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zaisgraph's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is awesome!!! A book that knew what it is and what it intends to do. Totally delivered. There's enough gore, and the cheesy moments didn't ruin anything. I love everything about this. I will read more Konrath in the future!
disconightwing's review
21% in and I'm just going to say WTF. I've read some pretty gory and disturbing stuff but I just don't have it in me right now. Yikes. :/
ksbookjunky's review
4.0
Less a horror novel than a military-style action thriller, this book has some great scenes and the plot is intriguing enough to drive the reader forward. The horror scenes are just gruesome enough to frighten yet not so explicit that it leaves the reader disgusted. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested but not really scary enough to deprive you of sleep. I prefer more psychological thrillers so reading this was a change of pace for me but I'm glad I gave it a go.
mazza57's review
4.0
This is my first Jack Kilborn Novel. It is well written, A pacy thriller with a novel storyline. Plenty of twists and turns. I really enjoyed it sometimes a little too graphic for my imagination and its 4 stars reflect the fact that I don't really want to read the rest in the series - I prefer a more gentle beast
futurememory's review
4.0
After two heavy-weight tomes in a row (Moby-Dick and Swann's Way), I've decided to spend my days reading some good old genre fiction.
I used to be a big horror aficionado back in third grade. I ate up Goosebumps and other "scary" books as soon as they were published. I read ghost story after ghost story until I freaked myself out so badly that I could no longer sleep. I started imagining things and seeing things, and I'd lie awake in bed, drenched in cold sweat and sheer terror, waiting for some malevolent spirit to come stab me in my sleep with a butcher knife.
It became such a paralyzing problem that I swore off all horror. I gave away all of my books. Any time a thriller or scary movie came out, I'd shy away. Horror has been mildly terrorizing me ever since. No, I haven't seen the latest scary movie. Survival horror video games? Can't do them. I've thrown the controller and screamed at the slightest thing. My imagination is too vivid. I scare easily.
I got Afraid on the Kindle for cheap, and hesitantly dipped my toe into the horror pool. I read this on my commute, in broad daylight, never alone. I safeguarded myself.
Let me tell you, Afraid is not for the squeamish, or for gore-virgins. I'm serious. I'm not averse to blood and guts. I've read both Battle Royale (the only book to make me physically nauseous) and American Psycho (it probably has one of the most repulsive chapters I've ever read in literature). Here, there were several times that I had to shut the Kindle off several times and just sit, several scenes were too disgusting to even repeat. The plotting, especially in the first half of the book, is so breakneck that I found myself short of breath and dreading the turn of every page. There were no breaks. Unrelenting. I've never read anything like it before. The book was assaulting me.
I found that if something particularly awful was happening, I'd have to shut the Kindle off. But then the character would be in limbo in my head, still suffering and being tortured at the hands of one of Kilborn's depraved psychos. It was worse leaving them suspended than reading on. So I read on.
Kilborn has an economical and masterful way of describing body mutilation. Our heroes are so physical. They have bodies. They get hurt, in horrific and disfiguring ways.
The book's tension and violence actually levels out midway through, and the ride become much more bearable. Not to say that the pacing slows down. That's not the case at all. But the levels of sickening scenes die down and Afraid becomes pretty readable.
Sure, the book has a lot of the tropes of the techno-thriller horror novel, and none of the characters are particularly deep, but this was one that I dreaded reading almost as much as I dreaded putting it down. Visceral stuff.
I used to be a big horror aficionado back in third grade. I ate up Goosebumps and other "scary" books as soon as they were published. I read ghost story after ghost story until I freaked myself out so badly that I could no longer sleep. I started imagining things and seeing things, and I'd lie awake in bed, drenched in cold sweat and sheer terror, waiting for some malevolent spirit to come stab me in my sleep with a butcher knife.
It became such a paralyzing problem that I swore off all horror. I gave away all of my books. Any time a thriller or scary movie came out, I'd shy away. Horror has been mildly terrorizing me ever since. No, I haven't seen the latest scary movie. Survival horror video games? Can't do them. I've thrown the controller and screamed at the slightest thing. My imagination is too vivid. I scare easily.
I got Afraid on the Kindle for cheap, and hesitantly dipped my toe into the horror pool. I read this on my commute, in broad daylight, never alone. I safeguarded myself.
