The Plastic Priest – Review by Glenda
The Plastic Priest
Review by Glenda
The Plastic Priest by Nicole Cushing
Published by Cemetery Dance Productions
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The Master and Margarita got married in Stepford, conceived their daughter Barbie, and Nicole Cushing wrote all about it in The Plastic Priest.
The description drew me to want to read this book. Where does a body go when the soul has been poisoned? I wanted to know.
The cover is dark and weird yet so is the book so it’s entirely fitting.
The Spiritual Stepford wife of God, lives in Owlingsville. Her name is Kaye. I met her, I’m sure a bit of her resides in each one of us.
Kaye is an Episcopal priest, married to her pagan husband Charlie. From the get go you expect a clash, you expect that the mind will be challenged with conflicting beliefs, conflicting thoughts, conflicting emotions, conflicting understanding of what it means to be human. It was all of this presented within well rounded characters and some lovely wit.
Cushing developed the characters in The Plastic Priest in a way that made this reader feel like she was sitting beside them, loving some, hating some and sometimes wanting to roll my eyes and tell some to ‘f’ right off. The pace of the novella was perfect.
While I loved the development of all the characters, Janus’ left me feeling like I was missing something. Maybe his was a little too abrupt or whimsical in his power? A bit of a jester more than a god? No doubt it was purposeful, but it made my mind stretch into the downward dog to grasp it and I’m a little lazy. That position hurts.
A philosophical thriller? A metaphysical memoir? I rated it a four out of five stars. If you love grappling with those who grapple with religion, you will enjoy this novella.
Thank you to Cemetery Dance Publications and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given. The Plastic Priest will be published Dec. 15, 2023 Keep your eye out for it!
