Book Review & Tour: Nether By Jason Beymer

One suburban night. One stubborn corpse. One golden opportunity.

Burklin had it all: a spacious two-story house, a shapeshifting wife, a wide open future. That is, until his father ripped out his soul and trapped it inside an opinionated dachshund. Now he’s lost everything, leaving him a slave on mop-up duty for a homicidal teenage demon. His father is sleeping with his ex, the possessed dachshund won’t stop talking, and the cleanup jobs keep getting messier. Burklin would give anything to have his life back–even if it means turning against his manipulative father and destroying their chance of winning the Nether’s Demon Lord Sweepstakes.

Opportunity knocks with a dead woman’s hand. When the demon’s latest victim won’t stay dead, the rules of life and death change. Freedom lies within Burklin’s reach, but to get it he’ll have to defy his father, the ex-wife he still loves, and the Nether itself.

Just how far is he willing to go?

Warning: This title contains sex, violence, human cuisine, a smart-ass dachshund, teenage demons, and fun with corpses.

I normally write my own blurbs, but frankly, this one was so well written and to the point – and included everything I wanted to, that I figured why fix what isn’t broken?

I have to say that for a light summer read this was just the ticket – to fun, laughs, yes even suspense. This book had a little bit of everything and in this case that wasn’t a bad thing!

Burklin is a man who is tasked with the duty of protecting a demon, with the help of his father and his ex-wife Lorraine. He’s not exactly happy with his status, as he has to go around and clean up after the demon when he decides to go on his killing sprees. The point being to “protect” the demon until he reaches adulthood – so far no demon has. This is where the Nether’s Demon Lord Sweepstakes comes in. Garrick, Burklin’s father (oh how is he loathe to admit that!) wants desperately to win – at any and all costs. Which is why in order for him to convince Burklin to get on board, he decides to steal Burklin’s soul and put it into his pet dachshund.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It’s not often you get such a zany plot and it actually WORKS. I was smiling the whole time I was reading, and sometimes I even laughed out loud (rare for me), yet I was also eager to turn the page and find out what was going to happen next. I love a good page turner.

It’s definitely one of those guilty pleasure books. Where you find yourself looking around to see if anyone is reading what you’re reading over your shoulder. I had someone ask me what I was reading on my nook, so I showed her the screen with the title on the top – and said a silent prayer that there wouldn’t be any mention of Pearl eating human flesh on that particular page! In hindsight, I don’t know why I was so self-conscious, since I’m revealing it all on my blog anyway. So. shh.. let’s just keep this between you and me, eh? That I might have a slight penchant for books that make crude jokes..

One of the things I loved most about Nether was the characters. They are all very unique:

Burklin, he’s lost everything that was ever important to him and he’s got nothing to show for it, you really feel for the guy. He doesn’t even get to drive his favorite sports car Black Beauty unless he gets permission. He’s been totally emasculated.  You can’t help but root for him to reclaim some of his former glory. And laugh at him when he’s down too.. did I admit that?

I think Pearl, the dachshund is my favorite character. She’s a true bitch in every sense of the word; she’s sarcastic, witty and also has a penchant for human flesh. She can also give Burklin the pearls of wisdom he needs to pull himself together (get it, pearls of wisdom? <wink, wink>) She also doesn’t mind pouring salt in all of Burklin’s wounds for a bit of fun, not literally of course. She WILL literally eat that bit of leftover corpse that needs cleaned up anyway. No one can ever say her protein intake is deficient, that’s for sure. And even if you’re a person who is slightly grossed out about a little eight pound dog eating their fill of flesh, you can’t help but like her! (If you are grossed out, seriously, walk away now.. no.. RUN, RUN AWAY! But for the rest of us who are comfortable with the part of ourselves that can picture a dog finding human flesh very edible and delectable, READ ON, READ ON!)

And then there is Lorraine, Burklin’s ex-wife who is a shapeshifter. I think she has got to be one of the most interesting characters I’ve come across. Mainly because I think of shapeshifters as beautiful – even when they haven’t shifted. Lorraine is not a looker.  In fact she is very overweight. She shifts often into the role of “beautiful woman” to get what she wants, when she wants it. I found Lorraine very likeable, even if she is sort of two-timing Burklin by sleeping with his dad.

Garrick is probably the person I like the very least – well for the major characters. He’s a selfish prig. He’s got an ego bigger than our budget deficit. Does he care what Burklin wants? Nope. All he cares about is winning the Nether Sweepstakes. And maintaining his status as protector – which is about to come into some jeopardy.

Wanda, oh Wanda. The clean up job that didn’t quite go as planned… and that’s all I’ll say about that.

The whole time I was reading Nether, I felt like I was reading a Christopher Moore book. If you like his books I think you’ll get a kick out of this one.  Definitely do not take the disclaimer for the book lightly, you WILL be offended if you don’t like any of those things because they are liberal throughout. However, if those things don’t bother you, grab a beverage or two, sit back and prepare for the fun-fest!

Nether is Available @ Amazon for Kindle / Lyrical Press

Find the Author @ his website Beer and TV
and on Twitter @beerandtv

Stay tuned for the giveaway that will be posted soon here on My Shelf Confessions!