Two of a Kind by Chisto Healy
Two of a Kind is an extreme horror thriller by Chisto Healy. It was published on April 15, 2023 and weighs in at 250 pages.
First off, this book is equipped with an in-depth warning and disclaimer about the content. I’m not going to lie, it intrigued me. I felt a thrill as I turned the pages to start reading. An anticipation, as if I were sitting on a dock dipping my toes into a pool of crocodiles, energized me. I haven’t read much extreme horror prior to this novel, and I can now say I enjoyed it and am interested in exploring more in the future.
As for Chisto Healy, this was my second taste of his writing. I read and reviewed The Bucket List, a novella he co-authored with Mark Towse. I enjoyed the gory scenes in that novella, so it was a no-brainer to try out this next level of his work.
Two of a Kind is a story about two characters, each presenting one face to society while keeping their nefarious personas undercover - in a sense. One enjoys the notoriety of his dark side. The other uses his pernicious talents to calm himself. Each is obsessed in their own ways with physical characteristics that make people special. They both enjoy wielding a distinctive sense of power over others in their lives. Healy did a wonderful job making me feel disgusted, curious, and even empathetic at times for each of them. My emotions ran the gamut.
One of Healy’s menacing villains had a more humane persona than the other. This allowed me as a reader to lower my moral standards and cheer for him as he committed acts that, in reality, I would be opposed to see happening. That being said, I’m a sucker for revenge - even if it comes with blood splatters and squelching sounds.
There’s a believable cast of characters in this book aside from our two main characters. Their interactions and story lines help progress the story in a positive way. One of the settings is a hospital. Having worked in a medical setting in the past, I enjoyed being on the medical floor watching the characters interact. Healy plays with some hard-hitting emotional events that anchored me to the book outside of the violence, which helped keep me invested in the story.
Healy takes us into the heads of both villains. The differences were palpable. Their motivations. Their fears. The reasons behind their extreme actions. Both were defined well from their internal insights. Gerald’s thoughts were manic, misogynistic, and dangerous. I felt dirty being in his mind. Chadwick’s thoughts were more balanced and structured, flirting with a caring and compassionate side, but still saturated with bitter darkness. Each of their mindsets seeped with anger, and it was enjoyable to see how Healy distinguished their differences throughout the novel. The one thing both Gerald and Chadwick have in common, though, is anger. It guides and shapes their lives. I enjoyed digging into their backgrounds to understand why.
I have to say, Gerald absolutely disgusted me. From his physical description to his mindset to his actions, I found him revolting, dastardly, and abhorrent. (Nice job, Healy!) As a person who enjoys visceral reactions while reading, Gerald definitely hit the spot. That’s not to say that Chadwick’s character is that much better, but his activities didn’t set me off like Gerald’s. I do tend to have a pretty strong stomach, though. Word of warning: Brace yourself, because Gerald will get under your skin.
When I was actually able to sit down and read, I got through the material very quickly. I found myself on pins and needles for the final chapters. I could not put the book down. I needed to know exactly what was going to happen, and I wanted all the gory details. Healy provided and succeeded in ending the book in a way that was satisfying.
Healy created a well-rounded character who is forced to explore his place in the world when his life is totally upended. As a reader, I was all in watching him experience unfamiliar emotions that lead him down a new path. I’m curious how he will integrate his two worlds now. I feel as if the ending leads me to believe another book will follow this one.
One thought I came away with after reading Two of a Kind is how a reader’s personal fears can intensify the scariness of a book - especially a control freak. I’ll be looking over my shoulder for a while after reading this one.
More books by Chisto Healy:
Who is Chisto Healy?
Author of twisted horror tales as well as innovative science fiction and epic fantasy stories. Chisto is a genre author with an unstoppable imagination who writes 7 days a week and tries to write at least one story or chapter every single day. It’s his biggest passion. The only thing that means as much as his writing is being a dad to his awesome kids. He also dabbles in art and music and being an interesting person.
***Taken from Chisto Healy’s website
Check out my other review of Chisto Healy’s work:
The Bucket List (co-authored with Mark Towse)
FUN FACT: Healy has a character reading Mark Towse’s novella One Last Shindig in this novel. I love finding things like that!
***You can read my review of One Last Shindig here.
