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Afraid (Afraid #1)

by Jack Kilborn, Phil Gigante (Narrator)

3.88 · rating details · 1,267 ratings · 324 reviews

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 violenc...more

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Aug 02, 2009

Rowena rated it

· review of another edition

I like cozies. I might as well be honest about that. Also happy ever afters. Further, in the interests of full disclosure, you should know that I read AFRAID by Jack Kilborn (with a view to a review) because Joe Konrath dared me to do so.He has a thick skin, and a strong stomach... and anyone who reads AFRAID needs both.

This is not a book to take on a fishing trip, especially if you've left your loved ones at home, alone. In fact, this book ought to come with a free membership of the...more

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Mar 16, 2009

Ophelia Julien rated it

· review of another edition

Jack Kilborn knows that a small town in America's heartland is the perfect place to set a horror thriller: remote, surrounded by shadowy woods, and sparsely populated by residents who still live by an unlocked-door policy. After reading this book, residents of small towns everywhere will be locking their doors with deadbolts and going to bed with .357 Magnums under their pillows. I know I would.

The evil that descends upon this town, literally, in a helicopter, is motivated by the w...moreJack Kilborn knows that a small town in America's heartland is the perfect place to set a horror thriller: remote, surrounded by shadowy woods, and sparsely populated by residents who still live by an unlocked-door policy. After reading this book, residents of small towns everywhere will be locking their doors with deadbolts and going to bed with .357 Magnums under their pillows. I know I would.

The evil that descends upon this town, literally, in a helicopter, is motivated by the worst of all nightmares: inflicting pain and death for the sheer enjoyment of it. Sure, there is an agenda behind it all, but the reader realizes pretty quickly that the agenda is secondary to the basic goals of pain and death, in that order. And pain is dispersed among the townspeople in spectacularly grisly fashion. Mr. Kilborn is very good at visiting every possible nightmare from biting to stabbing, from burning to drowning, dismemberment to electric shock, with unremitting darkness and the occasional bout of claustrophobia thrown into the mix. One can almost picture Kilborn sitting at his keyboard and rubbing his hands in cackling glee as he speeds from one ghastly vision to the next.

This is not to say that the entire book is nothing but gore. The reason this book succeeds so well is that beneath the surface layer of horror is a tight, strong, well-founded story that follows the path of three (and a half) unlikely heroes as they battle not only to survive but to overcome the monstrosity that has derailed their lives. The fact that all of them have been clothed in very real flesh and blood by the author will keep the reader turning pages to see what happens next, because you will care what befalls each of them.

If you are seeking a page-turner that will have you switching on more lights as darkness descends and will linger in your mind long after you've reached the end, then AFRAID is the book for you. Just do yourself a favor and try to read it when you can consume it in one gulp. It's that good.
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Mar 21, 2009

Joe Rixman rated it

· review of another edition

One word describes the first novel from author Jack Kilborn: relentless. Much like the works of Jim Butcher and David Morrell, Kilborn’s premiere work, AFRAID, is non-stop tension. Each section break, while short, somehow manages to ratchet up the suspense to the point that you wonder how much more you can take. You won’t want to put the book down once you start it and a small part of you will wonder what possessed you to pick it up in the first place. The story is a non-stop horror ride…on...moreOne word describes the first novel from author Jack Kilborn: relentless. Much like the works of Jim Butcher and David Morrell, Kilborn’s premiere work, AFRAID, is non-stop tension. Each section break, while short, somehow manages to ratchet up the suspense to the point that you wonder how much more you can take. You won’t want to put the book down once you start it and a small part of you will wonder what possessed you to pick it up in the first place. The story is a non-stop horror ride…once on, you can’t get off.

The story centers on Safe Haven, Wisconsin, a small town that prefers its privacy over even economic depression. Snowbirds flee south for the winter, leaving the 900+ full-time residents to their quiet, peaceful place of fishing and relaxation. That is, until what appears to be a helicopter crash ignites a world of trouble for every one of the town’s 900 inhabitants.

