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!