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the_enobee's review
4.0
I was planning on reading another book between the first and second collection, but the heck with that. I'm plowing straight into the next omnibus.
Note:
I was provided this collection by the author for a fair and unbiased review.
Cruelty by Edward Lorn is a big ball of horror and mystery rolling around in a dusting of comedy. When I first met the titular character, I thought, get out of here with this crap. But after a few moments I was reduced to dread and in the future experienced chills every time the character came on the scene. This book has several features that I love:
- Shifting POVs. I love this shit. And I especially love it when you think you're going to get 2-3 POVs for the story, and bam, you're seeing through the eyes of a character you wouldn't have anticipated or even thought possible.
- Mysterious happenings. I don't mean whodunit type stuf;, I mean WTF is happening on this insane acid trip type stuff.
- Unforeseen connections and subtle machinations that indicate a purpose larger than the individual characters.
- References to events, places, and characters from the author's other work. Done with a subtle touch here, it's not forced and gives us fans a little thrill.
The only issue I had with the story was that some character introductions felt a little uneven and the flow between some events wasn't quite smooth. However, this was distributed as a serial, and I'm just now reading the collections one after another. This could explain why the flow seems strange at times.
Either way, this is a solid four-star read that I would recommend to any horror fan. Can't wait for the next half!
Note:
I was provided this collection by the author for a fair and unbiased review.
Cruelty by Edward Lorn is a big ball of horror and mystery rolling around in a dusting of comedy. When I first met the titular character, I thought, get out of here with this crap. But after a few moments I was reduced to dread and in the future experienced chills every time the character came on the scene. This book has several features that I love:
- Shifting POVs. I love this shit. And I especially love it when you think you're going to get 2-3 POVs for the story, and bam, you're seeing through the eyes of a character you wouldn't have anticipated or even thought possible.
- Mysterious happenings. I don't mean whodunit type stuf;, I mean WTF is happening on this insane acid trip type stuff.
- Unforeseen connections and subtle machinations that indicate a purpose larger than the individual characters.
- References to events, places, and characters from the author's other work. Done with a subtle touch here, it's not forced and gives us fans a little thrill.
The only issue I had with the story was that some character introductions felt a little uneven and the flow between some events wasn't quite smooth. However, this was distributed as a serial, and I'm just now reading the collections one after another. This could explain why the flow seems strange at times.
Either way, this is a solid four-star read that I would recommend to any horror fan. Can't wait for the next half!
thatsciencedad's review
5.0
A ghostie; when you take a dump and you realise you don't need to wipe.
We've all had one, and we can all agree they're pretty awesome. This 'ere book right 'der (half a book, I suppose) is fucking awesome.
Aside from the fucked up shit going on in Cruelty and the wtf is going on moments - the writing is deceptively good ( if that makes sense).
Characters are flawed i.e. real muddafuckers
Dialogue is spot on
Story is total wtf (in a sexy way)
Granted it's only half the story, but I gots a chubby for the next half...
We've all had one, and we can all agree they're pretty awesome. This 'ere book right 'der (half a book, I suppose) is fucking awesome.
Aside from the fucked up shit going on in Cruelty and the wtf is going on moments - the writing is deceptively good ( if that makes sense).
Characters are flawed i.e. real muddafuckers
Dialogue is spot on
Story is total wtf (in a sexy way)
Granted it's only half the story, but I gots a chubby for the next half...
berls's review
4.0
This review appeared first on Fantasy is More Fun.
Actual rating is 4.5 stars.
I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
Cruelty was my first true horror read and it was creepy as hell! I probably shouldn't have read it almost exclusively at night, but it freaked me out and I will never look at baby dolls the same ever again.
Since this is a serial - I'll give a quick review for each episode as opposed to a review of the work as a whole. I found reviewing episodes challenging, so this is more my feelings about what's happening than any details about what actually happens in the episodes themselves.
Episode One of Cruelty immediately grabbed my attention. We start off in a precarious position for the MC - Will Longmire. His car broke down as he was driving a strung-out hooker, who's STILL holding him at gunpoint. Oh, and for a kicker, he's deaf, so he can't even understand what she's muttering about. And it's while they're walking down the side of the highway, in the middle of the night, that things go from bad to worse...
And then you've got Innis, leaving behind her cheating ex-boyfriend, and taking their dog Merlo with her. She hits something and it gets up when it shouldn't be able too...
I read this in like 45 minutes and couldn't put it down. The characters are surprising well developed for how short the story is. The action keeps coming and the suspense was killer. It did end on a cliff-hanger, so I'm very happy that I had Episode Two handy!
From the get go we start seeing how this epsiode is going to bring in more characters and weave together people from the first episode into an ever more complicated web. I was surprised how many more characters were introduced into the story, but they were complete and interesting from the get go.
