Rotten Peaches
by Lisa de Nikolits
on Tour February 1-28, 2019
Synopsis:
Rotten Peaches is a gripping epic filled with disturbing and unforgettable insights into the human condition. Love, lust, race and greed. How far will you go? Two women. Two men. One happy ending. It takes place in Canada, the U.S. and South Africa. Nature or nurture. South Africa, racism and old prejudices — these are hardly old topics but what happens when biological half-siblings meet with insidious intentions? Can their moral corruption be blamed on genetics — were they born rotten to begin with? And what happens when they meet up with more of their ilk? What further havoc can be wreaked, with devastating familial consequences?
“Wow. Just wow. Lisa de Nikolits’ Rotten Peaches blew me away. A dark, compulsive, and addictive story in which the characters’ secrets and needs conflict with each other and fold back in on themselves in an ever-tightening noose, Rotten Peaches will keep readers gripped until the very last page. Highly recommended!” —Karen Dionne, internationally bestselling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter
Book Details:
Genre: Noir Suspense Thriller
Published by: Inanna Poetry & Fiction Series
Publication Date: September 20th 2018
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 1771335297 (ISBN13: 9781771335294)
Purchase Links: Amazon | Inanna | Goodreads
My Review
“I go home and eat mac and cheese and pretend that everything is fine.”
Rotten Peaches by Lisa de Nikolits is rotten to the core, but in a completely fantastic way. The characters are crass, broken, disgustingly selfish, and wholeheartedly messed up. How great is that?
The story follows the two main characters, Leonie and Bernice, with their bad decisions and constant struggle to maintain their flimsy grasp on their so-called realities. They are as different as night and day, and yet they are similar in that they are both neurotic messes and hard-core survivors. The lives of these two women are light years apart, but they share a connection: a sexy con-man named JayRay, Leonie’s lover and Bernice’s alleged half brother.
At first, the story is a bit confusing, going back and forth between the two women, but once the cast of characters is established, the story becomes engrossing and as mesmerizing and horrifying as a train derailment.
All grammatical mishaps aside, Rotten Peaches is a frightening glimpse into the underbelly of human selfishness and its ugly consequences. The plot is full of both surprises and predictable ramifications, and the way the author lays everything out makes predicting the ending nigh impossible. But you won’t find any spoilers here because these foolish characters and this twisted plot must be experienced first hand.
Be warned, the story is full of foul language and sexually explicit references and scenes that are not necessarily drawn out and in full detail but more like quick and dirty moments. If you are easily offended, Rotten Peaches is probably not for you. If you don’t mind a few (thousand) F-bombs and such, well then you’re in for a treat. This story will make you shake your head in disbelief at how utterly screwed up these people are and then laugh at how both women crudely land on their feet and have the last word.
Don’t be surprised if you find yourself despising the main characters because they are all basically despicable, self-centered blights on humanity who are ready to blame everyone but themselves, yet you have to find out what they will do next. You have to find out how far they will go to hide their sins even as they continue to commit them. You have to find out if they have even a shred of decency and remorse lurking under the surface.
Reading about people who continually self-destruct and then rise from the ashes is exhausting, but the ending is well worth it.
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Rotten Peaches Trailer:
Read an excerpt:
I am not a killer. I just fell in love with the wrong man. I went too far this time, and there’s no going back. There’s no going anywhere, period. I nearly stayed afloat, but my luck ran out. Luck, that mystical mythical glue that holds the shards of despair together and makes life navigable. But fragmented despair, that’s what sinks you.
It’s the middle of the day and the ghost of a cat walks across my bed. I am hidden in the downy softness of bleach-laundered sheets, sheets ironed with starch and cleansed of their filthy sins by scalding Catholic water.
The bed is high and wide and the pillows are like clouds ripped from a summer’s sky. I bury my head in cotton balls, puffy meringues and whipped cream, and try to ignore the ghost of the cat that is walking the length of my back.
The cat settles at my feet but it gets up again and pads along my legs. When it first started its prowl, I sat up and reached for it but, like all ghosts, it immediately vanished and waited for me to turn away before settling in a warm, heavy lump against my side. Its weight is comforting in a way, like being massaged by the hand of God, but it isn’t God. It can’t be,because God, like luck, has left the building of my life.
***
Excerpt from Rotten Peaches by Lisa de Nikolits. Copyright © 2018 by Lisa de Nikolits. Reproduced with permission from Lisa de Nikolits. All rights reserved.
Bonus Content!
In addition to Lisa’s amazing new thriller, she’s also released a new cookbook. To celebrate she’s sharing the recipe for one of the South African desserts mentioned in Rotten Peaches!
Download your copy today & start baking your way to a nourished body and spirit!
Click Here to Download Your Copy of Melk Tert Recipe
Author Bio:
Originally from South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits has lived in Canada since 2000. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy and has lived in the U.S.A., Australia and Britain. Her seventh novel, No Fury Like That will be published in Italian, under the title Una furia dell’altro mondo, in 2019. Previous works include The Hungry Mirror, West of Wawa, A Glittering Chaos, Witchdoctor’s Bones; Between The Cracks She Fell and The Nearly Girl. Lisa lives and writes in Toronto and her very new book, Rotten Peaches is hot off the press to reader and literary acclaim. Lisa a member of the Sisters in Crime, Toronto Chapter, Sisters in Crime, Mesdames of Mayhem, The International Thriller Writers.
Catch Up With Lisa On:
lisadenikolitswriter.com, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!
Lisa de Nikolits picture credit Richard Picton
Tour Participants:
I have this book in my current pile, however, after reading your review, it just got closer to the top! Thank you for sharing your thoughts of it.
Definitely a wild ride!
Thank you so much for this fabulous review of Rotten Peaches! You have totally made my day! #extremely #happy #author!
My pleasure! 💕 Loved it!