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The Savage
In the raucous and action-packed follow-up to Donnybrook, mayhem is still the order of the day-only more so
Frank Bill's America has always been stark and violent. In his new novel, he takes things one step further: the dollar has failed; the grid is wiped out.
Van Dorn is eighteen and running solo, dodging the bloodthirsty hordes and militias that have emerged since the country went haywire. His dead father's voice rings in his head as Van Dorn sets his sights not just on survival but also on an old-fashioned sense of justice.
Meanwhile, a leader has risen among the gangs-and around him swirls the cast of brawlers from Donnybrook, with their own brutal sense of right and wrong, of loyalty and justice through strength.
So, this is not the distant postapocalyptic future-this is tomorrow, in a world Bill has already introduced us to. Now he raises the stakes and turns his shotgun prose on our addiction to technology, the values and skills we've lost in the process, and what happens when the last systems of morality and society collapse.
The Savage presents a bone-chilling vision of America where power is the only currency and nothing guarantees survival. And it presents Bill at his most ambitious, most eloquent, most powerful.
Frank Bill's America has always been stark and violent. In his new novel, he takes things one step further: the dollar has failed; the grid is wiped out.
Van Dorn is eighteen and running solo, dodging the bloodthirsty hordes and militias that have emerged since the country went haywire. His dead father's voice rings in his head as Van Dorn sets his sights not just on survival but also on an old-fashioned sense of justice.
Meanwhile, a leader has risen among the gangs-and around him swirls the cast of brawlers from Donnybrook, with their own brutal sense of right and wrong, of loyalty and justice through strength.
So, this is not the distant postapocalyptic future-this is tomorrow, in a world Bill has already introduced us to. Now he raises the stakes and turns his shotgun prose on our addiction to technology, the values and skills we've lost in the process, and what happens when the last systems of morality and society collapse.
The Savage presents a bone-chilling vision of America where power is the only currency and nothing guarantees survival. And it presents Bill at his most ambitious, most eloquent, most powerful.
390 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2017
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December 7, 2017About 150 pages in, I’m throwing in the towel, which is something I never thought I would do with a Frank Bill book. I loved Donnybrook so much and had looked forward to the release of this one for so long, maybe my expectations were just too high. Maybe I’m just not in the right mood. All I know is it was feeling like a slog. I was not engaged or invested in what was happening at all. There was something off about the writing style this time that I didn’t like either, when I adored Bill’s prose when reading Crimes in Southern Indiana .
I’m the first to admit I’m a bad reader right now, my attention span and focus isn’t what it should be, but I’m also fairly certain all of the failing isn’t mine alone. Some of it is this book. Because I didn’t finish it, I’m not going to rate it. Maybe I’ll return to it someday and give it another chance to change my mind.
I’m the first to admit I’m a bad reader right now, my attention span and focus isn’t what it should be, but I’m also fairly certain all of the failing isn’t mine alone. Some of it is this book. Because I didn’t finish it, I’m not going to rate it. Maybe I’ll return to it someday and give it another chance to change my mind.
May 22, 2017
Frank Bill's prose is unmistakable in its ability to come off the page and grab you by the throat. The Savage is at once shattering and satisfying, a story forged from equal parts gravel and grace.
February 27, 2018
Whatever you do, please read
before reading this -which is basically a sequel.
Several of the main characters from that novel are featured prominently in this.
This one is even more violent than DONNYBROOK, yet author Frank Bill has swapped the knee-slapping, redneck whooping humor for nigh club-footed poetic epistles to what's been lost in our headlong dive into the first quarter of the 21st century. Our moving away from our rural roots, the family farms, the earth itself and for our urban cousins, the loss of factory work, and manufacturing, leaving us dependent upon an indifferent government with its give-away programs built on an imaginary, non-existent dollar.
before reading this -which is basically a sequel.Several of the main characters from that novel are featured prominently in this.
This one is even more violent than DONNYBROOK, yet author Frank Bill has swapped the knee-slapping, redneck whooping humor for nigh club-footed poetic epistles to what's been lost in our headlong dive into the first quarter of the 21st century. Our moving away from our rural roots, the family farms, the earth itself and for our urban cousins, the loss of factory work, and manufacturing, leaving us dependent upon an indifferent government with its give-away programs built on an imaginary, non-existent dollar.
Cotto said, "Tell me more of these clans."
"They's the Aryan clan. The Chicken Foot Tharp clan. The Methodists, and many more. They're a mixed mass of men and beliefs who once fueled the counties with weed, whores, guns, and old-time religion until the dark came and crippled the rules and laws. Now they've regrouped and are creating their own clans that are about their own devices, tossing men into pits, forcing them to do harm to each other or be shot face-first, the man who wins is the man who can eat and bring his owner territory. It's savage."
