Wallflower by Chad Lutzke

Wallflower Reviews

• 
  Peter Topside

  This was short, poignant, and powerful. Chad Lutzke is a master storyteller, and I maintain that stance after reading a good deal of his books now. This is a self-contained tale of a boy coming from a somewhat troubled upbringing, who has no direction or sense of purpose. He decides to experiment with heroin and is pulled into the world of addiction. It's funny how drug addicts are always depicted a certain way, but this shows that the affliction can take hold of anyone it chooses. Lutzke masterfully walks you through what was supposed to be a 'one time thing' and the drastically shifting mindset that happens with addiction. And it's all very plausible and realistic, demonstrating the very definition of real world horror. And we follow our main character down this rabbit hole, as he pals around with his newfound friend, Dave, and finds himself in a new, scary world, with no way out. I did want a little more background on our main character, which would have made the story itself feel a little more impactful. But honestly, it is just so compelling and shows the amazing talent of this author one more time, so some minor critiques barely impact anything.
• 
  Luna

  Yet a new author to follow and look forward to. I have to admit though that though I am reading more and more novellas and short stories I am still not overcoming my belief that so many of them could be and should be so much more. Such was the case here.
  
  This was recommended to me by my friend Leeanne and I want to thank her so much for putting me on to a new author. One who resides right across the border from me in the great state of Michigan :) which is another bonus.
  
  What intrigued me about this book when I first looked at the jacket was the fact it dealt with temptation and furthermore a forbidden kind of temptation. Written in the first person our main character and his friends are into going into abandoned old buildings and such. They learn of a homeless person in an old abandoned neighbourhood and decide to see what he is all about. They have a run in with him and a skirmish happens but based on what he saw our main character is tempted by the fact that this homeless person is a clear heroin addict. Our main character decides he wants to try it and explore what the appeal is. Big mistake, stupid mistake and yet a very plausible mistake. I have to admit that during my years in law enforcement I never fancied working the drug detail. I knew that if I got into it I would be tempted by the drugs, I just like this character would become more and more obsessed with with what possesses these people to try this stuff and stay on it when it clearly destroys their lives. I would want to explore for myself what the draw was. Remember in the drug squad drugs and its people become your life - YUK! That is the common sense part to stay away though, that clearly the drugs win so many of these battles. I remember when we would have students doing a program through college or university with us. I would always show some of the girls who were ruined by drugs. Each and every time someone is arrested they are printed and photographed even if they are arrested 100 days in a row, lol. The girls photos stand out. So many on their first few arrests are just knock outs. Picture perfect tens but like a collage of ugliness with more and more arrests over the years they become to look like virtual trolls. So fn sad. The reason I would do this is kind of like a scared straight program, I wanted to show these kids the real damage drugs do to individuals. The drugs win so many of these wars. Common sense tells you just stay away but the curiosity lingers and lingers and lingers - get the hell away CURIOSITY. We know what you did to the cat! And thinking back did I ironically plant that very seed of curiosity that some of us have into their young minds - oh I so hope not! Geez, you just can't win can you but you try and keep trying.............
  
  So our main character wants to explore the high of heroine. He clearly has done the mainstream drug of alcohol and even marijuana but those are pretty harmless aren't they? Like we don't know anyone destroyed by these two.....
  
  Our main character goes back and we discover our homeless person is Dave. Dave tries to dissuade him. Tries to let him know trying heroine is a big mistake. Yet he also says some things which makes our main character want to explore the real good stuff and not the tar (cheap kind) that he went to Dave with and tried his first time.
  
  From the get go Lutzke makes it clear that though our main character is believing he is winning the battle with his use he clearly is not. One time leads to two which leads to three and so on and so on. He is in his late teens and we see his promise lessen and lessen.
  
  I won't get into what happens to him. Perhaps I've said too much already but the jacket kind of lets you know where this story is going.
  
  A heart breaking and sad story that just rang so true to me. I think we can all identify with being tempted by things we know are bad for us. I can admit that I kind of have the same problem and though I tried pot in high school and less so in University I never had it after University and have never tried anything harder so to speak. Yet I know how I am. I know how curious I can get and I know just to stay the hell away from certain things. Self control right?
  