I thought the horror was pretty great in Episode One, but it escalated big time in Episode Two. I found myself wincing and trying to figure out how to close my eyes like I normally would in a horror film and still read. LOL Maybe I need these on audio? No, that might give me nightmares. Let's just say that things are getting intense for poor Innis, yeah?
I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so I'll just say that a really messy web is forming and by the end of this episode I was really excited about the way things are going to have to collide. And I'm also a bit terrified. We end with a bit from Merlo - Innis's dog (I was so happy to discover he was okay!) - and I'm very curious how much we're going to get from him.
I really appreciated the way this episode took us back a bit and gave us some background on the characters. I hadn't realized I was missing some details, but now that I have the blanks filled in, things are getting a bit clearer.
This Episode felt a bit more crime/suspense like since we're seeing the investigation the police began in the last episode progress. We're getting to know still more characters and I have to say I'm really impressed that in such a short space Lorn is developing complex enough characters for me to like/hate and care about what happens to them.
And yet, it was still MOST DEFINITELY Horror!! Holy shit, the things that are happening to Innis. This is the stuff of true horror. Yeah, I was really trying to read with my eyes closed here. *Shudder*
I liked the continued emphasis on the investigation and time with Sherrif Randy. Especially when Merlo shows back up. I love this little dog and the time spent in his point of view is well done. I'm super anxious for his welfare and seriously hope he survives to the end, even if everyone else dies.
I'm back at four stars because I was a bit bored with the Momma (mother of the drug dealer) plotline in this episode. I think she's supposed to be creepy, but IDK, she didn't do it for me.
But where she failed to creep me out, Forgiveness took over and then some. Geez! Cruelty already freaked me out (especially with the gruesome things he does) but he doesn't have anything on Regret. Forgiveness gives me the chills and makes my stomach drop.
Forgiveness owns this episode. Seriously, his appearances left me with the chills and uncovered all kinds of details about the characters I thought I already knew. Though I think they should be running a hell of a lot faster...
Not that Cruelty and Revenge aren't doing their own damage. Poor Innis. More reading with eyes closed... But I have to say, I got a bit confused in this episode about Revenge and Innis. I'm not sure I understand what's going on here.
There's some more time with Momma and uh, I take it back - she's definitely creepy! I just didn't get it before. And poor Will - I can't imagine what it's like to go through all this without being able to hear.
This ended on a massive cliff hanger for me and I'm really dying to know what will happen next!
Hopefully those quick reviews made some sense - the point is: Cruelty freaked me out on numerous occasions. There's lots of action, suspense, and shudder-ific moments. Each Episode contains a pretty solid story of its own, while connecting really well to the other episodes. I don't think it will be hard to pick up Episode Six when it comes out - Lorn does a good job weaving in reminders as you go, without feeling like he's rehashing the whole story. I'm surprised how much I care for the characters, too. There's a lot of them and yet I know them well and either hate/love them all. There's lots of language and vivid descriptions, but what else do you expect from a horror, right? A big thanks to Carol @ I'm A Voracious Reader for the recommendation. Thanks Carol, I had many sleepless nights ;)
Actual rating is 4.5 stars.
I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
My Initial Reaction...
Cruelty was my first true horror read and it was creepy as hell! I probably shouldn't have read it almost exclusively at night, but it freaked me out and I will never look at baby dolls the same ever again.
Since this is a serial - I'll give a quick review for each episode as opposed to a review of the work as a whole. I found reviewing episodes challenging, so this is more my feelings about what's happening than any details about what actually happens in the episodes themselves.
Episode One: 5 Stars
Episode One of Cruelty immediately grabbed my attention. We start off in a precarious position for the MC - Will Longmire. His car broke down as he was driving a strung-out hooker, who's STILL holding him at gunpoint. Oh, and for a kicker, he's deaf, so he can't even understand what she's muttering about. And it's while they're walking down the side of the highway, in the middle of the night, that things go from bad to worse...
And then you've got Innis, leaving behind her cheating ex-boyfriend, and taking their dog Merlo with her. She hits something and it gets up when it shouldn't be able too...
I read this in like 45 minutes and couldn't put it down. The characters are surprising well developed for how short the story is. The action keeps coming and the suspense was killer. It did end on a cliff-hanger, so I'm very happy that I had Episode Two handy!
Episode Two: 4.5 Stars
From the get go we start seeing how this epsiode is going to bring in more characters and weave together people from the first episode into an ever more complicated web. I was surprised how many more characters were introduced into the story, but they were complete and interesting from the get go.
