Dreams of Sharp Teeth

By: Brandon Ford

Narrated by: Charles Mallett

An extravagant sum of money. A brand new car. An extended stay in a luxurious farmhouse. All this to aid a mysterious stranger in a years-old quest to realize a life-long dream.

Teenage runaway Josh Keegan first discovers the ad pinned to a bulletin board in a neighborhood coffee house. He then finds it listed in the classifieds section of a weekly newspaper. It almost seems as though the ad, as well as the mysterious stranger who placed it, are following him through the icy city streets.

What Josh doesn’t realize is that phoning a response to this bizarre request will forever change his life and his mental state. When he is taken to the remote farmhouse, Josh doesn’t know how far he’ll have to go or how far he’s willing to go to earn his prize.

Most frighteningly of all, he has no idea how much he is going to enjoy it. What begins as a test of emotional strength quickly becomes an oft-sought privilege, finally culminates into an overpowering addiction - an addiction Josh will do anything to satisfy.

From the author of Plaything comes a dark and twisted experiment in the macabre - one that pushes boundaries and leaves the listener haunted by a barrage of deeply unsettling images.

Dreams of Sharp Teeth is a fairy tale darker and more grim than anything Brandon Ford has previously written. It is a startling and powerful novel you won’t soon forget.

©2019 Brandon Ford (P)2020 Brandon Ford

A delightfully twisted story!

Mr. Brandon Ford knocked this one out of the ballpark. A very wickedly disturbing story with great characters. Enter at your own risk! A must read!

Disturbing but you can’t stop listening!

I chose this book in a hurry and without reading the description. I thought it was a zombie book. Although it’s not a zombie book I was not disappointed! I couldn’t stop listening to it and it kept me in a constant state of “WTF?”. It’s a disturbing story to say the least but you will be hooked after the second chapter. Just buy it!

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

The book's cover is not representative of the book

...nor is the first part of the book representative of the genre/story.

OVERALL — 3½ stars
The book begins as a human drama – not a thriller/suspense – as the main character, 16-year-old Josh, deals with the hospitalization of his father and doesn't want his Mom to know he has taken up smoking to cope with it.
And then, in Chapter 2, Josh runs away from home, having listened to his "inner voice", that he feels is his personal "demon".

Chapter 3, more drama. Same with next few chapters. No thriller/suspense vibe and I was thinking the book was listed under an incorrect genre, belonging more to the drama or literary genre (since the writing itself is good).

It just seemed odd to me that I wasn't getting any thriller/suspense vibe, and so I became curious what other reviewers of the book were saying.

NOTE: At my request, I was given a free review copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily left this honest review of it.
If you find my review helpful, please click Helpful below so that my reviews may be seen by more people.

As I read other reviews of "Dreams of Sharp Teeth" I got the impression the reviewers were reviewing the cover of the book rather than the book itself: "extreme horror", "too graphic", "crazy psychological horror"
I felt like I must've been listening to a whole different book!

But I stuck with it and – a little over 2½ hours in – a guy named Clem enters and the book takes a turn for the better (in the sense of it finally beginning to take on a thriller/suspense tone (which is not to say that all that had come before was not good; it just hadn't been the thriller/suspense I'd expected when I got the book).

So anyhow, introducing Clem is when the Story actually begins (because what follows is the real thriller/suspense aspect of the story). All that came before was Backstory. (All that came before was not even Introduction in that it did not introduce the true story, which is not about Josh and his parents or Josh and his friend Brook, but rather the introduction of Clem into his life with all that follows)

Initially Clem challenges Josh regarding his age.
And then what had merely been literary drama started to get interesting.

PERFORMANCE — 4 stars (I listened at normal speed)
The narration is well done and Charles Mallett's voice is pleasant to listen to. Although the speed could be bumped up a notch, I listened at normal speed and found it sufficient.

STORY — 3½ stars
The latter part of the book is more interesting than the beginning (especially the first hour or two).

