Current Halloween Giveaway!
Win an ebook of A Soul to Steal by Rob Blackwell
by J. Rock
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Reading Grade: Adult
(short story)
Publishing Type:
self-published
Publication Date:
December 23, 2010
Source: Kindle store
(freebie)
Age Rating: 15+
Andie didn’t
know what to make of the numbers.
She started seeing them when she got on the bus that morning. She didn't know what they meant...until she saw them run out...
She started seeing them when she got on the bus that morning. She didn't know what they meant...until she saw them run out...
My Review
This is a good really,
really short story. It's around 4,000 words long, but despite that,
it's still highly entertaining. The concept of a “death clock,”
or the ability to see a countdown of numbers displayed over someone's
head that indicates their remaining lifespan, is nothing new. I
recognized this used in Death Note, one of my favorite manga
series, to name one of many other stories in which it can be found.
But, that's not what
impresses me about the story. It's more about the amazing plot twist
that you will never see coming, and it is a doozy! This is a free
ebook, so you'll lose nothing but a few minutes of your time to read
it and freak out at the end, trying to wrap your brain around the
incredibly ironic ending.
What I don't like is
the main character for most of the story. Andie is one of the most
non-proactive characters you'll ever read about, but she arguably
goes through a little character growth by the end. If you find
yourself disliking her, don't worry—that really won't be a problem
for you. Trust me on that… Just read it for the fun plot twist at
the end.
My score: 4 out of
5 stars.
* This goes toward
my 2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge!
That is such a scary premise! Glad you enjoyed it. Great review!
ReplyDelete@Andrea: Thank you. It sounds much scarier than it really is. It's a good read, though!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little scared of the non-likeable main character...but this twist you speak of intrigues me. Hmm...
ReplyDelete@BJ: It really is not going to be a problem disliking the MC. You'll just have to believe me, and the twist at the end is totally unsuspecting. Really good!
ReplyDeleteI guess it would be difficult to make a character grow much in as little as 4,000 words. There's been plenty of times where it's taken been half a book to warm up to a character. This one sounds a lot like Deathnote, although I've only seen about 2 episodes :)
ReplyDelete@Lan: Yeah, that is hard to do, and I don't think she grows in a very obvious way. She probably doesn't grow at all. It's just arguable based on her actions at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt's not at all like Death Note, actually. The MC can see when people are going to die, so she tries to come to terms with how to get rid of that ability. That's the gist of it, but it goes in an interesting direction with it.