  Again a great little read but because I cannot get over the fact that it could have been a bit longer I am giving it a four. I think it took me two and a half hours or so to read. Lutzke also has quite the following in the writing community. Read and enjoy if you so dare :)
• 
  Char

  4.5/5 stars!
  
  Wallflower is a novella rich in character development. Unfortunately, the main character develops in a way that does little to improve his life, and the reader is along for the ride.
  
  I'm not going to get into the plot, because this isn't a book report and because I don't want to be a spoiler. I will say that this story rang true to me and I think it would to anyone that has ever known a person with an addiction-be it drugs, alcohol, gambling or anything else.
  
  The whole "I'm not addicted", or the "I'm too strong to let any drug take over my life" arguments are what I've heard and even said myself at times. But it wasn't true. I knew it, and everyone around me knew it. My addiction was only to nicotine, (I'm saying only to a drug that kills almost 500,000 people per year in the U.S. alone), but it was a powerful addiction just the same. By the time I admitted that it was an addiction, it was too late, and I was hooked for another 25 years before I finally quit for good.
  
  How does a person get to that point? What could be done to prevent it from happening, if anything? These are all valid questions surrounding addiction. Wallflower doesn't answer any of these questions, but it does tell the story of one man and tells it poignantly, with feeling and truth. Highly recommended!
  
  You can get your copy here:
  Wallflower
  
  *I was provided a free e-copy of this book by the author, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
• 
  Leeanne 🌒🌕🌘

  Heartbreaking!
  
  Omg I’ve just finished this in one sitting, and writing this review through tears running down my face. This was my first book by Chad Lutzke, and it brought home so many emotions, and memories. Not having tried heroin myself, I have been close to people who have, and Chad writes about this in a touching, raw and ‘all too real’ way. The character Chris is so totally naive (silly boy!) to think he’d never become addicted, and he could control it. The ending completely broke my heart, but I’ll be reading a lot more from Chad, who writes with a beauty and a rawness, which has the reader feeling all kinds of emotions.
• 
  Mindi

  This book was hard to read, and I think it's going to be even harder to write a review. It's so raw and so close to Lutzke that you feel like you're reading something that you shouldn't.
  
  Any book about addiction is going to be a difficult read. Somehow Lutzke manages to take a bleak tale that cannot possibly end well, and infuse it with a little bit of beauty. However, that beauty is subtle and this one hits you hard, friends, so be prepared. I've noticed this is the least talked about of all Lutzke's books and there's a reason for that. It's incredibly painful to read and that doesn't make for an easy discussion topic.
  
  The book is pure Lutzke though. It's real, and human, and heartbreaking. It's unflinching. It's also hard to feel any hope after finishing the last page.
  
  If you love Lutzke's writing you don't need a review to get you to read this one. I would, however, recommend new readers start with something a little less bleak. Most of Lutzke's tales go to sincerely dark places, but he's adapt at shining a bit of hope on any situation. This one doesn't have that. This one is pure darkness and reality. Lutzke has truly bared his soul for this one, and I thank him for sharing this story. It couldn't have been easy for him.
• 
  MadameD

  Story 5/5
  Narration 5/5
• 
  Rachel the Page-Turner

  I recently finished watching “Dopesick” on Hulu, and it reminded me that I had this novella waiting on my Kindle. I really like Chad Lutzke’s books/novellas, and this was another great one.
  
  Short story shorter, Chris has just finished high school, and he and his buddies are obsessed with with the idea of finding an abandoned house that’s rumored to be inhabited by a heroin addict. They find the house, they find a man passed out, and they leave…but Chris keeps thinking about that tray with heroin, a spoon and syringes on it.
  
  Chris is a “good kid” from a good family, has college coming up and has never done drugs outside of smoking the occasional joint, but he’s overwhelmed with the desire to try heroin…just once, to see how people can be so weakened and damaged by a substance. He’s a strong-minded person and doesn’t understand how people let themselves get addicted. How good could it possibly be, and what could possibly go wrong with trying it one time?
  