Bill halted his words, sweat taffied his frame, he'd a deep hurt, an ache that pulled him in and out of reality, and he told Cotto, "Some say this chaos, it is the result of the Donnybrook fallout. New game. New rules. Similar to those in the cities who start fires in abandoned houses. Hide and watch them burn from a distance, cheap entertainment. Others preach this new system is an offshoot of the Disgruntled Americans, as these people are looking for a new outlet, a new decree, a man to follow." Bill waited, let his sayings curve his tongue, swim about Cotto's intellect, and he told, "But it shall not be you."
This dystopian vision of an America gone crazy over the devaluation of the U. S. dollar with cities wiped out from urban gang warfare, panic setting in and chaotic pandemonium spreading into America's rural outback where Americans have set up warring militias, redistricting regions according to how many weapons they can acquire, how much man-power.
Meanwhile, in between fighting one another, Americans engage in a futile war with drug gangs from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. These gangs have invaded as far into the Midwest as Indiana, enslaving women and children after murdering the menfolk.
It reads like a White Nationalist's fever dream caught between covers.
It was all fantasy to me.
Good guys, bad guys, indifferent guys.
Tough as nails women warriors.
Much gun play.
Much gore.
Grim stuff.
Serious business.
I'm leaving my own political leanings at the door and giving this radical right wing shindig 5 stars.
Why?
I guess I just like Frank Bill's writing style, politics be damned.
June 24, 2018
THE SAVAGE by Frank Bill is the third book by the author of “Donnybrook” and “Crimes in Southern Indiana”, with all three taking place in rural southern Indiana that represent the dark side of life in rural settings with the prevalence of crimes and violence involving people raised without hope or ability to see a way out of their current existence; although this one differs as it has a new character who is a young man struggling to survive in the violent aftermath of an economic collapse in the United States.
Several factions exist at odds with each other, and Van Dorn is the young man who has to defend himself after killing a deer for much needed meat, having been discovered by a group led by a man with a tattoo of a thorny crown going by the name of Cotto.
Cotto is impressed by the way Van Dorn acquits himself in the confrontation, and develops a plan to capture him with intent to teach him to train the young men he’s kidnapped from local families to be an army.
Dorn is the son of Horace, and the two lived previously with a woman only known as “The Widow”, but is now on his own, and in search of a young woman known as “the Sheldon girl”, whom he had known from the past, after seeing that she’d been previously captured by Cotto during his confrontation with him.
Apocalyptic conditions present, Dorn is confronted with several horrific exchanges involving locals affected by the breakdown of society and ensuing madness he finds running rampant.
Some of the surviving characters from the author’s previous books become part of the story, and Dorn crosses paths with them and others from his own past, and is learning to accept the teachings of his late father; especially to trust no one - in his journey to survive and rescue the young woman.
Well written, with detailed descriptions of the conditions present, and what is brought out of both the desperate and opportunistic; it is violent at all times as befitting the brutality present in a lawless rural environment such as exists in this novel, yet if the reader can withstand extreme violence, there is a solid action-packed story contained, and it might be of interest to readers of the “Thuglit” and “Blood and Tacos” books, as well as novels by authors such as Adam Howe, Johnny Shaw, and the like.
5 stars.
Several factions exist at odds with each other, and Van Dorn is the young man who has to defend himself after killing a deer for much needed meat, having been discovered by a group led by a man with a tattoo of a thorny crown going by the name of Cotto.
Cotto is impressed by the way Van Dorn acquits himself in the confrontation, and develops a plan to capture him with intent to teach him to train the young men he’s kidnapped from local families to be an army.
Dorn is the son of Horace, and the two lived previously with a woman only known as “The Widow”, but is now on his own, and in search of a young woman known as “the Sheldon girl”, whom he had known from the past, after seeing that she’d been previously captured by Cotto during his confrontation with him.
Apocalyptic conditions present, Dorn is confronted with several horrific exchanges involving locals affected by the breakdown of society and ensuing madness he finds running rampant.
Some of the surviving characters from the author’s previous books become part of the story, and Dorn crosses paths with them and others from his own past, and is learning to accept the teachings of his late father; especially to trust no one - in his journey to survive and rescue the young woman.
Well written, with detailed descriptions of the conditions present, and what is brought out of both the desperate and opportunistic; it is violent at all times as befitting the brutality present in a lawless rural environment such as exists in this novel, yet if the reader can withstand extreme violence, there is a solid action-packed story contained, and it might be of interest to readers of the “Thuglit” and “Blood and Tacos” books, as well as novels by authors such as Adam Howe, Johnny Shaw, and the like.
5 stars.
November 16, 2017
"Secrets, Van Dorn thought, they were in abundance within the rural areas of life. Hidden in cellars, unfinished basements, closets, between mattresses and boxed springs, flooring, studded walls, in coffee cans buried within one's foundation, and in the recesses of people's minds."
A worthy sequel to 'Donnybrook', Frank Bill's first novel. Should appeal to fans of Cormac McCarthy, Don Winslow, Daniel Woodrell, William Gay.
A worthy sequel to 'Donnybrook', Frank Bill's first novel. Should appeal to fans of Cormac McCarthy, Don Winslow, Daniel Woodrell, William Gay.
February 8, 2018
I hadn't read Frank Bill in a couple years and his pulsing, organic prose kept me unbalanced and entertained for the duration of this novel, which is his most ambitious project to date.
And indirect sequel do DONNYBROOK, THE SAVAGE is the pseudo-dystopian story of the world going awry and people starting to shack up in the woods and getting belligerent to one another. It's destabilizing in the best possible way, violent, gory, grueling and low-key realistic. Frank Bill is an aesthetic trip as much as he is a storyteller, but THE SAVAGE pushed the boundaries of the vision he started sharing in CRIME IN SOUTHERN INDIANA and DONNYBROOK and that vision is bleak and bloody. THE SAVAGE is... not for everyone , but it's an unforgettable experience.
And indirect sequel do DONNYBROOK, THE SAVAGE is the pseudo-dystopian story of the world going awry and people starting to shack up in the woods and getting belligerent to one another. It's destabilizing in the best possible way, violent, gory, grueling and low-key realistic. Frank Bill is an aesthetic trip as much as he is a storyteller, but THE SAVAGE pushed the boundaries of the vision he started sharing in CRIME IN SOUTHERN INDIANA and DONNYBROOK and that vision is bleak and bloody. THE SAVAGE is... not for everyone , but it's an unforgettable experience.
October 7, 2017
This book is nuts. A crazy, ultra-violent cross between Mad Max, Cormac McCarthy's The Road and yes, Shogun Assassin, it's definitely one for fans of blood soaked 80s action movies.
I hadn't read part 1, Donnybrook, but it rarely impacted my enjoyment.
I hadn't read part 1, Donnybrook, but it rarely impacted my enjoyment.
May 6, 2020
Reading The Savage is like being hopped up on testosterone and motor oil. If your a fan of Stephen King’s The Stand this book is for you. Go out and grab it.
November 23, 2017
I’ve been waiting what seems an age for this novel, Frank Bill’s ‘The Savage’ and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s set in a post apocalyptic America in the-not too distant future but it is also a sequel to Donnybrook, Frank Bill’s debut novel. The novel tells the story of several characters who are all trying to survive in this new, ultra violent world. Some are fighting for survival while others pillage and rape their way across the land in an effort to expand their power and land, killing, stealing and enslaving the innocent and the not so innocent as they go. The various clans and militias all have their own twisted agendas and
use religion and biblical quotes to justify their wrongdoing. The novel introduces us to Van Dorn, a young man who is fending for himself after the death of his father and who is chased from his land by Cotto, a Guatemalan drug runner who sees Van Dorn as an ideal recruit to his band of killers.
We are also reacquainted with some old faces from ‘ Donnybrook’ such as Belmont McGill, Chainsaw Angus, Jarhead Earl and Fu To name but a few. They are also trying to make their way in this new era but are still haunted and pursued following the finale of the last Donnybrook.
Frank Bill’s novel is, like his previous novel and stories, extremely violent and filled with all manner of tortures and a plethora of violent deaths. You can actually smell the new world which seems to have a constant reek of decaying flesh, rotting food and unwashed bodies. Bill’s writing style and even the dialogue of his characters seems of other older times, with its formal feel and biblical references and quotes. The novel also echoes various other works such as Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, The Walking Dead, in Cotto’s backstory there was even echoes of border noir and even a touch of Kung Fu !!
I’ll savour this for just now but even now I can’t help but look forward to Frank Bill’s next adventure.
use religion and biblical quotes to justify their wrongdoing. The novel introduces us to Van Dorn, a young man who is fending for himself after the death of his father and who is chased from his land by Cotto, a Guatemalan drug runner who sees Van Dorn as an ideal recruit to his band of killers.
We are also reacquainted with some old faces from ‘ Donnybrook’ such as Belmont McGill, Chainsaw Angus, Jarhead Earl and Fu To name but a few. They are also trying to make their way in this new era but are still haunted and pursued following the finale of the last Donnybrook.
Frank Bill’s novel is, like his previous novel and stories, extremely violent and filled with all manner of tortures and a plethora of violent deaths. You can actually smell the new world which seems to have a constant reek of decaying flesh, rotting food and unwashed bodies. Bill’s writing style and even the dialogue of his characters seems of other older times, with its formal feel and biblical references and quotes. The novel also echoes various other works such as Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, The Walking Dead, in Cotto’s backstory there was even echoes of border noir and even a touch of Kung Fu !!
