Placebo

by Paul Allih

Emma is a teenage girl who has spent most of her life being shuffled from place to place. Between her mother’s drug addiction and her sister’s overbearing nature, Emma feels she is being forced to grow up sooner then she should. Using brooding music and paranormal romance novels as a means of escape; Emma hides from the hell that she faces every day.

Finally settling in a small coastal town, Emma meets Matt, a man who she believes to be the prince that she has always dreamed of. At first she finds herself drawn to his dark and strange desires, but the closer they become, the more Emma realizes that there is something horribly wrong with Matt. The person who she thought could save her from her life, might be the same man who could end it.

"This is not a book for everyone. In fact, not even general horror readers may be able to stomach the atmosphere set and presented in Placebo. This is a book for the hardcore horror aficionado who is mildly amused by about 75 percent of today’s horror fare and who actively searches for deep, dark, sinister and mysterious plots that might even see Stephen King raise an eyebrow or two." - Sylvia Cochran, The Deepening

Genres: Horror

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2011

About the author

Paul Allih is a self-professed writer hiding out in a small Florida town; he watches the waves crash into the sand as the world goes mad, fueling him with a stream of unending inspiration.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing trash: Every character is deeply flawed and irredeemable. Author lectures about the pitiful condition of each of them until they are murdered. Is this a commentary on modern society's evils or just an amateur taking the easy way out with shallow one-dimensional writing? The dialogue is on the level of 3rd grade writing: stilted, obvious, unrealistic. Other exposition is clinical in its detachment: It reads like a Twilight Zone voiceover--with all the irony removed. No sense of place or believable background.

And if you are checking into this book looking for some 'edgy' gore and violence; give it a pass. There's dozens of authors that do it better and more shocking if you like: CLive Barker (20+ years ago), Mo Hayder, John Connolly to name a few. Those authors will reward you with a well-constructed story, though.

Delete/Recycle.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out disjointed and lacking...reached a plateau of awesomeness and potential...only to end with one of the most disappointing and shortsighted endings I've ever seen. It went from 1 star to 4 stars, only to settle on 2.

[Lorrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars
The wording was strange - there were dashes between certain words where they didn't belong. Plot started out well, but fizzled and the ending was anticlimactic. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters.