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Godless by Drew Stepek
Now including FIXED and REFLOW formats!
15-year anniversary of GODLESS. In eBook for the first time!
Eating disorders are a choice, not a disease! Doing everything but providing the reader his finger to purge, first time novelist, athesist and 17-year bulimic Drew Stepek proves his controversial theory in his new novel titled GODLESS.
A combative, heart-wrenching novel, the psychological and physically distressing drama played out in GODLESS leads the reader through a surprising and shocking path that could only be told by someone who has lived the experience and the pain first-hand. D, the primary character in GODLESS is obviously a tormented soul.
Underneath the torment, we discover a secret, a secret so horrific that D doesn’t even remember it, until the day his father makes known what is at the root of D’s suffering. Mr. Stepek shares a provocative tale that zeros in on the trauma of male bulimia and addiction that is both compelling and forceful. And while there are many books, both fiction and non-fiction that are superbly written and which address the subject of bulimia and addiction, none genuinely tap into the heart and soul of the subject quite the same way as GODLESS.
ALSO FROM DREW STEPEK
United StatesUnflinching
Yep. That Godless and that Drew Stepek. The book that gave the name to Godless.com and the indie institution we all know and love. I won a signed hardcover edition during one of the big Godless giveaways awhile back. I wanted to read it after hearing Drew read his story Nazareth, (from the first chapter of the book) during one of the Godless Reads. I saved the book back until I had time to really sit down with it. First off, this isn’t horror. Nor is it any anti-religious manifesto. It’s a story about life, pain, addiction, and our natural inclination to grasp at whatever we think will make it better. Or at least a little more bearable. D is a young man from a small town with dreams of being a writer who is ready to get the hell out. Friends die and that in which he seeks comfort is destroyed. Salvation is in the form of seeing his hometown in the rearview. Or so he thinks. When D goes to college, it brings addictions and friends who often have their own best interests, and coping mechanisms, in mind. There are triumphs, abuse, business deals, and tragedy. We follow D from college, to a hospital, and then to LA. In the hospital, nothing really gets easier, and even in LA challenges abound. Though there are some ups along with the downs. Through this all he battles bulimia, one of the main central themes. A friend and enemy that is there for him through all the good and the bad. Addictions aren’t always about chemicals. Sometimes they are actions. And most often their seeds are planted too deep for you to see for yourself. This book is unflinching, as one would expect from Drew. The story will often take a swing at you, bare knuckled. Sometimes you’ll see it coming and sometimes you won’t. Well written and hard to put down I highly recommend it. The characters are as real as any I have read and highlight the fact that everyone, no matter what situation you come from, has shit to deal with. How they choose to deal with it can often be someone else’s problem, as much as their own. Godless is not a casual Sunday afternoon read, but a book with many layers. It will leave you thinking about it long after you’ve finished.
United StatesReal, Raw, and Relentless
Wow. For this not even being one of Drew Stepek's extreme books, he somehow managed to hit my only two triggers. This was a difficult read for me, but I absolutely loved it. Godless is real, and it is raw, and it made me feel things. Not many of those things were pleasant, but the mere fact that it evoked an emotional response is huge. I thought my heart was cold, black, and dead, but this book broke it. This book is a series of well-executed gut punches that perfectly mirrors real life. The story here is not tied up with neat little bows, perfectly packaged for your consumption. It just flows, unrelenting, like time in the real world. Things happen, and they keep happening, and they never stop to let you catch up, because that's how life is. And that's what made this book so perfect.
Godless is gutwrenching, heartbreaking, relateable, and poetic. This is one of the very few titles that I will want in Hardcover.
The book that started it all is nothing like I might have expected, and it exceeds all expectations. First off, Godless is not a horror in the traditional sense, but it is absolutely terrifying in that it is real to life. Right off, I liked Drew's matter of fact way of approaching the story. There is no bullshit or overembellishment. He tells his story the way he sees it and moves on, creating a pace that feels very real to life, and he has a conversational style that is compelling and easy to read. Reading Godless is like listening to music, and it is a lesson in writing. I just can't say enough good things about it. It is one of the best novels I have read in years, and because it is not Horror, there is no good reason for it to not to be a Barns & Nobles #1 bestseller or something - except for maybe the title and cover, which appeals to me, but would be a turn off to a general audience. Check it out: https://godless.com/products/godless-by-drew-stepek