Born Bad [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Barry Hoffman (Author), Harry O. Morris (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A plot unfocused by underdeveloped characters makes a shaky vehicle for the sincere social concerns of Hoffman's latest crime thriller (after Eyes of Prey). When three co-eds from Philadelphia's Penn campus die apparently by their own hands, everyone is willing to write them off as suicides except hard-nosed homicide detective Ariel Dampier and campus cop Lucius Jackson, who is Ariel's ex-husband and on-again, off-again love interest. The reader discovers early on that two of the deaths are the handiwork of Shanicha Wilkins, a crack baby who has grown up without a trace of conscience and who gets her kicks craftily manipulating the vulnerable--in this instance, members of a confidential date-rape therapy group--to acts of violence and self-destruction. The other fatality bears the imprint of an anonymous Shanicha-wannabe, a surprise visitor from the bad seed's death-darkened past who eventually pulls Ariel and her loved ones straight into Shanicha's dangerous path. Although Shanicha has great potential as a criminal puppet master spawned by social neglect, Hoffman limits her to playing the single-minded psychopath, given to nonstop murder schemes, obsessive showering and violent outbursts. The story is dominated instead by Ariel, a mulatto woman on a predominantly white male police force, who is prone to repetitive reflections on identity that never illuminate similar issues for the other characters. So much space is devoted to Ariel getting a grip on her own problems that the murder investigations--and the novel's attempted investigation of racism, sexism, sexual abuse, drugs and failed social reform--are dissatisfyingly displaced. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 404 pages
• Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications; 1st edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881475875
• ISBN-13: 978-1881475873
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,257,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barry Hoffman has been a teacher, a publisher, an editor, and, of course, a writer. Hoffman's eight adult books have been well received by critics and most recently, he is the author of the popular young adult novels, The Shamra Chronicles; the last novel in the series, Chaos Unleashed, will be released May 2011. What do all of his novels have in common? All have females as protagonists and more than half of the antagonists are also females. These female characters are strong and often flawed, but they are definitely not dependent on males to save the day.

As the father to two strong-willed, independent daughters (one of whom was named after Shamra's Dara), grandfather to a ten-year old granddaughter in the same mold, and teacher to fifth to eighth grade students, Barry was influenced to write these kinds of strong female characters. Throughout his thirty years as an inner-city school teacher in Philadelphia, he found the eleven to fourteen year old girls he taught to have unique and diverse personalities, which helped shape the young women in The Shamra Chronicles. In fact, each book of The Shamra Chronicles is populated with young women bearing a remarkable resemblance to those who have walked through his classroom door.

Barry believes that adolescent and teenage girls need to read books where there are positive role models with which they can identify. He has written all three Shamra Chronicles books: Curse of the Shamra, Shamra Divided, and Chaos Unleashed with the hope that girls will latch onto Dara as an independent, increasingly mature young woman, rather than reading novels where the main female character is submissive and subject to the whims of the boy over which she obsesses.

Inspired by President Obama's call to give back to the community, Barry set out to donate 10,000 copies of his young adult novel Curse of the Shamra in 2009. He provided copies to schools (with a special focus on Title 1 schools in dire need of resources), libraries, military families, Girl Scouts, and other organizations with a Young Adult audience. He has already surpassed his goal, giving away 11,145 copies of The Shamra Chronicles to date!


Barry also conducted an Author in Residence program in 2009 and 2010 at classrooms in Colorado. The students all received free copies of Curse of the Shamra, and Barry led weekly discussions about characters, plot developments, choices made and their consequences, along with discussing critical thinking and writing skills. The project culminated with student projects and essays.


In addition to writing The Shamra Chronicles and eight other novels, Barry is well-known as the Publisher and Editor of Gauntlet Magazine, a magazine dealing with censorship, and as Publisher at Gauntlet Press, Winner of 1999 Stoker Award for Best Small Press, which produces collectible editions of classic and previously unpublished books. Barry has lived in Colorado since 2002. He grew up in New York and spent his entire teaching career in Philadelphia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GIRLS JUST WANTED HAVE FUN!!!, August 12, 2001

By 

Wayne C. Rogers (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Born Bad (Mass Market Paperback)

