Cover Image: We Sold Our Souls

We Sold Our Souls

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WIth Grady Hendrix's newest release, "How to Sell a Haunted House," many of his earlier releases are getting more attention, especially the classic rock and roll epic, "We Sold Our Souls." Hendrix has a way of balancing terrifying horror moments with humor that has become his cornerstone, but what also sometimes gets overshadowed is Hendrix's attention to history and detail. Each one of his books comes with a lineage of references and research that only a true fan would know. When you read Hendrix, you feel smarter, whether it is about Swedish furniture stores, puppets, or the blues, Hendrix knows how to package fun with a lesson.

While overall I would say this is not my favorite of Hendrix, I do appreciate the detailed information about metal and music. It's impossible to ignore the research work that goes into writing a novel of this form, but I also feel that sometimes Hendrix gets swept up in details and history and it can grind the plot down to a stop. Overall, a nice addition for Hendrix completionists, but I'm not sure I would recommend it to a new fan.

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My feedback is late, so I hope my enthusiasm makes up for it! I loved this book, and just wish I had read it sooner. Fabulous rock vibe, terrific horror scenarios, and an amazing lead character!

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After causing us to drain our wallets all year trying to scoop up as many horror paperbacks as we could get our hands on thanks to Paperbacks From Hell, his hilarious and insightful look at the genre fiction boom, Grady Hendrix returns to the fiction world with We Sold Our Souls, a fast-moving occult thriller that updates the Robert Johnson and the Devil story for the heavy metal generation.

Kris Pulaski was once the guitarist for the perfectly named metal band Dürt Würk, who eventually disbanded and faded into obscurity as the band’s singer Terry Hunt struck out on his own, forming the wildly successful nü-metal outfit Koffin. As Kris begins to learn that Terry’s success might have a diabolical connection, she embarks on a dangerous road trip to confront her former friend and band member at a giant outdoor festival in Las Vegas, putting her life, sanity, and very soul on the line.

Hendrix does a great job of putting us in Kris’ mind as she struggles to come to terms with what her life has become, and the voluntary (and involuntary) choices she made over the years that led her from a semi-successful metal band to working cleaning up vomit in a decrepit motel. Apart from a solid character study, this is also a great road trip novel, filled with a cast of strange side characters and old bandmates that Kris meets up with along the way to her eventual confrontation with Terry. What really makes We Sold Our Souls shine is Hendrix’s attention to detail, from the sort of insider jokes that help keep a band sane on the endless drives between gigs to the fully orchestrated Dürt Würk concept album he creates (complete with lyrics!) in order to tell this moving and eerie tale of greed, friendship, and the sometimes uncanny power of music.

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Can't get enough of Grady Hendrix! I wasn't sure about this book at first, but I had read all of his others, so I thought to finally give this one a go. Had a great time reading it!

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We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix, although published in 2018, feels fitting for the dumpster fire of 2020. After all, based on the title alone, it is not difficult to imagine an entire cadre of government officials who sold their souls a long time ago. And I'm sure we can all call up the names of so-called celebrities who have done nothing to deserve their fame and fortune.

In true Hendrix fashion though, We Sold Our Souls puts a unique twist on the whole selling your soul gig. In his world, you can sell the souls of others to obtain your desires, which, when you wrap your head around it, leads to all sorts of ramifications. Does it seem like you can never catch a break? Blame someone else for selling your soul.

To make things more interesting, selling your soul does not actually mean communing with the devil and signing your name in blood. In the Hendrix world, all it takes is something as simple as signing up for a new phone plan that comes with the best and latest phone. When you wish for something material and end up obtaining that object, chances are you sold your soul to get it. It is a fascinating approach to Faustian deals.

This is all information she discovers as she tries to reconcile her lack of success in anything versus that of her former bandmate. But the horror doesn't stop there. In fact, Kris uncovers an entire demonic dimension in which we are just the cogs in a wheel. As she takes steps to bring that wheel to a halt, she discovers that is easier said than done. What follows is a brutal, gory, and a bit too on-the-nose race to stop certain powers from taking over the world.

We Sold Our Souls is exactly what you hope a Grady Hendrix novel will be. Not only is it intense and gory, befitting a good horror story, but it also shifts your perception of the world just enough so that his explanations of what is wrong with it seem plausible. I wouldn't rank We Sold Our Souls as among his best, but it certainly fits the mood of 2020, with just enough hope at the end to lead us into 2021.

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I gave this a four out five stars. This was a really fun read, this is my first book I have read by the author Grady Hendrix but I plan on reading more.

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We Sold Our Souls is another instant Hendrix classic full of nostalgia, charm, and a few heebie jeebies.

Twenty years after her band Dürt Würk broke up, Kris Pulaski is a rundown and worn out hotel night manager. While Dürt Würk's lead singer Terry Hunt's solo career skyrocketed after ditching the band, the rest of the crew was left in the footnotes of heavy metal obscurity. But after Kris uncovers the truth, that Terry's success came at the hefty price of his bandmate's soul, she embarks on a journey for restitution of truly epic proportions.