I thought the horror was pretty great in Episode One, but it escalated big time in Episode Two. I found myself wincing and trying to figure out how to close my eyes like I normally would in a horror film and still read. LOL Maybe I need these on audio? No, that might give me nightmares. Let's just say that things are getting intense for poor Innis, yeah?
I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so I'll just say that a really messy web is forming and by the end of this episode I was really excited about the way things are going to have to collide. And I'm also a bit terrified. We end with a bit from Merlo - Innis's dog (I was so happy to discover he was okay!) - and I'm very curious how much we're going to get from him.
Episode Three: 5 Stars
I really appreciated the way this episode took us back a bit and gave us some background on the characters. I hadn't realized I was missing some details, but now that I have the blanks filled in, things are getting a bit clearer.
This Episode felt a bit more crime/suspense like since we're seeing the investigation the police began in the last episode progress. We're getting to know still more characters and I have to say I'm really impressed that in such a short space Lorn is developing complex enough characters for me to like/hate and care about what happens to them.
And yet, it was still MOST DEFINITELY Horror!! Holy shit, the things that are happening to Innis. This is the stuff of true horror. Yeah, I was really trying to read with my eyes closed here. *Shudder*
Episode Four: 4 Stars
I liked the continued emphasis on the investigation and time with Sherrif Randy. Especially when Merlo shows back up. I love this little dog and the time spent in his point of view is well done. I'm super anxious for his welfare and seriously hope he survives to the end, even if everyone else dies.
I'm back at four stars because I was a bit bored with the Momma (mother of the drug dealer) plotline in this episode. I think she's supposed to be creepy, but IDK, she didn't do it for me.
But where she failed to creep me out, Forgiveness took over and then some. Geez! Cruelty already freaked me out (especially with the gruesome things he does) but he doesn't have anything on Regret. Forgiveness gives me the chills and makes my stomach drop.
Episode Five: 4 stars
Forgiveness owns this episode. Seriously, his appearances left me with the chills and uncovered all kinds of details about the characters I thought I already knew. Though I think they should be running a hell of a lot faster...
Not that Cruelty and Revenge aren't doing their own damage. Poor Innis. More reading with eyes closed... But I have to say, I got a bit confused in this episode about Revenge and Innis. I'm not sure I understand what's going on here.
There's some more time with Momma and uh, I take it back - she's definitely creepy! I just didn't get it before. And poor Will - I can't imagine what it's like to go through all this without being able to hear.
This ended on a massive cliff hanger for me and I'm really dying to know what will happen next!
Concluding Sentiments...
Hopefully those quick reviews made some sense - the point is: Cruelty freaked me out on numerous occasions. There's lots of action, suspense, and shudder-ific moments. Each Episode contains a pretty solid story of its own, while connecting really well to the other episodes. I don't think it will be hard to pick up Episode Six when it comes out - Lorn does a good job weaving in reminders as you go, without feeling like he's rehashing the whole story. I'm surprised how much I care for the characters, too. There's a lot of them and yet I know them well and either hate/love them all. There's lots of language and vivid descriptions, but what else do you expect from a horror, right? A big thanks to Carol @ I'm A Voracious Reader for the recommendation. Thanks Carol, I had many sleepless nights ;)
pacardullo's review
4.0
Exciting first half of a compelling and gruesome story. The story starts with a bang and never lets up. While a few of the side characters are not much more than fodder for the ensuing carnage (and that is not necessarily a bad thing), most of the characters are better fleshed out, with complex histories and motivations. And, as with all good horror, one can never tell who will make it to the end. Well worth checking out.
urlphantomhive's review
4.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Cruelty contains the cruel first five episodes of Cruelty.
In case you hadn't noticed already, the book is cruel. I would not recommend it to the weak of heart (or those with a weak stomach). But, as was to be expected with Edward Lorn, I really enjoyed it (I don't know want to know what that says about me).
Meet Cruelty, a doll... From Hell. (As if doll faced things weren't already creepy enough). Cruelty wants to play. Her playthings less so... Follow the story of a small American town that is about to meet Cruelty. And be prepared for, ehmm, cruel things.
I can only say that it kind of reminded me of Stephen King with the many many characters that were introduced in these episodes. All with their own little or big problems. It's something you have to like, but I like it. I'm so glad I'm not reading this one episode at a time because I think I would have been completely lost.
The story is a good horror one, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what is going on. I'd planned to read the second part immediately after Cruelty but I didn't manage yet to do that. I hope to read it soon. The writing is quite raw, but it fits the story well. And on to A Final Act of Cruelty.
The ten episodes of Cruelty are now combined in two books, Cruelty (episodes 1-5) and A Final Act Of Cruelty (episodes 6-10)
Thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Cruelty contains the cruel first five episodes of Cruelty.
