Grady Hendrix

In this hard-rocking, spine-tingling supernatural thriller, the washed-up guitarist of a ’90s heavy metal band embarks on an epic road-trip across America and deep into the web of a sinister conspiracy. Every morning, Kris Pulaski wakes up in hell. In the 1990s she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, a heavy-metal band on the brink of breakout success until lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his bandmates to rot in obscurity. Now Kris works as night manager of a Best Western; she’s tired, broke, and unhappy. Then one day everything changes—a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and confront the man who ruined her life. Her journey will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a celebrity rehab center to a satanic music festival. A furious power ballad about never giving up, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, pill-popping, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul.

A Novel

We Sold Our Souls

Julie Failde

Not my favorite but I did like it and I enjoyed the very ending.

paula

3,8 stars 

i guess there is a first time for everything, and me liking a book by grady it’s a lot

Every morning, Kris Pulaski wakes up in hell. In the 1990s she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, a heavy-metal band on the brink of breakout success until lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his bandmates to rot in obscurity. Now Kris works as night manager of a Best Western; she's tired, broke, and unhappy. One day everything changes--a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and confront the man who ruined her life."--

Lara Engle

Another fun but gory romp with Grady Hendrix. He pulls no punches. His latest book was just dropped on my doorstep, so I finished this just in time!

one of the most haunting, metal books ever! mr. hendrix once again totally nails the dread of total isolation, and the importance of camaraderie

Caitlin Carino

Dave | Storyphoria

For the horror fans out there, if you’ve read anything from Grady Hendrix before, you’ll know that his brand of horror is nothing you can’t handle. It’s dark, but never SO dark or grotesque that it’ll push people away. It’s approachable… kind of like a “light” horror that is laced with plenty of nostalgia and occasional humor to take the edge off. This one is no different, only you get to add in a TON of great rock moments from the late 70’s through 90’s metal scene.

This book is for metal fans, for the people that still believe in the power of metal to change the world, and for anyone looking for a solid book to spend a short amount of time with(as it’s a real quick listen/read) as an entertaining palette cleanser between deeper reads.

It isn’t perfect, but neither is the best rock music. So throw up your horns, crank it up to eleven, and enjoy the ride!

For the FULL review visit https://storyphoria.substack.com/p/we...

Ryan LaFerney

It's official: Hendrix's is perhaps, my favorite horror writer. Hendrix’s pulpy, satire like love letter to heavy metal music is a gloriously over-the-top scare fest that has hidden emotional depths akin to Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism and is all the better for it. Terry Hunt—aka the Blind King, the former frontman of the wildly successful Dürt Würk—ruined guitarist Kris Pulaski’s life 20 years ago. Now Terry’s on an apocalyptic farewell tour with his new band, Koffin. Kris, now 47, poor and working at a Best Western, seeks the truth about the night Terry drew up contracts, striking a bargain with the devil that sold out Dürt Würk and doomed Kris to misery and obscurity while gaining fame and fortune for himself. She has to ward off murderous UPS men, hellish creatures, and much more on her way to the culmination of Koffin’s tour: Hellstock ’19 in the Nevada desert, where Terry will bring thousands of souls together for the devil to harvest. Terry is washed up and needs the devil to help make him legendary. Along the way she teams up with a woman named Melanie, who will help her get to Hellstock but might just sell her to the devil herself. Undaunted, Kris unleashes her inner badass and her wicked guitar riffs to stop Terry and his evil plan. This is a harrowing tale of redemption in the face of powerful evil and you'll love and identify with Kris every step of the way. Perhaps what is even more harrowing than the deal with the devil, the creatures, and the violence depicted in the book is the desolate, consumerist culture that Hendrix paints and critiques which is America. America just might be Hell after all. 

"Now people sell their souls for nothing. They do it for a new iPhone or to have one night with their hot next-door neighbor. There is no fanfare, no parchment signed at midnight. Sometimes it’s just the language you click in an end-user license agreement. Most people don’t even notice, and even if they did, they wouldn’t care. They only want things… [H]ave you noticed how soulless this world has become? How empty and prefabricated? Soulless lives are hollow. We fill the earth with soulless cities, pollute ourselves with soulless albums."

Re-read 2021: Still one of my favorite books. Just an entertaining and enthralling the second time around.

"A girl with a guitar never has to apologize for anything."

Eva Bailey

Grady Hendrix never really disappoints, this was a super fun horror about heavy metal. What more could you want?

Jordan /

Not his best, but so much fun and undeniably written with love.

Imane

4.5/5

It's not a perfect book, and the beginning was pretty slow, but it was SO much fun and truly a masterpiece. What a scathing and concise critique of capitalism and all that it entails - grind culture, micro-dosing on cultish wellness culture and pills to withstand the pressure of the world (and the freakish, obsessive inspirational quotes/trite "mantras" that come alongside), etc. - and it comes with the usual biting humour and cinematic quality of Grady Hendrix's prose. The horror of this book isn't necessarily scary (although it came close a few times, especially if you have claustrophobia) but it is *actually* horrifying to be a girl with a guitar against the soul-sucking world. I laughed, I cringed (of horror and disgust), I shed a liiiittle tear at the end, and I had a whole lot of fun. Kris, the main character, is absolute gold. If you need a few more buzzwords: MK Ultra, psyops, sell-out musicians, a little dash of Scott Pilgrim campness, UPS is evil, Dolly Parton saves lives, tinfoil hats sometimes have a point, and the moral of the story is: Men should shut up and mind their business!

TW: drug abuse, medical abuse, sexual assault, claustrophobia

I liked this a lot. It is really good when it comes to the balance of gore versus actual plot. There is gore, it did get gross, but you could have skipped it if it really bothered you and you wouldn't have missed the plot.

I think this managed to pull punches on you that you weren't expecting. I felt myself going "wow!" a few times because the tone amped up.

I don't know a ton about metal, but j think someone who is well versed in music would like this. It sounds knowledgeable at least to my unknowing ears. I'd recommend it for a conspiracy, non pandemic type horror that still gets you involved and still keeps you in suspense. I didn't expect the ending, and that's saying something.

Becca Futrell

I always say that I’m always here for a book that mentions Dolly Parton & y’all it happens in this. That was such a good ass scene, it raised my rating an entire star.

We Sold Our Souls A Novel

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