The main characters are 70-year-old Sheriff Streng, three weeks from retirement, Josh VanCamp, a young firefighter dealing with the loss of his fiancé and the desire to save people as a paramedic-in-training and Fran Stauffer, a single mother whose husband had earlier been killed in a traffic accident, leaving her and their ten-year-old son, Duncan, emotionally scarred. Through their eyes (and half-a-dozen other peripheral characters), we witness the horrors that can befall those unprepared. The attacks, when they come, are lightning quick…yet seem to last for hours. Gripping stuff!

From page one of AFRAID, author Kilborn grabs the reader and refuses to let go. The story slowly, methodically unfolds even as the body count rises. The gruesome factor rises exponentially as the story heads toward its violent climax, but the real horror, the real suspense, comes from those scenes where the information is doled out in tidbits, allowing the mind to fill in the gaps…and it is guaranteed that those gaps will eventually be filled with the most awful things imaginable. It is to Kilborn’s credit, however, that he manages to come up with horrors that make even the unimaginable feel tame.

The antagonists, (yes, there are multiple baddies), gain brief moments of humanity before they are snuffed out by the monsters they’ve become. There are moments of pure beauty, selfless heroism and several scenes that, were this to be a movie, would illicit screams of pandemonious glee and gut-wrenching terror. AFRAID, as a novel, does pretty much the same thing. It is exhausting. I didn’t want to put it down and yet, at the same time, I wanted to fling it across the room and run screaming from it. The words are visceral. You can see the enemy approaching, smell the burning flesh, taste the blood, feel the knife slither across your skin and hear the sounds of your heart thumping madly in your chest. Yes, the book is that good.

This may be Kilborn’s first novel, but he writes with the assuredness of a seasoned veteran. That is not to say this is a perfect book. The characters are not as fully-rendered as I would have liked and the nasties felt, at first, contrived and dull. However, like a pro, Kilborn takes these quibbles and sets them aside, due mostly to the frenetic pace of his story, the bareness of his prose and, in the end, our personal desire to see good triumph over evil. The realization that we humans are capable of atrocities similar to what are revealed throughout this book permeate the soul long after the last words are read, much like mold over rotting food. It is a bitter pill to swallow, that we are capable of such great good and yet, perform such hideousness upon one another. Both sides of that coin get equal billing here.

Get AFRAID and be afraid. Then hold on tightly for a ride you will both want to jump off…and ride again and again.
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Mar 12, 2010

Rusty rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror, thriller, read-in-2009, 2000, midwest, fiction

Rarely has Wisconsin been so intersting. I kid, Wisconsin - you know how I feel about you. From the opening sequence, when the intruder responds to the old lady's question: "what are you going to do to me?", this book is brutal, and it never lets up. Kilborn does a great job of creating atmosphere (mostly of dread) and the characters are likeable and/or interesting. A special forces unit of unknown origins is dropped into a small town in Wisconsin, and they systematically spread th...more

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Mar 27, 2009

Patricia rated it

· review of another edition

Afraid means filled with fear or apprehension and is much too mild a word to describe the feelings of the residents of Safe Haven, Wisconsin when five men invade the town. These five men are members of a Red-Ops group. The five all have backgrounds of violent behavior. The group have been specially trained and programmed to kill. Now the five want an answer to one question.

No one in the town seems to be able to answer the question so the residents die and no one dies an easy d...more

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Mar 31, 2009

Bobbie Crawford-McCoy rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone!!

Shelves: books-that-i-own, all-reviews, fiction-reviews

Afraid
Written By: Jack Kilborn
Published By: Grand Central Publishing, 2009, First Edition, 384 pages, mass market paperback
ISBN 978-0446535939

Afraid is a fantastic book; I just couldn’t put it down! The fast-paced plot and emotion-driven story is very convincing; it’s so fiendishly nauseating that it makes your skin crawl! The suspense is palpable and the atmosphere is rife with tension and fear; just what you would expect from a book with a title as simple yet as p...more

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Apr 05, 2009

Mike rated it

· review of another edition

“Afraid” written by Jack Kilborn is one hell of a ride. No not a ride, more like an express elevator to hell. It starts fast and only picks up speed. It is relentless with enough horror, gore, action and twists to keep even the most hardcore adrenaline junkies satisfied. These are very bad people doing very bad things. You’ll have a toe sucking good time. Don’t worry, you’ll figure out the reference. Kilborn is the pseudonym for JA Konrath writer of the “Jack Daniels” series of books. Do...more

