Yaccub's Curse

By Wrath James White

Malik is an enforcer for the most notorious drug dealer in G-town. But when he is ordered to kill a local crackwhore and her baby he has a revelation that leads him into a battle with a man who might be Satan. Malik must risk his life to save a crack baby that he thinks is Jesus Christ. Is Malik a force for good or were he and his employer both created eons ago to ensure strife between the races.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Necro Publications
• Release date: Oct 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452416274

Wrath James White

WRATH JAMES WHITE is a former World Class Heavyweight Kickboxer, a professional Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts trainer, distance runner, performance artist, and former street brawler, who is now known for creating some of the most disturbing works of fiction in print. He is the author of Succulent Prey, The Book of a Thousand Sins, and His Pain. Wrath is also the co-author of Teratologist co-written with the king of extreme horror, Edward Lee and Poisoning Eros co-written with Monica J. O’Rourke. Wrath lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada with his two daughters, Isis and Nala, his son Sultan and his wife Christie. When he isn’t writing or working he continues to compete in kickboxing events and train mixed martial arts competitors.

Reviews for Yaccub's Curse

[dagon12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! What an incredible start to the story. I've read a couple of books by Wrath James White before but never has he pulled me in so much to the environment of the story. The story is based in the slums and ghettos of Philadelphia. And I very much felt like I was there while reading. Slight side track, I'm a middle-aged white guy. I've been across the entire United States, been to over a dozen countries, and have no problem with being the only white guy in a restaurant or room. However, while reading the first 40-50 pages where White is setting up the story, I had that scared feeling that I was in a bad neighborhood and I better be careful. Wallet moved to front pocket, hyper-alert about everything, and my Adrenalin prepping for fight or flight. And I was just sitting on my couch at home alone! I was *that* sucked into the world. It also probably helped that I had just started a new job and was working in the Tenderloin in San Francisco; an area where the reality of YACCUB'S CURSE is almost there.The story is about Malik, a young enforcer for a drug lord in a bad neighborhood of Philadelphia. The story covers his growth from a young kid to the hard-core killer that he is at the end of the story. Not only does it cover his descent into a gangster life but it also covers his attempt at redemption. That point where he realizes he needs to draw a line in the sand.The supernatural elements of this story are almost an afterthought. They are entwined into the story but at the same time could easily be written off as a character flaw of a demented gangster and killer. The ending chapters cover this element in more detail but as the final chapters in the book, you can almost pretend that they didn't happen. If you want. I've pretended the same with other books. To tell the truth though, the gripping parts of this story aren't the supernatural. It's the very real changes and development of Malik. How someone who could have achieved more and been a positive influence ends up being who he is. It's about life in a ghetto and how the choices are limited. It's about race and how much it affects one's life and what happens in it. It's a story that is gripping and scary and sobering. And while I haven't read a bunch of White's novels, this is easily the best that I have read. And it shouldn't be missed.

[michele_lee_70 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wrath James White is known for a hardcore horror style that includes blatant gore and violence and is sure to make reader cringe. But in Yaccub's Curse the cringing is more likely to happen in the space between gang violence and cold-hearted murders. This biography-style book follows Malik, a poor black man who grows up neck deep in gang warfare and ends up working for the worst of them all—a drug lord named Scratch who might truly be the devil. Malik is very intelligent, deeply philosophical, and yet never hesitates to make the choices that mimic the black stereotype. This is one of the most horrifying elements of the whole book, as readers can only watch Malik make one brutal choice after another, barely thinking past his surface actions.And if that wasn't bad enough (or uncomfortable enough for readers to experience with Malik, because make no mistake you will be wrenched along with him) Scratch, the white drug lord Malik works for, believes he truly is the devil, a creature created out of racial hate and vengeance millions of years ago solely to tear apart the races. Overwhelmed by guilt and pressure, Malik wonders if it might be true, until Scratch gives him the command to kill a crack baby who he claims is the next coming of Jesus.Yaccub's Curse is a very rough read, well written and darn near poetic, it also is very hard on itself and takes the reader to places of horror far beyond serial killers and monster attacks. Here the monster is a person's very genetics, a frightening suggestion that also makes Yaccub's Curse a highly recommended, must read for horror fans and an essential part of modern horror collections.Contains: Rape, violence, gore, foul and racial language