After becoming friends with a mysterious entity named Jeremy, Zack, a skinny fifteen-year-old nerd suffering from polydactyly, acquires a taste for killing.
First, he butchers his parents in their sleep. Then he cold-bloodedly rips out his schoolmate’s intestines. A few days later, Zack strangles a young woman before stealing her car. And that is just the beginning.
Who--or what--is Jeremy? And what are the reasons behind this killing spree? If you think you know the answers, chances are you are wrong.
DRM-free horror thriller.
(Some believe this is a prequel to "Hitchhiker." They could be right.) --------------------------- BONUS:
Suspense thriller "Hitchhiker" by Tim Kizer.
When a serial killer hitches a ride one sunny day in a beautiful California valley, he does not suspect that he may have met his match, who is dead set to take another life. The battle of wits begins and only the most devious mind will survive.
------------------ Suspense novelette "Intoxication" by Tim Kizer.
Are you paranoid if you end up dead?
Leslie has a suspicion: someone at work is trying to poison her. Can she prove it? No, and she doesn't care that she can't as she takes the law into her hands.
How about those who dismiss her fears and believe she is paranoid? Well, they certainly deserve to be punished.
What does she do when she starts questioning her own suspicions--and sanity? Hmm. That's complicated.
In this disturbing tale of derangement, a young psychopathic woman is slipping into madness as she fights an enemy that may exist only in her imagination. She has to resort to desperate measures when she realizes that a gun, security cameras in her apartment, and constant vigilance will not be enough to survive. It is hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if the cat is not there, but Leslie, with her resolve fueled by paranoia, is hell-bent on finding and slaughtering it.
--- Plus a preview of Tim Kizer's paranormal horror novel "Days of Vengeance."
I was sent the title story for review by the author. As I understand it from reading amazon the one available online has extra stories that I didn't get so my review is exclusive to Sixtus.
I've known that polydactyly existed but not familiar with what it's officially called to have extra digits. Now I know.
In the story Zack has an extra digit or at least he did it was removed when he was still a kid. At 15 he has very few friends, is a skinny loner who talks pretty much only to Jeremy. Pity no one else can talk to Jeremy. Why can only Zack? More importantly why does Jeremy think that Zack killing his parents and a whole host of other people is a good idea? Well sadly we never find that out. The story is an interesting though not new idea. Now while I like a short story sometimes you want more, this story was very basic and much too short. Why does Zack not question Jeremy? We never get answers to many aspects of the story like how and why. The characters are not fleshed out at all even Zack is pretty basic. I think it's a start but should be worked on.
Sixtus by Tim Kizer Tim Kizer’s stories are always creepy and as someone who wants to read more horror stories lately, I enjoy reading his stories. Sixtus was no exception, it had this creepy element with a bit of gory descriptions which just made it a really interesting story. One thing I notice about Tim Kizer’s stories is that the majority of them have these subtle little twists that add this extra piece to the story to make it all that more awesome. I enjoyed Sixtus, it has the gore, the creepiness and there is a twist that I didn’t guess at all. The story is really short and you don’t get the full picture of all that is happening but it’s enough to leave you guessing at the end which I really enjoyed. While I didn’t connect with the character Zack but I didn’t feel it detracting from the story any. As this is a short story you kind of just go with the flow of what’s going on and so while I didn’t think Zack was an interesting character I still enjoyed reading about him. Overall, I really enjoyed Sixtus, if you’re really into horror stories then I would highly suggest you check out Tim Kizer’s work because he is brilliant at crafting horror stories.
Zack’s parents don’t approve of his best friend. They’re not too keen on his talking to himself either. But suddenly they’re dead and Zack can’t remember how it happened but it looks like he’s to blame. The mysterious Jeremy coaches teenaged Zack in how to kill and how to survive in Tim Kizer’s gruesome horror story, Sixtus, but there’s a Twilight-Zone feel to the sting in this tale that will leave readers guessing.
Sixtus is a quick read, written in a smoothly detached style, very creepy, definitely gruesome, and an enjoyable treat for adults at Halloween.
Disclosure: The author gave me a free ecopy of this story with his request for an honest review.
Humor and horror don't always go together well, as many writers have discovered to their dismay. There's a thin line sometimes between tongue-in-cheek humor that reinforces the creepy mood the author's attempting to create and downright silliness that completely destroys the mood. Tim Kizer attempts this type of dark humor in two of the three stories that make up his collection, Sixtus. Unfortunately, the stories turn into overlong and confusing exercises in juvenile ridiculousness.
For anyone unfamiliar with Kizer's work, this book, like several of his others, is a collection of stories, and there's considerable overlap among his various books in regard to story inclusion. This book contains three stories (the title story actually being a novelette): "Sixtus," "Hitchhiker," and "Intoxication." If you've already read other books by Kizer, be aware of any duplication or crossover. You might be paying for one or more stories you've already read.
The best story in the book, "Hitchhiker," is the shortest, but by far the best. The plot is straight out of Alfred Hitchcock. One man picks up another who is hitchhiking through a fairly remote area. Soon, both men realize that the other one is actually a serial killer, and the story turns into a duel of wits with each trying to emerge the last man alive. "Hitchhiker" has a solid premise, and Kizer tells it fairly straight, maintaining the creepy mood, generating a fair amount of curious suspense (there's no rooting interest here, since both characters are rather odious), leading to a decent twist at the end. This is one story that could, and probably should, have been longer to let the cat-and-mouse game play out some more.
And that pretty much ends the good things I have to say about this collection. The other two stories are a complete mess. The title story, “Sixtus,” is a tale of a teenage boy named Zack who was born with a rare genetic abnormality, a fully formed sixth finger on one hand. What’s more, the finger is named Jeremy and it talks to Zack, directing him to kill an every growing number of people, most notably his parents (naturally, Zack is the only one who can hear Jeremy when he gives these little encouraging pep talks to Zack). The idea of a young teen serial killer being able to fly under the radar due to his age is intriguing, but author Kizer jettisons that in favor of a number of man-to-finger talks between Zack and Jeremy that resemble something that a bad amateur comic would come up with for open mike night at the local comedy club.
At least, “Sixtus” is fairly easy to follow, something that cannot be said for the third story in the collection, “Intoxication.” It concerns a woman who thinks that her co-workers are trying to poison her so she tries to poison them, plus there’s a kidnapping or two, and other plots (real or imagined) in a story that seems to go on forever. It’s not funny, very difficult to follow, not scary or suspenseful, and the only thing that mildly piqued my interest was how anyone at this company managed to keep his or her job.
In addition to the three main stories, the book contains an extra flash fiction story, "The Bike," about a poker game gone awry, plus an excerpt from one of the author's novels. "The Bike" does not add much to the book; it's an interesting idea so poorly executed that it's nearly incomprehensible as a story.
As a standalone story, I would have recommended “Hitchhiker,” even though I wish it had been a bit longer. But it’s not a standalone story, and along with it, author Kizer gives readers, “Sixtus,” which is downright silly, and “Intoxication,” which is a complete mess. I am loath to give out one-star reviews to anything that has some merit, so I’m giving “Hitchhiker” two stars and only for someone who has never encountered the first story before. Otherwise, the rest of the book has far too many hitches in it.
Sixtus by Tim Kizer is a short novel with three short stories. I downloaded this from Kindle Unlimited based on the description I read about the “main” story, Sixtus. This was another lesson in reading a complete description of what I choose to read. I should have scrolled down for the complete description. On the other hand, I was able to compare writing styles when Kizer shifted to different plots and story lines. I found all stories fairly predictable despite the author throwing in several twists. These were not subtle; there was nothing leading up to them. For me, it was as if several story ideas were explored then a decision was made to try to link several of them into a coherent short story. The stories were not bad. They were not uninteresting. They just did not come up to the level of good.
In Sixtus, we meet Jeremy and Zack. They are close friends; Zack relies on the advice of Jeremy for almost everything. But Zack’s parents didn’t like Jeremy. Zack and Jeremy had been friends since Zack’s birth when Zack’s parents first tried to separate them. It worked for a while, but Jeremy came back. Zack had six fingers on his right hand. The sixth one was named Jeremy. And once back, Jeremy wanted revenge. His parents were right about trying to sever their son’s close relationship with Jeremy. They were dead right. Then the body count increases as Jeremy casts the net of revenge wider. Remember the doctor who had done the amputation 14 years earlier at the request of Zack’s parents?
In Hitchhiker we have the story of a killer who needs to leave the scene of a crime. Why risk stealing a car when hitchhiking is less dangerous? Ron was lucky to meet David who agreed to take him to Redding; it was on the way to David’s destination anyway. But David finds out that Ron is a serial killer. Even he is amazed at the coincidence of their meeting because, after all, David is a serial killer as well. There will have to be a showdown between these two. That will take place in the presence of a Deputy Sheriff. There is never a cop around when you need one.
There are all sorts of ways to be “out of it.” People use alcohol, drugs, meditation, and chemicals which might be considered lethal (poisons). Intoxication begins with suspicion as Leslie needs to react to Helen’s attempts to poison her. Her first attempt is to get Helen fired but the boss is having none of that. A completely unnecessary sexual meeting is inserted at this point. It relates to nothing. Leslie then tries to get help from boyfriend Rick as she acquires a gun for self-protection. After a confrontation with Helen, there is an “oops” moment when Leslie figures out it is really Kathy trying to kill her.
And Kathy has a reason.
The first words that come to my mind about this set of writings are “disconnected” and “unconnected.” Readers might note that there is an interesting connection that could have been made between Sixtus and Hitchhiker. The setup is there but the author decided not to do so. Maybe that is for another book.
I see that many were unhappy with the shortness of this story and question why? I guess I see this as a pre-curser to something bigger and maybe the author has more to add in mind. If we like this tid-bit.....well then he will add the rest of the story around it. I actually saw it as something I guess than more than what was described otherwise. I actually see a very disturbed individual, sick. It was bothersome to me and I find the horror in the fact that one would kill or have the need to kill another. The fact that one could be so easily led or directed to do so (like a whispering in one's ear or constant nagging) is even worse. It is like one is possessed. Like they are not of their own mind. Did having the extra digits give the power to do this? Does this make this one evil? The horror lies in the build of your questions why? and will there be another or more to answer it all. I think this author is just getting started and really maybe they are just about to spring something more horrific on us.......who knows?
This short novella follows Zack and his best friend Jeremy. Zack is a teenager who has six fingers on one hand. He is a loner with only one friend, Jeremy. The problem is that no one can see or hear Jeremy except for Zack. His parents are trying to get him to stop being friends with Jeremy when Zack decides he needs to kill his parents in order to keep his friend.
What follows the murder of his parents is theft, lies, and more murder. Zack goes through the motions following every direction given by Jeremy. My question was why does Zack do whatever Jeremy wants? It seemed as though he had no mind of his own and was more of a follower then anything else.
There wasn't much character development because of the length of the story. While there was murder in the story I felt as though it lacked the gore of a typical horror novel. It was a quick and easy read but I was left wondering at the end. There were too many unanswered questions.
Zack is an awkward and disturbed fifteen year old kid. The extra finger on his right hand is probably the most normal thing he has in his life. Zach is a typical teenager in the fact that he follows his friend Jeremy without question. Jeremy begins his lessons in trust while teaching Zach how to kill and then cover it up. Zach takes to killing quickly and soon readers are swept away with Zach and Jeremy’s spree.
I have a hard time defining this novella as horror. It does have a high creep factor, but it felt more twilight zoneish to me. I also felt I was missing something. I even went back and reread several pages just to make sure I didn’t somehow skip a few pages. There are some holes where Jeremy is concerned. I needed some more substance with Jeremy. Unanswered questions at the end of a book are a big disappointment for me. There are a few too many with this novella.
Zack is a lonely 15-year old who seems to only have one true friend, Jeremy. Jeremy is a mystery to the reader. Is he an imaginary friend or is he linked to Zack's extra digit that mysteriously grew back after Zack's parents had it removed? Either way, Jeremy is not a good influence. Zach does everything that Jeremy tells him to do. Now Jeremy has decided that Zack needs to murder his parents and then go find some doctor that Jeremy has it out for.
While I know this is a short story, I really wanted more from the character of Zack in terms of character building. Creep factor is high and the gruesome details that are interjected make up for some of the negatives in the storyline. In true Kizer fashion the ending with surprise you.
*Book was provided by author for an honest review*
Kizer is the master of the creepy horror, and the four stories in this book, some which have been published before, live up to that name.
Sixtus, the title story is about a teenager who has six fingers on one hand. He also hears a voice from his imaginary friend Jeremy. The boy and Jeremy get into all kinds of trouble, some of it quite bloody, and we find out who Jeremy really is. The part that was so creepy was Jeremy's dominance as almost an alter personality as well as the boy's naivety. Good combination for a horror story.
The Hitchhiker - I had read a different version of this story, but it was still excellent. The other two stories were good as well. Excellent small package of short stories.
Sixtus is totally way, way out of my comfort zone. It's probably because of my unfamiliarity with the genre (not counting the other two books I've read from Tim Kizer) that I liked it as much as I did. It's not something overly done and it's different from any everyday read.
The story is pretty short but that's actually a good thing, you don't get too into the story and you don't really get to know what kind of person the main character Zack is. And you barely find out who- or what- Jeremy is. But I liked that, the length and unanswered questions added to the mystery of it all.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A fifteen year old boy (Zack) finds a new best friend by the name of Jeremy, who has a very bad influence on him. This friendship leads to the boy killing his parents and a few more innocent people. However, the question is: who is Jeremy? How is he able to manipulate the boy? What is Jeremy's plan for Zack?
I enjoy thrillers that aren't your normal book. But this one left me asking myself what just happened. Yes, they are short stories. But, you don't even get a real feel for the characters. I didn't even enjoy it, I felt like I wasted time even reading it.
I didn't know until I started reading, that this is actually a collection of short stories. Some are very good. I liked the writing style and I will probably read more by this author.
Weird and creepy. If you like Horror you will probably like this book. However, if you want a Thriller, this is not for you. Also it needs a copy editor.