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Mar 30, 2009

Karin rated it

· review of another edition

After reading AFRAID it is very easy to see why “Jack Kilborn prefers not to share personal details about his life. He could be living anywhere.” Of, course he doesn’t want THEM to know where he lives. He knows too much! Only someone who is very aware of the secrets of our government could have written this book. That’s why Jack likes to “stay off the grid”. He knew that the “Red-ops units didn’t crash here accidentally”. Of course they might run JA Konrath’s car off the road in hopes t...more

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Apr 05, 2009

Carmen rated it

· review of another edition

I decided to read Afraid based on the fact it was written by Jack Kilborn, AKA J.A. Konrath. I’m a big fan of his Jaqueline "Jack" Daniels series, so I figured it was a safe bet that Afraid wouldn’t suck. However, I was apprehensive. I just never enjoy any book or movie about covert ops, government/military cover-ups, rogue soldiers/scientists, or the like. Yawn-o-rama. OK...full disclosure is over.

Afraid was incredible! Gripping, fast-paced, absolutely frightening, and be...more

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Apr 22, 2009

Connie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I gave this five stars because for the horror genre, I think it's excellent. This book was scary from page one until the final chapter. I get goosebumps thinking about particular scenes (a man panting like a dog, the popcorn throwing scene) which is a good way to judge how functional a horror novel is in scaring the daylights out of someone...I mean, I'm still thinking about it. And....I burned the midnight oil just to finish it. Exactly the sort of thing that one needs in a good horror nove...more

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Dec 02, 2008

J.A. Konrath rated it

· review of another edition

Awesome debut. I wish I'd written it...

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Dec 22, 2011

Marvin rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror

At the end of this book is this "About the Author" blurb...

Jack Kilborn prefers not to share personal details about his life. He could be living anywhere. Possibly near you

Considering what he writes, that is a very scary thought.

Fortunately, I do know where he lives. He resides in the body of author J. A. Konrath. During the day he is harmless. But at night, he sneaks out and makes Mr. Konrath write these deliciously disgusting little books.

Or at least t...more

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Nov 29, 2011

Debra rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror-supernatural

This was like watching SAW; pretty gruesome torture scenes, although the author doesn't go into many gory details. However, there is plenty of shocking stuff through-out the book. I don't love that kind of stuff, but it's like watching a train wreck; I just had to keep turning the pages because the story was so good! I really cared about the characters and was rooting for the small group of people (and scene-stealing Woof) fighting the evil that had come to their town. Nothing supernatural g...more

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Apr 06, 2009

Robert rated it

· review of another edition

This one has pretty much nonstop action and takes place over the course of five or six hours. The book is just begging Hollywood to come and screw up the movie. My biggest quibble is the name of the town in which all the carnage ensues -- Safe Haven -- a bit too much of a cutesy oxymoron, don't you think?

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May 06, 2009

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Just finished this last night. This is such a great summer book: a horror/thriller that is well-written with likable characters...well, the ones that don't kill you, anyway.
Can't wait to read his next one, Trapped, coming out next year.

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Feb 14, 2010

WilowRaven added it · review of another edition

A true thriller of a book. In one suspenseful night an entire town is virtually destroyed. Told from the point of view of several different characters, including the members of the killing squad, the story progresses along at a good pace. There is no fluff to this story. NOT for the faint of heart! I found the blood and guts of the story so to speak to be very graphic but appropriately so. Kilborn could have very easily taken this story into the realm of sexual sadism which would have ruined it....more

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Mar 27, 2009

Harry Bennett rated it

· review of another edition

This is a book from JA Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels series (she is a Chicago cop with a penchant for going head to head with serial killers). This novel had alot of great advance praise and it actually lived up to the adjectives that were thrown around about it. It is suspensful, taut, fun, action packed, gore soaked and more. It is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. This ride straddles the line between action novel & horror novel, and it straddles it well, dipping in and out of ...more

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Mar 27, 2009

Tdewhirst rated it

· review of another edition

A plane crashes outside of the small town of Safe Haven, Wisconsin and unleashes a horrifying string of events brought to life in a truly spectacular way by Jack Kilborn.