  This was, as other Lutzke books, sad and haunting, entertaining and well-written. There could have been a bit more character development, but that’s really my only complaint. 4.5 stars for this interesting premise and thoughtful novella.
• 
  Janelle Janson

  I can’t stop thinking about it.
• 
  KillerBunny

  Wow. I'm flabbergasted.
  Without a doubt a masterpiece, a dark poem to the curious cat, and people who have experimented with drugs. So dark and beautiful. A perfect winning combination.
• 
  Ashley Daviau

  This little novella absolutely destroyed me and firmly cemented Chad Lutzke as a favourite author of mine. Addiction is not an easy subject to write about and Lutzke just handles it in such a shocking and stunning way. I wanted to cry multiple times while reading this, it’s just so absolutely heart breaking and I swear I could feel the madness of the descent into addiction. It was hard for me to read at times because my parents are both addicts and some moments really struck close to home. I haven’t read a book that’s evoked so much emotion in me in a long time. Wallflower is by far the most horrifying book I’ve read so far this year, it just gutted me and made me feel sick. This is truly my favourite kind of horror story, real life horror where the monsters are all too real.
• 
  Ross Jeffery

  I struggle to read books that deal with addiction and heroin especially - it’s complicated.
  
  So as I set into this nightmare of a book by Lutzke - I didn’t know what to expect, would I tap out or keep going! I kept going because even in subject matter I find hard to deal with, in Lutzke’s hands it’s handled deftly and beautifully!
  
  This book isn’t an easy ride, not much happens, but it showcases perfectly the slow dive into addiction and the clawing hands of heroin - it’s the devils drug and Lutzke puts this across in his usual prose - prose that is stunningly put across and enables the reader to feel the lives of this literary characters as if they were friends!
  
  Brilliant book!
  
  This was also the first audio book I’ve managed to listen to without falling asleep, so that’s a huge bonus and it’s also shown me that I can listen to books too!
• 
  Slim Jones

  Wow I devoured this book!! First time read from this author. This subject hits home…hard.. sad …and how it happens.
  
  No pac-man… drugs are baaaad..
• 
  Frank Errington

  Review copy
  
  A few months ago, I got to read Chad Lutzke's Of Foster Homes and Flies and quickly realized I had found a new author worth following.
  
  There are many roads to addiction and Wallflower depicts one young man's decent to dependence.
  
  Chris, Eddie, and Kent are killing time after high school and before the rest of their lives and fall into "urban exploration." In one of their forays into an abandoned housing development they become involved in an altercation with a vagrant.
  
  Later, Chris returns alone and strikes up an awkward relationship with the junkie in hopes he could safely try heroin with someone who's been there and done that.
  
  Why would someone even start down such a path? Chris explains the start of his journey. "Without knowing the man before me, and with no personal experience with drugs harder than the occasional joint, I was naive about most of it. And it puzzled me to no end why someone would give up everything they had just for a high."
  
  The chapter titles alone should give you an idea of how things progress. Temptation - Succumbing - Denial - Delusions - Headfirst - Consequences - Revelations.
  
  A quick note on the cover for Wallflower. It was designed by Lutzke himself and once you've read this novella you'll clearly see how it visually captures the story within.
  
  Strongly recommended.
  
  Wallflower is available in both paperback and e-book formats through Amazon.com. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge. Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.
  
  From the Author's bio - Chad Lutzke lives in Battle Creek, MI. with his wife and children where he works as a medical language specialist. His fictional work can be found in several magazines and anthologies including his own 18-story anthology anthology, Night As a Catalyst. He has written a collaborative effort with horror author Terry M. West, The Him Deep Down. In the summer of 2016 Lutzke released his dark coming-of-age novella Of Foster Homes and Flies.
• 
  Michael Sorbello

  Chris is a miserable and bored teen fresh out of high school. His parents treat him like garbage and his attitude against life and the world reflects the love and guidance he never received from them. He takes a year off after graduating to figure out where he wants to go in life, getting into trouble and doing stupid things with his dirtbag friends Eddie and Kent. The three decide to bust into an abandoned building one day to see what's inside, only to discover a protective homeless drug addict named Dave hiding in the darkness. After making a mess of his home, Chris decides to return to Dave's place after being chased out, and is soon taught a lesson about the horrors of drug addiction.
  
  When you're young and have all the time and freedom in the world, you feel invincible. You feel like you can experiment and get into a bit of trouble without any long lasting repercussions. Unfortunately, this notion leads many impressionable teens on the path of addiction and self-destruction. Sometimes all you want is a little hit, to get a taste of something that's supposed to take you for the ride of your life. You tell yourself it's just one time thing, that you're too headstrong to ever develop a lethal reliance on a mind-altering substance. How many young lives have been led astray by such dangerous ideas?
  
  Wallflower paints a bleak picture on the aftermath of developing an addiction. It doesn't matter how smart, strong or invincible you think you are. It doesn't matter how mature or morally flawless you are. You will lose everything. Your mind and happiness, your family and friends, your time and money, sometimes your home and even your life. Always think twice when something seems too good to be true. Getting the high of your life is almost never worth the price you have to pay to get it.
  
  Lutzke has a talent for taking extremely dark subject matter and delivering them in a way that is beautiful, empathetic and highly emotional.
  
  My rating: 4.2/5
• 
  Dawn Shea

  I finished Wallflower by Chad Lutzke, today. Not horror, but horrific. It’s about Chris, a recent high school graduate, who is having a tough time making any life decisions. He does make one decision, that he wants to try heroin. He makes friends with a guy named Dave, and it’s downhill from there. It broke my heart. Such a powerful book of addiction and uncertainty.
• 
  daph pink ♡

  Let me reiterate that this book is much more than just the story of how one man fell into a drug-related black hole and how what began as a simple one-time mistake turned into a lifetime regret. After finishing this book, I took a good 10 minutes rest before analysing everything that happened. This book gives us an inside look into everything that happens through our brains, what our minds are capable of, how our thinking tricks us into believing things, and what our minds are capable of. Now this is not a non fiction book and you are not gonna find solutions to your problems here, it's a fictional tale , a very sad fictional tale and it can be triggering.
  
  The wallflower reference is fantastic, and I adore how it connects the two protagonists. The conclusion was ideal ( perfect in the sense and tone of the story and not in real life). I adored the artwork on the book cover and how important a part it plays in the narrative. I've read one of the author's earlier works and absolutely adored it. I occasionally reflect back on that particular story, and I've often told people about it to demonstrate my taste in dark literature. So, yes, the author is doing a very amazing job here, and I'll be on the lookout for his future works.
• 
  Renée

  A tragic, beautifully written tale of addiction. My favourite book by Chad Lutzke so far.
• 
  Jeremy Hepler

  This is the second time I've read Chad's work, and he has great voice and pulled me in from the get-go both times. Along with the temptation and struggles brought on by addiction, WALLFLOWER also touches on various aspects of being a teen on the cusp of adulthood such as unbridled curiosity and the sense of invincibility. Great read on many levels.
• 
  Lezlie The Nerdy Narrative

  Okay, I'm about to write something really weird. It's strange for me to have this thought, but I honestly can't think of any other way to sum up how I feel about this story.
  
  Wallflower is the most beautiful story of the exploration and resulting drug addiction I have ever read. I have not read anything like it and while I've never experienced drug (or any other kind) of addiction, this story was so logical to me - I feel like it could EASILY have been me - the thoughts and reasoning felt so authentic...it made perfect sense...
  
  Besides the unique and compelling story of the main character and his experience exploring how/why people would ever get addicted to drugs when they are stable, smart and happy - the author writes so succinctly. I was amazed at how Chad Lutzke could give such amazing detail to a story without taking 40 pages to do it. That is an amazing skill that few authors are blessed with (but luckily, the more I read of indie and self pubbed authors, the more I'm adding to that list!)
  
  With this one story Chad Lutzke has gained a new fan. I've already spoken to other friends and reviewers to find out what I need to read next and started compiling a list.
• 
  Glenn Parker

  Holy shit! It's funny, for years I have avoided short stories and novellas, hell I even avoid short novels. I guess - with Stephen kings, IT, being my first read at the young age of 10 - that I somehow adopted the notion that only massive tomes could hold powerful messages that needed 800+ pages to really make you feel something. To build something that you really invested in and felt strongly for... well, fuck, Haven't I missed out. This year I decided to read more books, and more often, so naturally, one would assume I could achieve that goal easier by giving in and reading short stories, novellas, anthologies, and that's exactly how I have started the year. I am now 6 books down in 10 days and you wanna know something? I am so mad I took this long to discover Chad Lutzke and numerous other indie authors. Don't get me wrong, I never thought they weren't worthy or lacking in talent, I just wanted big fat books that could take me on huge horrifying journeys. I am going to sound extremely cliche here, but fuck it, I've heard time and time again "it's not the destination but the journey" and well with the new year comes new perspectives right? I am starting to think I might just love the short trips as much as the long ones. Wallflower is a perfect example of what can be done in under 100 pages. Chad has crafted such an amazing story with two unlikely characters. I think I can speak for the majority when I say that most of us have at one point in our lives had encounters with either drug addicts or drugs themselves and it's no hidden fact that we share a slightly tainted view on those who do fall victim to the needle and other ways of destroying themselves. I must say I am a little ashamed to admit that I have judged very harshly in the past and I have always had a zero-tolerance for that kind of life but Chad has managed to make me sit back and think about it differently. I think in a way we all lie to ourselves, we just go about it differently and not all self-destructing behaviors are evident on the surface. What am I trying to say here? People say that books change them, that they found some solace in the sentences and yet I had never really experienced it. I've loved books, sure! but I have not been changed by a book until now. Thanks for giving me a different view on the subject. here is to opening my closed mind and closing my open mouth the next time I come across someone who may be a little down on their luck.
  
  
• 
  Don Gillette

  A gut-wrenching tour-de-force you'll be unable to put down until you've finished. And once you do finish, you'll feel as if someone gut-punched you. Hard.
  It's always difficult to review a novella without spoilers because by their nature, they're sharp and to the point, getting to the meat of the story without fooling around but what Lutzke does with Wallflower goes against this grain a bit. The development is keen, honed, and matter-of-fact while, at the same time, having a disturbing quality that shows the reader the main character's innate goodness. And this innate goodness makes his eventual descent not only more believable but also more horrifying.
  The way Lutzke pulls this off is neat and effective.
  Take a few hours and read this. It's as good as it gets.
• 
  Tara Losacano

  A moving tale of temptation and addiction. Chad Lutzke is so good at weaving an emotional story while still maintaining a novella length read. Being a recovered addict myself this one really hit home, though his portrayal showed a more condensed version of the making of an addict. Lutzke has a unique writing voice and his stories always stay with me long after I turn the last page. 4/5 skulls for wallflower 💀
• 
  ginathebibliohoe

  “Every one of us has our demons and we’re all scared of something, running from something. Hiding something.”
  
  This is my third book of LUTZKE’s I’ve read in 3 days. I was drawn to WALLFLOWER because I work a lot in my community with addicts. Heroin. Sex. Alcohol. I found it fascinating to explore this high school aged kid choosing to see what the big deal with this drug was. It was hard to read and I was yelling at him in my head. The consequences are devastating in the story and in real life. We all know someone who has battled this demon and the loneliness is crippling. Chad did a great job putting it all together.
• 
  Paul Ataua

  After feeling guilt for giving the only less than enthusiastic review of Lutzke’s ‘The Pale White’ on Goodreads, I had the feeling that maybe there was something I was missing in his writing, so I decided to try another of his novellas. ‘Wallflower’ has the same clear and hard hitting writing, but this time it grabs you, and holds you right to the end. It’s a straightforward story of where a young man’s desire to try heroin just one time leads him. Honest and powerful! What else can you ask for?
  It certainly won't be my last Lutzke.
• 
  Kristyn

