I’ll Quit When I’m Dead by Luke Smithered is a dark, ambitious blend of psychological horror and supernatural tension that kept me going until the final page, but not really in the way I had hoped for. Smithered builds two unsettling narratives that I hoped would intertwine in such fantastic ways that never panned out. While the concept, writing, and atmosphere was wonderfully done, it didn’t quite hit the mark.
Madison has seen better days. Reeling from a bad breakup, self-soothing with junk food, and totally consumed by her lack of direction, she’s in need of a big reset. When she runs into an old acquaintance at the gym, Madison is shocked by how fit they’ve suddenly become. The cause? An all-female fitness boot camp led by ex-military guru Ellie Fellowes. The course is characterized by grueling reps and minimal contact with the outside world, and when Madison signs up to experience it herself, something doesn’t feel right. The other students keep acting strangely; Ellie seems almost superhuman, and her intense motivational methods are becoming bizarre, even dangerous. But Madison is getting results. How can she stop now?
Musician Johnny Blake has been struggling with a pain pill addiction after a very public, very bad fall. At the encouragement of loved ones, he retreats to a secluded cottage to detox. But Johnny isn’t alone. Something is lurking in the shadows of his new home—a creature unnatural and hungry, one that traps Johnny in a frightening bargain. If Johnny doesn’t stay off his pills and keep his end of the deal, he will be eaten alive.
As Madison and Johnny’s predicaments spiral into the unthinkable, they will have to look within to find the true and terrifying answer to the age-old question: How badly do you want it?
Right off the bat the book had hooked me while setting up both Madison and Johnny’s backgrounds to give us an idea of what kind of people we are dealing with. Each tale told, for the most part, in alternating chapters were gripping in their own right. It’s the connective tissue in I’ll Quit When I’m Dead I felt was quite thin and didn’t come full circle to me in the final pages as I was waiting for. This set me back when I closed the book and left me unsatisfied.
Truthfully, if each of these tales were told in novella or short story format without any connective tissues they would standout on their own. Johnny is an unlikeable character that you feel for as a drug addict whole deals with not only his addiction but with supernatural elements at play. Madison is just one of those people that needs to figure out getting back on the right track while having to handle a bit of psychological horror. These stories truly had me gripped, trying to figure out what would happen next. Just the thin connectivity that lost it for me.
Luke Smithered delivers a strong concept, effective scares, interesting themes in I’ll Quit When I’m Dead, but fails to make the two stories gel into a seamless into a wholly satisfying package. Either story on their own can deliver just what you want in horror stories, but trying to connect the two didn’t hit the mark.
I’ll Quit When I’m Dead is available at bookstores everywhere from Mulholland Books. The audiobook, narrated by Frankie Porter, is available at Libro.fm!
