Carniepunk: The Cold Girl

by Rachel Caine

From the mesmerizing Carniepunk anthology, a vampire short story from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine—the author who brought you the immensely popular Morganville Vampires series.When Kiley learns firsthand what evil lurks in the heart of her boyfriend, he’ll learn about the Cold Girl, and her penchant for retribution.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Audiobook, Vampires, Paranormal, Horror, Contemporary, Fantasy

43 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 8, 2014

About the author

Rachel Caine was a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad.

She has also published as:
Roxanne Longstreet
Roxanne Conrad
Julie Fortune
Ian Hammell

Her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/rachelcainef...

Her Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/rachelcaine...

Reviews

[Joe Pranaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Rachel Caine brings us the short story about Kiley. Kiley finds out that there's a carnival in town and asks her boyfriend Jamie to take her. Jamie has been her obsession and one true love but he holds a dark secret. A secret of which will come out after he takes her to the caravel. Kiley has a choice to make once the dead has been done to her. The cold girl wants her to be one of them but her heart will make the ultimate choice for her. This was a great shorty story and Rachel brings her characters to life is a great way. I highly recommend this short story to all Vampire fans.

[Anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Rachel Caine's Stillhouse Lake serie.. (which is in the thriller genre) and althought vampires are not my cup of tea, I wantet to try something else by the author. This is a short story, very YA, with a good lesson but without taking away the satisfaction.. you'll know what I mean if you read it. Very good

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carniepunk: The Cold Girl

I Picked Up This Book Because: Random library find under the authors name.

The Characters:

Kiley:


The Story:

A little something different from Ms Caine for me. This was creepy and shocking and a little strange and you know what it wasn’t different. LOL. These qualities are exactly why I like Ms Caine’s writing. She blends just enough suspense with shocking horror and redemption.

I enjoyed this story though it was sad Kiley had to die and her boyfriend was a psycho.

The Random Thoughts:



The Score Card:



4 Stars

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I think this story definitely checks out as a Rachel Caine piece, haha. It's been a while since I read the Morganville Vampires series, but I felt like this had a similar vibe. The "vampire" aspect of this story was particularly interesting because the Cold Girl is essentially a blood-drinking frost witch, lmao... I've never seen a vampire like that before. I guess it's because vampires are like Caine's "thing," but it's strange that she added a vampire element to this story at all, since Kiley could have just been a ghost or something, and the latter half of the story would have been more or less the same.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised that Kiley survived at the end of the story. I thought she'd be dead, since, you know, the story literally starts with her saying that she died. I guess she is telling the story in present tense... but I mean, she could have been a ghost or something. This story certainly did a good job at keeping me anxious the whole time I was reading. You know Kiley is going to die, but you're not quite sure how, and once you have an idea of the "how," you really hope you aren't right... and then of course, even after Kiley dies, you wonder if she's going to stay dead or if she'll take the Cold Girl up on her offer. Jamie was absolutely fucking terrifying, probably one of the scariest characters I've ever read about. The necrophilia was just... I seriously can't believe that's actually a thing. How mentally fucked up do you have to be to kill a woman, rape her dead body, film the whole thing, and save that footage to watch over and over?! And he watched it in the car, while driving, while his girlfriend (Kiley) was sitting right next to him!!! What an absolute psychopath... He's scary enough as is, but what gave me even more anxiety was how Kiley acted after discovering his true nature. I tried to sympathize with her because I'm sure I'd also be panicking if I were in her shoes, but it was hard not to feel frustrated with her stupidity and want to yell, "Girl, you know he's going to fucking kill you if you act like you've suddenly gone insane?! Maybe try a little harder not to make it so obvious that you've discovered he's a necrophiliac murderer?!?!"

I also have mixed feelings about Kiley surviving in the end. It's not that I think she deserved to die, but I wonder what her life would even look like after everything she went through. She's basically stuck in a small town where she has no friends, she has to live with the trauma that her boyfriend killed her & who-knows-how-many-other women, and while Matt is insanely sweet and saved her life, I don't see them having a future together. Or if they did, personally, I don't think it would be healthy. Kiley isn't exactly a good person, and she never paid Matt any attention before she was in mortal danger. Sure, death & trauma changes a person, but Kiley has a LOT of baggage she needs to unpack if she's going to continue living, which is why I kinda feel like death would have been more merciful of a fate for her. She even said herself that she didn't want to hurt anymore... but I guess death is the easy way out. Life is complicated & often miserable, but maybe that's what makes it beautiful. And damn, Matt really went above & beyond in basically bringing her back from the dead!

