Purgatory, NY (Volume 1) / Scotty Weeks

Reviewed by: Sooz

Genre: Urban Paranormal

Approximate word count: 10-15,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

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Author:

Scotty Weeks is originally from Alaska, but now live in New York City. He’s written a number of short stories, and has a dog named Henry. You can learn more about Scotty and his writing at his website.

Description:

Henry Sera moves to New York City as he tries to escape his awful life in Seattle. In NYC, he finds more than he expects – a date, a job, and a demon who wants his soul.

Appraisal:

New York City is full of temptation from beautiful, one-legged porn stars to the enticement of money. In a city like New York, it’s easy to get lost and forget all of your problems that chased you there. At least that’s what Henry hopes.

Scotty Weeks’ Purgatory is a serialized story following Henry as he leaves his disastrous life in Seattle.  He’s broke, soon-to-be homeless, and has a loan shark on his tail. Henry goes to  New York on a whim and takes over an apartment lease for an old friend. There is just one big problem – by signing the lease, he also signed his soul over to the devil.

Henry is a pawn in a game between good and evil, both real characters in the serialization. They – the Demon and the Angel – each try to get him to go in their direction by pulling invisible strings to save or keep his soul.

I only read the first two Episodes of Purgatory, which found Henry making rash and dumb decisions such as jumping into bed with someone he barely knows, signing papers without ever reading them and skirting on his responsibilities that are bound to come back into this life.

The story was slightly interesting, but not overly compelling. Henry just wasn’t likable enough for me to care where his soul wound up. Instead, I found myself wondering ‘What dumb move can he make next?’ Henry was impulsive and made choices that weren’t steeped in logic.

Some readers may find the storyline interesting, but the writing was a bit jarring with verbal volleys thrown back and forth with no real breaks. Weeks went for a fast-paced style that may not appeal to some. It may have been better if he pulled off the throttle every once in a while and allowed the readers to get a glimpse of his New York City.

FYI:

Strong language and sexual scenes.

Format/Typo Issues:

No major issues.

Rating: ***Three stars