Don’t Write It Down: Episode One in the Rainbow Noir Series – Book Review

by | Sep 14, 2017 | Book Reviews, Reviews | 0 comments

Don’t Write It Down-Episode One in the Rainbow Noir Series
C.E. Wilson
Rainbow Noir
Released July 4, 2017
Reviewed by Brian James Lewis

Don’t Write It Down is a book so full of twists and turns that I guarantee you will find it impossible to put down. Like eating a certain brand of potato chips, you can’t read just one page of C.E. Wilson’s work. This is some damn good writing that sucks you in like a tornado!

It’s amazing how easily all the events in this story could happen. Wilson’s writing is very descriptive and mentions stuff we use all the time, such as cell phones, laptops, and hobbies like watching horror movies For those of us who are writers, we’re way too familiar with how we get when we’re chasing a story. We’ve got a story to write and it’s going to be great! Hey world, get the hell out of my way! Staying alive on our beverages, food, and drugs of choice is crazy, but true. Showering is a nuisance, as is staying in contact with people like our parents. All they do is sidetrack us and ruin our flow! But in the end it’s all worth it. Right?

NY Times Bestselling Horror Writer Emma/Shade thinks so. The only thing she can focus on is making it into the number one slot. If only she could, life would be fantastic and all her dreams fulfilled. Trouble is, that slot is always filled by a writer named Jessen Blake-“The Kurt Cobain of Horror Writers.” He’s called that because with all respects to Kurt, the majority of his hits are posthumous and they keep on coming. How do you compete with that? Emma is determined to do it. Even though it has destroyed her marriage, family relations, health, and brain, she just keeps on plugging.

Speaking for myself and the writers I know, we’d be pretty damn happy with being in the number two spot. There’s still plenty of perks and getting there is a huge achievement! Emma is number two for an extended time, yet she never takes time to enjoy her status by living somewhere nice, eating better, or truly sharing her life with someone else. Oh sure, there’s Kevin, who’s her legal husband, but Emma treats him like shit. The reason she uses for her behavior is that Kevin had a one night stand. He says it only happened because Emma couldn’t be bothered with his desires for her. Well SHE had a book to finish, damn it!

Either way, Kevin takes care of Emma by checking in with her daily and bringing her food. He also tries to tidy up the mess that she is making of her shabby townhouse. But Emma roars off to writing land, stuffing her feelings and yelling at people with venom. She keeps throwing Kevin out, not accepting phone calls, and pretty much cutting all ties to the “real world.”

Granted, this does produce results, but the cost is high. Her intensity even attracts the attention of Mr. Jessen Blake himself, who visits her during dreams that are more like nightmares. The main purpose of his visits is to discourage Emma from becoming number one. She thinks it’s jealousy on his part, but Jessen says that there is a lot more to being number one than she realizes. There are parts about being the number one horror writer that are really horrible. But Emma lets him know what she thinks about that and finally makes it to number one.

But Emma still isn’t happy. She doesn’t feel the warm glow of achievement or much of anything. Until death rears its ugly head. While she’s been busy celebrating her successes, Emma’s father is killed and buried before she could even try to make it home. Not only that, but Jessen Blake comes to tell Emma that it was her fault because she wrote about such a scene in her book. Wait, what? Things she writes come true? No, that’s ridiculous! How could that happen? Emma walls herself in with denial, shoves her husband away when he tries to help, and stops taking her mental health medications. But she keeps on drinking and smoking like fiend. Things are going completely out of control.

She’s hallucinating, feeling horrible, but unable to stop writing stories in which she kills people that are close to her. Her husband makes one last ditch attempt to help Emma get out of the hole she’s dug for herself, but things don’t work out as planned. Nope, but they do go in crazy directions that I’m pretty sure all of our review readers will enjoy! Totally dug it. Grab a copy of Don’t Write It Down today!

 

About Brian J. Lewis

Brian James Lewis is a published poet and writer who enjoys reviewing speculative fiction and dark poetry. With all the great emerging writers, magazines, and presses, it is exciting to be part of this growing community! Word of mouth and keyboard is more important than it’s ever been, because readers want to know about books before they buy. It makes Brian feel great to see writers he’s reviewed become successful and their work go on to win awards! Whatever happens, he’s always glad to offer encouragement and increase visibility of writers who trust him with their work. You can catch up with Brian on Twitter @skullsnflames76 or on his WordPress blog damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com

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