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one really got my heart thumping and chills down my spine. Oddly enough, or not, it wasn't the supernatural elements that did it, but the too real human evil that permeated the story and raised the hairs on the back of my head.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to start this review by saying that I miss Rachel Caine. She was such a brilliant author and a lovely person, too. I don't think I've ever read a story of hers that I didn't enjoy, and this is another one to add to the awesome list.

Kiley's story starts out average enough. A teenage girl who loves her boyfriend is eager to go to the carnival with him. But everything soon falls apart when it becomes obvious that her perfect relationship with Jamie is a charade she's been too scared to accept.

There's a lot to love about this story: the writing is outstanding, Kiley's voice drags the reader into her nightmare, how vivid the sights and sounds of the carnival are, the true-crime aspect, and the realisation that Jamie is a monster hiding behind good looks. That's before I get started on the intriguing characters.

I loved the pacing, how everything unravelled, as well as the chilling imagery and descriptions.

What a great story!

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

TW: Sexual Assault, Murder, Death, Necrophilia acts, Child Abuse

The best way to describe this story is "chilling." Kylie goes from being a spineless wallflower (spoken from a Wallflower myself) to thirsting for revenge, and part of me kind of hoped she stayed with the circus, but in a way she recieved poetic justice. By living again, by Matt falling through and showing her that there are people who do care, that will cause a riot if she asks for help. A very traumatic cautionary grim tale.

[Jules Poet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best book/stories that I've ever listened to. It was phenomenal and really captured my attention. If it was a series - I'd be listening to it right now! I have to check out more that this author has done....because WOW!

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick read!

[Lennie Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well crafted and creepy short story by a very talented author. I liked it.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good short story. Lots of layers and an interesting plot.

[Nicole Aka Grave doll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this short story. It a chilling tale of murder and revenge that is well done.

[Lucy Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story with lots of twists!

[Amev1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. A nicely written novella with Caine's tongue-in-cheek style of writing.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve known of Caine for years now and while I haven’t read any of her stuff, I do have INK AND BONE on my want list and of course I’ve heard of the Morganville Vampires series. Haven’t read it, but I haven’t been living under a rock either. To be honest I thought it lumped itself in with that rash of teen vampire books that came out following TWILIGHT. I’ve been assured that is not the case AT ALL and I’ve since added the series to my want list as well. I need me more brutal vampires in my life.

And ‘The Cold Girl’ gave me that, and with a neat little spin.

Initially I wasn’t digging the story. I wasn’t really liking the voice or the set-up at all, with the girl and her crappy boyfriend and how she lost everyone close to her because she was totally in love with this guy and it was just all so typical. Rolling my eyes, all that jazz.

And then it got dark. Like, really dark. Like murder and revenge and cold-blooded death dark and then Caine had my full attention.
I loved how the carnival was set up, this old rickety, creaky thing that looked like a death trap and IRONY. I really liked where the story went and how it revealed what the carnival really was, and I liked how Caine went THERE with Kiley and what she needed and, deep down in her heart, wanted to do. It put Caine’s vampires in a whole new light for me and I’m about to be all over this.

So totally glad I read ‘The Cold Girl’ and that I didn’t stop reading it after the first few pages. Really it was too short to stop reading. Not even 35 pages. But Caine slapped me in the face with darkness after the stereotypical set-up and now I can’t get enough of it.

4.5

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in print, not audio, but couldn't find a better edition. Started the story, HATED it. Put it down after 3 pages. Thought about what made me hate it. Picked it up again, finished it, and, although it still had distasteful elements, I ended up enjoying the twist. I like Caine's writing, and I suppose I should appreciate that she has the power to disturb me.

[Tasha Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the Carniepunk novella s. just wish they came in a single novel/eBook

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still loved it, but too much of a happy ending.<\spoiler>

[Cas ♛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Rachel Caine! The Cold Girl was fast paced, and awesome. I loved every word of it. Morganville was awesome, and The COld Girl was definitely on the same scale.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The twist wasn't what I was expecting, so, I enjoyed the story that much more. Though I have to say that the heroine even in this brief story was a tad annoying.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad, always wish they were longer.