The Bookwyrm's Review of the Butcher's Boy: The Ballad of Billy Badass by Michael Robb

 

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Rating: 9/10 Stars

Synopsis

Thirty-one years ago, Buxly the Butcher went to trial for killing his entire family. He was found guilty, and sentenced to die for those crimes. Now, Janet Hale, a recently divorced nurse, has purchased the house unaware of the brutal murders that took place there so long ago. From the moment she, her 11-year-old son, and his overprotective Rottweiler move in, bad things start to happen. A strange man is caught lurking in the back yard, and the only neighbor turns out to be a crazy old widow. But not everything is going wrong. During the move, Janet meets a handsome charmer. She likes him enough to start dating again, leaving a sitter to watch over her son.

When Michael and his dog, Lucy-Fur, learn firsthand that their home is haunted by one of the victims of the Butcher's grisly act, Michael scours the internet and the local library to find out what happened back then. Maggie, the sitter, brings over a Ouija board and they soon find out that there is more than one dark spirit on the haunt.

Can Lucy-Fur protect her boy from the angry ghost that wants to possess him? Can Michael fight through the madness and terror to find out what really happened? If he does, maybe the tormented souls can be put to rest and his mom can keep the house that she seems to love. If he fails, he just might become one of them.

With the help of Maggie, and a burned out house painter, Michael is going to try. The problem is, not everyone is who they seem...even the dead.

This isn't your average haunted house novel. The Butcher's Boy by Michael Robb: Take a slow ride into terror!

***Content Warning: This is NOT the over-gory sort of thrasher-horror novel, but it does touch on some unsettling subject matter and should not be read by the squeamish, the easily offended, or children under the age of 18.

Review

I don't normally read a lot of horror stuff, but every once in a while I'll take a stroll down that dark road. This time it was The Butcher's boy, which to me was an easy sell because I am such a fan of the author's fantasy and sci-fi books. After I finished, I was glad to see that his storytelling in horror was just as good as it was in fantasy. 

The world building in this one is very tight. Taking place in a small town, the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone, the story of Buxly the Butcher is the kind of thing that lingers in people minds. The house the murders took place in seems to have been bad luck ever since, but nothing seemed too crazy. To Janet and Michael, this house seems perfect. And that perfect setup only slowly unravels as things in the story progress. The crazy neighbor, the homeless guy that keeps wandering onto their property, the mysterious chest in the neighbor's shed, the mysterious murders taking place in a neighboring town. They all help set up the world the author is building. The slow reveal of facts that weren't known before point to a much more horrifying past to the house than you see from first glance, a past that comes barreling into the present with deadly ferocity.

The characters are an interesting mix. Michael and Janet are just what they seem, a single mom and her son trying to rebuild from a wrecked marriage with a new start. Janet is a nurse, and is dedicated to her son and creating the best life she can for him. Michael is a really nice kid, maybe a little too inquisitive for his own good, but he means well. They give off a really nice vibe, which makes what happens in the story to them all the more intriguing and shocking.

The secondary characters are well thought out and engaging. Oliver is a recovering addict that is getting his life on track, and is hired to paint Janet's house and do some handyman stuff, and ends up living in the garage loft. He's trying to do right, and he really comes across as a real person, helping Michael adjust to life as it is now. Maggie, who is Michael's babysitter, is a nice college girl, and she takes good care of Michael, although the idea to humor Michael with a Ouija board to talk to a ghost might not have been the best idea ever. These characters really help bring the story to life.

The villains are definitely not what I expected. In fact, while they share a common goal and even have a past link, one isn't even aware of the other as they each have separate plans for the evil they plan to perpetrate on Janet and Michael. When they finally cross paths, the history they share will cause sparks to fly, but it's quickly shown that one is definitely vastly more evil and sinister than the other, and it definitely wasn't the one I was expecting. The revelations about them keep coming right up to the end of the story.

The narration is performed by Don Stauffer. He did a nice job bringing the various characters to life. He had to read some truly horrifying stuff, and managed it without a hitch. He really put menace in the antagonists voices, and did an excellent job bringing real emotion to the various characters. His narrative pacing is good, and never falls into a monotone. It's a very solid performance.

Like I said, horror isn't usually my main genre, but  books like The Butcher's Boy make me think I need to explore the dark side more. With an engaging cast of characters, some real mystery and horror that's more on the psychological torture end as opposed to splattered gore, it may appeal to more people. The touch of the supernatural may attract fans from urban fantasy to try it out as well. I can recommend this book without hesitation.