Blood, sex and cannibalism. What more could you want in a book! Fun, fast read. Not for the faint of heart or stomach. ( )

I have not read a whole lot of Bryan Smith's books but I am quickly finding a taste for his books. However, what I have read I discovered he has a knack for writing disgusting and disturbing scenes and Depraved is no different. Depraved starts off with a woman exacting revenge on her rapist as she takes him to the small town of Hopkins Bend in east Tennessee. They get caught by by some hillbillies who are up to nefarious adventures. The reader is introduced to another couple who are just passing through to a music festival run into some more of the locals. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances the couple gets split up and goes on individual adventures. And the reader gets an inside look at one of the natives' lives. In my opinion this was the most interesting part. It's hard to empathize with the horrible people of this town but you start to feel sorry for the character. Within the story, you'll find cannibals, mutant hillbillies, a sex club, a demon of unspeakable horror, and a matriarch over 170 years old.
The book is a fun, quick read. Smith wrote a fast-paced book with hardly any lulls in the plot. But that also raises a problem. The story throws an overabundance of characters at the reader. You get to know a great deal about four of the characters but the rest are just fodder. One of the things I enjoyed the most are the descriptions of the brutal scenes. Smith has a way of describing a brutal scene. The book comes full circle and closes out on high note. ( )

I'm a late arrival to the Bryan Smith Fan Club but I'm quickly embracing him. This book and the previous one I read by him have both been intense, graphic and very violent. At times, so casually factual with the violence that I would stop and have to re-read the last paragraph just to make sure I read what I did and to let it sink in. I've already added seven of his books to my "to read" list and I'm sure I'll be adding more. Like the two sequels to this book.

The story focuses on the town of Hopkins Bend and a large cast of characters. I'm not even going to try to detail all of them. Basically multiple individuals and couples end up being abducted and held by the citizens of Hopkins Bend. Reasons for the abduction include as prisoners for the town's annual Holiday Feast, as sex slaves, as goods to be sold in order to make money, and as a vessel. While the bulk of the horrors perpetrated are based upon human debauchery and survival, there is also a supernatural element to the happenings. In all, there is a lot happening and the journey is fun.

One of the things that was kind of amazing was how well Smith weaved the different plot lines together. Normally in a novel like this, the characters all start together and then separate as disasters occur. Or the reverse as different characters all come together in the final act to help defeat the Big Bad. This time though, there are at least five distinct plot lines that only have a minimal amount of overlap. Everything happens in the same twenty-four hour period and in the same town, so it's not as disconnected as it seems. The only negative for me was that I ended up reading the book in short batches. Thirty pages here. Twenty pages a week later. Another twenty a week later. I lost some of the impact by doing this, especially since I had to keep remembering who was in which plot line. "Oh yeah, Megan is Pete's girlfriend who was captured by the deputy. Michelle is the one trapped in Abby's basement." It would have been better if I could have binge read the book in one or two sessions instead. I will be grabbing a Bryan Smith novel the next time I have a ten hour International flight to take. ( )

I like a good horror story just as much as the next horror fan, but this book just didn't do it for me. It started off good then it just seemed to careen off into left field. It was just random sex and violence thrown all over the place. With some demented hillbillies, a demon, and a giant fat lady thrown in for good measure. I just wasn't a fan of this one. ( )

I just finished this book and feel like I need someone to scrub the inside of my brain clean! This book felt like being dropped straight into a horror movie like Wrong Turn or the Hills Have Eyes (two of my favorite movies!). I loved this book from beginning to end. It was deliciously gory, full of action and depravity, and thoroughly nauseating at times. I thought I knew where the book was going until the halfway point when it threw in a little supernatural twist. Everything in this book was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and it is not a book for the squeamish. I devoured it in a 24 hour period. Can't wait to read another book by this author. ( )