Hell bent on upping her body count, Nikki takes Nicole on a psychotic rampage against her will. After a life full of devastation, crazy thoughts invade Nicole's head and she can no longer save Jeremy or herself from what she's about to endure. Burning flesh, cracking skulls, and the smell of Jeremy's cum are the only things that excite her.
Amanda Lee was born and raised in Forest, Mississippi. She burst onto the literary scene in 2009. In September 2012, Amanda Lee decided to self-publish under her own publishing house, Vicious Ink Publications. She writes in the thriller, horror, women's fiction, and erotic genres. She served twelve years in law enforcement and now, writes as a full-time author and aspiring screenwriter. She has thirteen publications under her belt and working towards many more projects.
The good, the bad, and the ugly best describes “Deranged” by Amanda Lee. So let’s start with the good. The book’s premise is a good one. Nikki, Nicole’s alter ego, manifested at an early age to deal with the things Nicole’s fragile mind could not. Nikki doesn’t mind speaking up on Nicole’s behalf or even acting out when she feels Nicole has been wronged. With the men in Nicole’s life doing her wrong, Nikki has plenty of work to do. That is where all goodness ends, at the core of its premise. The execution is another story and that leads us to the bad.
“Deranged” sorely lacks development – development of plot, development of character, development of plausibility. There are so many things that simply don’t make sense, are over the top and/or unbelievable. The author attempts to give background information on the main character Nicole to explain away her psychosis but the attempt fails, chipping further away at the book’s credibility. Gratuitous sex is thrown throughout the novel for good measure.
That brings us to the ugly. The language is absurd. In the prologue alone, the words b*tch and p*ssy are collectively used close to fifty times. With the exception of the pages with book business (copyright page, dedication, publisher info), I do not believe there is a single page that is b*tch-free. I lost count of the number of times Nicole’s lady part was mentioned or its quality. It’s an adult novel and adult language is expected, but this is ridiculous. If the obscene language was removed from this book, the word count would decrease by at least half.
“Deranged” is badly written, sloppily edited, and overloaded with terrible dialogue, lead by a poorly developed character through an improbable plot. As is, I cannot recommend this book and a sequel is very much ill advised.
Deranged: The Beginning by Amanda Lee is a good and crazy read. This is my first time reading from this author. Amanda Lee introduced me to this crazy characters. She did a good job.
Deranged is not the first crazy book that I read. Nicole or Nikki is crazy and desperate. Nicole wants to be love and happy but she's example of deranged. She needs to get something help for herself.
I'm looking forward to reading part 2 of this book. I want to read more books from this author.
Amanda Lee. Her book deranged was just that. This chic Nicole was a stone cold crazy. Reminds I'd Kendall Banks books 1 night stand and a another 1 night stand. I don't know who was crazier.
It was a great read. Although I’m not a big fan of series I will certainly read book 2! I was hooked from beginning to end. The action scenes were the best. I was caught up in whether or not Nicole would get caught. The storyline was relatable but at times repetitive on Nikki’s end. I think the author did an amazing job at writing an entertaining story.
