Bad Parts Audiobook By Brandon McNulty cover art

Bad Parts

Dark Parts, Book 1

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Bad Parts

By: Brandon McNulty
Narrated by: Ellie Gossage
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A town divided. A demon made whole.

When rock guitarist Ash Hudson suffers a career-ending hand injury, she seeks out the only thing that can heal it - her hometown's darkest secret.

For decades the residents of Hollow Hills, Pennsylvania, have offered their diseased and injured body parts to a creek demon named Snare. In return, Snare rewards its Traders with healthy replacement parts. There's only one catch: if Traders leave town, their new parts vanish forever.

Ash wants a new hand, but living in Hollow Hills isn't an option. Not when her band is one gig away from hitting the big time. Desperate, she bargains with Snare, promising to help the demon complete its organ collection in exchange for both a new hand and the freedom for everyone to leave town.

As her band's show rapidly approaches, Ash teams up with her estranged father in a last-ditch effort to recruit new Traders. But not everyone trusts Snare's offer, and Ash soon learns how far her neighbors will go to protect their precious parts.

With her family in danger and her band waiting, Ash must find a way to help Snare. But even if she succeeds, there's no telling what Snare plans to do with everyone's bad parts.

Fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon, and Blake Crouch won't want to miss this gritty, fast-paced, supernatural thriller.

Buy your copy of Bad Parts and start listening today!

©2020 Brandon McNulty (P)2020 Brandon McNulty Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Horror

Critic reviews

"A page-turning tale of Faustian bargains." (Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger)
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The author built a very clever premise and story and the characters felt well developed. I really enjoyed the concept of the creek demon. The writing really got me invested in the story but there was just no payoff in the end for that. It was brutal and not even in a heartbreaking way, just in a frustrating way where nothing at all works out the way you want it to. Some of the frustrating parts felt completely unnecessary as well, like things just kept happening to raise the stakes higher and higher but for no reward in the end. The ending sequence dragged on for a very long time, felt repetitive, and was just one gut punch after another. The end makes you feel like you suffered along with every one of the characters and for nothing.

Besides all that, I did love the narrator's performance, but it was completely undermined by the audio quality. Overall, this book was a frustrating experience, although unique and interesting. I wouldn't recommend it without some huge caveats attached.

Good story but absolutely brutal

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Bad Parts is a true page turner and a really fun ride. Yes I know this is a review for an audiobook so it can't really be a "page turner" in the true sense, but it still feels like it. The story and mystery of it all will keep you hooked into the story. The author paints a vivid, detailed picture of what is happening yet keeps the action flowing and there is never a boring moment. A great thriller that never slows down!

I thought the person reading the book did a good job.

A Page Turner That Will Keep You Hooked

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Brandon does an excellent job in his newest entry. I look forward to the next one and I’ll read the two before it read it.

Clarity, compelling, clear

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The main character has some good writing that makes Ash feel believable.

It is kind of messed up. NOT a happy ending Disney story here. I like the particularly interesting details that feel signature to the story. One example of which is the supernatural beings pond reflects an image of an idealized version of yourself when you see your reflection and how it does not work if anyone else is looking. The story is good enough that it gets away with never having to explain who found the pond or figured out how to make trades. I was also very entertained by the story elements of the town’s people (Traders) who turn on one another to get access to a particular body part. It highlights the corruption of humans rather than explicitly making the supernatural being make people do bad things. I feel a story or prequel could be made about people finding out about the pond. About the town sheriff having to do detective work to figure out who has what body part or arranged for someone to be murdered or taken 10 miles out of town. I feel that maybe the book didn’t have to be one book but could have been a series.

The parts about it that were good are authentically good.
It left me wanting more of the story.

Unique things about it

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I don't often write reviews for the audiobooks I listen too, but this one I had to speak out and say I can't even finish it.

Before I spit venom at you, I want to say I made it almost half way though the book and the story was interesting and I liked the direction of some of the characters. The actual reading of the story was engaging and she made it clear when different people were speaking and added personality to them. I WANT to finish the book, but I simply can't get past the audio engineering here.

Whomever is responsible for mastering this audiobook has some real work to do. The audio in this does some super annoying stuff. The entire things sounds like someone was talking into a can during the gramophone recording session. The voice integrity is so bad and inconsistent, the editing was jarring and I just cant complete the work.

Its a real shame, because I was into the story, but until they release a remastered version, I'll never finish it.

I can't finish it...

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