Limbs

A Love Story

By: Tim Meyer

Narrated by: Ryan Francona

Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

I am not a monster.

Ray Bridges, a professional electronics salesman, is looking for love in all the strange places. He spends most nights sneaking into support group meetings for the disabled in order to satisfy his deepest, darkest desires - to hook up with unfortunate, down-on-their-luck women who’ve recently lost a limb. There's a name for Ray’s preference; it’s called acrotomophilia, a paraphilia involving amputees. 

Conflicted, Ray wishes he could change. But he can’t. His body won’t let him. Nor will his mind. He’s destined to live this life, forever. That is . . . until he meets the perfect girl. Falls in love with her. Only problem: her arms and legs are attached. 

Unable to find her attractive, Ray embarks on a dark, twisted journey of self-discovery, one that will force him to make an impossible choice: abandon his pursuit of true love or find a way to make it work, even if that means getting the girl of his dreams to shed an appendage. 

Weird, comedic, and often raunchy, Limbs is the craziest love story ever told.

©2019 Tim Meyer (P)2019 Tim Meyer

Move Over Palahniuk, You've Got Competition

This story was one hell of a ride. Once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop. Listened to half of it twice, once when I fell asleep and then again once I woke. Refused to detach my earbuds. I really thought I had an idea of where the book was going, and while I wasn’t totally off, it did throw in some twists that kept me guessing. I have to say this book is in my top five for this year.

The story truly is a unique love story where one party to the relationship struggles with inner demons that in his mind make him a monster. Wouldn’t call him a monster at all, however the way he goes about his search for love is definitely deceptive, which makes him a bit of a scumbag. A scumbag that you absolutely feel for as he is trying to fix himself, although as many people know, you really can’t change who you are attracted to.

I really enjoyed the characters. Ray came off as someone who despised his issues yet the only thing I found wrong was how he went about dealing with them. Obviously, he needed help, but I understood his reluctance to seek it. He reminded me of Tyler Durden attending support groups which I found amusing. In the end I thought he was a decent guy since he tried to do the right thing and would be totally willing to sit and watch horror movies with him and Percy over some beers. Speaking of Percy, I saw a lot of me in him and thought he made a great sidekick to Ray. I also really liked Kayla, her wittiness and playful demeanor really made me understand why Ray was willing to do anything to keep her.

I don’t live under a rock, so I understand there are a lot of fetishes out there. I don’t care what people are into with a few exceptions. I’m a huge horror fan so little phases me, although for some reason the whole acrotomophilia struck me as quite odd. Something I had never thought about and actually found the quite interesting. Not something that I will ever enjoy myself, but it was interesting listening to someone who has that fetish.

Ryan Francona was awesome. I liked everything about his character voices and really enjoyed how he narrated Wendy speaking with waffles in his mouth. Seriously, that was solid addition to the story that for some reason I felt went above and beyond typical narration. Outside of waffles, Francona did a great job and he really got me connected to the characters and story because of his narration.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

I Am Not A Monster

I am not a monster

That is what Ray continues to tell himself throughout the story; and to be honest, he really isn’t. He is just a man with a rare “affliction” where the only medication is more amputees.

Unfortunately, this “affliction” makes him more of a deviant than he believes himself to be. He shows up at support group meetings, hoping to seduce the menu and get his rocks off while, at the same time, potentially lifting up the spirits of these women. At least, that is until a new female employee, Kayla, starts working alongside him at Best Tronics and he falls for her HARD. Like, blue pill hard. From that point on, sh!t just gets weird.

This was my first experience with Meyer’s writing and definitely won’t be my last. While Limbs falls in the horror genre, this is, simply put, a love story (like the title indicates). It is bawdy, bloody, and downright insane, but is told with a lot of hear and very few appendages. It is a very easy story to pick up and, while short, doesn’t leave you disappointed. Ladies?!?!?

Meyer has a knack for creating characters, especially one with flaws (looking at you, Ray), but also characters that keep you guessing throughout the entire read. I literally (Chris Traeger voice) couldn’t tell whether or not our main character was going to continue living on the edge or dive deeper into his dark passenger. Gave me a Darkly Dreaming Dexter/Brady Hartsfield vibe the entire way through, which if I am being honest, was exactly the reason I enjoyed myself so much.

Limbs, in the same vein as Blister by Jeff Strand, ended up surprising me as I went into it expecting more blood and guts than could fill a bathtub. But don’t get me wrong, it isn’t for the weak of stomach or those without a leg to stand on. In all honesty, I couldn’t get enough.

Review!

So I’ve told you, I love to listen to audio books when I’m busy doing daily tasks.I finished “limbs: a love story” and I really enjoyed this so much! I’m not even sure how I came about this book.This story is about Ray Bridges who works at an electronics story and has a weird sexual fetish. He has what is called acrotomophilia, a paraphilia involving amputees. A fetish he wishes he could get rid of when he meets the girl of his dreams but she has all her limbs. What is ray to do?! Is he gonna fix himself or fix her?! This is a crazy, weird, and bizarro love story! 4/5 🌟 review!

Very good

Don’t listen, if you’re faint of heart. Would highly recommend, if you love horror, or anything like that.

A love story with grit

Tim Meyer crafted a strange and unusual love story full of grit. This is an author who's work will always be at the top of my TBR.