Ghost Children and a Demon House

This episode Elizabeth discovers her new favorite author after reading Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. Andrea finds a new book by Brom, Lost Gods, that she loved more than Slewfoot. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Bookshop Bombshells.

SPEAKER_03 0:03

This is a podcast where we each read a book. And we tell you about it. And we leave out the spoilers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

And that's Andrea. Oh. And that's Elizabeth. Hey. It's been a minute. We took a little hiatus. We forgot how to do this. Um, but we're back. We're back, yeah. Uh life got a little crazy. We needed to take a little break. Yeah. Uh, but we missed we missed our bookshop bombshells live, so we came back. We're coming back. Yeah. And did anything uh fun happen to you over the break? Um, oh.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

I read Under the Dome. Oh yeah! You're telling me I I've decided I've finished it. And my stance on Stephen King has changed. I'm telling you, it's because I used to just could not the books that I tried to read from him. I was like, no, this is like there why so much? Descriptions and da da da. And then I listened to Under the Dome and I was like, oh, this is like actually she's right. It's very well written. And I like have a whole new appreciation for Stephen King now. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Have you have you read or listened to I I don't I think I I read it uh but 112263? Not yet. That's like another one that's I feel like is in the same like maybe it's just like his I don't know, I feel like I might get some heat for this, but like maybe it's like his sci-fi books that I enjoy the most. Yeah. Um opposed to his horror.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

That's fair though.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Um because like it I did not enjoy as much.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

See, and that was one of the ones that I had tried to read, and I was just like, I can't yeah, it's like so long.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Um, but 112263 is like another kind of sci-fi-y one that's like it's a it's long, but like it doesn't feel long, like you're like reading it fast. Yeah, real fast. Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Um my husband said that he would read it later because he's done with his Jack Reacher series, so now he's like, I'm just gonna start this little, it's a smaller series and then I'll circle back to it. And I was like, I also think you'll really think of him when I was listening to it. Well, and there's a really like Jack Reacher like Easter egg in there. Yeah, oh yeah, there is in there. And I like looked, I told him about it when I like got to that point in the book, and he was like, Well, is it like for real or is it like a guy that's like reacher? So I like looked it up and I was like, No, it's it's legit like an Easter egg for like it's him, and he's he's just like mentioned like twice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

I was like because of like the military thing, yeah. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Your worlds are connected with this.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Um and it is like a very like like Stephen King does a bunch of like his own like callbacks to his own books too, like in and places and people and so it's like cool. Like if you've read like more Stephen King, it's like which I did hear from the the two dudes at the antique store that apparently he does that in a lot of his books where he like does kind of like it's like he like does like his own like odes to himself where he's like you're just like okay, you just cool, cool, cool. You just like really like your own work, but um but no, it's cool.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

And then I am probably like 150 pages into Dungeon Carl and I'm obsessed.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Oh man, I was like, if she can say Dungeon Crawler Carl, I've been um preaching the word of Dungeon Crawler Carl to like anyone and everyone. So I just started this new job and like I'm in tech, right? So it's like a bunch of just like nerdy dudes, and I'm just like every one of them, I'm like, like one guy, he was like talking about really liking video games. Um I was like, Oh yeah, like you really like video games. Like, have you ever uh heard or read Dungeon Crawler Carl? Or no, I I think I asked him like if he read, I was like, Do you read? And he was like, not usually. Um, and he was like, I'll listen to some audiobooks every now and then though. And I was like, Well, have you read Dungeon Crawler Carl? And he's like, Oh yeah, I'm waiting for the new one to come out. And I was like, dude, you're like so more ahead of like than I am, because I'm still on book four.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

My sister said, um, because her best friend also is like, you should read this. She found the audiobook on Libby.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

I hear, I think my husband's finally coming around and is going to listen to the audiobook.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

I'm like, oh, cool. So because I don't like I want to reread what I'm doing for the podcast. But like I've already started reading the first book, so I'm like, well.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Yeah, I don't know if I could pick up the audiobook after reading it. I don't know. I'm like worried. Like, what if donuts voice is weird? Like, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 4:47

I like how she sounds in my head. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Like, what if what if her voice like yeah, I don't know how I'll like especially I assume it's a dude reading it. So like it's a dude doing donuts. Donut voice. Yeah. I would assume, I don't think they're doing I don't really like it when audiobooks have multiple readers.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

But I also don't like really crappy secondhand voices, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Definitely they got someone good that can do a good a good voice. Can I can we bring up the book that you're listening to?

