Bleed More, Bodymore is a gripping urban fantasy that explores the gritty streets of Baltimore with a dark, supernatural twist. The protagonist, Joey, is a tough and relatable character who is thrust into a world of murder, mystery, and death after discovering a friend's car at a crime scene. The novel expertly blends the harsh reality of the city with eerie, otherworldly elements, creating an intense and atmospheric read. Kirkpatrick’s writing hooks you from the outset, with vivid descriptions that bring the haunting setting to life.

Though the pacing is strong and the plot engaging, there are moments when the story feels slightly bogged down by dense detail. However, the well developed characters and unique concept more than compensate for this. The mix of urban crime and supernatural intrigue kept me captivated, and the emotional depth added weight to the fast paced action. Overall, I’d rate this book 4 stars for its originality, compelling characters, and its seamless blend of dark fantasy with real world challenges.

Positively surprised, I enjoyed it more then I thought I would, This was my first book by Ian Kirkpatrick and although it was a good read I’m not sure if I continue with the series. Horror is not my go to genre.
Well done audiobook.
Very pretty cover.

The cover snagged my attention first then the description. It took me about a chapter to settle into the author’s style. I wanted to love this book, and there was enough action at first to keep me reading… until things got weird. Or weirder…

At first Joey came across as a male character, which left me feeling confused. She’s so masculine at times it was hard to picture her and Jag together. With the way she constantly pushes him away, I’m not sure she genuinely cared about him as more than a friend. There wasn’t much about Joey, or even Jag and Donny, that I found even slightly likable.

The book starts with a murder mystery, and Joey trying to find her missing friend. And then it takes a strange turn. While I think the paranormal aspect of the book had potential, it was so randomly thrown in and rushed, it comes across as more of a square peg being jammed into a round hole. I found Val and Charon to be the most interesting characters in the book. They stole the show, casting Joey, Jag, and Waylon into the shadows.

Too many questions left unanswered. There was entirely too much crammed into the book in not enough pages. It didn’t give the author room to adequately complete the various story threads and tie everything up.

Since the book ends with an unfinished feeling, I hope the story will continue. Preferably with Charon and Val as the main characters.

This audiobook took me 3 effing tries to get through. The concept had potential and the writing style was good. The narrator did a great job as well. The story itself however was just ALL OVER THE PLACE. Lots of happenings felt completely random, which made the audiobook really hard to follow. Lots of questions go unanswered, which kind of makes it feel like there are a lot of plotholes.

Another thing that bothered me were the characters themselves. There was only one character whose actions I could SOMEHOW relate to. The actions of all the other characters felt, just like the storytelling itself, very random and unnatural.

I really wanted to love this book, I really did. Unfortunately the execution is just not my cup of tea.

It positively surprised me to be completely honest, I could not stop listening to it, I needed to know more!

I was supposed to be receiving an ARC of this book but it never came through on my app as much as I tried. I then tried to get it from the library so I could at least write a good review on it but my library does not have it. I am just giving it 4 starts to be neutral.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This one was alright. Author did a good job, it just wasn't one of my favorites.

The synopsis and concept is what intreaged me to pick this up, but i had also listened to ians other book dead end drive.

I found this book bleedmore bodymore to be very slow and struggled to want to continue. The idea and concept had protential but for me wasnt executed well. It wasnt helped with the narration as this caused me some confusion, in particular the main character is female yet narrator is male and it was hard to tell difference to which character was talking.

Other than the narrator being male kieran regan narration was good with the vocal sound effects (clearing throat etc), and on occasion drew out certain words, and added to the spookyish feel. But as mentioned about the characters all sounded the same, that also critises the writting because there was no character development and no clear distinction between them.

This ended up being one i didnt enjoyed, it was to slow paced, but as mentioned above it didnt keep me hooked, and just annoyed and confused me to much to enjoy the book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me the audiobook for an honest review

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the early copy.

The description of this book sounded amazing, so I had to give it a go.

