Kenzi Brooks watched The Scribble Man collect her brother’s soul after a hit and run when she was seven. He gave her a present that day—a lucky rabbit’s foot. Sixteen years later, she no longer believes in The Scribble Man, she believes in survival and does what she has to in the slums of Detroit. When thugs kill her mother and beat Kenzi to near death, she accidentally releases Lilith from her prison within the time-worn keychain.
And Hell hath no fury…
Lilith is out for revenge. Revenge against God, Sariel (Angel of Death and Kenzi’s Scribble Man), and all of mankind for relegating her to nothing more than a demoness for refusing to submit to her husband. She’s put together an apocalyptic plan to destroy everyone who has forsaken her. Forget the Four Horsemen, Lilith is assembling the Four Whores.
Will Kenzi rise against her to save the world and The Scribble Man or will she become The Fourth Whore?
This is another book I was lucky to receive before the release date thanks to Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi and Raw Dog Screaming Press.
Kenzi Brooks lives a hard life in Detroit. She lost her brother when she was a little girl, her father left shortly after, and her mother's an addict. Life is tough and she's barely surviving, but getting caught in the middle of an ancient fight between Death, God and Lilith will definitely make everything worse.
Lilith won't submit to anyone and she's got revenge on her mind...
This book gets off to a brutal and very bloody start that sets the unrelenting events in motion. The lives and motivations of each character become clear pretty early on, but how they get there is both fascinating and disturbing.
It's not for the faint-hearted or anyone who shies away from confronting situations, hardcore sexual expression, or extreme violence. This is the kind of story that successfully blends true-life horror with the supernatural in a very unnerving way.
The story is shared by several characters, so we get a bunch of different POVs. Most of these POVs are essential for the many layers to unravel in this unpredictable ride, but there were others that would have been better omitted.
I did like how all the characters were riddled with flaws. Even the ancient non-human ones are nowhere near perfect and totally unscrupulous. My favourite was Kenzi because even though everything about her life is pretty awful and she's surrounded by so much filth, she's still a kind soul determined to do the right thing.
Lilith's backstory was interesting and explained her motivations in the modern world. More importantly, Lilith's had enough and doesn't fuck around, but she's not the only one. Women everywhere are done with smiling and being nice to people who want to oppress them so her crusade is made a bit easier.
The Fourth Whore is a powerful and well-written story about women who have been labelled and shamed for living their lives in the same way many men do. Or are being judged because they have no other choice. It holds a damning mirror in front of a patriarchal society so keen to take advantage of women. It reveals the hypocrisy and inequality women face every day. And what happens when a group led by the first 'whore' dares to fight back in the most shocking way possible.
Although I enjoyed this book overall, I have to admit that for me, the narrative dragged a bit in too many spots. Also, I found the chapters dealing with the demons 'helping' Lilith tedious.
There are definitely a lot of things to like about this book, but by the time I reached the last fifty pages, my interest started to fade. There were just too many issues bugging me, so when I eventually reached the end, I was too disconnected to care as much as I did at the beginning.
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