Let me tell you, Afraid is not for the squeamish, or for gore-virgins. I'm serious. I'm not averse to blood and guts. I've read both Battle Royale (the only book to make me physically nauseous) and American Psycho (it probably has one of the most repulsive chapters I've ever read in literature). Here, there were several times that I had to shut the Kindle off several times and just sit, several scenes were too disgusting to even repeat. The plotting, especially in the first half of the book, is so breakneck that I found myself short of breath and dreading the turn of every page. There were no breaks. Unrelenting. I've never read anything like it before. The book was assaulting me.
I found that if something particularly awful was happening, I'd have to shut the Kindle off. But then the character would be in limbo in my head, still suffering and being tortured at the hands of one of Kilborn's depraved psychos. It was worse leaving them suspended than reading on. So I read on.
Kilborn has an economical and masterful way of describing body mutilation. Our heroes are so physical. They have bodies. They get hurt, in horrific and disfiguring ways.
The book's tension and violence actually levels out midway through, and the ride become much more bearable. Not to say that the pacing slows down. That's not the case at all. But the levels of sickening scenes die down and Afraid becomes pretty readable.
Sure, the book has a lot of the tropes of the techno-thriller horror novel, and none of the characters are particularly deep, but this was one that I dreaded reading almost as much as I dreaded putting it down. Visceral stuff.
thereadingknitter's review
4.0
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? YOU WILL BE . . .
Welcome to Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Miles from everything, with one road in and out, this peaceful town has never needed a full-time police force. Until now...
A helicopter has crashed near Safe Haven and unleashed something horrifying. Now this merciless force is about to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. As residents begin dying in a storm of gory violence, Safe Haven's only chance for survival will rest with an aging county sheriff, a firefighter, and a single mom. And each will have this harrowing thought: Maybe death hasn't come to their town by accident...
My Review - this book was so good. The only way it'd get a 5 star instead of a 4 star is if there wasn't a next book. HAHA. But really, I've been in a major reading rut so far in 2014 and this book has sparked my need to read again. So interesting!
Welcome to Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Miles from everything, with one road in and out, this peaceful town has never needed a full-time police force. Until now...
A helicopter has crashed near Safe Haven and unleashed something horrifying. Now this merciless force is about to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. As residents begin dying in a storm of gory violence, Safe Haven's only chance for survival will rest with an aging county sheriff, a firefighter, and a single mom. And each will have this harrowing thought: Maybe death hasn't come to their town by accident...
My Review - this book was so good. The only way it'd get a 5 star instead of a 4 star is if there wasn't a next book. HAHA. But really, I've been in a major reading rut so far in 2014 and this book has sparked my need to read again. So interesting!
zanna_'s review
5.0
I've read several books by Jack Kilborn and about 1/3 of the way in I began to realize I had already read this book. But I was definitely liking it and it was over 10 years ago that I read it, so I continued on. It was a scary story of course, but since I had become invested in the characters I was surprised to find myself crying near the end. I love this author's many horror tales so I do suggest giving them a go!
jinjer's review
5.0
Eeeeeek that was GOOD! My heart was pretty much racing from cover to cover. I liked that there was no boring build up, we just jumped right into the action and terror and it never stopped until the last page. And the terror was a completely new idea for me, not the usual psycho serial killer or evil spirits or creatures from outer space. No zombies. lol It was a big over the top, but not in a bad way. Definitely want to read more from this author!
I liked that just when something was about to happen to one character the story jumped over to another character. Very good suspense. And the ending was perfect. Heh heh.
Also, I loved Duncan, Woof, and Mathison.
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Why this book? The description and reviews below sound scary-good!!! There's some strange being in the house and it likes popcorn???? Whaaaat???
First heard about this author here: http://www.fundinmental.com/28065-2/#.YTVM22jYrrc
I liked that just when something was about to happen to one character the story jumped over to another character. Very good suspense. And the ending was perfect. Heh heh.
Also, I loved Duncan, Woof, and Mathison.
---------------------------------
Why this book? The description and reviews below sound scary-good!!! There's some strange being in the house and it likes popcorn???? Whaaaat???
First heard about this author here: http://www.fundinmental.com/28065-2/#.YTVM22jYrrc