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lmkensmoe's review against another edition
4.0
This book may not be for everyone. I almost didn't think it was for me but kept reading and glad I did. Ended up being a good book.
angelahayes's review against another edition
4.0
4 Stars
Afraid by Jack Kilborn.....
One of my choices for spooky month reading challenge - Halloween 2021
Full review to come.....
Afraid by Jack Kilborn.....
One of my choices for spooky month reading challenge - Halloween 2021
Full review to come.....
scpmrt's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
polarvortexbear's review against another edition
3.0
Wow. This is the first Jack Killborn I've read and I was not prepared for the level of gore that he brought to the table. From the beginning we know that something is very wrong, and that no character is off limits to the sadistic wants of the squad bent on terrorizing this small town. This book was sickening, thrilling and had me racing to the end.
enchanten's review against another edition
5.0
A great thiriller/gore horror with some really gross deaths and lots of blood this is one of the
catwithfivelines's review against another edition
3.0
When I was 15, I was forbidden from reading Stephen King (actually I probably still am, it's just a bit harder to enforce that on an adult), but I was very into spooky stories. I got away with reading thrillers and such as long as they didn't say Stephen King on the cover.
In my mind, and apparently my mother's too, if it wasn't Stephen King then it probably wasn't scary. This is a disclaimer so you understand why this might not be a very accurate review.
At the time I read this, I considered it Not Very Scary, and myself Not Disturbed By It.
In my mind, everything of that genre I'd read before was Spooky and Dark, but it wasn't Horror because horror was very horrifying and I wasn't allowed to consume horror. Horror must be very different. Horror was Stephen King.
So with those two categories, my brain sorted this book as "well it's not Stephen King, so it falls into the category of Spooky and Dark rather than Scary."
I also considered it a "bad" book. I enjoyed it, I just thought it had the vibes of a book lots of people probably think is bad. No reason for that. I just tend to assume that I can't tell the difference between whether something is objectively good or not.
In retrospect, I had a lot of vivid nightmares around the time I was reading it. I specifically remember one in which I woke up in the dark to find a man with an axe standing over my bed, woke up from that and he was still there, woke up again and he chased me out into the hall, and finally actually woke up for real.
Taking that into consideration, the book is probably scarier than I thought at the time.
It's also stuck with me for a long time. It's been years since I read it and I still have it after numerous book purges because every time I look at it I can remember what the lake looks like, the house by the lake, the diner, the school parking lot, the school gymnasium, I'm there.
As other people have mentioned too, I don't think I've ever read a book with a comparable quantity of memorably disturbing violence. It was certainly a book that I finished and thought "damn."
Great book to read if you want to be able to brag to people about having read a book with violence like this.
The plot itself and resolution I found unmemorable and a bit boring, but that's because I find military related stuff boring.
If you're a "yohoho the fbi, military aha, oh there she is the secret government plot, modern war is very interesting" kind of person then you'll probably be satisfied.
Keep in mind, I'm writing this review quite a long time after reading the book.
In my mind, and apparently my mother's too, if it wasn't Stephen King then it probably wasn't scary. This is a disclaimer so you understand why this might not be a very accurate review.
At the time I read this, I considered it Not Very Scary, and myself Not Disturbed By It.
In my mind, everything of that genre I'd read before was Spooky and Dark, but it wasn't Horror because horror was very horrifying and I wasn't allowed to consume horror. Horror must be very different. Horror was Stephen King.
So with those two categories, my brain sorted this book as "well it's not Stephen King, so it falls into the category of Spooky and Dark rather than Scary."
I also considered it a "bad" book. I enjoyed it, I just thought it had the vibes of a book lots of people probably think is bad. No reason for that. I just tend to assume that I can't tell the difference between whether something is objectively good or not.
In retrospect, I had a lot of vivid nightmares around the time I was reading it. I specifically remember one in which I woke up in the dark to find a man with an axe standing over my bed, woke up from that and he was still there, woke up again and he chased me out into the hall, and finally actually woke up for real.
Taking that into consideration, the book is probably scarier than I thought at the time.
It's also stuck with me for a long time. It's been years since I read it and I still have it after numerous book purges because every time I look at it I can remember what the lake looks like, the house by the lake, the diner, the school parking lot, the school gymnasium, I'm there.
As other people have mentioned too, I don't think I've ever read a book with a comparable quantity of memorably disturbing violence. It was certainly a book that I finished and thought "damn."
Great book to read if you want to be able to brag to people about having read a book with violence like this.
The plot itself and resolution I found unmemorable and a bit boring, but that's because I find military related stuff boring.
If you're a "yohoho the fbi, military aha, oh there she is the secret government plot, modern war is very interesting" kind of person then you'll probably be satisfied.
Keep in mind, I'm writing this review quite a long time after reading the book.
breathedeep's review against another edition
5.0
This is a slightly different type of book for me as it’s a full on horror-thriller read that is bloody, terrifying and brutal in parts. Although I’m very much into horror films, I don’t typically read many books within the genre. I used to read a lot of crime and thriller books, but none have stuck with me quite as well as Afraid has.
The story follows a small town whose peaceful community is completely overturned by the arrival of some less-than-friendly characters who have been programmed to kill anything in their path. Nice!
It’s a fast-paced, gory read that, after each chapter, leaves you wondering what horrendous act is going to happen next. If you can handle the blood-thirsty violence then this is a pretty fun read that lets your imagination wreak havoc.
The story follows a small town whose peaceful community is completely overturned by the arrival of some less-than-friendly characters who have been programmed to kill anything in their path. Nice!
It’s a fast-paced, gory read that, after each chapter, leaves you wondering what horrendous act is going to happen next. If you can handle the blood-thirsty violence then this is a pretty fun read that lets your imagination wreak havoc.
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