Horror Aficionados discussion

Here's is a place for us to discuss this month's Sponsored Group Listen, Seeing Evil by Jason Parent!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jason for his generosity to us Horror Aficionados! Thanks, Jason!

I hope everyone enjoys the listen. Please remember to use spoiler tags as necessary and please don't forget about leaving a review. Happy listening!

Looking forward to getting started - just have get through this rather bad book I'm listening to right now.
Luckily we have a whole month, must admit I'm really looking forward to it.

I had the kindle so bought the add on audible for it. I'll be joining in a week or so.

Charlotte wrote: "Looking forward to getting started - just have get through this rather bad book I'm listening to right now.
Luckily we have a whole month, must admit I'm really looking forward to it."

I'm listening to one that's not so great too. :(

Char wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Looking forward to getting started - just have get through this rather bad book I'm listening to right now.
Luckily we have a whole month, must admit I'm really looking forward t..."

Death over bad books :-D

I'm in the same boat and finishing up a book I'm currently listening to but will jump in when I can!

Wish I was in the same boat of finishing a book. Unfortunately I'm writing exams, but I already started with Seeing Evil last night. The writing style is very much like what I've seen in thrillers so far (less horror). The narrator (female) also does the voices pretty well, although one or two characters sound almost the same. The publisher looks almost like a vanity press, but apparently they don't ask writers to pay for distribution. I read somewhere they use CreateSpace for hard copies, but it seems they try to do a decent job with editing, etc. once they sign a writer. All that aside, so far not too bad at all.

finished up another book last night and start this one when I went out for my morning walk. Only listened to the first 50 minutes or so but am enjoying it quite a bit so far. Thanks again!

I started listening to it last weekend! Listening to audiobooks is very relaxing for me, especially as it starts getting colder outside.

Anna wrote: "I started listening to it last weekend! Listening to audiobooks is very relaxing for me, especially as it starts getting colder outside."

It's cheating when you start so early :-)

I started yesterday and got to Chapter 6. I have a 3 HR ride to St Louis tonight so I'll get some serious time in then too.

I started yesterday & am on Chapter 4. Was not loving the narrator at first-but getting more used to her as the book progresses.

I'm off to a good start. More mystery than the horror I was expecting but I'm cool with that.

I will start and most likely finish in a day or two. I listen for at least 8 hours a night while im working plus the ride to and from. IM just commenting so i dont lose the thread.

I'm psyched to see people have already started. Well done! :)

Justin, that's pretty cool. I'm able to listen at work sometimes, depending on what I'm doing that day. Usually with tasks that need my full attention-I find myself unable to listen. Luckily, most of my tasks are mindless. :)

I drive a forktruck at general motors and they recently told us we can use bone conducting headphones. It's brainless work that i don't have to think about so i listen all night.

Justin wrote: "I drive a forktruck at general motors and they recently told us we can use bone conducting headphones. It's brainless work that i don't have to think about so i listen all night."

I worked for GM for many years, but at the dealership level. Now I work for import dealers, but still drive a GM car and always will. :)

Factory work isn't bad, as long as i can listen to my books. I used to have time to read my kindle but they added to the jobs and made them really busy. Listening is better just because i don't have to put it down all night, but it's also more expensive. Expedient since i go through a novel a night on average.

Justin wrote: "Factory work isn't bad, as long as i can listen to my books. I used to have time to read my kindle but they added to the jobs and made them really busy. Listening is better just because i don't hav..."

I download a lot of my audios free from my library through Overdrive. Audios get expensive really fast.

The story is compelling but the narrator isn't my favorite.The voices all sound alike and the boys don't sound like teens. I wish it had been narrated by a guy.

About to head out for a stroll at lunch, so I'm excited to start listening! I also just finished an audio book that took forever, so excited for this :)

Bark's Book Nonsense wrote: "The story is compelling but the narrator isn't my favorite.The voices all sound alike and the boys don't sound like teens. I wish it has been narrated by a guy."

That's a bummer. I didn't take an audio code this time around because I've already read the book. A narrator that doesn't work for you is hard to deal with though.

Yea, narration is bad. Her male voices sound like she is making fun of a person with down syndrome, and they all sound the same. It's Kind of ruining it for me.

The narration isn't great but I'm still okay with it so far. I've listened to some real shit lately so maybe I'm quicker to give it a pass.

I'm at the halfway point and it has gotten better. The male voices are still bad but better than the beginning, maybe she was still warming up or something. As for the book itself, I'm really enjoying it.

While not my favorite narrator -that would be Luke Daniels- she is not even close to the worst I've heard, so no real complaints.

The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to the house but once they are told to get out and they don't I'm lost. No search warrant, no search end of story. And then the wife jumping up and beating the guy? Find that hard to follow seeing as she was described as being extremely out of it. Just dosent seem realistic.

All done, i will write my review and share it tomorrow. I enjoyed it though.

J.M. wrote: "The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to the house but once they are told to get out and they ..."

I agree, a few things bugged me in that chapter (& others). She goes quite quickly from not believing him, to bringing him to assist at interrogations & crime scenes.

Barb wrote: "J.M. wrote: "The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to the house but once they are told to get ..."


Yeah the transition from skeptic to believer happens quickly, but given the details he gave her about what was going to happen ahead of time at school it doesn't seem unbelievable. I do agree that parts of Chapter 9 push the boundaries of believability, but that doesn't bother me all that much.

As someone who grew up in Rhode Island I do like the setting. I used to go through Fall River all the time, not that any of the locations are all that familiar to me, I just like that I know the setting on a personal level. That make any sense?

K.L. wrote: "Barb wrote: "J.M. wrote: "The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to the house but once they are..."

