Watch Your Back

by James Scott Bell

Like your suspense lean and mean? From the master of "heart-whamming" thrillers (Publishers Weekly) comes a collection of suspense full of the twists and shocks James Scott Bell is known for.In the title novella, "Watch Your Back," hotshot IT guy Cameron Cates seems to have it all. A secure job, a fiancée who loves him and the prospect of a steady life ahead. But then he sees her. The new woman at work. And like watching a car crash in slow motion, Cam knows he can't turn away and is powerless to stop what happens next. A tale of lust and greed and corporate America––and what happens to dreams that become all too real."Fore Play" is the story of the world's top golfer and the trouble that follows his off the course activities. Let's put it this his game will never be the same.In "Rage Road," a nice young couple thinks they're out for a smooth ride through some lovely country. The truck behind them has a different idea. Married man Frank Dabney has learned to listen to his wife, Susie. But in "Heed the Wife" he finds out he may have listened one too many times. "Compulsively readable, Bell takes his place at the top of the crowded suspense genre." – Sheldon Siegel, New York Times bestselling author"One of the best writers out there, bar none." – In the Library Review

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery Thriller

130 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2011

About the author

Jim is a former trial lawyer who now writes and speaks full time. He is the bestselling author of Try Dying, No Legal Grounds, Presumed Guilty, Glimpses of Paradise, Breach of Promise and several other thrillers. He is a winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Inspirational Fiction, and was a fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine. He has written two books in the Writers' Digest series, Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure and Revision & Self-Editing.

Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and numerous writers conferences. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver.

Series:
* Shannon Saga (with Tracie Peterson)
* The Trials of Kit Shannon
* Ty Buchanan

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watch Your Back was different than I expected. It wasn't uplifting, but it did showcase how greed can change someone's life. The MC annoyed me with how he just threw away his relationship with his fiancé for someone else.

[Carlos Río · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dos aspectos muy buenos de Bell son los diálogos, que se leen muy bien y van a toda pastilla, y las metáforas que utiliza para describir, que son muy originales ("Su pelo negro le descendía por los hombros como el sueño de un mercader de seda"; "Toqueteé con torpeza mi Blackberry, como si yo fuera Oliver Hardy"; "Agitó la coctelera con ritmo, como si fuera una bailarina española con maracas"), pero las tramas están tan forzadas, que el comportamiento de los personajes es inverosímil; en otras palabras, para encajar las tramas, los personajes de Bell no son creíbles.

http://www.elrincondecarlosdelrio.com...

[PeachyKeenTom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I now buy James Scott Bell's books because he was the author. This one, though, was not my cup of tea at all. The stories all seemed to be about stupid on top of stupid and I thought them tiring instead of interesting.

[Sarita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a new to me author. I was not a fan of this novella and short stories. Some stories was more interesting than others, and the novella felt unfinished.

I will try this author again to compare his full novels, I know his stories are rated well, so will give it a chance in the future.

[Jennifer Cagle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not care for it.

This was not my style at all. I did not like the irony I guess. I've loved all the books by this author I've read until this one. I guess I need happy endings.

[GW · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watch your back

This book did nothing for me. It was actually 3 short stories that had absolutely nothing to do with each other. I thought they would be tired together in some fashion. Not the case.

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different reading

These 3 novellas were ok, but each could have been a little
longer, but the surprise ending for each of the stories was interesting.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It looks like I read this in 2015, but I couldn't remember much (any!) of it. I really enjoyed re-reading these stories, though.

[Kathy Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading James Scott Bell's "Watch Your Back: a novella & 3 stories". Having read nothing by this author before (but I certainly will in the near future!), I wasn't sure what to expect. It didn't take long to find the adventure, humor and wildly fun ride that were sitting in my Kindle for me to enjoy! The title piece takes our protagonist, Cam, on a life experience he'll not soon forget. He's got a nice, steady job, a nice, steady fiancé, and a nice, steady marriage looms in his near future. But he's also got a case of cold feet and sees his long-term future as a dull, plodding march to middle age, retirement, old age, and then death. Not a pleasant view from the twenty-something's perspective. Ah, but then Laine enters the picture, "the new girl" in the office. Laine appears to Cam's eyes as a source of the adventure and excitement he's been seeking in life. And so he switches from thinking with his brain, to thinking with his ... well, you get the picture.

