Sadie the Sadist: X-tremely Black Humor/Horror Kindle Edition

4 1/2 Stars - Sadie despises her job. And you can’t really blame her. Her Assistant Manager is a Type A personality (the A in the case stands for ass) who forces her to shuck corn until her hands are numb in a cold, dreary basement that resides in the bowels of a supermarket. Sadie has just about reached her breaking point when this evil little tale begins and what follows might shock and offend you if you go in all innocent and unawares. Though if you’re picking up a title called “Sadie the Sadist” thinking you’re in for a sweet treat, well then I guess there’s no helping you.

Sadie starts out relatable and relatively sane. I get her. She’s snarky and she has some very dark thoughts. But don’t we all? No? Just me, then? So, very early on Sadie gives us a gentle teaser of things to come when she thinks this about a jerky customer:

"The man barks, "Your job is to serve me."

Broiled on a bed of lettuce?"

Can you see where this might be leading? Things get graphic but there’s always an undercurrent of the blackest humor your soul can imagine. I found it as amusing as I did revolting. As the book moves along, Sadie swiftly begins to unravel. Here’s a little teaser if you’re still wondering what's in store for you if pick this up.

"Barefoot, I pad to the kitchen, stand in front of the refrigerator examining the contents. Half a container of expired almond milk, a shriveled peach, a plastic container that used to hold Chia seeds and now holds what appears to be a penis. Nothing I feel like eating."

Is it real? Is it a case of too many prescription drugs? Who am I to say? I only know that I couldn’t put this book down once I started it and enjoyed all of the often over the top extreme fun and highly recommend it if you have a taste for this sort of humor. What I don’t recommend is trying out any of Sadie’s included recipes (as delish as they may sound) because they might land you in the slammer if you attempt to source the secret ingredients. Don't skip over them though because they contain a wealth of knowledge and sure are entertaining to read.

“Mushrooms add earthy flavor and depth to a dish, and if you administer the right ones to aggravating people, mushrooms can rid your life of problems."

I loved this book. It does have some very sick moments in it, be warned, but it's well worth the read.

The whole story was told in first person by Sadie. I read carefully, waiting to see it break character, but to my surprise and delight, it didn't. The flow continued throughout, following her as she struggled with her very mundane, repetitious-to-a-fault job, falling deeper and deeper into the hole of possible insanity.

There was only one spot where I spotted an obvious incongruity, but looking back on it, I believe it might have been intentional by the author. And I loved how she could see the bizarre behavior in her father but not in herself.

Overall, I think this was one of the best books I've read in a while, and I would certainly recommend it.

I bought this novel as a fluke, simply because the title caught my eye.

I have to say that this is the ONLY piece of writing that has affected me in a physical sense since the Thomas Covenant novels by Stephen R. Donaldson. I truly felt bent and twisted, just like the main character, as I read this story. Am I claiming it to be art? No. But the author has the ability to snare certain readers into her world of anger, frustration and, ultimately, insanity. I've worked similar jobs as the protagonist, and have also found them to be hollow and soul-sucking positions. They lend themselves to flights of fantasy that border on the obscene and violent. You deal with the public long enough, and you want vengeance. Not just directly, but indirectly. You want them to suffer the pain they cause, and you want them to suffer the pain it takes to supply their consumer fantasy as well. Does the narrative hold up throughout the entire work? No, but the emotional weight should carry those who have worked similar jobs through the more odd moments of the work. If you have EVER worked in service to the public (fast food, retail, grocery or otherwise), you will see your life in this, to some extent.

I look forward to more writing from this author. Again, if you have ever worked any menial job in service to the masses, you should read this. It isn't everyone's cup of gore, but we've all tasted it.

The story started off as I expected. Disgruntled employee decides to take matters into her own hands and murder and mayhem ensue with loads of black humor to boot. However, the further the story went a serious undertone began to develop. (SPOILER ALERT) You discover that there is more to Sadie than anger management issues and a sick sense of humor. She really is crazy, to the point that she has trouble distinguishing fact from fantasy and by the end Sadie has left the building and in her own little world. The second half got too serious, not to mention convoluted between reality and Sadie's fantasy world. With a title like Sadie the Sadist and the cover, I expected the story to continue and end in the same vein in which it started. 3 stars.

I loved Sadie—how many of us have been in crummy jobs and let our minds go and dream of ways to get back at the jerks above us? There was something about Sadie that I loved. Sachs has a way of bringing humor to every page. Yet, this is a dark, dark book. I kept thinking that maybe Sadie was an “unreliable narrator” and it would all be fiction and we got sucked into her dreams, but I’m afraid that Sadie goes entirely off the tracks. I really enjoyed this book. In fact, devoured it!