I’ll savour this for just now but even now I can’t help but look forward to Frank Bill’s next adventure.
December 28, 2017
THE SAVAGE, Frank Bill’s second novel, is something of a follow-up to his first (DONNYBROOK), but THE SAVAGE looks at what becomes of DONNYBROOK’s world in the not-too-distant future when people have lost jobs, family, friends, and hope. Set largely in southern Indiana, THE SAVAGE follows a few characters through their efforts to exact revenge, survive, and even thrive in the chaos that follows the power grid being dismantled as warring clans fight for dominance.
As in his first novel, Frank Bill’s narrative takes a breakneck and brutal pace, and his characters are not always the best and brightest that society has to offer. With shifting perspectives and a non-linear timeline, THE SAVAGE kept my thoughts spinning (and my guts churning with its graphic descriptions of violence). At the center of all the grisly nastiness is Van Dorn, a young man whose father taught him to survive independent of modern conveniences while also showing him the strength that comes with belonging to something that is based in good. My favorite parts of THE SAVAGE focused on Van Dorn, but the book is also steeped in the tortured minds and bloody worlds of drug lords, addicts, religious fanatics, and Nazis.
THE SAVAGE is relentless in its violence and despair, but every time I was tempted to give up hope that anything of beauty or value would come out of the horrible world in its pages, there would be some small act of kindness or show of love that would help me keep reading. This book isn’t for the faint of heart—and a strong stomach is also needed—but if you like reading about brutal dystopian worlds depicted through brusque-but-beautiful writing, then you should definitely pick this one up. I’ll certainly look forward to future books from Frank Bill.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of THE SAVAGE in exchange for my honest review.
As in his first novel, Frank Bill’s narrative takes a breakneck and brutal pace, and his characters are not always the best and brightest that society has to offer. With shifting perspectives and a non-linear timeline, THE SAVAGE kept my thoughts spinning (and my guts churning with its graphic descriptions of violence). At the center of all the grisly nastiness is Van Dorn, a young man whose father taught him to survive independent of modern conveniences while also showing him the strength that comes with belonging to something that is based in good. My favorite parts of THE SAVAGE focused on Van Dorn, but the book is also steeped in the tortured minds and bloody worlds of drug lords, addicts, religious fanatics, and Nazis.
THE SAVAGE is relentless in its violence and despair, but every time I was tempted to give up hope that anything of beauty or value would come out of the horrible world in its pages, there would be some small act of kindness or show of love that would help me keep reading. This book isn’t for the faint of heart—and a strong stomach is also needed—but if you like reading about brutal dystopian worlds depicted through brusque-but-beautiful writing, then you should definitely pick this one up. I’ll certainly look forward to future books from Frank Bill.
My thanks to the publisher for a copy of THE SAVAGE in exchange for my honest review.
November 26, 2017
The sequel to Frank Bill's " Donnybrook" takes country noir to another level of dystopian brutality in Southern Indiana's version of Dante's Ninth Circle of Hell. Lack of jobs in rural America crashes the dollar and the power grid fails. War lords using any means necessary to build their fiefdoms in a post apocalyptic vision of rural America build private armies to enslave the weak. The only survivors are those independent souls raised to be self sufficient and know how to hunt game. ....I found this book challenging to read, not only because of the dark vision it so effectively creates but the Southern Indiana dialect spoken by the characters was difficult at times, to decipher. Good character development with compelling back stories offset the incredible savagery it so ruthlessly depicts.
October 26, 2018
Frank Bill kicks his usual lyrical violence style up a notch in “The Savage”. The prose is both of the dirt and squalor as well as the grace of heaven. Heathens speaking poetry. Frank Bill stretches his writerly muscles and contorts the language of his world into something other than the norm.
A young but skilled due to his father’s influence, Van Dorn faces down a near post-apocalyptic world the best he can. Another son seeking vengeance for his father is the war dog Cotto. Look for tie ins to Bill’s previous novel “Donnybrook”. “The Savage” is a horrific, modern Western that will make you flinch from the shocking violence and the punching prose.
A young but skilled due to his father’s influence, Van Dorn faces down a near post-apocalyptic world the best he can. Another son seeking vengeance for his father is the war dog Cotto. Look for tie ins to Bill’s previous novel “Donnybrook”. “The Savage” is a horrific, modern Western that will make you flinch from the shocking violence and the punching prose.
March 21, 2018
Hear the full review: http://www.bookedpodcast.com/?p=5610
December 30, 2020
Ummmm I hate this book. but it's for book club so.