Perhaps the overall book would have been better if the author, Brandon Ford, had begun the story where Josh is at in his life 2½ hours into the book (as it is currently written). And then, after thrusting readers right into the good part, relevant snippets of all that came before in Josh's life could be mentioned as flashbacks along the way, readers getting filled in on how Josh came to be in the situation he's in as a runaway—and how he came to be associated with (and how he came to need) Clem.

To be specific, here's what I'm getting at—

"Dreams of Sharp Teeth", as it is, opens word-for-word as follows:

***

Dad had been sick long before I stepped onto this mortal coil. Diagnosed with cysticfibrosis, the disease attacked his lungs.... He'd spent his life suffering a barrage of painful symptoms, frequenting doctors offices and emergency rooms.... He endured an endless list of limitations.... He'd never had a normal life....

In me he'd once confided that he'd spent his first two decades positive he'd die a sad, lonely man who'd never experience love without condition. "I was sure I wouldn't find a suitable mate–" he told me, while offering my mother a loving glance "–who'd purposely devote their life to someone who would never make it past middle age. He took her hand in his.... Inside I cringed at the small but awkward display of affection.... The life expectancy of those affected by the disease.... Dad fervently believed he'd never see 21. That is, of course, until he met my mother, who'd fallen head-over-feet for him.

"The moment we met," she insisted. And miraculously his many symptoms abated. He was by no means cured – miles from it – but Dad claimed his suffering dwindled.... Perhaps he was too distracted by true love to focus on the disease.... Perhaps it was my mother's presence which kept the illness's bleakest moments at bay. I suppose we'll never know.

I can remember accompanying both of my parents on emergency room visits as far back as age 5....
....
He spat bile in such massive volumes that....
...Those mounds of thick, clumpy mucous....

Symptoms like these sickened and disgusted me. I longed for what I perceived to be a normal father.... His behavior embarrassed me and I refrained from bringing home the few friends I had as a preadolescent. But as I matured an acceptance of my father as well as the disease slowly killing him materialized....

***

Anyhow, this opening (besides being somewhat boring) conveys the idea to the reader that the father and his condition has relevance to the story and that the relationships of the family will be the central theme. But that is not so.

So I can't help wonder why Brandon Ford chose to begin the book there.

It would have been more compelling (and set the ominous tone I'm sure he intended) if the 39 chapter book had opened with the words occurring at the end of Chapter 10, "Multiplied Chaos":

***

"[You might be just the person] I'm looking for," [said the man]. "If you really do have nothing left [to live for] then you just might take things a few steps further than the rest."

"The rest?"

He laughed, fell into a seated position on the cold concrete, knees bent. "What—you think you're the fist person to answer that ad? I've been posting it for months, had hundreds of responses, but only chose to meet up with a select few."

He turned to glimpse his Jag, most likely to assess the damage I'd caused.

"What happened?"

He looked back at me. "Tell you what," he said, taking his wallet out of his back pocket and going through a thick billfold. "I'll give you—fifty bucks. That should at least get you through the week, if you budget well."

"Fifty bucks for what?"

"Take a few tests."

Tests. I remembered him mentioning something about tests over the phone but I was so dazed I didn't have time to contemplate what he could've meant. "What kind of tests?"

"Nothing taxing. And don't worry, I won't have you fill out one of those blue examination booklets. Just a few things I have to find out before we set off to Jersey. If I don't like what I see, the fifty is yours and you can be on your merry little way." [Clem] waved the bill, expecting me to take it.

I didn't. "I told you. I'm not interested. Not anymore."

"And I told you that's a story I ain't buying. So get up off your ass and let's go. It's as cold as a hound's pecker in December out here." He extended his arm further and waved the bill again.

This time I took it. But when I did he brought himself to his feet and offered a large hand to help with mine. When my flesh touched his I shuddered. I didn't know if it was the biting winds or if his blood ran icy cold, but his touch was frigid—colder than the concrete beneath me, colder than the steel window frame behind me.