The story was engaging and interesting, although it got a bit muddled up and confusing at time. But unfortunately I didn’t really connect with the characters enough to care for them. That’s the only reason it’s 4 stars and not 5.

Josephine (Joey) works as a mechanic in Baltimore. She jumps right into the story when she goes out on a call to pick up the car of her best friend, Wayland. Unfortunately, when she gets there, Way is nowhere to be found. Instead, she finds a dead body in the trunk. Also, she notices an inordinate amount of crows in the area, and are they actually looking at her, or is she going crazy? Thus begin Joey's adventures into the underworld of Baltimore.

First off, as this is an audiobook, I have to say that the narrator put me off a bit. First off, it was a male narrator, and the main character was female, so that just didn't work for me. Second, while Joey is a very sarcastic person (in a totally fun way), the narrator made absolutely everything she said come out sarcastic, even when that was clearly not how the line was written. It just wasn't believable.

As for the story itself, I loved it. The world building was phenomenal and the descriptions of the settings, especially anything that happened at night or in the woods, was done exceptionally well. I loved the characters and thought they were fleshed out fully for the most part. I'm looking forward to learning even more about them in the next book, fingers crossed. The pacing was very quick so this was a rapid read.

In summary, I recommend this book to fans of horror stories with just the right amount of snark thrown in for good measure. You might want to read the book itself instead of listening to the audiobook if narration is important to you.

3/5 stars.

I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The summary of this book enticed me but once I started listening to it I couldn't wrap my head around it. Like I tried hard to grasp the emotions and all but it was jumbled up.
Thank you Netgalley for approving my request.

This isn't my usual type of book, but the summary really appealed (and the cover is also great) so I had to give it a go. The writing style is great - incredibly easy with a nice rhythm, which the narrator flowed through beautifully. The set-up was also intriguing and felt incredibly real. I didn't connect with the main character Joey much, but the plot was solid enough, and ended up being quite engaging and unique. At first I was confused about where it was all going, but then as we got towards the finale I was fully invested and could see that the book had the potential to set up a series, which I am unsure if I'd continue on in. It's not that it's a bad book, it just wasn't something that truly captivated me.

This was one emotional read/audiobook. So mixed up. I wasn't crazy about it yet once I started it, I had to know what happened. If you get upset easy or depressed, don't read it. It's depressing as hell! At times it didnt make good sense. The characters weren't likeable at all. I liked Charon and Val. Really liked Jagger. There was so much repeated dialog.  Like Joey's dad saying same thing over and over. But I think it was meant for her to finally grow some balls and tell him off instead of being beat down.

The whole underlying story is about the underworld existing underneath the city of Baltimore. At times it seems the living and dead bleed into each other. Maybe that's why the title? I felt so messed up so I guess it did its job for a shock effect. Spoilers here. So I don't understand how a dead guy could kill the living. The whole story is disjointed and doesn't make sense. There's no flow and no storyline. It's like waking from a bad dream you dreamed in parts all night long repeating things and jumping into something else. It has potential but I'm sorry. I feel like I read an author's notes for a book is all.

But I had the worst problem with the main character, Josephine. She has a job and is trying to overcome a horrid life. I get it's hard to drag yourself up from that. But she is so immature and who skateboards to work unless you're a teenager? I got so tired of poor old me story. Almost like she wanted everything handed to her. She is bitter like anyone would be but there's a time in everyone's life they are old enough to choose the life they want and do something about it. No matter how bad, they can choose to be bad or good. I know someone who did. The worst part I got most tired of was the cop bashing. It's a little overdone and same sentences throughout. I understand there's had ones and I get this is fiction but the animosity is too much. They aren't all bad. The good ones don't deserve this and they certainly do want to help people and don't go looking for someone to harass. Most things the MC griped about was stuff she should've been harassed about. And she never gave them a chance. Always bitter and attacking from the start.

This book just centers on the regrets and depressions of a life one lives full of sadness and depravity only to realize when it's too late just how wrong they're been. There are just no redeeming factors to the story. There was great potential for at least a little bit but it just never happened. I tried to like it but I just couldn't.

