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Shutter Speed
Burned, scarred, and left for dead, Jimmy Tasker is running from everyone.
The blaze changed him—changed the way his brain fires—and left someone else in his head with him. Someone who wants to kill for fun.
He changes his name, buries his past, starts a new life…and disappears.
Years later, four friends from the city are hard up. Steve needs work, Gil’s jumpy, Peter is struggling, and Cal’s an addict. So they plan a robbery. Steve backs out, but the other three go through with it and botch the job, resulting in the death of Lauren Westerbrook.
Ronan Westerbrook has a hidden past, a love of photography…and a fondness for flame.
Ronan’s revenge for his wife’s death culminates in a bloodbath—and unleashes Jimmy, who was there all along, tormented by nightmares of atrocities he has no idea if he truly committed.
Steve is trying to build a respectable life, but now Jimmy has one last piece of unfinished business…the only witness who can identify him.
The blaze changed him—changed the way his brain fires—and left someone else in his head with him. Someone who wants to kill for fun.
He changes his name, buries his past, starts a new life…and disappears.
Years later, four friends from the city are hard up. Steve needs work, Gil’s jumpy, Peter is struggling, and Cal’s an addict. So they plan a robbery. Steve backs out, but the other three go through with it and botch the job, resulting in the death of Lauren Westerbrook.
Ronan Westerbrook has a hidden past, a love of photography…and a fondness for flame.
Ronan’s revenge for his wife’s death culminates in a bloodbath—and unleashes Jimmy, who was there all along, tormented by nightmares of atrocities he has no idea if he truly committed.
Steve is trying to build a respectable life, but now Jimmy has one last piece of unfinished business…the only witness who can identify him.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 18, 2013
10 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Mark Taylor
23 books27 followersMark Taylor’s debut novel, Shutter Speed, crash landed on planet earth in 2013. Its dark brooding style benchmarked his writing and has led to further releases of novel and short story collection alike.
While most of Mark’s work is macabre, occasion has it that he will write about kittens and daisies. Just not very often.
Some say he is a product of his environment, others, a product of his own imagination.
Whichever it is he works happily, portraying dark existences on this planet and others. He relays his fears and doubts on his characters, so always has a smile. If Mark is real, as some say he is, you might find him in England.
Perhaps.
You can find him at his website: www.authormarktaylor.com, or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorMarkTaylor
"A fresh burn of imagination!" - Variety Reviews
"Mark Taylor drags you down into the darkest and most twisted pits of human nature." - Darren Gallagher, author of Strings
"In The Human Condition, Mark Taylor blends American horror with an English elegance." - Eden Royce, author of Containment
"[Shutter Speed] worms its way into your psyche and latches on as you watch the events unfold." - The Bibliophilic Book Blog
While most of Mark’s work is macabre, occasion has it that he will write about kittens and daisies. Just not very often.
Some say he is a product of his environment, others, a product of his own imagination.
Whichever it is he works happily, portraying dark existences on this planet and others. He relays his fears and doubts on his characters, so always has a smile. If Mark is real, as some say he is, you might find him in England.
Perhaps.
You can find him at his website: www.authormarktaylor.com, or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorMarkTaylor
"A fresh burn of imagination!" - Variety Reviews
"Mark Taylor drags you down into the darkest and most twisted pits of human nature." - Darren Gallagher, author of Strings
"In The Human Condition, Mark Taylor blends American horror with an English elegance." - Eden Royce, author of Containment
"[Shutter Speed] worms its way into your psyche and latches on as you watch the events unfold." - The Bibliophilic Book Blog
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 20, 2018
Holy cow, is this a good book! Gripping, edgy and not my usual genre but I couldn't stop reading it!
My Rating: 5+ stars
My Rating: 5+ stars
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August 17, 2018💝FREE on Amazon today (8/17/2018)!💝
Blurb:
Burned, scarred, and left for dead, Jimmy Tasker is running from everyone.
The blaze changed him—changed the way his brain fires—and left someone else in his head with him. Someone who wants to kill for fun.
He changes his name, buries his past, starts a new life…and disappears.
Years later, four friends from the city are hard up. Steve needs work, Gil’s jumpy, Peter is struggling, and Cal’s an addict. So they plan a robbery. Steve backs out, but the other three go through with it and botch the job, resulting in the death of Lauren Westerbrook.
Ronan Westerbrook has a hidden past, a love of photography…and a fondness for flame.
Ronan’s revenge for his wife’s death culminates in a bloodbath—and unleashes Jimmy, who was there all along, tormented by nightmares of atrocities he has no idea if he truly committed.
Steve is trying to build a respectable life, but now Jimmy has one last piece of unfinished business…the only witness who can identify him.
Blurb:
Burned, scarred, and left for dead, Jimmy Tasker is running from everyone.
The blaze changed him—changed the way his brain fires—and left someone else in his head with him. Someone who wants to kill for fun.
He changes his name, buries his past, starts a new life…and disappears.
Years later, four friends from the city are hard up. Steve needs work, Gil’s jumpy, Peter is struggling, and Cal’s an addict. So they plan a robbery. Steve backs out, but the other three go through with it and botch the job, resulting in the death of Lauren Westerbrook.
Ronan Westerbrook has a hidden past, a love of photography…and a fondness for flame.
Ronan’s revenge for his wife’s death culminates in a bloodbath—and unleashes Jimmy, who was there all along, tormented by nightmares of atrocities he has no idea if he truly committed.
Steve is trying to build a respectable life, but now Jimmy has one last piece of unfinished business…the only witness who can identify him.