SPEAKER_03 5:15

Oh, yeah, we can the what a game changer. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

So um just to get a little speaking of audiobooks. Oh, speaking of audiobooks. Uh so I um I start so I watched the show He Did Rivalry, obviously, um, as a lot of women did when it came out. Um, and I got really excited when I saw it was a book series, and so um I listened to it, and I I watched it. You did not watch it. You just No, I haven't watched it. So you just listened to the book. I'm just listening to the book. So So the I mean it's really good, honestly. Like if you like the show, you'll probably like the books. I like the book, and I haven't seen the book. But like I will say, yeah, but like there's there's a character who's like my favorite in the show that the audiobook disasters. Oh god, he does them so dirty. Like it's like Kip Kip. He's just I don't know what he does, but it's like some Boston gives him. It's like dumb Boston. Like he like he's like supposed to be like an art history, like major, major, yeah, going first masters. He's supposed to be like an intelligent dude, and he just like makes him sound so dumb. And I was but I didn't care. Like I was just like, I was just like, just picture Kip as he is in the show in your head, and it's like not gonna ruin it.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

And that's probably why I didn't let it ruin it, is because like I haven't watched the show, but I've seen like clips and trailers for the show, so like I know what the show portrays him as. So I'm just like I can just like yeah, just picture.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

He's so cute, he's just adorable, he's so cute and adorable. He's not like that voice at all.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

But I will say so. I also listened to the second one, which is heated rivalry. Um, first one's game changer, second one's heated rivalry. No kip in that one. So the voices are fine. Well good, good, good for the audience. Yeah. I'm gonna miss Kip, even though he's got a He was referenced, because I I think they are they do happen kind of the stories are going on like simultaneously. So um because the show tells the like first and second book sort of like together. So but yeah, so you know, if you guys want something hot and steamy, listen or read the voice series.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

It's really, it's actually really adorable. It is too. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

I just I don't get it, but I love it. I don't really get it. Why?

SPEAKER_03 7:39

But it it's yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Okay, moving on. So from embarrassing, yeah. Embarrassing reads to um our main reads. Main reads, yeah. Um I think it's my turn to go first. Um what did you read? So I have gone on a deep dive of this author since I saw you last. So I I did read this book like a few weeks ago, um, but I still wanted to do it for the podcast because it was like so good. Um, but since I read this book, I've listened to like two and a half of her books. No, only one and a half. I'm on my like third book of hers.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

When I couldn't remember um what it was.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah, it's um so Play Nice is um this book. So it's by Rachel Harrison. Oh yeah, that's so I I have a different book to read. Yeah, that's right. Okay, I remember. Um, this is this was written in 2025, I believe. So it is like a newer one of hers. Um, and someone even said like on the back of the book that uh this is like her best book yet, and I agree so far. Um being on her third book, like this book was fantastic, um, creepy, scary, all like amazing. Um I will say though, her although her other two books aren't as good as this one, they're almost equally as enjoyable. Like I've been trying to figure it out, like why I like her so much. Um, and I think it's because she writes a really good girls girl. Okay. Like she's just like it's like she like gets me somehow. Like she like knows me and she like writes a character that you're just like for you. Yeah, it's like like it like this character, like all of the characters have like parent issues. It's all just like it's like they're all I mean they're all just like they're very enjoyable, very relatable female characters.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

So when I first started this book, it's not a super long book, uh, maybe 200-ish pages. Um oh, sorry, 300, 321. Oh dang, I just saw a picture of her. She's pretty hot.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

Let me see. Oh, yeah, she legit is. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Definitely a girl's girl, I feel like. Uh but um uh so yeah, so this was my first book by her. It was recommended by my friend Emily, who had recommended uh which one she recommended the set. She was the one that recommended the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo. So I listen to her now and I read the books that she tells me to read. Um believe everything she tells me. Yeah. Um and she told me she read this really quickly too. Like she like finished it in a couple days, and I actually was the same. Yeah. Like it just was a very easy read. Like it you could sit down and read it for You didn't feel like you needed a break. No, no, it was it was really good. Um so Goodreads gave this a 3.89. I would score it higher, but you know, for the kind of genre that it's in, like, like I would kind of put her I don't know what I would like her other books are still considered horror, but I don't think they're super scary. Um this one was scary though. So uh the conversation actually started because um I don't think I'd ever been like scared by a book before.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Did this one give you the E BGB's?

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Yes. Do not read this book in the dark.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Well, I can't, I need to read. No, no, I have I have my Kindle.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

I have like my Kindle um with like the backlight. Well, it's even got like I have the dark uh what is it?

SPEAKER_03 11:34

The like contrast.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Yeah, like it's like the dark background with like the light letter, so it's like even darker. Spookier. Yeah. Um and like my husband was trying to sleep, so I was like, okay, I'll just like turn off the lights and read my book. And then there was like a light that flashed on. I think a car drove fine, the little light like flashed on the wall, and I was like, like I was like freaking out. Um so this book did creep me out, and I'm not normally creeped, it's like a haunted house book. I don't you can pretty much tell by the cover. It's got a house. It's got a house on it. Okay, so let me tell you about it. So um book starts out, it's New Year's Eve. Um, we meet Cleo Barnes. Sorry, I have to burp.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

It's okay, do it.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Um she is um so it's New Year's Eve, she's contemplating everyone's chances of like going home alone. Uh she's at a brand party. So she's like in New York City and I think she's like a she's like an influencer type. I think she's also like a hairdresser. I don't know. She's I don't really understand her job.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

It seems to involve brand ambassador where you like go and like hand out.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Like the party that she's at is. Okay. But she's more of, I don't know, she's like a I don't know. I don't know. I don't know this life. I don't know this life. Um, so she uh she starts up a conversation with a cute guy. His name's Ethan. Um she asks Ethan what he does for Loving, and he kind of gives her shit for like starting with small talk. Um she tells him that they could exchange childhood traumas if he wants. Um and Ethan's like, by the way, we've already met, and she's like kind of like playing like she she kind she knew, um, but she's kind of like playing coy and acting like she doesn't remember him. Uh he's super into her, so he's okay with it. He tells her uh his childhood trauma is getting in a car accident when he was five. His mom was driving, uh, and then she was like in a coma for a week. Um so Cleo, for her childhood her her childhood trauma, uh she considers making something up, but um she ends up deciding to tell him something that's true that she grew up in a haunted house. Uh she ends up deciding to take Ethan home since they're in New York City. They're just like waiting outside for an Uber. While they're waiting, Cleo's phone starts ringing. She's trying to be cool and ignore it, but she eventually checks her phone. She sees she has 17 missed calls from her sister, Lita. L-E-D-A. Lita. Um she figures something's up, but she doesn't want to talk to Lita, so she calls her other sister, her other sister, Daphne. Um, Daphne picks up right away. Uh she makes sure that um Cleo's not alone before she delivers the news. Alexandra, their mother, has died. So they call her by her first name, Alexandra. So you're like, okay, that's weird. Um so Cleo gets off the phone with her sister. Uh Ethan's like, you know, what's up? Is everything okay? Um she's like, my mom just died.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Shit.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah, and he's like very upset. Like he's almost like more upset than she is about it. Um and when the Uber pulls up, he's like, doesn't really know what to do. Um, she gets in the car and she's like, Hey, you come with me or not? And he's like, Well, yeah. I want to get laid. So um so she snuggles up next to him in the car, uh, realizing that all he is to her is body heat. Um, then she hears her mom's voice in her head and it says, I'd rather you girls open your legs before you ever open your hearts. And then actually she decides, I changed my mind, get out. She kicks him out. Nice. Um, so she goes home. Um next day she calls her dad. Uh basically con slash, she's like the baby, so she likes cons and slash manipulates her dad into coming to the city to pick her up instead of like her having to take the train to New Jersey. Uh she asks her dad about a funeral. Uh he doesn't really answer the question. Um Helen, Alexandra's sister, didn't call him, she called Lita. So apparently uh Helen and Lita have been having lunch. There's there, they're like, they don't really tell you like the whole story, but you're sort of learning that like you're kind of weaving in and out of the Yeah, like we don't we don't talk to the mom anymore, we don't even talk to the sister necessarily, but then we find out Lita has been talking to the mom's sister. Um we find out that Cleo has a stepmother, so whenever they get to New Jersey, uh Cleo's stepmother Amy greets them. The sisters are already at the house, so they're all staying at the dad's house. Um at family dinner that night, Cleo announces that she wants to go to her mother's funeral. So nobody in the family wants her to go. They're not going. Um, but they don't want her to go alone, and she's just like she's just like a very stubborn person, so they like no she's gonna go. So they basically volunteer Lita's lovable push-over husband uh to be her chaperone at the funeral. Yeah. So um after dinner, they go uh get banana splits at this uh soda shop, and the sisters are all talking. Um, and Cleo asks them if they ever read their mom's book. Uh Lita's like scandalized by the question, but they all admit that they um have kept their promise not to read it. So they warn Lita that there will be wackos at mom's funeral and not to believe like anything they say. Um those people weren't there when they were kids when they were alone in the house with her. So Cleo asks them if they if they think that their mom really believed there was a demon. Um, but her sister Daphne says it doesn't matter if she believed her own delusions or not. So we're learning a little bit. Um Lita reminds them that their mother was an alcoholic and a narcissist and a terrible mother, and she's not sad that she's gone. Um so there are some so at the funeral, uh there's definitely some weird characters. Um like uh her mother's demonologist husband. Um his name is Roy. Cleo remembers meeting him when uh she was a kid, but not she hasn't met him, she hasn't like seen him since. Yeah. Um he looks and is dressed like a demonologist, complete with bony both ponytail and leather pants. Um he tells her like how much their mother loved them, was proud of them, and Cleo's just like not sure how to respond. Um it's very obvious that everyone at this funeral had a different experience with her, like with the mother than she did. Um and so at it at some point in time, Ruy excuses himself because he has to go get something that he wants to give to her. Um at the funeral, Cleo sees her Aunt Helen. Uh Helen steals her way upstairs, uh, lights a cigarette. Um she asks Cleo asks her if she actually believes in all this stuff, ghouls and goblins. Um Helen says she doesn't, but she does believe her sister. Uh she tries to give Cleo perspective about her mother. They had a rough upbringing, an abusive alcoholic father. She loved the girls fiercely, and everything she did was for them. But Cleo isn't buying it. She had a different experience. And she's also been told a different experience by her dad and sisters. So, like I said, she's the baby. She was like the she was very young when a lot of this was happening. So a lot of her memories we're not sure if they're real memories or if imagined, kind of yeah, or if they're like told uh this was told to be implanted. Yeah, implanted memories. Um so Helen informs uh Cleo that their mother left them the estate, which takes Cleo aback. She assumed the house had been sold years ago. Um the mom uh Alexandra didn't live there, but Helen reveals that she did die there. And Cleo is appalled that she didn't know any of this. Apparently Lita did, but didn't feel the need to mention it to Cleo. So she's like, Oh shit, the house is still like the house, like they have like they own the house now. Like it's it's theirs. It's theirs. They inherited it. Um so after the funeral, they go back uh to the dad's house and Cleo accuses the family of keeping all this from her. Like this must be why they didn't want her to go to the funeral, because she would find out all this stuff. Um she kind of surprises everyone and tells them that she wants to take care of the house. Uh like she wants to be in charge of like fixing it up and reselling it. Um she kind of has this like weird, like like I said, she's very like online influency type person. Um and so she has this like dream in her head of like having all these cute like DIY videos of her like painting and before and after pictures and just like making it like an Instagram story or whatever. Um and she's young and I think she thinks this is like an adult thing to do, you know. Um, and the sisters and dad like don't want her to do it. Um, but they honestly think that she's just gonna like give up at the first like hardship. They're like, it's gonna be hard, it's gonna be expensive. Like, you're not gonna want to do that. You're not gonna want to do this. Yeah, yeah. Um, so they kind of like reluctantly agree, thinking she's just gonna give up on this pipe dream. But she doesn't, does she? Oh, she doesn't. Because now no one thinks she can do it. She has to prove everyone wrong. As one does, as it goes, yeah. Um so the next morning, Cleo makes an excuse about going to get coffee, but she actually heads to the house. So Roy had given her a key to the house, and she decided she wanted to go take a look and see like the work that she had ahead of her. Yeah. Um, because you know, no one believes the house is haunted. It was all just her mom being crazy. Delusional. Yeah. Yeah. Her mom's just a crazy narcissistic woman. Um so she enters the house. Um, she's like having some weird emotions. Um, she was young when they lived in the house and she doesn't really remember much. Uh, but it's not as in as bad shape as she originally thought. Um, she goes inside, takes note of like carpet and vinyl that needs to be replaced, walls that need to be painted. Um, then she sees her old bedroom. Uh there's dirty footprints on the carpet leading up to her room, and Cleo is starting to realize that her mother may have died in her room. Oh. Like it looks like the EMTs like went into her room. Um so she goes in, the room is exactly how she remembers it. She hears a squeak, but kind of decides to ignore it. She's kind of more preoccupied thinking that her mother died in her bed. Like she sees like an imprint in the bed, and she's like, what the fuck? Um and she's like disturbed by that. Uh she hears another squeak and she like whips around because she's like doesn't know like where it came from. Like if it was behind her, nothing. So she turns back around, she notices a book on the nightstand. Um she's never owned a copy of this book, she's never read it. It's an annotated copy of her mom's book. So inside there's a note for my Clio, my troublemaker, my fireball, may you always be brave. Don't ever let anyone extinguish your light. I hope this helps you understand. Love forever, mom. She hears a squeak again. Oh louder this time, and like sees like a flash of movement. So she freaks out, runs out of the room, she has the book in her hand, runs into the living room, where in the corner of her eye, she sees like the ceiling fan spinning like really fast, all on its own. Like it's not on. It's just like going creepy. It's creepy. Yeah. And then she feels an icy cold on her neck, the feeling of icy fingers press hard into her skin. She feels like she's not alone. So she bolts out the door, locks it behind her. Uh safely in the car, she opens her mom's book. It's titled Demon of Edgewood Drive: The True Story of a Suburban Haunting, Chapter 1. In the beginning. So you get a like, I don't know. I kind of read it with a book. Yeah. Oh god. I love a book within a book. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

I'm obsessed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

It's like a book within a book, and it's like her mom basically like you you read the book as the mom is telling it, but then there's like in the um margins, yeah, it's like her mom's like making notes, being like, Oh, this like did actually happen, or like it's almost like I, you know, this was different because you know, this happened. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

So um that sounds like really good. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

I do, I do, like I said, love what's it called again? Play nice. Okay. Um, yeah, super good. Very creepy.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

I have a different book by her that I've had in mind to read. Which one? Uh The Return.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Okay, that was the guy at the bookstore um when I bought I bought another one by her because I'm kind of on like a little like kind of obsessed.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with her.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Um, because Black Sheep was the one I just finished. I just um I'm halfway through Cackle, which is kind of like a witchy one. Oh, I've I've seen and then I just bought So Thirsty, which is like a vampire one. Yeah. And the guy at the bookstore said um she has an he mentioned the return was like a really good one. So that was on my on my she's very good, very good characters. Cause even like black sheep, like the story wasn't as good. Um, which is crazy because it's like about a satanic cult. So you would like but like it wasn't it wasn't as creepy, it wasn't like like the store. I feel like the story could have been a little better, but it's still like entertaining to read. Like the character is you, like you feel you feel like you're personally in the story. Yeah, like I'm like I get I get this character.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah, like it's I feel like she knows me somehow and is like writing these characters for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:46

I'll have to Yeah. I'll have to unsuspend my weight for the return then.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah, definitely. Because I have that one on my list too. Uh which I've been like audio booking the other two like the other ones, so they're they're pretty easy reads. So yeah. Play nice, Rachel Harrison.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

Check it out. Yeah. I want to. You always have pretty good book rec.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Yeah, it's good. Okay, what did you do?

SPEAKER_03 26:12

Okay, so I read Lost Gods by the way um I am obsessed. Yeah. I finished this book very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

It's not a super short book either, is it? Yeah. Um because we both read uh Sleofoot. Slew Foot, which was so good, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

And this is the Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

We actually own a copy of that book.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

I I ordered one at the Full Circle Books thing. Uh it's ready. I just haven't picked it up. I was gonna try to beforehand. Yeah, so I could show you the book in person, but I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

I have a copy somewhere. I don't know where it is.

SPEAKER_03 26:54

Uh but you know what it looks like. Yes. Uh it's pretty cool. Um Sleufa, I loved. Um I loved this book more. More? Oh, good. Okay. Um, so there is, you know, death in this book. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

I I looked up trigger warnings. I was like, I don't think mine really has trigger warnings.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Uh there's like suicide, there's murder, there's violence, there is child souls. So like dead children. Dead children. Um, but it's not like sad dead children. It's kind of sad. It's it's not as bad as it's not. It's not like we're not It's not like child murder.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah, we're not murdering. They're just already dead. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:44

So uh Lost God starts off. There's like a a a prologue. And uh it's set in South Carolina in 1976. There is a young boy about six or seven sitting on a grain grain stone. Lord help me. It's a gravestone. Oh, gravestone. I like didn't even know.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

I was like uh what kind of stone could it be?

SPEAKER_03 28:12

It's a gravestone.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

It's a grand stone. It's just a really nice stone.