Things I hate about it:
It focuses on the terrible, brutal things that might happen in a lawless post-apocalyptic future. There is no hope in this story. BUT. There is a helluva lot of brutality, gore, violence, and... savagery. There is no character with which I can identify. Welllll... there's one kid that I think I'm supposed to like, and worry about, and follow, but the brutal savagery and violence of the world he lives in makes me completely dissociate from thinking this kid is possibly relatable and human, or from caring what happens to him. He'll probably be killed at any second! And/or have to witness some other act of violence and terrible hopelessness! Additionally, there are no women that seem to exist for anything other than for the males to either brutalize or to fail to protect from brutality at the hands of other, more terrible, men.
Maybe it'll redeem itself, but if this book weren't being read for book club, I'd have ditched by now. There has been too much time invested before any redemption or payoff!
Finished. No redemption, no payoff.
Things I hate about it:
It focuses on the terrible, brutal things that might happen in a lawless post-apocalyptic future. There is no hope in this story. BUT. There is a helluva lot of brutality, gore, violence, and... savagery. There is no character with which I can identify. Welllll... there's one kid that I think I'm supposed to like, and worry about, and follow, but the brutal savagery and violence of the world he lives in makes me completely dissociate from thinking this kid is possibly relatable and human, or from caring what happens to him. He'll probably be killed at any second! And/or have to witness some other act of violence and terrible hopelessness! Additionally, there are no women that seem to exist for anything other than for the males to either brutalize or to fail to protect from brutality at the hands of other, more terrible, men.
Maybe it'll redeem itself, but if this book weren't being read for book club, I'd have ditched by now. There has been too much time invested before any redemption or payoff!
Finished. No redemption, no payoff.
February 28, 2019
Ok I didn't love this as much as Donnybrook. I think it could have benefited from better editing. The time jumps were confusing at times and the character narrator perspectives switched in weird ways.
That being said I still think this was a damn good story. Once again Frank Bill is serving up interesting characters and a wild ride of a plot. Especially loved what the economic collapse was blamed on, maybe hit too close to home.
The action scenes here were no where near as good as Donnybrook imo. I didn't really find the character of Cotto believable but hey what do I know?
I'm glad Frank outlines where the characters are geographically in his books. This time I took a trip via Google Maps with Chainsaw Angus as he drove through the Indiana countryside. I recommend you do the same.
3.5 stars.
That being said I still think this was a damn good story. Once again Frank Bill is serving up interesting characters and a wild ride of a plot. Especially loved what the economic collapse was blamed on, maybe hit too close to home.
The action scenes here were no where near as good as Donnybrook imo. I didn't really find the character of Cotto believable but hey what do I know?
I'm glad Frank outlines where the characters are geographically in his books. This time I took a trip via Google Maps with Chainsaw Angus as he drove through the Indiana countryside. I recommend you do the same.
3.5 stars.
December 1, 2017
What happens to people living in rural Southern Indiana, already desperate because of globalization, automation, opioids and meth when the dollar becomes worthless and government disappears? If The Savage is the answer then we’re in deep trouble. Bill writes of bloody and merciless situations. Clans destroying each other. Crazed religious leaders selling women and enslaving boys. In the midst of all of this are a few balanced people who try to survive and rebuild something of what was lost. Should this ever really happen, gets lots of arms to protect yourself and/or cyanide to end it all. Not sure which is worse (or better). It won’t be pretty...
January 24, 2018
I wanted to love this book, I really did. It’s a great concept and had a lot of potential. What gave this three stars was the terrible dialogue and annoyingly clipped language throughout. When Bill writes in regular sentences, his prose really flows. But he employs a weird patois throughout this book that just sounds weird.
February 11, 2018
Cormac McCarthy on crack but with none of nuanced character development or underking hope that maybe there is something of worth in humanity that makes the struggle worthwhile. If Frank Bill's bleak, violent dystopian view of the future even partly eventuates, then I hope I check out in the first round.
By half way, I had reached the limit of my endurance. In the end, I didn't care.
By half way, I had reached the limit of my endurance. In the end, I didn't care.
March 29, 2018
As much as I loved Donnybrook, for some reason this one just didn't register for me at all. Bill's writing was great and enjoyable. But the actual plot was dragged down a bit by the time-jumps back and forth, and then the re-introduction of a bunch of characters halfway through.
Wanted to loved this one, but something was lacking for me.
Wanted to loved this one, but something was lacking for me.
December 8, 2017
I’m a fan of Frank Bill’s writing and I preordered this book because I was so eager to read it. THE SAVAGE had lots of action but somehow the book failed to really reach me.
April 19, 2021
The overall story and the message of this book are what gained it a solid 2.5 stars from me. There were some valid points made about the current place we find ourselves and it didn't just focus on the idea that millennials were soft, which is so played out at this point. It pointed to how quickly society crumbles as a whole once the electrical grid collapses and people are left to their own devices without any basic survival skills. It shows how quickly things go sideways and the type of people who are able to gain control.
I dig Frank Bill's writing. I loved Crimes in Southern Indiana and Donnybrook has a lot of fun moments amongst the violence and gore. The comic book/pulp nature of the books held some really great moments and led to some interesting mental pictures through a Tarrantino-esque lens.
The Savage felt repetitive and eventually it turned into a race to finish the book so I'd be done with it. For being a bunch of skilled fighters and survivalists, the characters couldn't help but find themselves ambushed, beat down, injured and/or captured at the end of each chapter. The dialect used grated on my nerves after a while, as well. I've spent time in Central Indiana, so I'm going to believe that dialect is more authentic than the strange wordings used here. Especially since they're used for the characters in Mexico, as well. It felt forced and distracted from the tale.
Having the two main characters of Donnybrook (and part of a vision that drove the narrative) dispatched in a completely pointless way was disappointing, as well. It made Donnybrook mean less in that regard, but sometimes a shock is good for the system, but here it was just lost in the sea of moments meant to shock the reader.
The ending was a great, unexpected turn of events amongst the chaos of the ending. I really appreciated the twist. For me, a little editing and a few chapters that progressed the story without a cheap jump scare attempts or new violent situations would have made a huge difference in making the more meaningful struggles and violence stand out. Instead, it's just a blending in with the pool of blood that became the basis of the narrative. Even when a drop falls in from an important character, you'd be hard pressed to find it's significance in the ocean of blood sitting at the base.
I dig Frank Bill's writing. I loved Crimes in Southern Indiana and Donnybrook has a lot of fun moments amongst the violence and gore. The comic book/pulp nature of the books held some really great moments and led to some interesting mental pictures through a Tarrantino-esque lens.
The Savage felt repetitive and eventually it turned into a race to finish the book so I'd be done with it. For being a bunch of skilled fighters and survivalists, the characters couldn't help but find themselves ambushed, beat down, injured and/or captured at the end of each chapter. The dialect used grated on my nerves after a while, as well. I've spent time in Central Indiana, so I'm going to believe that dialect is more authentic than the strange wordings used here. Especially since they're used for the characters in Mexico, as well. It felt forced and distracted from the tale.
Having the two main characters of Donnybrook (and part of a vision that drove the narrative) dispatched in a completely pointless way was disappointing, as well. It made Donnybrook mean less in that regard, but sometimes a shock is good for the system, but here it was just lost in the sea of moments meant to shock the reader.
The ending was a great, unexpected turn of events amongst the chaos of the ending. I really appreciated the twist. For me, a little editing and a few chapters that progressed the story without a cheap jump scare attempts or new violent situations would have made a huge difference in making the more meaningful struggles and violence stand out. Instead, it's just a blending in with the pool of blood that became the basis of the narrative. Even when a drop falls in from an important character, you'd be hard pressed to find it's significance in the ocean of blood sitting at the base.
April 22, 2021
“Do what you must to others and abandon weakness.” Just finished my reread of Frank Bill’s ‘The Savage,’ a sequel to his festival of carnage ‘Donnybrook.’
The devaluation of the US dollar and the destruction of the national power grid has dumped the country into an economic holocaust. Morality has no place and modern conveniences are dead. Cities and towns have been reduced to wastelands captured by psychotic militias, lunatic gangs, religious fanatics, cannibals and roaming crazies, disgusting Trumpian Nazi gangs and drug cartels from Central America who mercilessly rape, kill and pillage across the US in a bloody locking of horns for dominance, seizing power and society along with it. We follow 18 year old Van Dorn, versed in the ways of surviving solo, off the land and to kill, desperately trying throughout to keep his sense of morality and sanity in one piece. He is searching the ravaged country for a girl he grew up with named Sheldon who has been captured by a gang of ruthless killers enslaving women and children. Van’s late father Horace warned him this was coming, when a man must resort to his savage nature, to kill or be killed.
Bill’s writing doesn’t pull a single punch. It is relentlessly dark, but it makes the small acts of love and kindness shine through the despair. The shifting perspectives and non linear timeline can get a little confusing, but it is a vivid, slow motion journey through horrific and depraved imagery using inventive writing. Possesses a peculiar Old Testament vibe while switching between staccato sentences and hard bitten prose poetry. The book won’t be for the faint of heart. Imagine McCarthy’s The Road, but more aggressive and I would recommend reading Donnybrook beforehand. I loved every page of this bloody not-so-distant-future dystopian nightmare.
The devaluation of the US dollar and the destruction of the national power grid has dumped the country into an economic holocaust. Morality has no place and modern conveniences are dead. Cities and towns have been reduced to wastelands captured by psychotic militias, lunatic gangs, religious fanatics, cannibals and roaming crazies, disgusting Trumpian Nazi gangs and drug cartels from Central America who mercilessly rape, kill and pillage across the US in a bloody locking of horns for dominance, seizing power and society along with it. We follow 18 year old Van Dorn, versed in the ways of surviving solo, off the land and to kill, desperately trying throughout to keep his sense of morality and sanity in one piece. He is searching the ravaged country for a girl he grew up with named Sheldon who has been captured by a gang of ruthless killers enslaving women and children. Van’s late father Horace warned him this was coming, when a man must resort to his savage nature, to kill or be killed.
Bill’s writing doesn’t pull a single punch. It is relentlessly dark, but it makes the small acts of love and kindness shine through the despair. The shifting perspectives and non linear timeline can get a little confusing, but it is a vivid, slow motion journey through horrific and depraved imagery using inventive writing. Possesses a peculiar Old Testament vibe while switching between staccato sentences and hard bitten prose poetry. The book won’t be for the faint of heart. Imagine McCarthy’s The Road, but more aggressive and I would recommend reading Donnybrook beforehand. I loved every page of this bloody not-so-distant-future dystopian nightmare.
November 5, 2021
Vivid images of shocking violence are the meat of this story. Set in what seems like could be our very own near future, the collapse of the dollar and a nationwide blackout throws the United States into an unnerving post- apocalyptic horror story, where the day-to-day becomes 'kill or be kilt'. Interestingly, the characters we are introduced to are all savage creatures fighting over territory, even the 'good' ones and they range from innocent suburban children enslaved and drugged into soldiering, drug cartel leaders, religious fanatics, skinheads, a group of Fight Club-esque characters, a fighter trained by a Chinese man in the art of harnessing energy as a weapon and of course why not throw in some incestuous cannibal siblings who choose to make their own parents into a meal. Lets just say this book is not for the faint of heart, to put it mildly. The most terrible things you can imagine that humans devoid of all humanity could do to each other, you will find in this book. I wouldn't recommend it to many based on that subject matter alone, but I can imagine this would translate well into film format, Rated R for violence and gore.
There is one bright light amidst all the dark, the character of young Van Dorn, who appears to represent a glimmer of hope for the future as against all odds, he sets out into the wild where in order to survive, he must turn into a killer to free a young girl he once knew who was captured by a vicious cartel leader. The character names are creative and descriptive (Chainsaw Angus, The Widow) and the characters speech patterns are reminiscent of old English, which is interesting. I believe the author has written a previous book, Donnybrook, that is referenced in this story-might read it at some point if I can get the depressive feeling from this book off me first.
Read at your own risk.
There is one bright light amidst all the dark, the character of young Van Dorn, who appears to represent a glimmer of hope for the future as against all odds, he sets out into the wild where in order to survive, he must turn into a killer to free a young girl he once knew who was captured by a vicious cartel leader. The character names are creative and descriptive (Chainsaw Angus, The Widow) and the characters speech patterns are reminiscent of old English, which is interesting. I believe the author has written a previous book, Donnybrook, that is referenced in this story-might read it at some point if I can get the depressive feeling from this book off me first.
Read at your own risk.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2019
Well, hello there war, slaughter, torture and rule. Took me a while to get into this novel but once I did it was hard to put down. I think I got excited to catch back up with some of the people from the Donnybrook but they aren't introduced right away. I enjoyed how the characters brought their past memories to current moments of survival in a post-apocalyptic America and then it just all comes together. Which is an America I can eerily envision happening! I mean doesn't this sound like a majority of the gringos you know?: "Some fell to their knees, pyramiding their hands in front of them. Others thought they could swing a punch as easily as they did a golf club on the golf course. Or aim a rifle or pistol for personal protection like they did on the shooting range or the yearly hunting ventures they took or viewed upon their reality TV shows. Those fell just as quick at the kneelers. Hit the ground before they'd even had a chance to touch the trigger, let alone pull it. Dropping like the previous beggars and brawlers. The weekend-warrior wannabes." Sounds like my Brother-in-law. At the end of all this I just want to make hot, dirty love to Chainsaw Angus 😍 I mean he keeps saying he has "little use for females as they've no loyalty" which only makes him more desirable to me. I also want to know more about Van Dorn's snake handling ability. Is there some kinda pheromone that attracts them to him? I love the way Frank Bill writes so descriptively and his use of full on grit, it's like I can smell the decay of bodies and such as I read. I hope he writes more but for now his podcast will have to do. Anyway, make sure to read Donnybrook before this as well as Crimes in Southern Indiana in which the idea of the Donnybrook is first introduced.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2020
This author's novel Donnybrook was an entertaining mess - flashes of brilliance mixed with narrative incoherence, purple prose and an ending that nobody saw coming for the good reason that it was hard to make out exactly what happened and that none of the possibilities made any sense whatsoever.
