Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Guest Review: Afraid (& Free Books)

I am really excited to share this post with you! First, there is a great review by none other than Booking Pap Pap. Then, there's an opportunity for you to download a free e-book. And finally, I have a giveaway for five lucky readers so keep on reading!

Summary: 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 . . . -- Grand Central Publishing

When my daughter asked me to review AFRAID by Jack Kilborn, I was a little hesitant because horror novels are not my favorite genre. I was actually quite surprised how much I enjoyed the book. Although the book detailed plenty of violence and gore, the premise of the story was more realistic than other horror novels I’ve read.

A small specially trained and mentally programmed military unit is dropped into the small town of Safe Haven and wreaks havoc on this quiet community of 907 full time residents. The military force of sadistic killers methodically adds to the body count as they are focused on finding one specific individual and will do anything, including unrelenting torture, to find him. The only effort to stop them is spearheaded by an elderly part-time police chief, a young firefighter and a single mom.

The book is a real page turner and the gory action and suspense starts from the very first page and builds from there. I was continually torn between continuing to read the great story and being repulsed by all the violence. The three heroes in the story are very likable characters, each driven by a good reason to fight back against the highly trained killers. The single mom’s young son and his dog also add an element to the high suspense. If you are a fan of horror novels then this is a must read. But I must warn you, it’s not for the squeamish.

Thanks to Miriam from Hachette for sending Booking Pap Pap an ARC of this book.

Now, here's the fun stuff - Hachette is offering a free eBook that you might find interesting. Here's what they have to say about it:

The e-book is called SERIAL, a terrifying tale of hitchhiking gone terribly wrong by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch. SERIAL is a horror novella. Like a deeply twisted version of an “After School Special,” it is the single most persuasive public service announcement on the hazards of free car rides.

The SERIAL eBook also contains a Q&A with Kilborn and Crouch, author bibliographies, and excerpts from their most recent and forthcoming works: Kilborn’s AFRAID and Crouch’s ABANDON. Here's the link for the download! SERIAL is located under "Book Extras" in the bottom right-hand corner. Readers can download it either as a PDF file or there's also an ePub version of the book (the Sony eBook Reader format).

And on top of the free download, Hachette is also graciously offering to giveaway five copies of AFRAID. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address. To double or even triple your chances, you can blog and/or tweet about this contest with a link back to this post. This giveaway will be open until May 28th at 11:59 p.m. EST. I will announce the winners the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. or Canada mailing addresses only -- no p.o. boxes please. Good luck!

59 comments:

CherylS22 said...

This book looks really interesting - I like reading this kind of book.

Please count me in - Thanks!
megalon22[at]yahoo[dot]com

donnas said...

Sounds like a great book. Please include me.

bacchus76 at myself dot com

bermudaonion said...

I'm glad Booking Pap Pap liked this. He and I seem to have similar tastes and I just won this from Library Thing. (Don't enter me, by the way.)

sharon54220 said...

Please enter me. Sounds really good.

sharon54220@gmail.com

Gaby317 said...

Please count me in! This sounds majorly scary - in a good way.

gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com

Unknown said...

I'm going to download the ebook and I would love to have Afraid as well.

Please enter me!

Dottie

gymmom_027@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I just started reading this book and it is really good. To the lucky winners you will not want to put this one down.
Pls don't enter me in the contest.

Have a great day everyone. :)

Annie1 said...

Looks like a great book that my dad would enjoy!


Thanks



nancyrobster@gmail.com

Annie1 said...

Tweeted


http://twitter.com/greeeneyedwhwom/status/1776878662


Thanks



nancyrobster@gmail.com

mindy said...

looks great thanks for the giveaway minsthins at optonline dot net

jemscout425 said...

would love to add this to my reading list
pksanddancer@yahoo.com

Luvdaylilies said...

This book looks like a great read~please, please enter me in the giveaway=)
Thanks so much!

Luvdaylilies at bellsouth dot net

scottsgal said...

I love reading thrillers - please count me in

msboatgal at aol.com

A Reader said...

Would love to win this. Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the giveaway. I really want to win this book, because it looks so good.

hillary1128@yahoo.com

Dixie said...

I read the download 'Serial'
Great quick and creepy read!
Would love to win a copy of 'Afraid'

southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

Dixie said...