He turned his back to me, headed toward the car.

I looked down at the fifty dollar bill in my hand. I suppose I could have taken it and ran, but after a few days I'd be back here again—hungry, cold and penniless. I owed it to myself to see where this would go. And so I climbed into the car with him."

***

Finally... I don't know who makes decisions for what portion of a book to include as an Audible sample on the book's Audible page. But after I wrote all of the above (and am now about to post this review), out of curiosity I listened to the Sample. And guess what: The Sample ends in Chapter 10 shortly before the section I transcribed above—where I felt the book should have begun! So apparently I am not alone in thinking THIS is where the book should have started, since most Samples are taken from the beginning of books (where, typically, an author focuses the most attention trying to hook a reader). If the beginning is boring or irrelevant, it won't help sell the book. So I guess that's why, for the Sample, a more interesting section of the book than its opening was chosen. And Chapter 10 is when the book really gets going.

Go ahead and get the book. Read/listen for yourself and you'll see/hear that I'm right.

left holding the bag

I barely kept myself from throwing up while listening to this, and I worked as a nurse (mainly ICU) for 40 years!! I urge caution while listening. I have no words for the depravity described. This became such an odd partnership of necessity. I felt empathy for Josh and the experiment gone very wrong. I'll need some clean reads to cleanse my mind after this. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did an excellent job bringing the characters and story to life.

Disturbing

I really enjoyed this book quite a bit, but I will warn you that it’s not for the faint of heart. I can’t say much because it will spoil the book. There are some quite horrific scenes though.

The reader did a very nice job on this.

very weird book

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review.

So this was quite a weird book. I thought the writing was very well done as was the narration. I had no idea where this book would lead, and, up until now considered myself quite used to horror writers can dish out. .. That was until I listened to this book. I honestly had to stop on occasion when the writing gets too graphic. This book has lots of gore starting a third of the way through. That said, I think the author did a wonderful job of fleshing out the main character. I really enjoyed the build up to the main part of the story and look forward to reading more from this author.

Twisted

With twist at the end. Ended differently than I thought it would but was still good. Authors warped fantasy ends up destroying everyone including himself around him. There were some sick scenes but nothing to bad. If you’re into these kinda of stories I would recommend the credit. I was given this audio in exchange for honest and voluntary review

Loved it

If you enjoy extreme horror Brandon is someone you should be reading
His ability to tell one story then completely flip it on its head is outstanding
Well narrated and highly recommended
Also if you enjoyed this definitely check out plaything
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Intense and Disturbing

Dreams of Sharp Teeth is an very Dark and quite disturbing story. It starts off at a very slow pace but becomes very depraved and horrifying by the middle of the book. I usually love books with gore but this one is definitely not in my top ten. Warning do not eat meat while listening to this book. I am voluntarily leaving this review that is unbiased and honest.

Fantastic Psychological Horror

Woo. Another crazy psychological horror read from the author of Open Wounds and Plaything.

In Dreams of Sharp Teeth, we’re introduced to Josh. With a terminally sick father, his life’s been anything but ideal. His parents don’t pay him much attention, and that free time allows him to spend his time with other people. Older men who only want one thing. As a result, he’s contracted his own illness. Worried to dump the additional stress on his already strained family, he decides to run away, and that is when he meets Clem, a horror author with a truly disturbing dream for the future.

My favorite part of Brandon’s Ford’s books have to be that I never see the ending coming. There are so many unusual twists and turns in the plots that I am sucked in and held in. To me, his works are reminiscent of Stephen King. The characters are always elaborately drafted and so are their histories and hopes for the future.

The plot and worldbuilding are fresh and realistic. So are the dark paths that the characters often go down. When I picked up this book, I didn’t expect any of what would come at the ending, but it was for that reason that I became addicted to this book. Such a rollercoaster of “Oh, my God” moments.

Narration was perfect.

Another five-star read from Brandon Ford.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.