Customer Reviews

Single White Psychopath Seeks Same

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone's favorite and most hapless PI, Andrew Mayhem, returns in Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, a sequel to Strand's earlier work, Graverobbers Wanted: No Experience Necessary. SWPSS contains everything Graverobbers had but more of it -- more laughs, more frights, some particularly nasty dart weapons and more blood than the Overlook Hotel. Strand's dialogue remains as excellent as ever and keeps you turning the page even as Mayhem finds himself in one seemingly dead-end scenario after another (with an emphasis on "dead"). A must-read for anyone who loves good writing or who plans on being buried alive anytime soon.

The second entry in author Jeff Strand's highly popular humorous horror series from Mundania Press starring Andrew Mayhem, Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, takes up Andrew's adventures eighteen months following the events of Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary), with his agreeing to do another favor for another strange woman he meets in the local coffee shop (will he never learn?). Word has gotten around about his exploits, which led to the previous book, which, in turn, made him rich and famous (the former of which was quickly turned around by a bad investment strategy), so $600 for playing bodyguard for a night sounds pretty good (at least when compared to getting a real job).

After his ineptness makes that career path moot, and while trying to improve his marriage with a little parking-lot nostalgia, Andrew and his wife Helen find themselves face-to-face with a serial killer known as The Headhunter and his scimitar. During the struggle, Helen shows herself to be quite a hand with a car jack.

The Headhunter's eventual defeat brings Andrew in contact with Craig Burgin, whose wife is missing. He wants Andrew to accompany the private detective hired to pose as The Headhunter to New York. When Andrew bring Roger along for the trip, Roger gets to play hostage when a last minute mix-up forces Andrew to pretend to be The Headhunter.

Things really get going when Andrew and Roger arrive at the Alaskan mansion of Daniel Rankin, independently wealthy homicidal maniac and entertainer. Rankin's home has been designed as a hedonistic center of slaughter, where he and his friends can kill with impunity, and Andrew is expected to join the fun -- unless he wants to be part of the show. Andrew Mayhem gets to be quite a bit more heroic, and somewhat less bumbling, in this one. Single White Psychopath Seeks Same is slightly less funny, but considerably more horrific than Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary). The tension is always high, as Andrew is determined to save the hostages even while he is trying to stay on the good sides of a group of bloodthirsty pleasure-seekers. I think it's actually a better novel all around.

I can see why it took Strand three years to follow the first Mayhem book with this one. There is an amazing amount of detailed planning and imagination present in Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, most of it involving the setup at Rankin's house -- if you can call a structure that has forty-eight bedrooms and is surrounded by a twenty-foot-high electrified fence a "house." Everything from a gladiator arena to a theme park is present here, and each one is described to the last detail, even the ones that are not yet complete (an extra bit of inspiration). While I was reading, I really believed that such a place could possibly exist. On the negative side, some of the situations were less believable than others, and the choice to shift to Roger's POV occasionally breaks up the flow and doesn't offer much of interest, but these are minor complaints of a book that I read in a single twenty-four-hour period. Now I just have to get my hands on a copy of the third volume, Casket For Sale (Used Only Once) -- I guess fans balked at the lack of parentheses in the second book's title -- and hope that Strand continues to write more books about this incredibly likeable and surprisingly relatable character.

"Strand performs an incredible balancing act between humor and horror. Belly laughs are followed by stomach-churning terror, frequently on the same page."
--Cemetery Dance

"Trying to synopsize one of Mr. Strand's incredible works is rather like trying to stuff a full-grown elephant into a bag small enough to be carry-on luggage--it just isn't possible. A seriously hilarious read. Five stars."
--Scribe's World

"Five stars. Manages to be both hilariously funny and wildly scary at the same time...full of great one-liners...if you like your heroes slightly bumbling and your chills laced with acerbic humor, you'll love this."
--Sime-Gen Reviews

"Yes, Jeff Strand has created another sick book with his famous warped sense of humor! Even better than the first! Don't miss it!"
--Huntress Reviews.

"I wonder about the author's sanity. Jeff Strand is a brilliant writer with a very active and unordinary imagination. Makes you cringe on one page and has you laughing on the next."
--The Art of Horror

Strand has a knack for great set-ups and one-liners, and suburban dad Andrew Mayhem is the most unique hero in thriller fiction; henpecked, ineffective, and a constant screw-up, but you love the guy.

Don't let the nonstop laughs fool you (and there are at least three per page)--there's some really creepy stuff in this book, and the premise is pretty disturbing.

Intelligent, humorous, and often scary. I freaking loved it. It's like Dave Barry for gorehounds.

This is my first encounter with Jeff Strand books. I have to say that it was much better than I was expected. The story is solid, the arguments make sense in a bizarre way and the characters are so your average Joe that you expec them to be your neighbour.
Will probably try another one.-

I read this one because of Mandibles, and it retains all the humor and horror of his ant spectacular.

I thought it was quite original that the killer maniac created a killing amusement park, of sorts, and Strand does a good job of describing it. Though it bothered some readers, I did not mind the jumping to Roger's point of view every once in a while.

It took me quite a while to read this, as I was not much in the reading mode when I started, but I am glad I finished it. As they say, there are only so many ways to kill someone, but there are a million ways to write about it. Jeff Strand does it in a very unique and humorous way. Highly recommended.

Andrew Mayhem, returns in Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, a sequel to Strand's earlier work, Graverobbers Wanted: No Experience Necessary. This novel comes 18 months after Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary) and once again Andrew Mayhem approached in a coffee shop to help someone with a "small" favor in exchange for some money. Andrew apparently didn't learn his lesson the first time around and once again he finds himself in an impossible situation surrounded by psychopaths. This time the psychopath killers that have a created a mansion in the Alaska wilderness for the sole purpose of torturing, disfiguring, and murdering helpless prisoners.

If you enjoyed Graverobbers Wanted: No Experience Necessary then you'll enjoy Single White Psychopath Seeks Same. It has the same tone and hilarious dialogue all mixed in with a decent amount of blood, gore and sadism. However, if the tongue and cheek type of dialogue is not your type of humor than you will absolutely hate this book.

Here is a brief excerpt to help one decide if this author is for them: "Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you just know it's going to be the kind of day where you end up tied to a chair in a filthy garage while a pair of tooth-deprived lunatics torment you with a chainsaw. So as I struggled against the ropes, I can't say I was all that surprised."
I really enjoy the Andrew Mayhem novels and I hope Jeff Strand keeps them coming in the following years.

Don't disregard the review quote on the book when it says it's comic and horror often on the same page. It's true. The funny lines intersperse rather gory, over the top horror, creating a farcical romp that's over before you know it. I laughed out loud within paragraphs of going, "Ewwww..." and had to put it down once or twice when the horror aspect got a little intense. Not for long, mind you. Just a few minutes while I let the "Oh, my god, I can't believe Andrew has to suffer through that" feelings subside. I did find the ending a little abrupt, however, especially considering the intensity of the action preceding it. I would have like a little bit more coming down to really savor everything that occurred.

The second book in the Andrew Mayhem series, this time Andrew is forced to pose as a serial killer known as "The Headhunter" in order to infiltrate a gathering of psychos bent on murder if he hopes to rescue the intended victims.

Even more twisted than his first adventure, "Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary)!"

They just keep getting better and better!

This whole series is FANTASTIC! I have read them numerous times, I like them that much. If you like gore with a touch of great humor, get this whole series of Andrew Mayhem books, they are awesome.