Cemetery Dance Novella Series #16
Retribution, Inc. is a hardcore band struggling on the club circuit. Shortly after their guitar player leaves for Florida to attend recording school, they get a call from Brackard's Point's most prestigious venue, The Electra Complex, to open for Your Kid's On Fire — a national act currently touring to support their new major-label release.
The race to find a stand-in guitar player becomes desperate, and they must choose between Joey Donnatello, a virtuoso with a massive ego, and Ernie Shiel, whose skills eclipse even Joey's, but his image is wrong for the part — and he has a secret: his hands bleed every time he plays.
Chuck, the bass player and singer, doesn't want Joey.
Mark, the drummer, doesn't want Ernie.
Apathy becomes anger, and anger turns to violence, with deception, betrayal, and manipulation running rampant through every action, every word. Chuck and Mark see their band tearing itself apart in front of their eyes, as each does what he believes is for the good of the band.
Someone must give in, if they are to do the show — which is drawing ever closer. A decision must be made, but is there one that is right — that could preserve their humanity without destroying that which they have built, or are they doomed to become like all those bands they despise, run by greed and ambition rather than words and music?
There is blood on their hands, and not all of it is Ernie's...