In case you hadn't noticed already, the book is cruel. I would not recommend it to the weak of heart (or those with a weak stomach). But, as was to be expected with Edward Lorn, I really enjoyed it (I don't know want to know what that says about me).
Meet Cruelty, a doll... From Hell. (As if doll faced things weren't already creepy enough). Cruelty wants to play. Her playthings less so... Follow the story of a small American town that is about to meet Cruelty. And be prepared for, ehmm, cruel things.
I can only say that it kind of reminded me of Stephen King with the many many characters that were introduced in these episodes. All with their own little or big problems. It's something you have to like, but I like it. I'm so glad I'm not reading this one episode at a time because I think I would have been completely lost.
The story is a good horror one, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what is going on. I'd planned to read the second part immediately after Cruelty but I didn't manage yet to do that. I hope to read it soon. The writing is quite raw, but it fits the story well. And on to A Final Act of Cruelty.
The ten episodes of Cruelty are now combined in two books, Cruelty (episodes 1-5) and A Final Act Of Cruelty (episodes 6-10)
Thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
jrbee's review
4.0
It's extremely tricky to read a book through your fingers, but if this were a film I'd be hiding behind the sofa. It made me cringe and recoil in horror.
I have met some truly disgusting men in this book and it's extremely graphic.
There aren't any sex scenes but the author really gets into the nitty gritty of the mind of his characters and most of them are the kind of minds you wouldn't want to shine a UV light on.
Note I said "I have met", each character is well written and I feel like if I met them on the street I'd recognise them and run the other way.
Then there's the horror element- the doll, a grotesque lumbering thing called cruelty that had me sweating bullets, along with a few other characters that have me well and truly intrigued. These aren't just creatures that are just all about killing, even though that's what it seems at first.
Expertly executed fiends, filthy men and horrific horror.
This is the second horror book I have ever read and I'm a now convert to the genre, which is weird because I really don't like horror films.
If what I have said above makes you think it's a bad book I wouldn't read it, but if you're a fan of horror and don't mind the minds of seedy men and naked scab covered drug addicts, this is the book for you.
I would definitely get the omnibus rather than reading the episodes one by one.
I have met some truly disgusting men in this book and it's extremely graphic.
There aren't any sex scenes but the author really gets into the nitty gritty of the mind of his characters and most of them are the kind of minds you wouldn't want to shine a UV light on.
Note I said "I have met", each character is well written and I feel like if I met them on the street I'd recognise them and run the other way.
Then there's the horror element- the doll, a grotesque lumbering thing called cruelty that had me sweating bullets, along with a few other characters that have me well and truly intrigued. These aren't just creatures that are just all about killing, even though that's what it seems at first.
Expertly executed fiends, filthy men and horrific horror.
This is the second horror book I have ever read and I'm a now convert to the genre, which is weird because I really don't like horror films.
If what I have said above makes you think it's a bad book I wouldn't read it, but if you're a fan of horror and don't mind the minds of seedy men and naked scab covered drug addicts, this is the book for you.
I would definitely get the omnibus rather than reading the episodes one by one.
avoraciousreader68's review
5.0
4.5
*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Forgiveness went for a stroll in Episode Four and hasn’t gone home yet. Oh, no he hasn’t. Instead he meets up with Markum, Holden and Nell Morgan and they don’t know what the hell he is. For that matter, neither do I. I just want to run fast as fast can be, so he never catches me.
Twon & Ollie are up to bad shenanigans at Kerr County Medical Center and now they have Will and Kirk. Man, I hate that fucker Twon. I want him to die, be resurrected, so he can die again. And what the hell is up with Momma? Because she sure as shit knows something we don’t.
Innis, oh Innis. I can’t even…nope, not going there.
Cruelty is bad, bad, bad. *sing song* Cruelty is gonna be in trouble and I can’t wait to see it get punished. Assuming…nope. *zips lips* Not gonna give any spoilers.
*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Forgiveness went for a stroll in Episode Four and hasn’t gone home yet. Oh, no he hasn’t. Instead he meets up with Markum, Holden and Nell Morgan and they don’t know what the hell he is. For that matter, neither do I. I just want to run fast as fast can be, so he never catches me.
Twon & Ollie are up to bad shenanigans at Kerr County Medical Center and now they have Will and Kirk. Man, I hate that fucker Twon. I want him to die, be resurrected, so he can die again. And what the hell is up with Momma? Because she sure as shit knows something we don’t.
Innis, oh Innis. I can’t even…nope, not going there.
Cruelty is bad, bad, bad. *sing song* Cruelty is gonna be in trouble and I can’t wait to see it get punished. Assuming…nope. *zips lips* Not gonna give any spoilers.
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