Having previously read one of independent author Lou Yardley’s novella I was curious to check out how she would handle a full length title. I think my critique of We All Scream for Ice Cream was that it was a lot of ideas crammed into a short page run.
In The Deal Maker, Yardley allows her story to breath but also throws in plenty of fantastical elements from the get-go.
We follow the simultaneous journey’s of Ted, a man searching for his girlfriend Jess and Kelly, someone sworn on vengeance after a horrific incident. What binds these characters together is the appearance of ‘Jack’ a demon who grants wishes to people willing sacrifice parts of their body to him.
This where Yardley shines with some visceral body horror mixed with occult leanings. Although based in ‘the real world’, this leans into fantasy heavily.
Ultimately what makes The Deal Maker an engrossing read is the human stories amongst all the craziness and whilst some narratives may be easy to telegraph their aftermaths certainly aren’t.
I curious to see how Yardley’s writing style evolves from here.
The Deal Maker by Lou Yardley is available now in paperback and on Kindle.
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