Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones

Written by Micah Dean Hicks

Narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell

Swine Hill was full of the dead. Their ghosts were thickest near the abandoned downtown, where so many of the town's hopes had died generation by generation. They lingered in the places that mattered to them, and people avoided those streets, locked those doors, stopped going into those rooms . . . They could hurt you. Worse, they could change you. Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn't want to know. Henry, Jane's brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living. When new arrivals begin scoring precious jobs at the last factory in town, both the living and the dead are furious. This insult on the end of a long economic decline sparks a conflagration. Buffeted by rage on all sides, Jane must find a way to save her haunted family and escape the town before it kills them

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980035619

Micah Dean Hicks

MICAH DEAN HICKS is the author of the story collection Electricity and Other Dreams—a book of dark fairy tales and bizarre fables that won the 2012 New American Fiction Prize. He is also the winner of the 2014 Calvino Prize judged by Robert Coover, the 2016 Arts and Letters Prize judged by Kate Christensen, and the 2015 Wabash Prize judged by Kelly Link. His stories and essays have appeared in dozens of magazines ranging from the New York Times to Lightspeed to the Kenyon Review. Hicks teaches creative writing at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Reviews for Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is…. weird. It’s a strange mashup of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and family. The town of Swine Hill (Swain Hill), already in decay from loss of industry, has become a mostly deserted, post-apocalyptic, ruin of ghosts, pig-men, corporate greed, and angry, despairing people. The only industry still operating is the slaughter house, run by a mysterious corporate entity. Our protagonists are teen-aged siblings Jane and Henry. Their whole family is possessed by ghosts; Jane’s tells her everyone’s secrets and Henry’s is a genius engineer who compels him to build amazing machines- and work on living flesh, too. Jane considers her ghost a sort of friend, while Henry’s takes over his body and leaves Henry missing time when the ghost departs. Lately, Henry has been working at the meat processing plant, on what, he doesn’t know. But of late, a person named Walter Hogboss has been promoted to plant manager, and he’s calling Henry. Swine Hill is a horrible place. There are no safe spots. I wondered at times if the whole world was afflicted like Swine Hill was. It’s a story of racism, grief, whether it’s all right to eat intelligent animals, ethics, slavery, and much more. It’s a hard book to read; I found myself wondering if there was any spot of beauty in this world of dirty air and falling down buildings. There is, in some character’s souls-and not just the human ones. Five stars, even though it’s not a comfortable book to read.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I got a copy of this through the Amazon Vine program to review. This is a very odd and unique story that I enjoyed a ton. I could not predict what was going to happen because the situations these characters are in are just so incredibly bizarre. The book is well written and engaging. This book includes numerous hauntings and ghosts, weird science fiction like inventions, and pigmen. All of this is set in a "plant" town on the brink of collapse. The characters we meet are haunted (both literally and figuratively) and strangely engaging.This is the most unique book I have read this year and I was impressed with how engaging the story was and how quickly I read it. The ending is a bit more open-ended than I like in my stories, but it was appropriate for this story.Overall this was a unique and well done supernatural story with a bevy of bizarre characters and situations. I would recommend to those who enjoy unique reads that features ghosts, hauntings, and just general craziness in a strangely engaging story.

[bethyacoub · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This voracious bibliophile is all about scene staging. It is an absolute necessity in a good/great/satisfying read. This gruesome story had that in spades! The premise was unique, which scores major points with me. Taking one look at the book's title, I obviously expected some dark material but I was not prepared for some of the head tripy-ness this book dishes out. Just thinking about being harrassed by a needy ghost that can cause you to black out... whose actions you are not privy to, essentially causing you to be an unwilling passenger in your own body, now THAT'S creepy.The writing was stark, succinct and unapologetically laid bare for the reader to take it or leave it. BUT let's forget for the moment the whole "ghosts being able to hop inside a person's body and take it for a spin" aspect... asking us to suspend reality enough to allow for ghosts that swarm inanimate objects like cars, music boxes and drains, causing them to fail and clog stretches my frivolity tolerance a bit too thin. The world building, on the other hand, was evocative and sinister as all hell. There were loads of ghosts that don't understand personal boundaries that can overload things as well as people... there were people not haunted with ghosts who were psycho, agro killers anyway... and then there were people just trying to survive this crazy town. My favorite characters were side characters though. I really liked Bethany, Henry and his father. They each brought a fragile yet resilient dimension to the plot. I loved how broken they were not only because it was interesting to see how they dealt with it but to also see how they "fixed" themselves and their situations in the end. I liked Henry, his tinkering brain, and his brilliant, mad scientist ghost interloper who tried and tried but couldn't seem to get anything right. I loved how strong Bethany was and how determined she remained. Henry's father helped out in the weirdest times but for someone so out of touch with reality, he was somehow there for his kids in a pinch. One thing I hate to say is that I could only get through this in spurts. The plot was sufficiently ghoulish but it just didn't grab ahold of my attention and keep it there. There was an unfortunate case of insta-love, which annoys me to no end but at least it wasn't drawn out with deep, protracted declarations. Also, the ending was a tad confusing. I totally love anything and everything about alternate dimensions BUT it wasn't described with enough detail and therefore, it wasn't wrapped up as neatly as I think it was going for. I am definitely not one who needs a story to be wrapped up with a sparkly bow but it did feel like that was where it was going and if so, it failed.Overall: This nightmarish read was solid. The writing was good and the world building even better. The character development was not as stellar but was still decent. If I could have read it straight through, no stopping and starting and stopping again, I would have rated it higher but as it is, it's a good, macabre story. *** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First off, let me start by saying that this book is unique. It will mess with your mind and not in a good way. However, this translate to a book that you must read. If you are a fan of horror books than you will want to pick up a copy today. This is a family affair. Jane and her brother, Henry were not just the only ones trying to battle the evilness that encroaches on their town. While, I did find Jane to be strong; she was not the only strong female character in this story. Bethany kicked some serious ass as well. Yet, here is where the stuff of nightmares is at...walking, talking pigs. This is what the ghost that inhibits Henry's body has him creating. Turning pigs into people. They are replacing the jobs of the townfolk. This book is so bizarre but at the same time I could not stop reading it. Just when I thought it could not get more weirder; something else would happen in the story that would have me in awe. I can't really explain this book in a way that gives it justice, so you will just have to check it out for yourself.