Nicole's father didn't let a day go by where she had to question his love for her. She knew he would keep her safe from harm but most of all she knew he loved her. Unlike her mother who Nicole called evil she made her life a living hell. She denied her food and made her sleep in a dark barn, as punishment. As a child she never understood why her mother didn't love her. Why don't you love me mommy? What did I do mommy? Why you hate me so much? Why Mama? All Nicole wanted was a mother and a father who loved her. She didn't ask to be born to a mother who hated her and a sister who treated her like she was nothing. Growing up in a lopsided household with a father who told her, she was his angel and a mother who called her the B word every chance she got. This affected Nicole in the most unbelievable of ways. As tough as life was for her she beats the odds and becomes a successful attorney. However it's evident that Nicole is emotionally inept, her relationships with men always end tragically. The book opens with such an explosive scene where I almost put it down. We are introduced to Marvin. He and Nicole are dating and he sets in motion a plan to break her heart and her spirit or so he thought. But his plan backfires and is quickly introduced to a monster by the name of Nikki. Nikki is the polar opposite of Nicole she has an arsenal of weapons on hand for just the right moment and she doesn't hesitate to use any of them; 9mm, knife, a lamp or an axe. Nikki's temper is like lava erupting from a volcano and it only takes being called a B, feeling rejected or threatened in any way that will let the monster in her loose. The next relationship she has is with Jeremy. Jeremy is only interested in a friendship with benefits but Nicole has something different on her mind. Needing Jeremy to love her she continues on with the affair and Jeremy continues accepting the benefits. After a while he begins dating others it seems the other women are ok with not being in a committed relationship, but not Nicole. As time passes the women in Jeremy's life begin to disappear and he questions the woman who claims to love him Nicole. Jeremy decides to put a bit of distance between him and Nicole. She flips out and decides anyone who tried to get with Jeremy will die. Ms. Lee's Deranged is a fast pace thriller filled with a lot of blood, guts and gore topped with cuss words. This book should have a disclaimer on it like a Lil Wayne CD - "Parental Advisory Parental Content". If you like urban fiction blended with murder, blood and guts then this is the book for you. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. Missy Readers Paradise 3 book marks
Nicole is a troubled woman who suffers from a multiple personality disorder, one that spurns the evil and diabolical personality “Nikki”. Nicole is just escaping an abusive relationship by murdering her abusive boyfriend (per Nikki) and later tries to move forward and live a normal life. However this is impossible when she tries to build a relationship with new love interest Jeremy who lets it be known from the beginning, he is in it for the sex. Nicole seems to once again get involve in a relationship with a man who doesn’t love and respect her while philandering with other women in her face. The cycle continues and Nikki takes matters in her own hands by viciously murdering any woman or man who stands in the way of Nicole’s obsessive love for Jeremy. As the murders progress, we soon learn the motivation behind her murderous rampage is the deep and sickening sexual abuse she suffered as a child, when heightens Nikki murderous lust to seek those of her past for retribution. Soon things spiral out of control as Nikki becomes the stronger personality and suspicions rise causing a ripple effect on Nicole/Nikki that she didn’t expect from the least expected person.
What did you like about the book? The title definitely fit the actions of Nikki (the alter personality) actions. Very disturbing and diabolical. Actions so graphic, I would recommend a warning label on cover for the average reader to be forewarned.
What did you dislike about the book? The main character Nicole personality was not as developed as Nikki and the storyline seemed to be repeating the same cycle of actions over and over. The murders being so rampant and close together in reality should have drawn more police attention and suspicions from those around her. It was obvious she was the murderer because it was always the same cycle, over and over.
More focus should have been on 'why she was so smitten in Jeremy, there was no character development to truly justify her obsession, more information should have been given about her past in the beginning than at the end of the book per se to give a better understanding of the character.
What could the author do to improve the book? Building up the minor characters relationships with the main character would have made this book stronger, also having more realistic repercussions develop from the actions of the character would have helped as well.
First off let me start by saying that this book was good in the sense of the storyline. The idea was a good one and I feel like it could have been a five star had the dialogue been different. It kept me engaged and interested in what Nicole/Nikki would do next. That being said, I can't help but admit that the dialogue, in my humble opinion, was absolutely AWFUL. Every other word in that book was "b****." It was so tedious to read. I was like geez really. I would flip to random parts of the book and there were at least four b****s per page. There are 205 pages. You do the math. Needless to say, all of that was overkill. I understand that within an urban fiction book there will be cursing and obscenities. To be quite honest obscenities can give a book a bit of flavor, in much the same way that garlic can give a little kick to a bland dish. But as with any seasoning, too much of a good thing can completely kill the dish all together. And sad to say, that's what all of those b****s did for me. It makes me feel that the author has a limited vocabulary and can't get her point across without calling someone out of their name. I mean Nikki called herself a b****, called Nicole a b****, called all the men a b****. All the men called Nikki a b**** or a crazy b****. I swear if I never see that word again in a book, it'll be too soon. I dont know if there will be a sequel to this or not... I'm assuming there might. But to be quite honest, I'm not so sure I'm going to read it. I dont think I can sit through another 200 pages of b****. It makes me just not care what happens to Nikki.
As I said, the storyline was very good, and had it been developed more with interesting dialogue, I could have appreciated it more. Amanda Lee has the potential to be an excellent author, but her vocabulary definitely needs to expand. If this is her first book, I'd say it was a good first book. As with any author, writing more and more stories increases the author's skill and I believe that Amanda Lee will become a superstar within the urban fiction world... that is of course, if she learns not to kill her story with such limited dialogue.
this book was beyond crazy and the i see why the author choose this title for this book cause everybody was deranged as hell great plot twist and turns it was never a dull moment reading this book this author really brought her a game keep up the good work
On the aftermath of an abusive past and in order to lead a somewhat normal life Nicole blocks out her childhood memories. In dealing with current relationships, Nicole expects commitment, trust and love, something she felt was lacking in her upbringing. But her latest beau Jeremy goes against all these things, which could prove to be deadly for him! Disappointed.
I kept wondering how Nicole could just up and afford to move as she pleased, considering how she handled her job it was cloudy how or where she got her money from. Not sure why Nicole was so obsessed with Jeremy, as I didn’t see anything special about his character. The interactions between Nicole and Nikki were bordering confusing; I would have liked to see a clear division there, as sometimes it was difficult to differentiate between the two. The “B” word is used excessively!! Nikki was supposed to be Nicole’s protector but yet screamed obscenities at her constantly! There were no repercussions from the many murders committed, which I found unreal.
The ingredients for a good story are definitely here, as the premise is a good one. But the content is mix-matched and cloudy along with shaky editing and sleazy dialogue. I looked forward to reading this story, but I was disappointed.
Locksie August 10, 2012 ARC Book Club Inc. Star Rating 2.0**
My exposure to African American Southern Gothic Urban Pulp Fiction Horror (whew) is pretty limited, so I’ll review Deranged in the sprit of it’s own... derangement I guess!
Anyway, on with the review. This is one “crazy” story that is uncompromisingly over the top in every imaginable sense, utterly politically incorrect, trashy fun, and as inspirational as a punch in the dick. There’s no literary pretensions here, and Deranged is completely unapologetic about it.
Nikki/Nicole is our serial killing protagonist who goes off on a revenge rampage of sheer bloody murder against every Pussy Ass Asshole who’s done her wrong, abused her, or just wouldn’t get out of the way. She’s kind of like the Jason Voorhees of misplaced romantic actions in trying to win the love of hapless (and clueless) Jeremy. Her shit-list is a pretty long list - author Amanda Lee has recently released her third book in the series.
PROS: A rare character - a first-person serial killing female who isn’t burdened with mercy, over-thinking her motivations, or sanity, for that matter.
CONS: The language is pretty salty. The psycho killing and sex are full-on, and might be hard-going if you prefer more subtlety in your Murder-Death-Kill.
I’ll rate Deranged for readers who are already fans of the serial-killer genre and want a urban horror/thriller that’s easy to follow - 4 stars
23 year old Nicole has had one crazy life since the day she was born.Growing up in an abusive household,she feels like she is all alone.After graduating from college and becoming a lawyer she begins to try to look for love, problem is when she love hard she loves hard.Guy after guy has let her down until she meets Jeremy.
When Nicole get feds up with men treating her badly,Nikki kicks in and show the world she is not to be messed with but,what will happen when things have gotten to far and Nikki is uncontrollable?
This story was very paced and I loved the action and drama it had.Although at times I felt that it was missing a big bang.If you don't really pay attention to the story you will get confused with the characters.Overall the story had great potential.I would recommend this to my all my reading friends.Can't wait for part 2
Action filled, great read. The cliff hanger at the end made me upset because I felt there should have been more. The premise was great and the author told the story well. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Nicole /Nikki is a very disturbed woman! She was put through a lot a very young age and needed protection! Boy does she has protection now!! Ooohhh she is not a joke at all! This book is a serious page Turner! Action, drama, lies, murder, deceit and cheating! Please read this you won't be disappointed!
I have never read a book like this. I was caught up in it from the beginning. Nicole went thru a lot of pain and she needs help. Very suspenseful like i was watching a thriller movie.