Barry Hoffman, the acclaimed author of the "Eye" series, has written a rather intriguing thriller, BORN BAD, which centers on a female sociopath who literally loves to wreak havoc on others. Shanicha Wilkins was born a "crack" baby and later adopted. As a fourth-grade student and devoid of a conscious, Shanicha quickly learned the power of a lie. She found out how easily people could be manipulated when she falsely accursed her teacher of molestation in the small town of New Canaan, Pennsylvania and unintentionally brought about his suicide. Though Shanicha loved being at the center of attention, she realized-even as a child--how dangerous it could be for her and the apparent need for subterfuge. She understood the necessity for blending in and remaining anonymous so that her wicked actions could be continued. The skillful telling of lies gradually shifted to a deep fascination with fire, followed by a brief period as a murdering arsonist. Now, Shanicha is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania and has honed her deadly talents into a fine art. She's discovered how easy it is to manipulate depressed students into committing suicide with a few choice words and thrives on this God-like power. When the first student jumps to her death, Philadelphia PD homicide detectives Ariel Dampier and her partner, Doug Thiery, are called in to investigate. It seems like an open-and-shut case, until the second and third suicides come a few weeks later. Campus cop, Lucius Jackson, ex-husband of Ariel, suspects that there's more to these unexpected deaths than meets the eye. When he's almost murdered by an unknown attacker, both the University and the police department have to accept the possibility that there might be a killer behind the scenes, pulling the strings like a master puppeteer. Ariel and Doug are assigned to flush out this mystery person. Shanicha, however, isn't worried about the police. She's been involved in the act of murder for over a decade and knows that the cops can't prove anything. What's troubling her is the fact that she's only been involved in two of the deaths and had nothing to do with the attempted murder of Lucius. It seems that there's someone else on campus with the same agenda as Shanicha and is willing to do whatever it takes to become the reigning Queen of Death. BORN BAD is one of those terrific reads that catch you by surprise. I had it on my book shelve for several months, along with Mr. Hoffman's EYES OF PREY, before I finally picked it up to read, then went through it over a period of a couple of days, while entertaining relatives from out of town. I found myself admiring and thoroughly enjoying Mr. Hoffman's articulate style of writing, along with the way he was able to create such vivid and interesting characters, especially with regards to Ariel and Shanicha. Both are intelligent, troubled, strong-willed, and highly motivated women with a pretty good idea of what they want out of life and how to go about achieving it. The fact that one is evil incarnate and the other is on the side of law and order is beside the point. These are two ladies that rock! Mr. Hoffman is able to climb into their minds and give the reader a window that opens into two very different worlds and lifestyles, allowing us a glimpse of the realities that create such diverse, yet compelling, characters. Also, the supporting characters of Lucius, Chanda, Mia, and Doug Thiery shine with equal intensity, adding structure and pace to the story, allowing the author to explore more deeply the bonds of love, friendship, and psychopathic jealousy. While not filled with page after page of action-filled excitement, there are certainly enough twists and turns to keep the reader hooked and guessing right up till the end. In BORN BAD, a person will come away with the understanding that sometimes justice prevails and sometimes an individual has to take matters into their own hands to balance the scales. One last note, when Barry Hoffman tried to do a book signing at the University of Pennsylvania for BORN BAD, he was asked to leave by the campus officials because they didn't like the subject matter of his novel. He then went off campus and stood in front of a bookstore, handing out over a hundred copies of his novel for free to anyone who wanted to read it. Way to go Barry!!! Anyway, I liked this book so much that I purchased it in a signed, numbered edition for my growing collection and now intend to read his other novels, beginning with HUNGRY EYES.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3-1/2 stars actually, December 28, 2000

By 

J. Surowiecki (Hanover Park, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Born Bad (Mass Market Paperback)

Barry Hoffman's novel "Born Bad" took a little while to get moving along, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The reader is given a chance to get to know the characters very well, indeed. This has been one of Mr. Hoffman's strong points writing-wise throughout most of his novels.

Shanicha Wilkins is a villainess of unique style. She's a social chameleon that's capable of blending into her surroundings with ease. This ability allows her to practice the psychotic pranks she likes to play; namely pushing susceptible co-eds to commit suicide. This obsessive/compulsive lady is not the person you'd want to cheese off. Getting on Shanicha's bad side would most probably be the last thing you do.

Ariel Dampier is a fine main character, although I was a little tired of Mr. Hoffman's constant reminders throughout the novel that she was half-black. It's obviously an important issue to the story, but the whole thing gets a little tiresome when you get deep into the novel. It is this small point that warrants my slightly low rating. But that's just my opinion.

The story itself is tight and well presented. The characters of Lucius and Chanda provide Ariel with some wonderfully crafted companions. If you're familiar with Mr. Hoffman's work I think you will enjoy this book immensely.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Hoffman's most controversial works!, June 25, 2001

By 

The Spook Magazine (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Born Bad (Mass Market Paperback)

Born Bad, by Barry Hoffman (Gauntlet Press, ...) Shanicha is probably the most diabolical villain since Cruella De Ville. Her cunning enables her to commit murder from afar--definitely a novel approach. Shanicha will make you believe that someone really could be, "Born Bad"....