SPEAKER_03 28:17

Uh anyway, he's sitting on the gravestone every time. Every single time. Um he's about six or seven. He's watching some rabbit eat some grass like at the bottom of the stone. Um, and he's talking to it about how easily it is to forget that you're dead, and that um he would like to watch the tide come in because he's on Moran Island. Uh, and that he misses his mom and his brother, and he's just chilling, living his own little ghost life, talking to the rabbit and then a growl comes from deep within the woods on the island. Um, and the bunny's like, What? Um, if you could if you will. Yeah, I can imagine. So like everything gets quiet. Uh the boy's name is Joshua, and he's stuck on the graveyard, and he like the growl happens and he looks out, and there's like all these little yellow, what look like fireflies, but they're actually like eyes. So um, and then out of that, like a figure of a tr child uh appears, and they he's like, Oh no, like I don't I like freaking out. He doesn't like this kid ghost thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

The ghost boy doesn't like the the other one.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

The other kid. So there's two they appear. Uh and they're like uh they're like, come out and play with us, da da da da and he's like trying to like he's like, if I think hard enough, maybe like I can convince this rabbit not to run out of the graveyard because that's like his safe zone, basically. And he's like, No, no, calm down, stay put, and like he's freaking out. And they're like, if you come play with us, we'll let so the bunny runs and they capture it, and they're like, if you come play with us, we'll let the bunny go. Uh and uh we also know a secret, Chet's coming home. Uh Chet's a daddy now, the waiting's over, and the kids get, you know, kind of tired of taunting him for a while and they leave. Um, but they're like, Joshua, like, Chet's blood is gonna be on your hands. And you're like, What? What? What is happening? Kind of a weird intro. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

It's a prologue, yeah. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Yeah. So then all of a sudden, we're done with the prologue. We're in Jasper, Alabama, same time. Okay. Um, and that's when we meet Chet Moran.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

Uh, he is of Moran Island. Right?

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Didn't you say it was Moran Island?

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Uh yeah, that's the island's name. Uh so he is pulling up to Judge Wilson's driveway and is beat up little Pinto, real sneaky-like. Um, he has a thin gold wedding ring in his pocket, and he was hoping it would be enough to prove to Trish he was an a changed man. Um, he's 24, he just finished seven months in the county jail for possession with intent to distribute. Um three weeks into his sentence, Trish had sent him a letter. It said, I'm pregnant, I'm having the baby, you're relieved of all responsibilities, I will always love you, but I'm all out of tries. So, like, it's not the first time he's been like, I'll be better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

She's like, I'm just doing this on my own.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

Um, she's like, I wish you the best with your life. He'd wrote in her back multiple times during his time in County, and uh he'd never got a response. When they were dating before he went to jail, he his like prize possession was a Mustang that he'd built, and he sold it and got the crappy beater basically. Um Trisha is also Judge Wilson's daughter. Okay. Uh so he's at the driveway of Judge Wilson. Yo. Uh he sneaks over to Trisha's window and he gets her attention, and she's like, if daddy finds you here, you're he'll shoot you. And he really will. Uh like, no joke. Yeah. He's mean. He does not like Chet. Um, he's making Trish put the baby up for adoption. She doesn't want to. Okay, she's like an adult, right? Uh, they're like in their early 20s. Um, but he's like a very overbearing, controlling father. Uh so Chet is proposing to her with the ring in his pocket. And she's like, Chet, you look at me and you swear to me and Jesus Christ, if I agree to run off with you, that from this day on you're gonna fly right. You're gonna be a man and a father. So they start to leave the house after that. He's like, Yeah, uh-huh, I will. Trust me, we can do this. Yeah. I want to be a daddy. Yeah, I'm changed. Um, so they start to sneak off to his little beat up beat up little panto. And Judge Wilson and his fishing buddies catch them when they're almost to the car because they were on a fishing trip. So they're coming back, and in the getaway, Chet like hits one of them with the car. Um, they don't know if the guy is okay. They're just trying to get the hell out of there.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Like the actual person.

SPEAKER_03 33:40

Yeah. He hits one of the fishing buddies. Oh no. Um, they're like trying to sneak out because that happened. They were like, we don't like, I don't know if I accidentally killed him. I don't know if he's just injured. Maybe I broke his leg, some ribs. I don't know. Um, so they're taking back roads. They also like ditch the pinto.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Uh family.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Uh they so, oh, they ditch the pinto for a station wagon. They basically like trade it at a church parking lot in the middle of the night. Uh and it's just because they don't want to get caught. They're trying, they're trying to do right. But they have to like they're really trying to.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

They started off by maybe murdering someone.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Um, they pull up to the bridge leading to his grandma's house, uh, which is on Moran Island. Um, there are these three small scarecrows tied to the bridge post to get to the island with some small animal skulls on top of one. Uh Trisha's like, uh what? Well, like, what's up with your grandma? And he's like, She's a witch. Uh at least that's what my aunt always said after my mom died. His mom died when he was like, I don't know, eight or nine. Um, she was like, There will be no rock music in this house. That is the the devil's music. So that was just kind of how his aunt raised him. So apparently the last time he spoke to her was at his mom's funeral. His grandma, that is. Okay. Uh but he doesn't tell Trish that he's been hearing her voice in his head since he's gotten like put in jail basically, and he just has a feeling they know they're gonna be there. So she's like, What do you mean you haven't talked to her? Like, does she not know we're coming? Like, what what it like what goes? I can't talk to her in my head. It's fun. Um, he didn't want her to know that. So they're like walking up to the house, and um, there's like strings with bells all around her, like big I'm assuming it's like this big old farm style wraparound porch, and the house is gorgeous in my head. But um his grandma opens the door as they're like walking up the steps. She's excited to see them. Um Chet is like this is my fiance. She's gonna have a baby any day now, um, like any second, really. Um so Lema is his grandma's name. Um we learned that she is kind of really cute. Uh we learned that she came here from like Eastern Europe, so like Romania, okay, Hungary, yeah, Hungary, how do you say that? Hungary, Hungary, Austria, Hungary. That area. Um, so she knows all these really cool herbal re remedies and even goes as far as using some leaves and powder and like a little droplet of Trisha's blood to tell them they're having a girl. So it's exciting. Um, it's really weird. It's a really good book, though. Follow me on this. Okay, I'm fine. I'm here. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Um I like Brahm.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

I think he does a good story. So I might not do him justice. But uh, so we we learn about Lemaya's history and how she came to learn the knowledge of her herbs and spells and things, and her very abusive ex-husband, and um Trish is just fascinated. She's like, This is so cool. I want to learn all this too. This is way cool, this is gonna work, we're all gonna be happy, it's fine. So, like a couple nights in, Chet wakes up from like sleep. He didn't have no dreams, it's like a dreamless sleep, is how I think they described it. And he looks out the window and he sees a boy on the like walkway by the house. So he goes out and is all like what are you doing out here? Where are your parents? And the boy's like, Look at what I caught. The burning man wants to meet you. And then another boy appears after that boy runs off. And uh he's all like, Oh, you found my brother. Uh these boys are tricksters, okay? They be tricking him as bad news. Okay. Mm-hmm. Their name is Billy and Davy, by the way. They have names. Uh Davy's cute. Davy is a cute name. Just like names. That's a really nice name. That's a cute name. So uh suddenly, uh one of the boys that's like, Oh, you found my brother, we have to go get him. Um, so Chet follows him and he's looking at the boy and he's got like patches of burn skin and looks real malnourished.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Don't trust these boys.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

And he's kind of like looking out, and he notices all these fireflies, and the boys, the boys like, those aren't fireflies, they're the souls of trapped children. Um, and then Billy and Davy are all like, Do you want to play a game? It's called Kill Chet. Oh my god, Chet is like, what the hell is going on? Like, uh, so Billy freaking bites Chet's arm. What? And um, like, Chet's like running through the woods. He gets really turned around. He's not familiar with anything. So like he gets like scraped up by branches, and um, all of a sudden Lamaya comes out and she's like, uh, children, and they hear her and they're like, Mama, and they get really excited and they run up to her. And um Chet is like in his head, like, grandma, help me. Like, these boys are trying to kill me. And she's like, Oh, they're harmless, it's fine. These are just my babies or whatever. And then all of a sudden, uh Check's Chet feels something like really wet on his neck, and then he realizes that his uh grandma had sliced his throat. What? Yep, don't plot twist. Grandma's not good. Um, and then uh all of a sudden he's kind of like in a third person state, so he's like looking around, he sees the boys, there's all these like souls of children like gathering around, and they're like, Mama, mama, come you know, come here and da da da. And then he realizes that his grandma is like eating his body. Like a wild animal. Um, he he thinks of Trish and the baby. Yeah. He's like, Oh my gosh, I have to warn her. Yeah. Um, so he's like running towards the house and throat slit and everything. Well, he's it's like his soul. Oh, his soul. Oh, he's trying to like because the third person.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Okay. He did.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

He did. Um, so he's like his his soul is running towards the house. He's like screaming in his ghostly self, like, trash run, like get out of there. And you know, she can't hear him. He's he's a spirit. Yeah, he's a ghost. Um, and he gets to the house and all of the bells on those uh on the string when they walked out there to keep the spirits out. Oh no, you're just human boost bugs. It's like he's like, Oh my gosh, I can't handle this noise. Um so let's see, where did I go? Oh, so the two boys like kind of catch up with him and they're like chasing him, and this big voice booms over. Um, and Billy calls the voice uh calls out the voice. He's like, God's done forsaken you, angel man. He and the guy, it's the angel Sanoy, which is Gabriel's sword. Um so Chet's grandpa apparently, his name's Gavin, had killed this angel and trapped him there a while ago. Uh but Sanoy needs Chet to go to hell and retrieve the key from Gavin, but to then that's the only way he can get set free because there's this like boundary around the graveyard, which is why it's kind of like Joshua's place of sanctuary or whatever. Um so if he does that, then he will save Trish and his unborn daughter. So um Chud's like, Well, how like I've I know I've done some bad things, but like I haven't done anything that bad. And uh Sanoy's like, well, you've got the mark of the damned on you, and he was like, What are you talking about? And he was like, The guy you hit with the car died. So he he's going to hell now. So he's gonna go to hell. Anyway, so you might as well try to save your wife, almost wife and baby. Um, so Sanoy gives him a satchel and Joshua comes, you know, he's he's here now. Yeah from the prologues. Yeah. He's like the good ghost. He seems like a good ghost. He's sweet. Yeah. Um he's like, Well, you just gotta sink into the earth to get to the underworld, because the earth is what holds all the souls and things. So he teaches Chit how to like kind of like fall into the earth, and that's how he gets to this underworld. Um so he like figures out how to do that, and he's in all these like really long corridors and things, and uh Sonoyad gave him in a little satchel copper pennies and a knife. So he's like going through this maze and he finally makes it to um like a river and there's a ferry there. It's like the river sticks. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. Thank you. I cannot remember the name and I didn't write it down. Uh and he so he's like, what am I supposed to do with this? So he takes the like he and he like watches people go into the river sticks and how they just disappear, and there's like souls in there, and um he ends up meeting like a handful of characters that he ends up like kind of t teaming up with to help him along this journey. Uh sorry, I had a burp too. I know we're so burped. I apologize. Uh so he he gets across and there's these guys there that are like you have to pay your way if you want through and da da so he's like got these pennies. Well apparently they're like fancy copper wheat pennies and they're like high dollar in hell, if you will. Okay. Um but he makes it to hell and he goes on all these conquests and there's brutal fights and there's there's just like all these different gods that you run into and meet.

SPEAKER_00 44:28

Um is it like a certain mythology? Like it is it Greek mythology because like or is it like its own thing?

SPEAKER_03 44:35

So when we got to the part like when I got to the part where he gets the sticks, uh like I read uh Dante's Inferno last year, and it gave me real inferno. I I kind of had that feeling too when you were talking about but the more you get into it, there's like different gods from different So it's like everything, it's a little bit of everything. Um it's really cool. Um, and there's a lot of like twists and turns in the story, and it was like I think Goodreads gave it like a four point two five. It's good. Which is good. Yeah. I gave it a five because I'm easily entertained.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Well, and they also make you choose between a four and a five. Yeah. Like if I really liked it, yeah, I'm gonna choose five of a four.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

I I I give it a five. Yeah. Uh I would read this book again. Yeah. Okay. It was very good. I don't know if I did a good job telling you about it. No, it sounds good, yeah. But uh I just wanted to know what happened because you you it it subtly kind of wrangles you into s like sub twists in it, and to get you're like, oh my gosh, what's ever gonna happen to Trishan the baby? Yeah, like that's his kind of like leading strength is like to save them, and he's pissed off at his grandpa, and then just so many things. Like somebody's after the guy that he hit with the car, like ends up in Hill 2.

SPEAKER_00 45:59

Oh no.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

And he's like searching for them because he was like an old coach of his in high school, and like there was a whole thing there, so no, it was it's really good. Okay, check it out. Yeah, I'll have to give it a shot. So that was Lost Gods by Brom.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

Brom Brom. And I did just as a reminder, play nice by Rachel Harrison. Yes. So we're back. Um, I assume. So we'll see you in two weeks, even though I think we lied to you last time. We said two weeks, and it was I don't know, four, five.

SPEAKER_03 46:32

I think it'll be. It's probably five.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

By the time we post this, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 46:37

So we might do like every ten episodes take a longer break.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Yeah, take a little break. Because you know, I gotta read my dungeon crawler carl sometimes. And I want to read Rhett. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we gotta read each other's books.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

Yeah, we need a little time. So thanks for uh sticking in there.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Yeah, and thanks for listening and see you guys in two weeks. We'll see you then. Bye.