Crazy in Love

The Story of a Gay Demon

By: Perie Wolford

Narrated by: Maxwell Palmer

Length: 2 hrs

Publisher's summary

A black comedy story based on a horror painting and vastly inspired by Stephen King's Needful Things.

When 17-year-old Dale Stevens comes to spend his summer at his aunt's house in the desolate woods of upstate California, he expects the most boring 90 days of his life. But his expectations change rapidly after he meets a mysterious stranger in the woods and discovers things about himself, his body, and his soul that he knew nothing about.

©2017 Perie Wolford (P)2017 Perie Wolford

Love, angst, and evil - the best teen traits!

If you could sum up Crazy in Love in three words, what would they be?

creepy teen love

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crazy in Love?

The scene with the cow was horribly creepy, and it will stay with me.

What about Maxwell Palmer’s performance did you like?

He did a great job showing Dale's teenage immaturity mixing with murderous evil.

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

The ending, where it described Chris in the woods.

Any additional comments?

This book made me laugh, shake my head, and cringe in turns. It was very different from the genres I usually read/listen to. If you don't go into it expecting a romantic HEA, it is very entertaining. It also makes you think about where evil actually comes from, another being or from the human heart. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Violent but there is a moral to the story

This is book two in the series but can be read or listened to as a standalone. Each book has different characters. This is a short erotic story but not as sweet as the first one. There is a lot of violence in this book and the narrator really brings it out and makes it chilling. The sex is hot too but not as hot as the first book as I think the violence was more predominant here. Now having said that there is a reason for the violence… it gives the story a moral and there is also a Happy ending. Though I would like to have known about the character’s best friend from the beginning of the book.
If you like demons, don’t mind violence and like short stories with HEA this is for you.

WTF

Honesty messed up. The protagonist kills animals, and enjoys it. They blame the demon for the fact that this kid is a straight psychopath.

More of satire\black comedy than a romance

Told in the first person, this is a satirical story about teenage love, lust, and greed. Dale is sent to Reno to stay with his aunt for the summer because his mom sees he is finding it much too easy to spend time with his rich best friend. And wanting things. He is desperate to be loved so when his path crosses another boy's, well be is all in.

Maxwell Palmer does a delicious job of expressing Dale's confusion and teen angst. It's just this side of crazy. Fans of Todd Sweeney and those want to be creeped out at Halloween will enjoy this because it is not a romance. If this is your first experience with Perie, I highly recommend his San Dorsey books. They are a blast!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Good novel just not my cup of tea

Given a free copy for an honest review.It starts out romantic when Dale sees a mysterious boy in the woods. They become romantically involved then Dale's Aunt forbids him in seeing him as she knows he is a demon. It soon turns violent and twisted with Dale nearly killing his Aunt. Quick listen though the narration was bland to my ears.

Very dark and disturbing

The description says this is a black comedy based on a Stephen King story. I get the black part and I certainly can see glimpses of King in the story but humor? My sense of it must have been missing when I listened to this disturbing story. Now, most readers probably know more about demonology than I do but I’m always up for trying something new and I had high hopes for this story. To say it was disturbing would be an understatement and maybe if I’d studied the dark side more I might have anticipated it.

This story is told entirely in Dale’s point of view and there is very little dialogue so it is mostly the ramblings of a teenager trying to find his way in the world. Fair enough. I understood his delight in meeting someone his own age after being consigned to being alone while visiting his aunt in Northern California. I don’t know many young men and so can’t say how accurate the ramblings were. His obsession with his new friend was understandable given his isolation, so that all made sense. When the story took a dark turn, I don’t think I was prepared for the level of violence and cruelty. That’s on me. Like I said – not a lot of exposure to demons.

If you can get past the disturbing elements of the story then there are creative elements to it that can be enjoyable. If your stomach is turned by grotesque scenes, this might not be the best book for you. Each to their own.

Maxwell Palmer was the perfect narrator for the story. I was unfamiliar with his work but won’t hesitate to pick up another book performed by him. He nailed seventeen year old angst perfectly. In all, disturbing but creative.

Trigger warning: Animal Sacrifice

This book wasn't for me. Animal sacrifice isn't my thing.
<I'm giving it 3 stars because it's not the authors fault it wasn't my cup of tea - and I do love his Sam Dorsey series.>

The first few chapters felt a little disjointed compared to the rest of the book - there was a lot of detail about Dale's best friend (and crush) Jack that felt superfluous. The book starts with Jack and Dale (in the opening paragraph I though Jack was going to be a MC). Why do we know Jack is a sensitive gifted young man, interested in books and the arts and from a rich family with a ton of friends, his family has properties all over the place, and then nothing? I feel like there either needed to be less detail or more Jack. And the second chapter confused me as to how old Dale is, at one point it reads: "once, on Dale's 17th birthday Jack bought him a new car" making it sound as though 17 was years ago, when actually Dale is still 17.

It's the first time I've considered not finishing a book - the animal sacrifices were just not for me, but I persevered through to the end and i'm happy I did - although I feel there should have been greater repercussions for Dale.

I also think the 'blurb' should note the animal sacrifice content - hence my trigger warning headline..

What is inside you

The things we are ready to do for love it what we think is love
A good reminder to look into our self and see what we have become.
Are you ready to sacrifice your beliefs and values for someone else?
as the story is going dark you think all is lost and the character has no way back for him. the plot is good
The story is good and well written the characters are well created and strong.
the narrator is good.

Sort of disturbing

This definitely a different story. Sort of dark. The MC kind of spirals and I'm still not sure how I felt about the things he does. I felt like maybe it went on a little to long. If you like that sort of darker, questionable character you should give it a try.

Narration was good.

Not for me

This was narrated well. As for the book itself, it just wasn't for me. It was confusing at times and the ending was....different.