Pain Eaters by William Tooker

Pain Eaters is perhaps best described as a cross between X-Men and Hellraiser. In other words an action horror tale with more emphasis on the action aspect.  We are plunged straight into the action as Jack Fugazi is caught bang to rights surrounded by bodies. However, all is not as it seems and Jack gets the chance to tell his story from an interrogation room. It is clear that Tooker knows how to spin an excellent story.

The only very minor negative I have to offer is that for me it seemed perhaps a tad too short. I felt that we could have had a little more of the back story behind Jack and the villain known simply as the German. However, take this as a complimentary statement it shows that the author had engaged me completely in his world. I wanted to explore more of this strange world where good and evil sorcerers with strange incredible powers contest for supremacy.

Tooker had me hooked with his strong descriptive writing and I'm hoping that he takes the hint from this reviewer and sets a few more stories in this fascinating world that I'd love to see more of. If you like an interesting blend of action, magic, horror and superheroes then you'll enjoy Pain Eaters as much as I did. A very enjoyable read that I would recommend. A five star read for me as I felt it was original, very engaging and compellingly told.

Genre:  Action/Horror
Publisher:  Trestle Press
Format:  E-Book Novella
Price:  Amazon UK - £2.17, Amazon US - $3,35, Barnes & Nobles - $2.99
Rating:  5/5

Bad Angels (Slouching Towards Bethlehem) – Volume 1 by William Tooker

About the author William Tooker:
Will is Writer and co-creator with Kevin Gentilcore for Creephouse Comics and also the writer for Matt Campbell’s Mythica Comics series. He is living in Columbus, Ohio and diligently working on horror with every keystroke.

I’d strongly urge you to read the full product description for this download before buying. It outlines background information to the story and is relevant to what happens in this first instalment.

A young girl is preyed upon by those she trusted.  Yet into the night comes an unlikely saviour. A dark start for a premise that could have led the reader down a sci-fi avenue but which goes very much into the horror genre and plunges you quickly into some very shadowy places indeed. You need a torch for this one to illuminate the dark corners but do you really want to see what manner of creature lurks there?

The author wastes no time at all in getting to the action. Despite it being a serialisation Tooker gives us a lot to go on in this first part.  Two plot lines are well developed and we see them diverge into a dramatic end scene. He also starts to weave in some ideas about the past that have brought us to this point.  I enjoyed reading this first tale and am looking forward to reading the next part.