Customer Reviews

Spirit of the Straightedge: An Elsie Sanders Thriller

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ELise Sanders is a driven, disturbed woman who survived child abuse and grew into a violent and relentless vigilante. Babs Lakey is not a polished writer, but she grabs you by the throat and there is visceral honesty to her work that is hard to ignore. Probably as much a horror genre book as a thriller or a mystery, "Spirit Of The Straight Edge" is strong stuff indeed and not for the faint of heart.

"Spirit of the Straightedge" is not your typical "...-woman-deals-with-adversity-and-comes-out-on-top novel". Maybe if Jim Thompson (i.e., Killer Inside Me, The Grifters, After Dark, My Sweet, etc.) was writing an "... book," but then he'd be hard pressed to improve upon Babs Lakey's efforts. Babs tells the story of two abused characters in a rapid fire first person perspective which shifts between the characters and gives the reader an almost God's eye view of the unfolding story. The details are dealt out piece by piece so that the reader is given the big picture of the two main protagonists and how their lives molded who they are. The contrast in the psychopathy of the two characters reminds me of a discussion on Batman and the Joker's personalities that appeared at the time of the first Michael Keaton movie. Batman's just as nuts as the Joker, but he comes at it from another perspective. The same is true with Els, who has survived a similar family unit as Peter both of their childhoods molding their adult lives.

"Spirit of the Straightedge" deals mainly with nurture causes and foregoes looking into any of the natural enablers of its characters' personalities. This book isn't for the squeamish and is very graphic in its depictions of life. It's never gratuitous, but it's neither for the sensitive reader nor possibly for those who have survived similar childhoods. It's a fascinating read nonetheless. This is book one in a series of psychological suspense novels coming from Babs Lakey ... hopefully she doesn't make us wait long and hopefully she takes her unwavering and dissecting eye beyond what evils men do and includes more of the fairer sex too. Not that she's unfair in her representation of men. She goes beyond that to show the evils enabled and caused by the women involved in the story as well, but Peter's mother for example leaves this reader wanting to know more and Babs Lakey will no doubt deliver.

and with good reason. She's mad as hell and she's not going to take it anymore. Her life to date has handed her lemons and she's busily making lemon-ade with some of them and (lemon-)pepper spray with the rest.
The author is a whiz at characterization (I'm madly in love with Law) and gives us people as real as the ones next door. I loved some, (knew a couple, I think), hated some, and was apathetic about none.
My acid test for books are that they (1) must entertain me and that (2) the ending must satify. This read met both those tests. It kept me up waaaay past bedtime and let me feel sated when finished. Nothing predictable or formulated here, just a bang-up story.
I'm waiting for the next "Elsie" book to hit the shelves. (I admit, I'm looking for more of Law, too!)

I seldom read thrillers, but this one grabbed me--and scared me silly. What a writer! What chilling description and big-as-life characters! Babs Lakey shows how it's done. A thrill/shock on every page. An intriguing plot from start to finish. A story I'll not soon forget.

If you like books that will keep you up at night, this one certainly will. It's got the spine-tingling fear that characters like Hannibal Lechter inspire, plus some deeply-seated psychological overtones that make one wonder if this is truly the way murderers think. Lakey keeps the pace moving and her "heroine," Elise, keeps the blood zinging through your veins (or not!). This is one of those books that you hate to read but hate to put down . . .

Elsie is a frightening person. Outwardly she's as normal as we, but inside....

How Babs Lakey could write such a spine tingling novel and still remain sane is a miracle.

If you're into retribution (and some people deserve it) then read Spirit of the Straight Edge. You'll not forget it easily.

I told a friend "I have a story in that magazine" as I pointed at a copy of FUTURES. "Do you know the owner has a book out?" That's how I heard about SPIRIT OF THE STRAIGHT EDGE. My friend will NOT let books leave his house so I sent for a copy. WOW! I'm an author and am in the middle of the sequel to WHITE BUFFALO and can not spare time to read much, but once I got started I could not put it down. Elsie Sanders is so embedded in my mind that I find myself thinking of what she might be doin next as I write (then go back and re-write)......this book is edge of the seat reading with page turning force added to each page that will keep you on your toes as you follow this tough little gal through this suspenseful adventure she's on. If you're starved for good reading as I am then you too will be looking for the next Elsie Sanders book. My advice to suspense readers is that if you can only buy one book this month make it SPIRIT OF THE STRAIGHT EDGE. rickmagers.com

This book opens with the potent sentence, "I'm going to murder a man.", and from there, you're drawn into a world of psychological obsession. A world where the abuses of the past hide in dark corners, where secrets that are carefully locked away reveal themselves as terror. A world where if you look too close, you are afraid of who you might find there.

In this psychological thriller, Lakey introduces Elsie Sanders, who at the age of nineteen has survived a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her parents, her priest, and her physician. In her small circle, only one person can be trusted, her childhood friend, Lynn Fahey.

After a short and predictable marriage, Elsie finds freedom from her past by moving, along with her friend, to Minneapolis. Here they quickly spread their wings and settle into a sort of quasi-bohemian lifestyle. Life is good until Elsie is once again robbed of her happiness. She returns home one evening, eager to share good news, only to discover the mutilated corpse of her friend. With few clues to go on, the killer escapes identity and the case ends up in the backend of a filing cabinet, forgotten.

Forgotten, except by Elsie. Armed with only the knowledge of a name and the lifetime of experience that she's accumulated, Elsie becomes the stalker and "he" becomes the prey. Soon the lives of these two become entangled, Elsie carefully planning her revenge. She knows his moves, understands his obsession. But what she may not understand is her own obsession...an obsession that turns her from victim to avenger.

Lakey's writing is graphic, the teeth of violence and sex spitting out the story. Yet, the style is effective and matches the nature of the subject...anything less would fail. The Spirit of the Straightedge is the first in her "Spirit" series.

Reviewed by Connie ...- October 2001

This book opens with the potent sentence, "I'm going to murder a man.", and from there, you're drawn into a world of psychological obsession. A world where the abuses of the past hide in dark corners, where secrets that are carefully locked away reveal themselves as terror. A world where if you look too close, you are afraid of who you might find there.

In this psychological thriller, Lakey introduces Elsie Sanders, who at the age of nineteen has survived a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her parents, her priest, and her physician. In her small circle, only one person can be trusted, her childhood friend, Lynn Fahey.

After a short and predictable marriage, Elsie finds freedom from her past by moving, along with her friend, to Minneapolis. Here they quickly spread their wings and settle into a sort of quasi-bohemian lifestyle. Life is good until Elsie is once again robbed of her happiness. She returns home one evening, eager to share good news, only to discover the mutilated corpse of her friend. With few clues to go on, the killer escapes identity and the case ends up in the backend of a filing cabinet, forgotten.

Forgotten, except by Elsie. Armed with only the knowledge of a name and the lifetime of experience that she's accumulated, Elsie becomes the stalker and "he" becomes the prey. Soon the lives of these two become entangled, Elsie carefully planning her revenge. She knows his moves, understands his obsession. But what she may not understand is her own obsession...an obsession that turns her from victim to avenger.

Lakey's writing is graphic, the teeth of violence and sex spitting out the story. Yet, the style is effective and matches the nature of the subject...anything less would fail. The Spirit of the Straightedge is the first in her "Spirit" series.

Reviewed by Connie at The Reader's Place - October 2001

I'm a student and I don't have a lot of time to read for enjoyment, so I have to ration myself. This book held my interest to the end and I passed it on to my roommate, who is still immersed in it. We give it two thumbs up!