Kilborn conveys an emotion that could be mildly called terror in a beautiful economy of words that sucks the reader in right from the start. This reader – who can be callous in the extreme when reading – teared up during the first kill – a scene so cleverly diabolical and sadistic that I think I can say Kilborn has a...more

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Jan 10, 2012

Michael rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-have-reviewed

Transhumanism is the idea that human life can be made better with the help of technology. Now imagine controlling the human brain by electrical stimulation and making it function more like a computer. Forget years of study and practice, simply download information directly into a person’s brain and, depending on the program, anyone can have any skill set desired. In Jack Kilborn’s Afraid, "transhumanistic neuropathology" is the underlying concept behind the development of his modified ...moreTranshumanism is the idea that human life can be made better with the help of technology. Now imagine controlling the human brain by electrical stimulation and making it function more like a computer. Forget years of study and practice, simply download information directly into a person’s brain and, depending on the program, anyone can have any skill set desired. In Jack Kilborn’s Afraid, "transhumanistic neuropathology" is the underlying concept behind the development of his modified soldiers, or "Red-ops". Government-sponsored terrorists, Red-ops are trained in all aspects of munitions, battle and war and they function as small strike forces with three goals: isolate, overpower and annihilate.

Forget the ethical implications with this type of science and the type of ideal world this could possibly create, we’re not reading Afraid to think, we’re reading Afraid to be entertained and this book is loaded with entertainment. Kilborn provides that entertainment by taking things a couple of steps further. Rather than training regular military personnel as Red-ops, he gives us Hannibal Lector combined with Rambo with transhuman modifications. In other words, unstoppable human monsters. We see a team made up of death row inmates: psychopaths and sadists, and rather than isolate, overpower and annihilate, they torture, rape and murder. And they do it well. Now drop this team of scientifically engineered mutant maniacs into the sleepy town of Safe Haven, Wisconsin, population 907, and the result is— well, the result is something you’re going to have to find out for yourself.

Afraid is billed as horror, but for me this wasn’t horror and I didn’t find the story frightening. However, this was an amazingly tense thriller; a violent (maybe too extreme for some readers) page-turner of the highest order. The action starts quickly and aside from taking breaks to reveal more layers of the plot, doesn’t let up until the end. If you’re the type of reader who doesn’t like to wait, you might want to start Afraid early in the day or early in the weekend because you're not going to want to put it down once you start. If violent thrillers are your cup of tea you won’t be disappointed with this one.(less)

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Jul 07, 2011

Dawn rated it

· review of another edition

Ever since Jack Kilborn / J.A. Konrath switched to e-publishing, it's been increasingly hard to find his titles in print (and sadly there was no e-reader under the tree for me this Christmas.)

I picked up Afraid at a used book sale, a major score since it's been on my TBR list for almost the entire year. Though I've read only one other book by this author - Whiskey Sour (J.A. Konrath) - the hype surrounding Afraid has kept my interest piqued.

It didn't disappoint.

As J...moreEver since Jack Kilborn / J.A. Konrath switched to e-publishing, it's been increasingly hard to find his titles in print (and sadly there was no e-reader under the tree for me this Christmas.)

I picked up Afraid at a used book sale, a major score since it's been on my TBR list for almost the entire year. Though I've read only one other book by this author - Whiskey Sour (J.A. Konrath) - the hype surrounding Afraid has kept my interest piqued.

It didn't disappoint.

As James Rollins' blurb on the cover suggests, Kilborn starts the action on page one and the horror never stops. A town is terrorized with unimaginable torture, by "men" of extraordinary strength. The premise is not supernatural - in fact, you can almost believe this type of "universal soldier" might already exist somewhere.

Not the kind of guy you want to meet in a dark alley.

After a string of paranormal romance and YA fiction, I was ready for something grittier. Kilborn certainly delivers. The pacing is spectacular. It wasn't until about the half-way point of the book I realized there were no chapter breaks. When time is tight - as it was this week - I tend to sneak in a chapter here and there when I can. The lack of chapter designation "tricked" me into reading more, until I simply ran out of steam.