January 25, 2018
Shutter speed is a twisted mystery that comes full circle in an intriguing adventure. Beginning with Jimmy Trasker a young man with a lot of problems stemming from living with an abusive father. When Jimmy is caught up in not one but two fires, his life changes and starts over with a new identity. Readers follow along into the lives of several individuals, not knowing which Jimmy has become as the suspense grows and takes you back to the past and what influence it has on the present. This is a good story by an author with a great writing style.
June 20, 2014
Mark Taylor brings a fresh burn of imagination to the reader with his suspense, thriller Shutter Speed.
Shutter Speed starts out with a young boy named Jimmy, who has an abusive father. Jimmy likes to take pictures. Well, more than that… He likes to let places tell stories through his pictures. All of this leads him to being away from home a lot, taking pictures.
When a particular old building under renovations catches his eye and he can’t resist the urge to tell its story, even though he has to sneak in through the window. Everything is old, beautiful, and full of secrets, but it’s definitely not safe.
Two older boys also break into the building, and what they do to Jimmy really burns him up and changes his family life forever.
After what happened…his family had to move, and he had to change his name. The past was just too much for them to carry around for the rest of their lives.
Fast forward YEARS later…
The reader is introduced to a group of young men on the wrong side of the law and you start wondering… “Which one of them is Jimmy?” And just when you think you know, your mind is spun again with an evil laugh from the author while Jimmy strikes again, and again, and again.
In the end…everything comes back to that old building, the one with stories to tell through the lense of Jimmy’s camera. And even though he’s the one taking the pictures, he’s wrong about how the building’s story turns out.
Shutter Speed was a fun story that kept me guessing through most of the book. The characters are interesting, but are many for such a short book. I found it confusing at times, but they all served their purpose to the story in some way.
There were some formatting issues with the book – the words overlapped onto the header in a couple places, but I could still read it. There were extra spaces between paragraphs and breaks here and there, and there were a lot of wrong, missing, or extra words. There were also a few issues with punctuation.
Shutter Speed starts out with a young boy named Jimmy, who has an abusive father. Jimmy likes to take pictures. Well, more than that… He likes to let places tell stories through his pictures. All of this leads him to being away from home a lot, taking pictures.
When a particular old building under renovations catches his eye and he can’t resist the urge to tell its story, even though he has to sneak in through the window. Everything is old, beautiful, and full of secrets, but it’s definitely not safe.
Two older boys also break into the building, and what they do to Jimmy really burns him up and changes his family life forever.
After what happened…his family had to move, and he had to change his name. The past was just too much for them to carry around for the rest of their lives.
Fast forward YEARS later…
The reader is introduced to a group of young men on the wrong side of the law and you start wondering… “Which one of them is Jimmy?” And just when you think you know, your mind is spun again with an evil laugh from the author while Jimmy strikes again, and again, and again.
In the end…everything comes back to that old building, the one with stories to tell through the lense of Jimmy’s camera. And even though he’s the one taking the pictures, he’s wrong about how the building’s story turns out.
Shutter Speed was a fun story that kept me guessing through most of the book. The characters are interesting, but are many for such a short book. I found it confusing at times, but they all served their purpose to the story in some way.
There were some formatting issues with the book – the words overlapped onto the header in a couple places, but I could still read it. There were extra spaces between paragraphs and breaks here and there, and there were a lot of wrong, missing, or extra words. There were also a few issues with punctuation.
March 13, 2014
Jimmy Tasker would much rather be out taking photographs than be anywhere near his abusive father. When he ducks out on chores to take pictures of an old building, he’s found by some bullies who take things a bit too far when trying to scare him. Burned, scared, and somehow different, Jimmy is nursed back to health and it doesn’t take long for his father to start up his old ways. When his father dies in a mysterious fire, Jimmy and his mother move far away and take new identities. No matter his new name, the damaged Jimmy still lingers and is given a mighty reason to come roaring back.
SHUTTER SPEED is a very sneaky story. It worms its way into your psyche and latches on as you watch the events unfold. Except in the beginning, you don’t see much of Jimmy Tasker. We learn about his childhood and then he disappears. We’re then introduced to a group of four friends, known as The Boys, who haven’t grown up much. They don’t work, are perpetually broke, and smoke dope on the regular. It’s when they plan a robbery their fates take a turn for the worse. SHUTTER SPEED is a deceptively enthralling horror novel with an interesting twist at the end.
SHUTTER SPEED is a very sneaky story. It worms its way into your psyche and latches on as you watch the events unfold. Except in the beginning, you don’t see much of Jimmy Tasker. We learn about his childhood and then he disappears. We’re then introduced to a group of four friends, known as The Boys, who haven’t grown up much. They don’t work, are perpetually broke, and smoke dope on the regular. It’s when they plan a robbery their fates take a turn for the worse. SHUTTER SPEED is a deceptively enthralling horror novel with an interesting twist at the end.
November 25, 2015
Shutter Speed is a cleverly written story of Jimmy, a bullied little boy, who just wants to be left alone to take pictures--the only thing that gives him happiness. Eventually, that little boy grows up and into a twisted version of himself, a warped human hiding in plain sight.
But his facade of normalcy is ripped away one night, revealing that Jimmy is no longer someone who can be pushed around. He pushes back now, and stabs, and tears...
There are a few scenes of "Yikes!", but I wouldn't call this horror; it's a thriller and a well executed one.
But his facade of normalcy is ripped away one night, revealing that Jimmy is no longer someone who can be pushed around. He pushes back now, and stabs, and tears...
There are a few scenes of "Yikes!", but I wouldn't call this horror; it's a thriller and a well executed one.
November 10, 2015
Really can't decide what to give this book. Started off well, went on an all over the place period and then half way through got better again and not sure if I liked the ending!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews