Niteblade

Huffer by Michael Hultquist

Michael J. Hultquist’s novel, HUFFER, simply blew me away.

When “Satan” appears to Gus Gerring as a tourist wearing a Hawaiian shirt, it might have very well been a hallucination brought about by Gus’s favorite past-time, huffing paint. His girlfriend thinks so too. When he starts seeing the darkness inside of other people, a so-called “gift” from his Satan, he starts to question.

Who wants to see “what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” Not I, and not Gus either, because as his Satan’s gift makes it’s presence known in his friends and family, his mind starts spinning –and not from the paint fumes either.

I liked the novel, but it took me a while to get in to the story due to my own personal opinion of huffing paint.  Sometimes it can be difficult to overcome one’s own biases, but for this novel, it’s worth it.  Told in present tense from Gus’s perspective, HUFFER gave me the chills as though the man was telling me his story, standing in front of me. Gus feels like an unlikely hero from the start, but Michael Hultquist does an excellent job of providing a natural storytelling voice.