I'm a huge fan of Kilborn's writing style. It's tight and clean, not a single word of extra fluff. The dialogue serves its purpose, voice is consistent, and the description is minimal but effective. I've bought a lot of horror books in my time but never read any author who could do "gore" so well. Afraid isn't for the weak at heart.

The story isn't predictable and the characters - even the bad guys - are sympathetic. But I've yet to find a book that actually scared me, and I truly wanted this one to be the one. While the gore factor was high, Afraid fell a little short on suspense.

I suspect this will be the last book of the year for me, which means I've fallen well short on my 100 books in 2010 challenge. I know 56 books is nothing to be ashamed of, and really, the challenge pushed me to read when other distractions might have played a role. Still...

For 2011, I'm issuing myself a new challenge - 75 books and 26 movies. I just need a catchy title. Got any ideas?(less)

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Jun 29, 2011

William M. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: horror

4 AND 1/2 STARS

Jack Kilborn, aka JA Konrath, has created a fantastic book with "Afraid", blending numerous genres into a truly thrilling ride. Part horror, thriller, action, and a touch of science fiction, this book literally has someone in danger on every page. Kilborn/Konrath doesn't go the Hollywood route either, writing a very R-rated story that has characters dying and being brutalized in every way imaginable. Like author Richard Laymon, Kilborn/Konrath uses mini clif...more

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Feb 02, 2011

Naomi Clark rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the small, sleepy town of Safe Haven, population 907 or there abouts, something horrific has happened. A helicoptor carrying a top secret government project has crash-landed, and the top secret government project is now on a murderous rampage, mutilating, burning, eating, and disembowling the unprepared people of the town. That's because the top secret government project is a crack squad of five psychopathic, sociopathic, cannibalistic, demented serial killers who've been co-opted by the gove...moreIn the small, sleepy town of Safe Haven, population 907 or there abouts, something horrific has happened. A helicoptor carrying a top secret government project has crash-landed, and the top secret government project is now on a murderous rampage, mutilating, burning, eating, and disembowling the unprepared people of the town. That's because the top secret government project is a crack squad of five psychopathic, sociopathic, cannibalistic, demented serial killers who've been co-opted by the government, implanted with brain-controlling microchips and given military training and weapons. Apparently nobody saw any way this scheme could possibly backfire.

But it has! And now everyone's going to die nastily! And it turns out the crash was no accident, and the Red Ops, as they're known, are there with a mission. Cue brave ordinary citizens fighting back (mostly to no avail).

My first stumbling block with this novel was the Red Ops premise. Whilst I don't doubt there are people out there desperate to dig into other people's brains and start messing around with their neural pathways, I'm not so sure I buy into the idea of the government fishing convicted serial rapists, murderers, and toe-eaters off death row and turning them into elite operatives. Apparently it was decided that this was a better method for getting things done than training ordinary men to be soldiers. I'm sure there's some merit to the idea, but not very much. Anyway, I ignored that since this is basically a survival horror B-movie in book form, and I don't expect much in the way of deep thinking in B-movies, so I'm not going to expect it from this book.

The second stumbling block is also one of the book's great strengths - the absolutely frantic pacing. When you start a book with a helicoptor crash and the subsequent flaying alive of an old woman, you know you're in for a thrill ride. And you are - the book truly is compelling and non-stop up until about the last fifty pages or so. On the other hand, when you start a book with the flaying alive of an old woman, where do you go from there? The ultra-violence was unremitting, and some truly gruesome things happen to our brave townies, but after about one hundred pages of people's toes being chewed off, their kidneys being poked with knives, and their faces set on fire, I became a bit numb to it and stopped caring about the horrible things happening to these people. Does that make me a bad person? I don't know. But I did become desensitised to the violence pretty early on, which of course lessened the impact of it when it happened to the main characters. So Sheriff Streng had to cut his own leg off to escape a bear trap? So what? He's already been near-eviscerated and had his kidneys mangled, so... you know. He should probably just die and get it over with. And our heroic firefighter Josh gets his pinkie finger broken. But so what? He's already had his face set on fire and inhaled cyanide, so the broken finger probably came as a bit of light relief.