I was a bit hesitant when I came across the Christian messages in this story. I feared this was going to be another one of those "preachy" evangelical morality stories. But my fears were unfounded; the Christian messages were done tastefully and did not go in the self-righteous direction I had anticipated. All these stories had moral consequences, but they were done in a humorous and casually laid-back manner which I enjoyed immensely.

I do have to wonder, though, about the theme of woman leading man to moral decay and certain disaster, a la Adam and Eve. This seems to be a common thread in 3 out of these 4 stories (the exception being "Rage Road", where the guy manages to screw up his life - and hers - all on his own). Do I sense some animosity towards women? Whatever the case, we readers get to benefit by this author's wonderful creativity and writing style. Can't wait to read another set of his stories!

[Carolyn Steed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading

This was garbage written by a talented and acclaimed author. Forget the short stories and eventually you will publish another best seller. You are too talented to sink to this level.

[Ara Grigorian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say, I didn't know what to expect when I bought the book. Some months back, I have read Mr. Bell's TRY FEAR and loved it. I've relied on his non-fiction books to help write two novels. In short, have a lot of respect for what James Scott Bell does.

Back to the book: I killed my sleep pattern on the first night. I read the first two stories in one sitting. The next ones, I finished up the next morning. The writing is crisp, fun, and the stories keep you "flipping" the pages.

I've had a lot of suspicions with eBooks that are self-published. I've bought two in the past and honestly, couldn't get passed the first five pages-- Mistakes, poor dialogue, flat characters, no story!

Then I got this. Granted, James is no amateur, so I knew I'd get a great story. But what I got was the rebirth of an old genre. I can see how great authors, who want to write short stories, now have a very viable medium. If you like solid stories, told by a great story teller, then this book will do the trick.

I highly recommend it, and look forward to future releases. Now, if only more established writers did this, then the eBook business could see a new spike in sales and confidence.

[Mark Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author James Scott Bell’ WATCH YOUR BACK novella, trailed by three short stories, takes readers to the edge of conflict, dipping into the blackness of human greed, anger and lust. Center stage in this novella, Cam emerges as a conflicted computer geek whose attention is captured by the alluring new employee, Laine. Cam has already promised his hand in marriage to another woman, but his desire to shed any religions restraints—represented by his fiancée, Ann Pellite, and her church-going family—slowly draws him to walk on the wild side with Laine. As he grapples with the allure of money, greed, and excitement, he begins to find out that not everything is what it appears to be. WATCH YOUR BACK, coupled with similar messages in the three short stories—FORE PLAY, RAGE ROAD, and HEED THE WIFE—gives readers a good taste of James Scott Bell in full writing form. Recommend readers grab their own copy soon and enjoy each unexpected ending as these stories unfold.

[Jill Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of short crime stories. The first story is a great deal longer than the others. They were fun to have to read when I had just a few minutes here and there. I could read one, then put the book down until later without that craving to know what happens next. I’ve never read an anthology before, so that was kind of nice.

The stories were darker. They left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. Most of them ended with the Twilight Zone-esque cliffhangers that make you think. So if you are a fan of closure and happy endings, you won’t find that here. But these are interesting stories about people being people, succumbing to greed, lust, power, and pride. They’ll make you think, that’s for sure.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all what I thought it would be...not sure what I was expecting though. James Scott Bell is going to be my mentor at the Head Start Clinic of the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer's Conference in just over a week.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed. I usually love books by this author but I think this time he disappointed. He did not stick to his Christian beliefs and I was also disappointed in the ending.

[Rory Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid little crime collection: a novella plus three stories. A nice level of darkness -- not oppressive, but by no means tame. I ate it up less than a day like a bag of chips.

[John Kilgallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story/novella reading and education on the first person narrative POV.