This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It's a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that's darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul...where only a girl with a guitar can save us all.

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A really interesting novel, and as imaginative as one should expect from Hendrix. Populated by interesting characters, and pretty well paced, I enjoyed it. It's a story of music, success, friendship, and a splash of horror to keep things spicy and interesting.

As a metalhead myself, and one whose interest in the genre spans the full range of the story (I started listening in the 1990s, when Dürt Würk were supposedly "famous" and successful), I enjoyed the rock 'n' roll details and context.

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A strange, beautiful book filled with the grief of a life that turned out not quite as expected. It's been years since I've read it, but I remember most is a sense of regret, of exhaustion, of looking back from the vantage point of middle age and wondering where it went wrong.

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I had a lot of fun while reading this book. Music is universal, no matter what genre you listen to. There's a part in this book where two people bond over Dolly Parton, and I loved that so much! How can you not bond over Dolly?!
But that just speaks to the universality of music. Everyone loves music, and a story about an aging female rocker who has to save the world with music speaks directly to my soul. This is a story about a girl with a guitar who rises to her potential and rocks out while capturing the reader's heart. Hendrix knocked it out of the park again with this one - 5 stars!

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OOOoooohhh this is a fun one! I have never read anything else by Grady Hendrix but I will be after this. A scrappy female lead singer? Selling souls? Metal bands? Hell, yes. I am all in. Loved this one.

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In the 1990's the band Dürt Würk, a heavy metal band, looked like it was going to sky-rocket to success until the lead singer, Terry Hunt, left the band for a solo career, where he achieved tremendous success as Koffin. His bandmates have had nothing but misery and rotten luck since he left, despite their talent and drive.

Some twenty years later and Kris Pulaski, one of Dürt Würk's original band members, currently working as a night manager at a Best Western, learns that Terry's success may have come at a price - if what she's heard is true, Terry sold not just his soul to the devil, but he sold all the band members' souls in exchange for his success.

At one of the largest metal music festivals in the world, Hellstock, Kris wants to confront Terry and get her soul back. But getting to Terry isn't going to be easy. On the other hand, what more could Kris have to lose?

Gary Hendrix is one helluva terrific writer!

I requested a copy of this book based on my enjoyment of Hendrix's <em>My Best Friend's Exorcism</em>, which took me by surprise and which I truly enjoyed. This book is also a really fantastic read.

Aside from building a dark, horrific story with careful precision, letting each moment sucker-punch us and then moving on, Hendrix gives us some characters we kind of like, despite being dirty and grungy and part of something that's foreign to us (how many of us have been in a metal band?), we can identify with these people.

Horror is difficult to sustain in novel length, though Hendrix doe it very well and I think a large part of that is on the strength of the characters. There's a solid story here - there's a goal, there are obstacles, and the journey is fraught with peril, but because we bond with these characters - and I can't help but find it strange that we do, and yet ... we <em>do</em> ... the journey becomes something that we invest in.

It is such a strength of Hendrix's that he can take subjects that I would have sworn I would have no interest in reading about (here we have heavy metal music, and in <em>My Best Friend's Exorcism</em> we had teen girl bff's) and gets me interested and involved. That is powerful writing.

Looking for a good book? If you thought you didn't like horror fiction, you need to try Gary Hendrix. If you already love horror fiction, you'll want to read <em>We Sold Our Souls</em>.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Reviewed this book/interviewed Grady Hendrix on my podcast:

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/book-squad-goals/booksquadgoals/e/55960600

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Excellent book! I love Grady Hendrix and this one was no exception to his greatness. Great for horror and music fans. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

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As a ‘metal head’ I absolutely loved this novel. The references were like little Easter eggs, and on top of that it is QUALITY horror. I had no idea what to expect and just like every other Hendrix novel, it was full of terrifying whimsy. This has been my favorite novel from this author and I look forward to reading more.

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Another cracking Hendrix novel, but would leave this for reading at home rather than stocking in a school library

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Grady Hendrix is an auto-read author. The way he writes horror with dashes of comedy is refreshing and fun. This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. I recommend it to horror lovers looking for a fun read. Bonus points if you like metal music!

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If Grady writes it, I am reading it. The smart storytelling and plots he brings to life on the page are just amazing. I am never disappointed and We Sold Our Souls was no different. Keep it up.

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Hendrix is an absolute delight and the comedic take he has on horror is incredibly refreshing. I highly recommend his works to anyone both horror fanatics and horror newbies alike.

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"In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success -- but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in rural Pennsylvania.

Heavy metal music AND horror?! Sign me up! Narrative as well written and very fast paced! Book totally rocked...get it? If you're looking for something a tad different this is the book for you!

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