Gypsies Stole My Tequila
by Adrienne Jones
Reviewed by Aurelio O’Brien
The old adage, “Life ends at forty” is more than an expression for Joe Blood, the protagonist in Adrienne Jones’s captivating tale, Gypsies Stole My Tequila (the last story in the anthology book, Amityville House of Pancakes – Omnibus, Volume 1). In her deftly written, multi-layered, wry, and surreal novella, Jones transforms every fear you’ve ever had about traveling over that hill into a terrifying monster of the mind.
Or is it? That is the true enjoyment for the reader as you enter Joe’s world where his calendar becomes an actual monster taunting him, demanding he tick off each day until his fortieth birthday, the day a younger Joe vowed, in blood no less, to off himself. Jones makes the monster so vivid and plausible one is convinced that, whether manifest or imaginary, Joe’s threat is very real.
And the threat is humorous as well, for Joe Blood is a by-gone Punk idol, still donning his outdated studded leather clothes and spiky day-glo hair, who has been reduced to wearing a silly cow suit at work as he sells meat products at a “theme” butcher shop. It’s tough to have an attitude when one is in bovine drag, but Joe insists on trying. He clings desperately to his past, feels ashamed of his present, and is terrified of his future.
Joe’s monster demands the involvement of Joe’s old band mates, both of whom signed in blood along with Joe those many years ago. The monster, who grows stronger and more substantive by the day, requires that the three punks die together, as they agreed. Joe reluctantly tracks the other two down to warn them of this threat, but they have both moved on with their lives. They see Joe as a sad ghost from the past, spinning out of control, burned out from his self-abusive youth, and are reluctant to let him drag them into his current mid-life madness.
One of his band mates, Vincent, still in awe of Joe’s past innate talent, relents, offering Joe a way out. Vincent hires Joe to help his own son’s sorry rock band get their act together. This is the last thing Joe wants to do, but the young boys provoke this has-been punker, bruising is ego. Can he still do it? Does he even want to anymore? Can Joe Blood go back in order to go forward?
Will he go out in a blaze of glory, or like the Phoenix, rise reborn from the ashes of his burnt out life? And what of the monster? How will it be satisfied? All I will tell you is that before the story is done, much blood is spilt, and whether it will be a painful birth or a painful death that causes the bleeding, Jones definitely keeps you guessing.
I highly recommend you read Gypsies Stole My Tequila and look forward to more intriguing tales from Adrienne Jones.
by Adrienne Jones
Reviewed by Aurelio O’Brien
The old adage, “Life ends at forty” is more than an expression for Joe Blood, the protagonist in Adrienne Jones’s captivating tale, Gypsies Stole My Tequila (the last story in the anthology book, Amityville House of Pancakes – Omnibus, Volume 1). In her deftly written, multi-layered, wry, and surreal novella, Jones transforms every fear you’ve ever had about traveling over that hill into a terrifying monster of the mind.
Or is it? That is the true enjoyment for the reader as you enter Joe’s world where his calendar becomes an actual monster taunting him, demanding he tick off each day until his fortieth birthday, the day a younger Joe vowed, in blood no less, to off himself. Jones makes the monster so vivid and plausible one is convinced that, whether manifest or imaginary, Joe’s threat is very real.
And the threat is humorous as well, for Joe Blood is a by-gone Punk idol, still donning his outdated studded leather clothes and spiky day-glo hair, who has been reduced to wearing a silly cow suit at work as he sells meat products at a “theme” butcher shop. It’s tough to have an attitude when one is in bovine drag, but Joe insists on trying. He clings desperately to his past, feels ashamed of his present, and is terrified of his future.
Joe’s monster demands the involvement of Joe’s old band mates, both of whom signed in blood along with Joe those many years ago. The monster, who grows stronger and more substantive by the day, requires that the three punks die together, as they agreed. Joe reluctantly tracks the other two down to warn them of this threat, but they have both moved on with their lives. They see Joe as a sad ghost from the past, spinning out of control, burned out from his self-abusive youth, and are reluctant to let him drag them into his current mid-life madness.
One of his band mates, Vincent, still in awe of Joe’s past innate talent, relents, offering Joe a way out. Vincent hires Joe to help his own son’s sorry rock band get their act together. This is the last thing Joe wants to do, but the young boys provoke this has-been punker, bruising is ego. Can he still do it? Does he even want to anymore? Can Joe Blood go back in order to go forward?
Will he go out in a blaze of glory, or like the Phoenix, rise reborn from the ashes of his burnt out life? And what of the monster? How will it be satisfied? All I will tell you is that before the story is done, much blood is spilt, and whether it will be a painful birth or a painful death that causes the bleeding, Jones definitely keeps you guessing.
I highly recommend you read Gypsies Stole My Tequila and look forward to more intriguing tales from Adrienne Jones.