Yes, it does make sense! I always like it when I'm even vaguely familiar with the settings in a book. I think Jason might be from around that area.

Char wrote: "K.L. wrote: "Barb wrote: "J.M. wrote: "The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to the house but ..."

I wasn't questioning the setting as much as the actions of the police officer. I like the setting. What bothered me was the actions of the characters. I'm fairly sure a woman who has been tied up in the basement who has been abused repeatedly and can barely open her eyes or moan, isn't going to jump out of the chair and beat the heck out of her attacker. She's barely going to be able to stand. I'm probably being to analytical but this bothered me.

J.M. wrote: "Char wrote: "K.L. wrote: "Barb wrote: "J.M. wrote: "The person reading is definitely less than desirable.

Did anyone else find chapter 9 slightly unbelievable? I'll go with you taking the kid to t..."


I can definitely agree wit that. Depending on her personality the wife may or may not have wanted to beat the crap out of him, but if she'd been there for days and days you are quite correct that she likely wouldn't have the strength to do what she did. Though, stress/adrenaline can get people to do some amazing things. But in all likelihood she would have been a wreck who would have needed help just to get back up the stairs.

And I didn't think you were questioning the setting. I was just making a personal observation that I like that the story was taking place in an area I am familiar with. So much of what I read takes place in locations I've either never been or am not all that familiar with.

K.L. wrote: "Barb wrote: "J.M. wrote: "As someone who grew up in Rhode Island I do like the setting..."
I wasn't aware that Fall River was a real place! It is cool to have a book set in a place you are familiar with. I had a lot of fun reading Monster Hunter Alpha because it took place in the U.P. of Michigan.

I agree that we readers might give more of a pass to the police procedures, etc. if Sam was a P.I. and not a cop. Nobody challenges a teenager being onsite. Seems like any extra people would be booted out. But, I don't personally know how police behave at crime scenes. Though I thought it was pretty unlikely that a cop would be joking about the music his teenager likes while processing a scene with a horribly mutilated corpse! But, who knows? Still I am enjoying the story.

The narrator occasionally adds a pause where there shouldn't be one and some of her voices sound like Napolean Dynamite's brother, but other than that she's not bugging me so much now that I'm halfway through.

Barb wrote: "some of her voices sound like Napolean Dynamite's brother,.."

That's perfect.

The narration has grown on me and I feel for both Tessa and Michael but Sam is acting so unprofessionally and carelessly that she's driving me a little nuts.

(view spoiler)[bringing Michael to a morgue to touch a dead body, ffs. Hasn't that kid seen enough of hell already? (hide spoiler)]

I actually don't think she is unprofessional - I just finished the book.
I plan on writing some more detailed thoughts tomorrow :-)

almost done and definitely would say it's an enjoyable story, but noticed one major continuity error

(view spoiler)[ in chapter 19 (I think) the author goes out his way to stress it's Tessa's job to answer the door, ONLY she answers the door, she has to run down the stairs to before the second knock or doorbell so she doesn't get in trouble with her dad. As the woman of the house it's her duty ... okay and yet just one or two chapters beforehand the dad answers the door when Sam shows up and a chapter or two before that wasn't he the one that answered the door when the school social worker woman shows up? (might be wrong on that one, can't recall 100%) That just struck me as fairly jarring. (hide spoiler)]

About 50% into the novel. I think parent made a huge mistake with the age of Michael.(view spoiler)[ Because Michael is still basically a minor, none of the scenes where he helps Sam (the detective) seems remotely realistic. In what world can a detective take a kid into a morgue to look at a mutilated corpse? (hide spoiler)]This huge flaw in the concept would probably knock at least two stars off my review. It's sad, because the writing is actually good. But if suspension of disbelief flies out the window you lost me.

I'm having huge problems getting audible to sync with my kindle book. That aside I've been listening through the audible app and the narrator is pretty annoying, I've switched to listening to it text to speech which is better. I'm enjoying the story so far but not very far in.

I wonder if the text to speech has improved since the last time I tried it out. The opinion of the narrator seems to be pretty universal here.

John wrote: "Kate wrote: "I'm having huge problems getting audible to sync with my kindle book. That aside I've been listening through the audible app and the narrator is pretty annoying, I've switched to liste..."

There is no audio option for download, I've been on to audible about it and they're trying to figure out why the audible option isn't there with the kindle book.

Char wrote: "I wonder if the text to speech has improved since the last time I tried it out. The opinion of the narrator seems to be pretty universal here."

It sounds much less robotic than when I first tried it so It does seem to have improved.

I'm at ch15, nearly halfway through, and enjoying the story so far, though I agree that a better narrator could have been found. I almost wish she wouldn't even try to use different voices, because frankly, some of them just sound ridiculous.

One thing I like so far is that Michael is acting his age. So many authors will write a kid that age and have them act with the maturity of an adult, when the reality is the vast majority of kids that age do not.

I agree Robert. His thoughts really ring true for his age. I have two teens at home and he never felt false to me.

definitely has the teen angst feel down

I just posted my full review. I think this was a good first draft but could use some polish and additions.

I just finished listening to it! I'll post my review very soon!

J.M. wrote: "I just posted my full review. I think this was a good first draft but could use some polish and additions."

Your honest review is appreciated, J.M. I wish it had worked better for you.

Char wrote: "J.M. wrote: "I just posted my full review. I think this was a good first draft but could use some polish and additions."

Your honest review is appreciated, J.M. I wish it had worked better for you."

Please don't think I didn't like the book. I did enjoy it. I just thought it could be better. I really hope Parent sees my comments as constructive feedback and does a revision. I would be game to re-read this if he did a re-write.