for it, but I’m not sure who. The story is NOT a romance, so don’t expect one. Overall the story was well written, with excellent world building, but it horrified me. And that is saying a lot, as I’m not easily horrified!

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Goodreads