Soze Says

My first sample of Kyle M. Scott proved to be fairly tasty. An increasingly gore laden book that throws in some nasty sex scenes to up the ante, Aftertaste depicts what happens when a new burger franchise that is actually a front for something much nastier than the pursuit of profit at the expense of quality foods opens in small town America.

A simple enough and straight forward premise, Scott's novel begins well enough, introducing main character Slim and her battles with her meat-loving family. But as the narrative progresses, some less than stellar support characters that are neither realistic nor relatable begin to undermine proceedings. The worst example of this is one whose 180 degree arc is not at all set-up and feels too much like a good idea coming too late in the process without the necessary re-write of the early sections to "earn it".

The ultimate villain responsible for the evil inflicted on the town also came across as too simplistic and juvenile for my tastes.

Those criticisms aside, there was some good old fashioned, nasty fun to be had with Aftertaste. I also quite liked Scott's writing style - effectively straight forward without being overly wordy - so I will be back for a second-helping.

3 Parasite-Riddled Burger Paddies for Aftertaste.