The First One You Expect

Look at me. The stuff I buy, the shit I've made. I'm the first one you expect.

First off, this is a really tough rating to give and one of those titles that makes me DESPERATELY wish Goodreads would implement a half-star rating system, because this is a 3.5-star read if I've ever seen one. It's too much fun to be a 3-star read, but I had too many issues with the narrator for it to quite make it to 4.

The First One You Expect follows Tony, an independent filmmaker who wants to make it big in the league of horror flicks, but hasn't quite caught his big break yet. When he meets the new girl at the local grocery store he works at and she expresses an interest in being his next film protagonist, he thinks he's struck gold, but something isn't quite right with her and things become messy very quickly.

It's a really fun, intriguing story that I think every horror film lover can appreciate. You can tell that Cesare knows his horror films, and he throws in all of these fun little references and remarks that are terribly enjoyable to sift through.

Unfortunately, I just really couldn't stand the narrator. He's awful, crude, and his attitude towards everyone around him is just gross. I get that he's intended to be this walking cliche of sorts—at least, I assume it's intentional—but it was too over the top and cringe-y for me. If it hadn't been for that, and the fact that the ending felt weird and anticlimactic to me, I think this would have received much higher marks from me.

That said, The First One You Expect is still a damn good time and I will happily be checking out more of Adam Cesare's work in the future!