The narrator was wonderful. I loved his voice but it really needed a female narrator.

This book was not my cup of tea. I didn't find myself bonding with the characters or with their direction. I was not enjoying the plot either. Overall I wanted to enjoy this book, but it never gelled for me and I wish it had.

Bleed More, Bodymore by Ian Kirkpatrick Narrator Kieran Regan Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins.This is the first book in the Bodymore Series and I loved it. I was Hooked from the very first chapter I listened to. The narrator was excellent throughout. I have never read or heard of this author but glad I did I loved this book. It will not be the last I listen to or read.

I highly recommend this book especially if you love Horror spooky stories with comedy Twist.

Big Thank you to Ian Kirkpatrick, Steak House Books and Net Galley for a free advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Steak House Books for giving me access.

This one was a bit different and I am ok with it. The MC is sassy and independent, which I love. The storyline was unique and Kirkpatrick did a good job at spinning a tale of a different plane of afterlife.

A great listen for those that love stories about afterlife and darkness.

I received a free copy via NetGalley for an honest review.

First off let me start by stating this was the audiobook version, rather than the usual book. And I think that’s where I went wrong.

The concept of this book is amazing, but to me it doesn’t translate to amazing in the audiobook. My main issue was with the voice of the reader (sorry to the person who’s voice it is!). The picture in my head was not at all who the character was. Despite reading the blurb and it telling me the lead character was female, I assumed the lead character to be male until it was obviously stated. This was because the character comes across as what society would consider ‘masculine’ and I don’t know if a lot of my gender assumptions were down to the voice of the reader (I’m down with female mechanics!)

And again, the lead character was just annoyingly whiney, and I couldn’t like her but was this just the voice of the reader? On the plus side, I did think the reader let the main characters attitude and bad-assery shine through.

The concept is the underbelly of Baltimore being death central (where you cross over into the underworld by accident if you’re not careful!)
You have a little Greek mythology thrown in with Charon, and he’s still reaping souls as he should- albeit with a lazy attitude of ‘welp, can’t find them so I’m not going to go looking too hard!’. This leaves dead souls wandering the earth until they’re caught and dragged off by Charon to meet their maker. Sometimes these souls get a little violent.

Interestingly …
*SPOILER*

Her dad is one of those souls. Didn’t see that coming! So I was very confused when she talked about him and his gun years earlier.

I would like to read the actual book myself because I feel I would understand it and enjoy it a lot better. And with that being said, as a book rather than audiobook, I will look forward to the second instalment.

Joey, a drop out and a mechanic at a body shop in the city of Baltimore, lives with her alcoholic father and seems to live anything but a glamorous life. One night she receives a phonecall from her best friend Waylon saying that his car needs to be picked up. When she arrives, Waylon is oddly nowhere to be found, just the stalled out car. She wasn't prepared for what was going to happen after that. After a short time, a smell was noticed coming from the vehicle. Upon further investigation, she finds something totally unexpected. A body. This can't be right. Waylon would never do anything like that. The police, or badges as she and her boyfriend Jag refer to them as, believe otherwise. He is not the prime suspect of a murder. It doesn't stop there. Things get even stranger. Waylon has gone MIA, but continues to text Joey asking her where she is. Between that, the sudden uptake in Ravens around the city, and falling into what appears be an underground city of the dead, Joey has no idea what to believe anymore. How much stranger can things get? Can Joey find Waylan and figure this all out before she ends up looking like the body in the back of the car?
Thank you Netgalley, Steak House Books, and Ian Kirkpatrick for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was given a copy of the audio version. I really liked the narrator Kieran Regan. This book sucked me in almost instantly. I really loved the storyline and the whole concept of this book. It was very original and I really enjoyed it. I rate it ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This really started out intense and I wanted more. However as the story went on I became more and more confused, but I think that plays into the story. Because we don't know what's going on and they want it that way. Horror is not typically my genre of choice, but it was interesting to see what was going to happen. I wish I could have gone a little further in time to see how this all worked out. I listened to the book. The narrator did a good job and it was easy to listen to.