Essentially, the violence stops being shocking early on, because there's just so much of it. After the entire freaking town is killed because they were too stupid to question a couple of strangers summoning them to the school gym in the middle of the night so they could all receive cheques for lottery wins (I'm simplfying, but no really, this happens), you kind of wonder if the the Red Ops attack is just Nature's way of telling Safe Haven its too stupid to live.

But with the violence no longer shocking, you're left with the plot, which is also not shocking. Of course the Red Ops were sent there on purpose. Of course they're looking for one of the main character's estranged brother, and of course he has a terrible secret for which the government is willing to kill to keep hidden. This terrible secret is built up and dangled over our heads throughout the novel, and I really was expecting something truly mindblowing, something that would absolutely justify the crazy, bloodsoaked, toe-chomping, cyanide-poisoning, fire-starting, decapitating, throat-slashing, pensioner-skinning lengths the Red Ops went to to uncover.

Instead, it turns out some guy has proof the US government did some Very Bad Things in Vietnam. And I'm all ... "I know?" Because the minute you introduce a Vietnam vet into this kind of story, we can assume someone somewhere is going to have had a Colonol Kurtz moment. So the shocking secret falls flat. And this is true throughout the novel. Every twist is either so standard of the genre it becomes redundant, or so pointless to the story it becomes silly. For example, we're lead throughout the novel to believe all the Red Ops are men. At the last minute, one of them is revealed to be a woman! And she's immediately killed! So what? I suppose I'm meant to sit back and contemplate my own foolishness in assuming only men are capable of such extreme violence and reasses my preconceptions of gender, but I didn't care! It added nothing to the plot, nothing was made of her being a woman, nobody examined what it meant or if it meant anything, and the revelation doesn't even come until after the stupid woman is killed, so who cares? Why bother?

*deep breath*

And the resolution? The good guys win because the bad guys' pet monkey changes sides. Okay fine, a couple of people sacrifice themselves bravely and learn valuable lessons about family and love before they die, but basically without the monkey's co-operation, everyone would have been totally fucked.

Anyway. I did say somewhere that I liked this book, and I did in a sort of pulpy, gleefully bloody way. I don't think it particularly adds anything new to the genre, but it's by no means a bad book for that. It's probably not quite as clever as it thinks, and I personally would have liked some more thought and depth given to the Red Ops backstory, but overall, I can't say I disliked it. It'd make a great film, at any rate.(less)

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Jan 27, 2011

Paul Pessolano rated it

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If you are "Afraid" do not read this book.

This book ranks up there with the best of them. It reminded me a lot of David Morrell's book "Creepers". If you like scary I highly recommend this book.

"Afraid" is classified as mystery, but in all honesty it really should be classified as horror. There is a mystery, but definitely contains MORE horror.

I talked to the author and he told me not to get attached to any of the characters. ...more

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May 11, 2010

Cherie rated it

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A helicopter crash just outside the small town of Safe Haven, Wisconsin has unleashed a group of terrifying fighters on a mission. These top-notch special forces mercenaries have government training, a strong thirst for murder, and even stranger, brains that have actually been chemically altered to allow them to be controlled by outside influences. The mayhem they release on this small Wisconsin town is the stuff that nightmares are made of! Though this book may tend to get a bit gory at time...more

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Apr 20, 2010

Nicola rated it

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Shelves: arc, no-longer-own

Reason for Reading: The plot intrigued me.

Summary: A small town in Wisconsin which has so far only needed a sheriff and a drunk tank to keep the peace is going to find itself sorely lacking in defences. A helicopter crashes into the backwoods and unleashes a terrible horror that absolutely no one in town is safe from. It unrelentlessly attacks in the method it knows best: Isolate, terrorize, annihilate. The town is cut off from the rest of civilization but a few find out that the ter...more

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Jun 12, 2009

Kelly rated it

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Shelves: reviewed

In the nice quiet little town of Safe Haven, Wisconsin the peace and solitude is shattered when a helicopter crashes nearby. Suddenly the sleepy little town, with only one road in or out, and no full time police force is a struggle for its survival. Contained within the helicopter and unleashed by the crash is a force bent on the total annihilation of the entire population of the town. People in the town begin to die violent and gory deaths and it’s on the shoulders of a single mom waitress, a f...more

