Customer Reviews

SERIAL

5 star:		(109)
4 star:		(121)
3 star:		(67)
2 star:		(55)
1 star:		(155)

 

 

This was a quick read- 3 chapters but had me riveted. Graphic content is probably not going to be for everyone. The story is about two serial killers and the tale is a cautionary one. Don't hitch a ride because the person who might pick you up could be a psychopath, and don't pick up hitchers because he/she might be a psychopath.

But what happens when one serial killer picks up another? An enticing freebie for the kindle!

I loved the collaboration effect- the two voices were distinct but not jarringly so and added interest to the writing. I wouldn't want to be in a car with EITHER of these serial killers!!

What it boils down to is if you like a bit of a thrill, can stomach the macabre and like to see a couple of very bad people get what's coming to them- you'll enjoy this quick and riveting read. If you have a weak stomach for mayhem and madness, don't bother downloading it.

One thing: I would love to see more from these authors as the characters really did come to life in a very short span of time and to me that signals good writing, even if the content isn't palatable to everyone.

I don't usually read horror so tghis was a new experience. It was way more graphic than I am used to, but the authors' distant/3rd person writing styles made it ok.

I can understand why some people disliked the story, but the blurb is pretty clear about th ekind of book it is. They received fair warning.

The story was exciting throughout and very well-paced. Towards the end, I was on te edge of my seat wondering who would win/how it would end. Perfect ending in my opinion. I hope the authors collaborate again.

I was attracted to this title solely because of the method of writing the authors employed. I was further intrigued by the story of dueling serial killers met on the road but sadly the promise of these two unique ideas utterly fail to be realized in this very short story. The plot runs so predictably after the initial introduction of the characters it could have been plucked from any 90's screamer film chosen randomly from your local blockbuster and the prose, while not completely wretched, seems underdeveloped and rushed. To top it off the authors spend almost as many words patting themselves on the back and shamelessly promoting their other works as they use on the entire story. The end result of which, for me, was a complete disregard of anything published by either author. In short, free is too high a price for this junior high level collaboration and I'd appreciate a refund on the minutes of my life I wasted hoping and waiting it would get better.

Stereotype killers kill. Stereotype victims die. The only thing interesting about this short story is the premise: Two serial killers trying to make eachother their latest victim. Nothing else is at all interesting or original in this gratis gore gag. Competent nuts and bolts writing is undermined by unimaginative characters and a predictable story.

To the authors I first want to say a big thank you for offering this for free. It pushed me to try out the Kindle application I had downloaded for my iPhone.

I couldn't help notice that the reviews posted by the both of you seemed at the same time to be somewhat arrogant with a tinge of facetiousness thrown in. It is rather hard to tell if you are really being serious in your statements about this book being "Perhaps too disturbing" and containing "horrific thrills". I can only assume that you are attempting campy type advertising to accompany a campy type story. Regardless, your warnings are laughable and again without knowing if your sentiments are meant to be genuine or humorous, I can't say for sure how I feel about them.

Anyway, I guess I am spoiled by the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker, David J. Schow, Rick Hautala, Neil Gaiman etc. and the incredible stories they weave. I read a massive amount of horror and speculative fiction. Some bad and some good. What I find in common about the good horror fiction is that the blood and splatter come secondary to the underlying story rather than being the primary source of the story. I still remember the first time I read Salem's Lot. Even as an adult, I had to keep my light on for a while because what Stephen King had written was so utterly terrifying . To me, the aforementioned authors are masters at the suspension of disbelief.

Serial comes essentially nowhere close to being either a good story or particularly scary. It has what I would call indulgent descriptions of brutal acts that, while giving the reader a good understanding of the sheer depravity of the characters, does not lend much to the overall character development. Who are Donaldson and Lucy and why do they kill? I have read short horror fiction that is only 10-12 pages but can provide enough background so that the reader has some understanding of the characters' motivations. This was classified as a novella? It was a short story broken up into 3 very short chapters. Not sure where the novella classification comes from. I would consider something like Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart to be a novella.

One other quick thing, I don't mean to be nitpicky but I found it odd that towards the end of the book one of you found it necessary to refer to what is commonly known as the human tailbone as a "coccyx". This word is not very common and I don't particular remember any other use of medical terms in your prose.

Again gentlemen, I don't mean to pummel you. I am very impressed at the way this novel was written in terms of how you collaborated. That is very interesting and I don't think I have ever heard of anyone else doing that before. One thing I can tell you is that I will be pursuing other stories by each of you as authors because I think you are both talented writers. I was just not real thrilled with this particular effort.

I hope you both consider my review to be constructive criticism because that is how it is intended to be. I would encourage anyone to read it just to get their own perspective rather than rely on some of these other really weird reviews that I have seen. I particularly enjoyed the one about Amazon seeking legal advice concerning liability if someone follows your recipe for murder. That was classic!

I gave your story 3 stars because of the price (free yeah!) and because of the style of collaboration you engaged in. Otherwise the story would get 1 to 2 stars at best. Sorry guys.

Thank goodness I didn't pay for this pile.

This is the first book that I've felt so strongly against as to write a review.

I got it thinking it'd be a really good, gorey, horrifying, terrifying, scary story.

It was, in fact, no good at all. Besides the fact that this is not a "book" and being more like a short story, there was no plot. The two stories were very short and the third was even shorter. There was no suspense, there was no development, there was nothing. There was gore, but it wasn't "pointless and needless gore," as I saw in another review. It just had no place. There was no build-up to make the gore worthwile.

I would not recommend this book to anyone. Judging these two authors by this one book, I would say they are not very talented. I will not be purchasing another book by either of them.

I downloaded it for free and still feel like I was robbed. Written by two authors, the different chapters fit awkwardly together and the prose is incredibly forced. I couldnt imagine worse work coming out of a community center's creative writing night class.

This is the worst possible tripe there is. Not much of a plot. Serial killer #1 kills someone. Serial killer #2 kills someone. The two meet and kill each other. At the end, there are several pages of conversation between the authors, congratulating themselves on a job well done.

I can think of no redeeming qualities of this book. I can think of nothing that can be learned from it, except possibly that the authors are quite shallow thinkers. I wish I could erase this completely from my Kindle, and I wish I could give it a zero rating rather than a one.

I'm ashamed that I spent 20 minutes or so reading it.

No redeeming value, no entertainment value, no depth of characters. I'm no prude but I found this totally vile, vulgar, offensive and extreme vividly described violence simply for shock value. It read like a couple of teenage boys got together after a night of scary movies and some drugs and tried to see how gross of a story they could write. I was revolted by this "book".

What a great story. The first chapter had me a little freaked out (I will NEVER judge a person by how they look EVER AGAIN) but it was a fast and fun read for a Friday afternoon. I was very surprised to learn that Jack Kilborn and J.A. Konrath are one and the same. I plan on reading "Afraid" very soon! Entertaining, but not for the weak of heart or gut.