Bad Idea

By: Damon Suede

Narrated by: Charlie David

Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Reclusive comic book artist Trip Spector spends his life doodling super-square, straitlaced superheroes, hiding from his fans, and crushing on his unattainable boss until he meets the dork of his dreams. Silas Goolsby is a rowdy FX makeup creator with a loveless love life and a secret streak of geek who yearns for unlikely rescues and a truly creative partnership.

Against their better judgment, they fall victim to chemistry, and what starts as infatuation quickly grows tender and terrifying. With Silas’s help, Trip gambles his heart and his art on a rotten plan: sketching out Scratch, a "very graphic novel" that will either make his name or wreck his career. But even a smash can’t save their world if Trip retreats into his mild-mannered rut, leaving Silas to grapple with betrayal and emotions he can’t escape.

What will it take for this dynamic duo to discover that heroes never play it safe?

©2013 Damon Suede (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Good geeky love story

I was leery after reading some reviews decrying the length of this book and excess of geeky detail since I thought Hot Head had too much background detail. I thought this story, Bad Idea, had more balance in how the setting details were incorporated. The story moved at a consistently appropriate pace. Two geeky specialty artists figure out a way to share several passions and the results are good in and out of bed.

The narrator has good delivery too, except for the jaw dropping number of mispronunciations on top of some odd dialectical choices, like mixing Minnesota with NY for a good ol boy. If you play a drinking game for the odd words, use low alcohol content beverages and sip cautiously. Wouldn’t want you to poison your carroted (carotid) artery with gregarious (egregious) alcohol.

(Detail free assessment but potentially spoilerish)
There’s a big breakup scene where things are said that I didn’t think were recoverable. But thanks to the both Silas and Trip having good, kind, adult friends and allies (something that makes a book extra good for me), when they spent time apart and pining, they were not alone for long and got good advice and thought about where and why things went wrong. Normally I don’t like lovers to be “apart and pining” but they had a solid foundation of togetherness already and needed to think & learn without continuing to damage each other, so it actually worked here.

(Spoiler) In the big brouhaha, Trip runs back to his jerk boss. It turns out that when permanent change us imminent, our brains work overtime to make us go back to what we’re used to, have one last hit, even if the devil we know is clearly worse than the angel ahead. But having run back once with eyes finally open, I, as a reader, now believe Trip is over his user boss, but like a junkie, that last hit wiped out a lot more than one part of his life. That Trip got to fix this error in judgement was a Hanukah miracle in midsummer. /end spoilers

As to the steam, there are a couple hot m/m scenes, mostly frontloaded but I didn’t find it as steamy as Hot Head (which had really fabulous sex scenes). There is still “adult” material throughout due to the horny demon hero, but less detail on page. Where I thought some of the story in Hot Head was weak compared to the steam, Bad Idea had more robust story crafting. At least, I think so. I also appreciated the shout out to the Romance genre and some of the heavy hitters therein.

I recommend the story. The audio is recommended with caveats. Good voicing, mostly, but I coped by writing down many of the mispronunciations and odd dialectical choices. I got 25 before I ran out of post-it note space. (condescension as condensation, cojones as co-Jones instead of co-Ho-ness). At least it was fun. And I wouldn’t mind getting a copy of the graphic novel …

Yuck!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, because sophomoric prose and tired cliches like this is why the world doesn't take gay literature seriously.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The creative process behind the comic book idea the characters are working on even though the romance between them is trite and boring. Go write that comic instead!

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator could pronounce words correctly...just, you know, for a start....

Could you see Bad Idea being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No names

Any additional comments?

I'm getting a refund...

this was like finding a hidden treasure

Would you consider the audio edition of Bad Idea to be better than the print version?

don't have the print, but loved the audio

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bad Idea?

anything going on between Trip and Silas

Which scene was your favorite?

the last 15 minutes I think

Any additional comments?

this is a hea feel good story, well done and fun to listen too! Charlie David is pretty easy to listen too specially when telling a very good story!

sex and comics

what is there not to love when u mix sex and comics...
it was entertaining... sex scenes were great.
cute storyline...

Made my 180 mile commute much more fun!

This review was originally written for Prism Book Alliance.

Rounded up from 4.5 Stars

Trip loves his art, but he is stuck in a rut of drawing for a rather boring comic book series and pining after his boss. When he runs into Silas Goolsby at an OutRun event, the attraction is instantaneous. Silas, a special effects make up artist, has spent years living off of one-night stands and hook-ups. As the two begin to forge a stronger relationship, risks are taken on both personal and professional levels that threaten to tear them apart, and if Trip can’t take the jump into real life and learn to trust, he may find that his happy ending will be attainable.

Bad Idea is sexy, smart, hip, and downright fun! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the characters and was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned about a wide variety of topics, especially special effects make up and comic books. The dialogue is often edgy, funny, and blunt. Fascinating secondary characters frequently offer witticisms and pragmatic advice that sometimes runs a bit long but offers much-needed perspective for the main characters when things get dicey. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions at the author’s use of snark and hilarious descriptions that brightened the story and brought the characters vividly to life. Interestingly, I was also captivated by his beautiful prose that rang with lovely metaphors and imagery. The balance is an intoxicating blend that had me frequently hitting the rewind button and hoping that certain secondary personalities (Curt and Ziggy?) will have their own story in the near future.

Trip and Silas, though they have faults, are extremely likeable and appealing, and their chemistry is scorching. The sex scenes drip with delicious passion as both men discover and reveal intimate facets that bring an authenticity and rawness to the encounters. As they learn more about each other and themselves outside of their sexual relationship, readers are treated to further insight and character depth, and I appreciated the way the characters’ life views and philosophies are presented layer by layer. It was intriguing to get a glimpse of the talents and passion these two men possess for their art, as well, as the author weaves interesting facts and details about both crafts into the story.

Bad Idea is an entertaining, intriguing, and engaging story. It is a unique read where pop culture meets Southern comfort, and quirkiness is commonplace and endearing. I am hoping for more in this series, as I would love to see the MCs build upon their HFN and several lively peripheral characters come back for repeat performances.

Narration:

Charlie David is a talented narrator who breathes life and energy into the written word through inflections, accents, and just the right amount of theatrical flair. Though there are occasional mispronunciations of words that can be a bit distracting, his passionate reading of the story helps to smooth them over. His tone is deep, intoxicating, and pleasing to the ear, and when he reads as Silas with a Southern drawl, his voice is like butter melting on a biscuit. Yum!

Fantastic

Brilliantly written. beautiful and sexy. my only complaint is a minor one with Charlie David. He does superbly well but every once in a while mispronounced a word and it can be a bit jarring. But overall a great book. I look forward to many more books by Damon Suede.

What a fantastic, realistic boook.

Where does Bad Idea rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The book was one of the best books I've gotten in a while in the m/m romance genre the story was real, the emotions were true, even if the body parts were exaggerated.

What other book might you compare Bad Idea to and why?

Zero at the Bone and Few Josh Lanyon books come to mind with the trueness of the emotion

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration at times is like speed bumps on a smooth highway. Charlie David is normally more than competent but there are dozens of glaring mispronunciations. Someone needs to introduce him to an audio dictionary so he can hear the words pronounced properly.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The conclusion, which I will not spoil for anyone. But you'll be satisfied. For once neither half of the couple has to die or get a terminal illness to finish the book.

Any additional comments?

Buy the book. Get the Kindle copy and read along, it helps cover the word bloopers.

An Enthralling Trip, Very Satisfying !!

Not enough credit is given in my opinion in other reviews to the utter brilliance of setting of this story. It's a voyeur's peek into the world of the entertainment media that I've never encountered in fiction. Not to be outdone however, the characters are rich and palpable. Yes, sometimes they are a bit overwritten, but better that than boring. I wanted to duct tape Silas at times for his dorky, overcooked euphemisms, but I also wanted to hug and cheer on others like Ziggy and Max. The narration doubles the pleasure of the writing, it's perfect. Oh, bring a Kleenex, the read will drag out a few wet ones as well!

Great story. Too bad about word mispronunciation

The book was snappy, fun, and moving. The story was very tightly woven and the themes were integrated throughout the book. Despite the narrator's mispronunciation of words, I finished the book because the writing was excellent.

Great for a comic book lover but too long for me

Let me start out by saying Damon Suede is an absolutely awesome writer. Anyone who can weave into a story that “unicorns are just weaponized ponies” has some kind of paranormal muse whispering in his ear. This book is beautifully written, especially if you are a comic book fan or movie geek. He gives shout outs to, Marvel, DC, and other obscure comic book publishers, as well as, Bruce Campbell, The Tick and other obscure pop cult icons. There is some amazingly detailed background on all things comic, movie and TV geek. On the romance side, the MC get together fairly early in the book, so very little angst and a lot of very hot smex. The story is mainly about their rollercoaster ride of a relationship. Charlie David does a fantastic job as usually in bringing the characters to life and drawing the reader into these characters.

That said, I’m afraid I am NOT that into comics or the movie and TV industry and was kind of bored with it at about hour 8 of the 14 hour narration. Although that stuff is interesting, 14 hours of it gets REALLY old. There is really nothing happening in the story except interesting industry knowledge and the two MCs living their geek dream and trying to communicate with one another. Which is sweet, but again 14 HOURS!! I'm afraid I like a little more drama in my romance books. I would say if you want a really intriguing, well written listen about the comic and movie industries (there is even some gaming stuff) and a just OK romance, it is worth a credit.