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May 15, 2009

Robin rated it

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Review of AFRAID by Jack Kilborn. Afraid says it all! A small town in Wisconsin, (South Haven) has a top secret arsunal of soldiers descend on the town after a crash. The whole town will soon pay dearly for this unfortuante accident. Only a few people are the ones able to fight to the very end of this fast paced, terrifying, action packed, no holds barred novel. I guarantee, you CANNOT put this book down! It grips you from the first page all the way to the last. Be prepared for details - albiet ...more

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May 14, 2009

Glen Krisch rated it

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Afraid is the first horror novel from Jack Kilborn, aka thriller writer, JA Konrath. While this novel is touted as horror, I see it more of a horror/action hybrid that travels at an unrelenting pace, and is inhabited by likeable heroes and vile villains. Set during one harrowing evening, Afraid pits the citizens of the sleepy Wisconsin Northwood's town of Safe Haven against a special forces unit programmed (with implanted computer chips and chemical enhancements) to torture, maim and kill who...more

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May 11, 2009

Dana rated it

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Shelves: on-the-shelf

"Afraid" by Jack Kilborn is self-branded as a horror novel. I typically don't enjoy horror novels. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid reading them, unless they're written by Stephen King. It's not just because I don't like to be scared, it's also because I read as a method of relaxation; being all torqued up over who's going to be brutally, graphically murdered next is not conducive to my idea of relaxation.

That said, "Afraid" is definitely a horror novel, and ...more

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Apr 20, 2009

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

Because I like to read and also get free things, I signed up to receive a free copy of the horror novel Afraid by Jack Kilbourn in exchange for posting a review online. I don’t read horror novels. I’ve never even read a Stephen King novel. But I’m making an effort to read outside the genre I write in, and this fit the bill.

I have to say I had no idea what the book was about, even after reading the back cover and lots of marketing materials. This was on purpose and effective, because...moreBecause I like to read and also get free things, I signed up to receive a free copy of the horror novel Afraid by Jack Kilbourn in exchange for posting a review online. I don’t read horror novels. I’ve never even read a Stephen King novel. But I’m making an effort to read outside the genre I write in, and this fit the bill.

I have to say I had no idea what the book was about, even after reading the back cover and lots of marketing materials. This was on purpose and effective, because let me tell you, this story was weird. I had an idea of what I thought it might be about. It was weirder than that.

I also hesitated to open the book because I thought I’d get scared and have nightmares. I really sincerely refused to read it when my husband was out of town. But I didn’t find it scary. It was super gross, but not scary. The story was simple: “something” invades a small town in Wisconsin. Figuring out the “something” was pretty cool, and that’s what kept me reading. I didn’t need to see more gore (and really, I expected a lot more of it), but I wanted to figure out what the “something” was. Kilbourn was tricky about this.

Even though I was reading gross scenes, I got through the book pretty quickly. I did get stalled in the end by some of the logistics. As I started to put the pieces together, I kind of wanted it to be over a little faster.

I have to give Kilbourn credit for succinct description. There’s always just enough to paint a little picture in your mind, then he keeps things moving. But his best credit (also in his Jack Daniels detective series, written under the name of J.A. Konrath) is his character development. These people have some serious back story. In a good way. Everyone has a motivation, a reason for being the way they are.

Joe Konrath (aka Kilbourn) says he tried to stretch himself by writing a horror novel, something he’d never done before. I’d say he was successful. It’s a good book. But I’d love to see him go all Mystic River on us and write something more centered around character than his current writing style allows. When it comes to character, Konrath has mad skills. I want to see more of that.

Overall? If you like horror, I think you’ll love this. If you’re a fan of Konrath’s other books, I think you’ll like this, too. His breezy and compact writing style pulls you through any of his books, no matter the genre. Not a fan of horror? Read it anyway. It’s super weird, and that’s always interesting.
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Jack Kilborn is pen name for writer J.A. Konrath. The Kilborn name denotes his horror novels; the Konrath name his thrillers.

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