Review – You Morbid Westphal

You Morbid Westphal – An Unholy Trinity

Rating: 4 of 5

Author: Steven Rage
Available: Paperback

You live your final days lying in a hospital bed, unable to move or take of yourself while gritting through constant pain waiting for the madness to end.  Unfortunately, your heinous deeds during life are coming full circle and sweet death continues to be stayed by the demons that torture you keeping you just this side of the living.  One such demon, Morbid, spawned from you through some unholy means dispatches other hospital patients in gruesome fashion. Meanwhile, a male nurse named Westphal makes his way through life looking to make just enough money to score his next drug buy and take care of his ghost stepfather and pet unborn fetus.  This is harbor hospital, and this is the end of your life.

Rage’s sophomore novel You Morbid Westphal takes place in the harbor similar to his first novel Pilate.  All of the graphic, disturbing and gruesome imagery Rage demonstrated his prowess at in the first book return in this offering.  However, in this chapter, these elements seem a less gratuitous, a little more muted, and more securely woven into the fabric of a very disturbing tale.  This novel is not for the faint of heart and is extreme in all ways imaginable – really, I’m not kidding.  None-the-less, Rage is incredibly creative and talented.  It’s hard to fathom what hell might be like – unspeakable pain and agony – perhaps.  But I think Rage paints a picture that drives home the concept of a living hell one must suffer due to their heinous choices in life.  If the real thing is anything like this, one can only hope and pray for redemption and salvation.

Rage parallels some biblical themes once again, though in an unholy bizarro fashion and throws in a twist at the end reminiscent of the 1987 movie Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro and Lisa Bonet.  For those who enjoyed Pilate – you will find an even better book in Westphal.

Review – Pilate

Pilate – Bizzaro Fiction

Rating: 4 of 5

Author: Steven Rage

Available: Paperback

Note: This book contains graphic violence, illicit drug use, non-consensual extreme sex, and potentially offensive material given the religious references.

In the drug lord controlled area know as “The Harbor”, biblical figures have been reincarnated. Immanuel, also known as El Cristo (Christ) is a young woman who has come to save those enslaved by an extremely addictive drug. She changes the lives of those she encounters – such as Pedro (Peter). However, her success negatively impacts drug trafficking.

Pilate, one of the drug lords, is an immortal vampire working for Herod the mayor of “The Harbor”. Due to Immanuel’s success, Pilate misses one of his quotas resulting in Herod brutally torturing Juan de Batista (John the Baptist) and Mary Magdalene. Pilate is infuriated by this betrayal.

The story follows the resulting power struggle between Pilate and Herod as well as Pilate’s frequent visions of his past vampire lives. Through these visions, released by Immanuel, he comes to understand who he really is and the ultimate choice he must make in this life.

Steven Rage’s “Pilate” is Bizzaro fiction, a genre I admittedly have no experience with. I found the references to illicit drug use and associated language difficult to follow given my unfamiliarity with the subject matter. I also had difficulty the first few chapters given Rage’s unique writing style and cadence. However, my inner ear eventually tuned into this style and rather than being distracted, it resulted in my complete immersion into the bizarre world Rage created.

I did find it odd at times that while the characters in the novel were well aware of historical biblical figures, other than El Cristo, no one seemed to realize they were the reincarnations of these figures.  It was also occasionally confusing which “sides” the characters were on though I believe Rage was demonstrating the internal struggle they battled between good and evil.

Rage has created an incredibly creative and detailed, though disturbing world.  Fans of this genre will find Rage’s “Pilate” a unique, creative, fast paced, brutal, dark, and bizarre novel.