  While I've never struggled with addiction, I've known and still know plenty of people who have. This book is a heartbreaking look at how it. This sad story is told in less than 100 pages, but will stay with the reader for a long time.
• 
  Shy

  a very interesting, very morbid look at addiction.
  
  i don't know if Lutzke is a former addict and that is how he came up with this concept, and i've never been addicted to anything harder than nicotine, but I HAVE FELT THIS CURIOSITY. thinking, "hell, i just wanna know what it's like." and "i wouldn't end up like those junkies" HAAAAAAHAA. that's exactly the mindset that led this young man down a path of destruction. Imaging the way it feels to get high off of herion is one thing, trying it.... is a complete different thing.
  It was so crazy that this kid was destroyed within a few days of trying H for the first time. and that's what people don't get, is that it takes you so fast you don't even have time to fight back. and by the time you realize what's happened, you don't want to fight anyway.
  
  i really liked this short story and i hope that someone else reads it and it keeps them from succumbing to the lure of H.
• 
  DarkBetweenPages

  Curiosity can kill!
  
  As depressing and gut wrenching this read was, man was it power!
  
  Is there anything Chad can't write?
  
  Wow!... Have I told you recently how much I love his work?!?!
• 
  Cory Cline

  Chad Lutzke has a style that’s hard to ignore. He has this understanding of the darkness that floats under the skin of the human psyche as he pulls his readers into a surreal portrait of everyday horror. Wallflower spins torn webs down the dark hallways inside the mind of an addict as its main character, Chris, allows his instinct for self-preservation to become smothered by Heroin.
  Chris could be anyone’s friend, daughter, or son. He’s smart enough to know better and yet he can’t deny the surging pull of the drug once he begins a dangerous mentorship with the homeless man he and his friends find in an abandoned housing project. As Chris falls into the drugs comfortable embrace, the horrors of how quickly this all-consuming drug takes over his reality become only too evident.
  Lutzke creates a dark vision of a realistic horror. It’s beautifully told and powerful, with a creeping sense of doom that invades every crevice of reality. His story is as captivating as it is disturbing, allowing little room for doubt about where it is headed… There is no smoke and mirrors in this story. It’s not easy to find a relatable stance with a character who tries something so dangerous out of innocent curiosity, but don’t forget that everyone makes mistakes for reasons incomprehensible to those who value their lives. The reason doesn’t matter when the effects are the same, and if readers are familiar with how heroin and drugs like it can destroy a happy life, they will experience the familiar stings of heartbreak and sorrow while reading this.
  It’s not easy exploring the pain that others feel when they are sliding out of control. Sometimes it’s hard to create a believable and sympathetic character that chooses to make bad decisions, but Lutzke faces it head on and hits a home run that will make readers feel uncomfortable while they think about the addictions they have witnessed in their own lives.
  The silken promises of a drug like Heroin are often rotting at the core and Lutzke’s seductive web of horror can only be escaped by getting to the end… unless the spider gets there first.
  
• 
  Levi Walls

  A tragically beautiful word painting of the downward spiral of addiction.
  
  Some of the most important things in my life have been destroyed by addiction. You could say that a large portion of my life has been stained by the refuse of addiction. I have lost some of the most important people in my life due to addiction. All of this, and I have never been "addicted."
  
  This is a rough subject for me, but as always Chad Lutzke handles it with the dark beauty of a vampire poet. He paints a picture of the foolish pride and curiosity that walks you down the path into death and destruction, and with his words you can feel the dirt and smell the refuse all around you. As with all great authors he puts you in the very shoes of the person you should despise and causes empathy to well up inside of you.
  
  
  I loved this book and I hated this book. With the subject matter presented , I would say that that is a sign of complete success on the part of the author.
  A quote from my mom who also read the book and loved it: "This guy is able to say a lot with a little. This book will make you cry." My mom is never wrong.