I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Out of Body by Jeffrey Ford Published by Tor.com on May 26 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 176
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: This short novella was disappointing, unfortunately, due to a disjointed plot and bland characters.
I’m afraid this book just didn’t work for me at all, which is a shame because I loved the idea and I was looking forward to reading something from Jeffrey Ford. Unfortunately, this novella reads almost like a first draft, with a convoluted story, underdeveloped characters, and subpar writing. I hate to write negative reviews, and I always try to find the positive elements in every book I read, but there wasn’t much to like in this one, I’m sorry to say.
The story revolves around a lonely librarian named Owen who witnesses a convenience store shooting one day and later discovers he has the ability to leave his body at night. These out of body experiences, or OBE, give Owen the freedom to roam the neighborhood without anyone seeing him. At first his voyeuristic journeys are new and exciting, since he’s able to literally walk through walls into people’s homes and spy on them. But soon he meets another “sleeper,” a woman named Melody, who warns him about night time dangers, like a killer yellow mist called the miasma, or entities that try to cut the cord that connects sleepers to their bodies.
Owen and Melody find themselves in the middle of a mystery when they discover a reclusive painter who is killing people and drinking their blood. And how does this vampire-like creature relate to the strange tattoo that was found on the shooter?
Yeah, I’m confused too. This was an odd story, and maybe I just didn’t get it. At first I was drawn into the mystery of the strange tattoo—which appears on the convenience store shooter as well as several other characters in the story—and Owen seems to want to solve the mystery, although to be honest, Owen didn’t get excited about much in this story (more on that later). Then there’s the mystery of the painter/vampire and his connection to the people with the tattoos. Owen discovers that the painter is the very same artist who created the Sleeping Beauty mural at his library, which is fading and needs to be restored. To add even more confusion to this set-up, Owen visits the house of a different painter who doesn’t appear to be connected to anything else in the story. All these disparate elements do come together, sort of, but the connections are tenuous at best. The main plot centers around Owen’s plan to destroy the vampire, and we do get a resolution at the end. But getting there was a confusing process, sort of like stepping off the trail and finding yourself wading through a bog by accident.
On top of this strange plot, I found all the characters to be rather bland and uninteresting. Owen plods through his days without much joy, and it’s only when he’s able to leave his body that he finally shows a glimmer of happiness. The other characters just weren’t developed enough to make an impression on me. And that’s really all I have to say about them.
And oh dear, the writing was so awkward. I’m not sure why, because Jeffrey Ford has quite a few books under his belt. But some of the writing needed serious editing, unfortunately. I also ran across a few sentences that made absolutely no sense: “Melody had been right; it stank like chopped meat gone bad, but on a supernatural level.” What?
There were some exciting moments when Owen and Melody are in their sleeper bodies and are trying to avoid the miasma and the creatures who want to cut their cords, but while I enjoyed those moments, they felt oddly disconnected from the rest of the story. I would have preferred that the story focus more on the creepy twilight world of those out of body experiences, rather than the confusing cult/vampire story. But maybe that’s the whole point, that the story is about being disconnected. I don’t know. If anyone else has read this novella, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
With thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Aww, this is too bad! And I’m usually so used to seeing 4 and 5 star reviews from you so you must’ve really disliked this book.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review + Release Promotion: Fourth a Lie by Pepper Winters + Givaway!
I know! I hate giving low reviews, but I just couldn’t justify anything higher this time.
I think you wrote a good, honest review. Ford has a gazillion books out. Not every one is going to be a home run. I have enjoyed his writing in the past, so I may give this one a try anyway.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…Mother Loves Spiders
I would like to try something else from him for sure!
That “supernatural level” sentence makes no sense. Good on you for persevering with something that sounds this frustrating.
It was quite short, and I wanted to keep reading because I felt like the author was going to pull everything together into an “ah ha!” moment. Unfortunately it never happened for me.
That’s a shame – it definitely sounded like it had some potential
Bob @ Beauty in Ruins recently posted…#NSFW Book Review: Forward by Elizabeth Fyre
It really did, and there are reviewers out there who enjoyed it. Just not me, unfortunately.
I don’t remember seeing such a low rating in your reviews, which means that this story is as messy as it sounds… It’s as if the author was undecided on the direction to take and he kept meandering all over the place. But your proverbial bog was there to entrap him! 😀 😀
Thanks for the warning!!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…LOCKE & KEY – Season 1 (spoiler-free review) – Wyrd & Wonder 2020
I can count on one hand the number of 2 star reviews I’ve given out, so this is very unusual.
This sounds so interesting so bummer it just didn’t hit the mark.
It had a lot of potential.
Well I love the cover but it’s probably a no from me. Thanks for sharing an honest review!
I love the cover too, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
sorry it didn’t work out for you, Tammy.
Laura Thomas recently posted…The Mists Of Stone Lake by Mary Cook ~ Excerpt and Giveaway
Oh man, how disappointing! I was so-so on the first book I read by him, but thought I’d give this one a chance…now I’m not sure anymore 🙁
Oh no. I’m sorry this didn’t work out. I was hoping it would be great because of the cover, which sounds silly but I really love that cover.
In sorry that this was so disappointing! I hope you would make some great reads after this one!
That’s too bad. This sounds like it had a lot if potential.
Sorry this one didn’t work for you. I have a copy and now I’m hesitant.
Well, at least it was short. And it had a librarian, so that’s something. 🙂 Some of the description seemed to have promise, and it vaugely reminded me of a low budget independent film I actually enjoyed, called Ink. Not at all the same, but had similarities involving dreams and an entire other existence with creatures or people able to affect them.
It was short, maybe that was part of the problem for me. A longer story would have given him more time to develop things further.
Well, that’s a bummer because I love out of body experiences. This could have been really intriguing. Supernatural rancid meat. LOL.
Oof, sorry this one did not work out for you, that’s disappointing. Hopefully your next read is better!
Oh dear, shame this didn’t fulfil it’s potential.
Lynn 😀