One virtue this sequel does have is that it tells you what happened at the end of its predecessor, and another is that this one does have a definite conclusion. Other than that, though, all of the same faults are there. It's so overwritten and underedited that you wonder if anyone at the publisher ever saw it before the final proofs arrived. It's violent in a blindly repetitive way - bits of flesh are blown off parts of a human body every time a gun is discharged, but these mechanically-efficient protagonists manage to get surprised by someone holding a gun to their head or a knife to their throat every ten pages or so. Men are tortured, women are raped, incidental characters are slaughtered and I just got bored with it all.
When he writes well, though, he really, really writes well, so it's a novel that gives you enough rewards to keep you reading. I just wish someone ruthless had gone through it with a red pencil before it hit publication.
One virtue this sequel does have is that it tells you what happened at the end of its predecessor, and another is that this one does have a definite conclusion. Other than that, though, all of the same faults are there. It's so overwritten and underedited that you wonder if anyone at the publisher ever saw it before the final proofs arrived. It's violent in a blindly repetitive way - bits of flesh are blown off parts of a human body every time a gun is discharged, but these mechanically-efficient protagonists manage to get surprised by someone holding a gun to their head or a knife to their throat every ten pages or so. Men are tortured, women are raped, incidental characters are slaughtered and I just got bored with it all.
When he writes well, though, he really, really writes well, so it's a novel that gives you enough rewards to keep you reading. I just wish someone ruthless had gone through it with a red pencil before it hit publication.
June 5, 2018
This would be my favorite book from Frank Bill. And I really like the others, but this work, for me, is the most striking and memorable. His sentences remain clean and boiled down, but the language is more inventive. The story he chose is brave; it’s wild. This reads like the work of a really inspired author crafting the kind of story that excites him.
So, if you’re interested in a novel about the total ruin of the US economy (albeit through a mostly personal narrative) and the violence that ensues, if you’ve ever wondered how the vernacular of Americans might change if the country was a cannibalistic free-for-all with no internet or television, you’re in luck. A really talented writer thought it through and imagined something pretty captivating.
So, if you’re interested in a novel about the total ruin of the US economy (albeit through a mostly personal narrative) and the violence that ensues, if you’ve ever wondered how the vernacular of Americans might change if the country was a cannibalistic free-for-all with no internet or television, you’re in luck. A really talented writer thought it through and imagined something pretty captivating.
December 30, 2017
The best thing here is the writing. These hard violent people, these savages; the writing itself is the same. It's hard. Savage. Bites. Sometimes it's very difficult to read. On the down side, the story meanders. Between this and the previous story, the sense of chaos and random-ness seems to come off as the author not quite able to decide where he wanted the story to go. Or, changing his mind and switching things up. That sort of thing might work with more engaging characters (see George RR Martin), but the writing style actually puts a wall between the reader and the characters, so when we veer off course, it all starts to feel a bit pointless.
Then again, maybe that's the point.
Then again, maybe that's the point.
August 1, 2018
This is Frank Bill’s nightmarish vision of the United States in the near future. Its currency has crashed which has in turn meant the power is out, and the country is stark and violent, morality and society have all but collapsed. It’s one possible result of the deepening gulf between rich and poor, when those forced into bleak existences finally say enough is enough.
The fight sequences are too long for my liking though, reading at times like a Batman comic, and take away from the darkness of the story. It’s an important piece of writing nevertheless, but it’s message would be clearer if it was 80 pages shorter.
The fight sequences are too long for my liking though, reading at times like a Batman comic, and take away from the darkness of the story. It’s an important piece of writing nevertheless, but it’s message would be clearer if it was 80 pages shorter.
March 18, 2019
At first I would have rated it four stars. I’m rating it 3 now before I think about it much more and go down to 2. Don’t get me wrong, the author’s ability to describe how bone, blood, and other bodily tissues can paint a setting after meeting the business end of a gun is nothing short of staggering. No description is used twice, and this happens a LOT. But the, by my count, three instances of deus ex machina was just too much for me.
On the upside, the setting and dialect used throughout was fantastic, and I felt like I was in a fully formed world (one perhaps not too far from our own).
Despite the problems I had with it, I was entertained, and I thank the author for that.
On the upside, the setting and dialect used throughout was fantastic, and I felt like I was in a fully formed world (one perhaps not too far from our own).
Despite the problems I had with it, I was entertained, and I thank the author for that.
July 20, 2021
I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed this book after not being a fan of the Donnybrook. It’s a very real, raw, terrifying look into what can become of people when they feel like they have no other choice. I was happy to find that there were characters in this book you could cheer for, some glimmer of hope in this post apocalyptic version of the United States. It has all of the violence and shock and awe gore as the Donny brook with the upside of a very intriguing story line you actually feel very invested in.
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