“Drake once told me that every song ever played is still playing. That every song ever played joins the one great never-ending song.
My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie
I’d like to think that first chaotic jam is still out there in the universe. An echoing moment in time before Flanagan’s, before the Hobo Underground, before Sunburst and Armageddon. Just five people expressing themselves in a struggle to fuse into something beautiful. So full of hope, and still so innocent, before it all went wrong.”
My Ex, The Antichrist is a fast paced novel told in interview style about the rise to fame of punk rock band, The Shivers. The band starts out in 1998 from the dreams of Lily Lawlor and Drake Morgan. The two group up and start dating and then add to the band until it features their bassist, drummer and keyboardist/manager: Eric, Ramona and Malcolm.
At the beginning the band is just trying to book gigs and work on finding their sound. Drake is something else though, they all agree on that. But after their first few gigs end in riots and violence, Lily is trying to figure out if it’s their music having an affect on people or if it is something to do with Drake. A group of priests and bishops approach her, warning her that Drake is the Antichrist and must be stopped before he ends the world.
This book follows the band from the 1990s to 2000s as they catch their big break and rise to fame, after they get involved with the Antichrist and try to move past that. But more importantly, this book is all about the power of music on its listeners and it nods to some incredible musicians that have walked the stages and filled the sounds of our rooms like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and the Beatles, just to name a few. It was kind of a fitting time for me to read this now as I spent the past year listening to some of the following albums for the first time: Are You Experienced, Nevermind, The Dark Side of the Moon, multiple albums by the Beatles and many more. I branched out from music I listened to over and over to something new to me but have always been must listen to albums in their own right. So needless to say, I understood most of the references in this book and I felt like I was moving through the crowds and watching these bands play.
For those wary of horror, I think this book is a fantastic one because the horror elements keep you engaged and don’t scare you too much. It’s the absolute perfect balance of music and mayhem and it is well worth the read. Massive thanks to Orbit and Run For It for sending this my way. My Ex, the Antichrist releases in July!
Of Worlds Forgotten 
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