Review of There’s Something Wrong with Joey by S Lee Glick

The first thing I want to say about this book is that the author is a stroke victim. Writing a book is a huge achievement for anybody, but it has been an added challenge for this author. At the beginning of all of his books, I love that he adds a stroke warning to all of his readers and a symptoms checklist. It’s a beautiful and public-spirited thing to do for others.

So, the story. It’s written from our teenager Simon’s POV but largely focuses on the decline of his cousin Joey.

The family exhibit their animals at the County fair, and it’s the event of the year. After a run of unpleasant incidents, it’s here that they first notice the change in Joey—he’s different.

When they get home, things only escalate. His dad buys him a mask, and Joey fixates on it—but by this point, the rot has already set in.

As we are pulled into a spiralling vortex of murder and unimaginable horror, the rest of the family is drawn in and implicated in the atrocities and mayhem.

The story is fast, and one incident leads to the next until the chaos abounds, and at the heart of it—is Joey. The odd child.

Seeped in 1970s nostalgia, the description of life in those halcyon days is sublime. Glick takes you back in time to small-town rural American easy-street—but then there’s Joey.

One not to be missed out on.

He is the author of three books:

There’s Something Wrong with Joey

The Testament

Six Haunting Tales

Joey is his latest offering, and it’s one of the best horror stories mixed with seventies nostalgia that you’ll ever read.