A mystical, spicy, paranormal novella with a strong dose of Hebrew esotericism. But what this book really is is a spinoff of what happens in "Bad Idea," Damon Suede's fabulous novel about a comic book artist and a makeup artist. This oddly powerful story about a young Jewish schlub, Isaac Stein, who works in a rare book library on the Lower East Side in New York, is puzzling and captivating. It asks questions about good and evil, morality and immorality, to which there are no clear answers. Except for the fact that I wanted it to be a graphic novella (because that's what it is in "Bad Idea"), I thought this was remarkable. Suede's writing and storytelling ability are tops. This was so interesting. Most of the time Catholicism is used for religious/supernatural stories, so it's refreshing to see Judaism as a basis for the story. Yes, there is a lot of dipping into lore, but I enjoyed that. But then, I really love cultural anthropology and linguist anthropology, so that would be a win for me anyway. The play on words and associations was a fun linguistic puzzle, and I didn't feel overloaded by the lore. Granted, I was prepared for that by other reviewers, which might have helped. Issac doesn't start off a romance hero. He's overweight, has skin issues, is lumpy, and is completely disgusted with himself. I think we've all had those times of feeling less than attractive, and this is a person we almost never get to see in romance as an mc. Granted, he's not going to stay that way, but I enjoyed that as an introduction to this world. I felt like I was along for the ride with the character. I'll be checking out the series as it continues.
What do You think about Horn Gate (2013)?
Short, interesting, no sex , Good writing .A bit twilight zonenish.
—crazyspirit
Fun read. I want more Adventures of Itch and Scratch.
—grateful