Tweeted.http://twitter.com/southrngrl/status/1779062675


southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

wendy wallach said...

It sounds engrossing.

madamerkf at aol dot com

Jenn's Bookshelves said...

Great review, Booking Pap Pap!
Don't enter me, I'm hosting the same giveaway, but I can't say enough about how great this book was!

Alicia said...

This looks like my kind of book.

Thanks for the giveaway >^..^<

bloggyig at gmail dot com

Belinda said...

I love good page turners.
Thanks!
1bmore @ gmail .com

Susan said...

This one sounds fun. I'd love to win.

Anonymous said...

would love to win
mel at skbphoto.com

Nickolay said...

Sounds like a awesome book. Thanks for the chance

jason@allworldautomotive.com

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

No need to enter me; I'm dropping in to say thanks for the e-mail. I've got this posted at Win a Book.

Susan said...

would be grat to read on the beach!

Anonymous said...

Please enter me, thanks!

nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

Anonymous said...

I would love a chance to read this book, please enter me!
pattirose4(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Got the download, now I'd like to get Afraid!

jaam121388 at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

Looks like a good one.

thanks,
jake.lsehwere(AT)gmail.com

jwx4 said...

Enter me, please.

jwx4(at)yahoo(dot)com

allisonmariecat said...

My dad would love this book!

allison DOT campbell AT gmail DOT com

nfmgirl said...

I love horror books. Please count me in. Thank you!

nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

Wanda B said...

AFraid sounds like just the type of book I enjoy reading. I would love to read this book.

Anonymous said...

I just entered with a non-working link. Sorry about that. Please ignore my last post and use this one. I had written:
Afraid sounds like just the type of book I enjoy reading. I would love to read this book.

malleycc said...

WOW sounds like a book I would love. Thanks for the chance
malleycc (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Dawn M. said...

Sounds like a good, scary story. Not sure if I'd make it through it but I have a friend who would love it. Please enter me!

Thanks! :0)
librarygrinch at gmail dot com

Stephen said...

Sounds like a great book, enter me please. :)

Rattlesnake2021 AT aol DOT com

Nicole D. said...

Please enter me.
nic0ler917 at aol.com

Kat Bryan said...

This is my favorite type of book and I've been wanting to read it. Thanks for the chance to get it free.

Kat Bryan said...

I posted about the contest on my blog - http://kat-bryanscorner.blogspot.com/2009/05/win-afraid-by-jack-kilborn.html

D Q said...

Sounds interesting. Would love to read this.
djeanq(at)gmail(dot)com

Lady Roxi said...

Love to have this.

Thanks,

darkfyre1(at)gmail(dot)com

Sarah Z said...

Really want to read this!
Thanks
Sarah
believedreamcourage (at) gmail.com

a real librarian said...

Thanks for the chance to win!!

areallibrarian[at]gmail[dot]com

Northernmama-Angela said...

I love suspenseful drama...count me in!

Erin @ CanadianGiveaways said...

I'd love to win - count me in too!

Anonymous said...

this book is absolutley amazing.. i could just read it again.
good look to the people that win it, you won't want to stop reading

dont count me in

Unknown said...

I would love to read this.

lavery328@yahoo.com

Gwendolyn B. said...

I wanna be scared! Thanks for the chance.

geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com

Gwendolyn B. said...

Here's my Tweet: http://twitter.com/ASeaOfBooks/status/1894557062

geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com

mommyjen99 said...

I would love to win this book. This is my favorite genre of books.
jen62728@aol.com

mommyjen99 said...

Twittered here
http://twitter.com/mommyjen99/status/1894685104

jen62728@aol.com

L said...

Please enter me! This book sound really good

lovinfitch@aol.com

Misusedinnocence said...

My email is: misusedinnocence@aol.com

Thanks! :)

AllyKatt said...

Would love a chance to win this book! I love suspense!

espressogurl at hotmail dot com

bloggytreasures said...

This sounds like a definite page turner. Please enter me.
quelleheure4[at]gmail{dot}com

bloggytreasures said...

Tweeted! http://twitter.com/quelleheure4/status/1946248103

sportnsocr said...

This book sounds really intriguing and exciting...I love these types of books...Please count me in!

ncleavelin (at) gmail (dot) com