Bad News, Bagmen.

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Badnews, Bagmen! is a chilling, gritty, and psychologically intense horror-drama novel set in the dark underbelly of New Orleans. The narrative follows the lives of Milo and Samael Steg, twi biracial African-American brothers with psychopathic tendencies, who find themselves spiraling deeper into a life of crime and chaos as rookie contract killers and private investigators.

Milo, the angry and wirey twin , is a ruthless Xanax addict, embittered by the responsibility of looking after his eccentric and sturdier twin brother Samael. The siblings find themselves entangled in a larger political plot orchestrated by the city's corrupt mayor, who employs them to eliminate his enemies and cover his misdeeds.....or does he??

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2023
Author: VI.Connected.Stories

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 8
Views: 3,455

Chapters(9 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

BootsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story grabbed me by the eyeballs from the first sentence and dragged me through to the end, refusing to let go.
Milo and Sam aren't great people, but nobody is anyone else in this story, so they fit right in. One's an addict, and the other is haunted or possessed by the story's titular Bagman, some sort of a spirit with clearly malevolent intent. From here, things get worse fast.
Style
The authorial voice is perhaps the strongest part of this story, and that's saying a lot given how uniformly well done everything is. Everything about the writing evokes a gritty, filthy atmosphere that fits the characters and story like an old glove.
The broader setting (New Orleans's 9th Ward), comes through more in the general atmosphere of the story, rather than any specific descriptions. Not to say the author doesn't get into specific--he absolutely does. And when he does, they're similarly gritty.
All this comes together to form a distinct tone of desperation and filth, that only intensifies as the story progresses.
Grammar
There's very little to say here. The author makes some very clear and deliberate stylistic choices frequently enough that I'm never quite certain that the few "mistakes" I noticed are actually mistakes.
These sorts of choices often carry a risk, but I really think they paid off here, and add to the story's overall sense of voice and tone.
Story
It goes hard. Milo and Sam are in a bad spot when everything begins, and like everything else in their lives, it just keeps getting worse.
Like their general situation, the horror elements are present from the start, and quickly ramp up in intensity. Everything feels tense and desperate, and these two are so clearly in over their head.
Character
Milo and Sam are both pretty well realized. Gritty, real, and desperate. A perfect fit for the story, both in their backgrounds, their current situations, and their motivations. The antagonism they hold towards one another drives some pretty intense trauma-derived conflict
storytopia07Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This book has got some serious style to it. I found incredibly fresh and entertaining to read. The author has managed to capture both the world and the minds of the two protagonist very well.
Style: The style of writing is something I have not come across till now. Reading it for the first time, reminded of reading 'Fight club' for the first, it feels new and caught me off-guard. It has a certain rawness to it that I really liked. I am not used to profanity in my stories, but I didn't mind it at all. It added to flavor of the writing more than anything else.
Grammar: Firstly, I had no issues with the readability of the story. Small mistakes like missing punctuations and mixed up letters are present in a few places, not much of a problem. The only think I would like improved is the formatting. It is a bit offsetting, but nothing an hour in word or docs can fix.
Story: A very intense story. The story of the two brothers trying to navigate their shitty life while having, what I can only assume a demon stuck in their heads is terrifying. There is a lot of mystery involved in the story and creepiness oozes from the world, making it a page turner.
Characters: It is a good thing when I am unable to decide who is better to vote for in the polls. The two main leads of the story well fleshed out in a very short period, making both their narratives incredibly engaging. The author is able to get into their heads and make their voices and personalities distinct. There aren't too many side characters and the ones introduced have their personalities well established. I would like to read more about them before making a judgement.
Overall: Fantastic story and characters with some serious drip to the writting style!