Live Specimens

by Kelli Owen

The town of Mackinaw is all but abandoned at the end of tourist season. Now, with an approaching blizzard, a strange transport ship has crashed along the frozen shoreline-its escaped cargo genetically engineered for only one purpose... Death.

Howling winds hide the screams of townsfolk, as retired biology teacher Ken Jardine leads a small group to first understand and then destroy what they're dealing with, before the storm gives the upper hand to the Live Specimens...

Genres: Horror

223 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2012

About the author

Kelli Owen writes dark fiction, thrillers, and suspense that explore characters, consequences, and the uneasy shadows of everyday life. Her novels dig into psychological tension, while her short fiction has earned her a reputation for sharp, character-driven storytelling in bite-sized doses of dread.

She has been a reviewer, editor, podcaster, and indie film producer, and has spoken at countless conventions and events, including the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA about the craft and field of writing. Her work has appeared in anthologies and magazines alongside authors such as Stephen King, Robert McCammon, F. Paul Wilson, and Josh Malerman, and in multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated collections.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Kelli now lives in the dark woods of Pennsylvania. For news, updates, and the occasional ramble, visit www.kelliowen.com

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I'm going to make quite a few horror movie references here. So many, in fact, that you may read this review and say to yourself, "Oh Topside...give it a rest." Here goes nothing....so the best way to describe this story is 30 Days of Night meets Gremlins 1, with a dash of John Carpenter's The Thing, and a hint of The Wolf of Snow Hollow. The story is an absolute gore-fest, with a superior body count. It starts from the first chapter, which was incredibly upsetting for several reasons, and continues until the very end. Lots of creature appearances and organs being carved out of tummies, being played like xylophones and such. Ok, I made that instrument part up, but still an awesome visual, right? But the story just doesn't let up, which was fun to experience, but also worked to its own detriment a bit, too. I feel like it depended a little too heavily on the kill scenes, even having multiple chapters and toss away characters, only introduced long enough to die. That felt unnecessary, as so many other pertinent characters were already being torn apart . And there were quite a few characters in this town, which made the story hard to follow at times. I feel like if the author tightened up some of those loose ends and maybe had a slightly smaller cast to work with, in a slightly shorter story, it would have been even better than it already is. This was my first read from Kelli Owen, but most certainly won't be my last.

[Frank Errington · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say I'm a fan of Kelli Owen would be an understatement. To say I'm a stalker, might go a bit to far. Who has time for stalking?

I first met Kelli either at Horrorfind Weekend, a couple of years ago, or at Horror Saturday at the York Emporium. Either way, I found her to be charming, small of stature, (but big of heart) and somewhat unassuming.

In the last couple of years I've caught up with her writing and it's all been good stuff. At last Summer's Horrible Saturday at the York Emporium, Kelli read a snippet of her current work in progress and I was suitably grossed out. What she read for us was pretty much the opening sequence for her current novel, Live Specimens.

Juliet has finally left her abusive husband, Bill, taking her little girl, Mandy, with her, from Pennsylvania to her parent's place in Michigan. They're almost there when Mandy see a lost puppy by the side of the road. Given the weather, 43 degrees and a big Snow Storm on the way, and much to Mandy's delight, Juliet does a good deed, wrapping the puppy in a blanket and placing it in the backseat with her daughter. What a heart-warming story. Wrong!

The opening chapter packs in more raw action and intense drama than many horror stories do from cover to cover and that is just the beginning. Kelli went all out in this story. It's literally a cornucopia of gruesomeness. As in real life, no one is safe.

I don't want to get into a lot of details on the story, because I'd hate to spoil the fun. It reminds me of the kind of horror movies that used to play at the Drive-Ins I used to frequent back the the '60s of my youth. Or maybe a really good SyFy Saturday night movie.

Live Specimens, is entertaining start to finish. Another work that is not a literary masterpiece, but is certainly a good read for the horror enthusiast. I'd even go as far as to say it was more fun than a basket of puppies ;-)

[Karl]

This is copy V of 36 signed numbered copies.

[Jo Quenell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Live Specimens is a gory, pulpy creature feature about genetically engineered monsters taking over a small town in the dead of winter. It's the perfect novel to give to the obnoxious puppy lover in your life.

Kelli Owen's short story collection 'Black Bubbles' is one of the best collections I've read in the past few years. I was excited to finally read one of her novels. Unfortunately this didn't do it for me like I hoped it would. My biggest qualm was the pacing. This thing is an action-soaked bloodbath from the first page to the last. I love buckets of gore in my horror, but when every other chapter is a brutal death very similar to the others, all that carnage started to feel a bit repetitive, and started to take away from what could have been great character and plot development. There were some great concepts introduced, such as theology vs. science, that never really took off. I get that this is a pulp novel, but there were some great concepts that never really took off.

I'm going to to continue reading Kelli Owen, because I do like her writing--again, Black Bubbles knocked me off my feet, and I've heard nothing but praises for Six Days. This one just didn't work for me.

[Emily Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great horror novel. There were great characters, story lines, relationships, emotions, blood, guts, and action.

[Victoria Timpanaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Thing meets Assault on Precinct 13. What if genetically modified creatures attacked a small town during a blizzard? And a small band of first responders are the only ones left to try to protect their neighbors. Kelli Owen not only has you wrapped up in the action of this bloody monster tale, but also makes you care about her characters.

[Lisa Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Live Specimens is a creature horror story. It is an extreme horror story. It is a story about good people and bad people and the evil that people create. It is a beautifully written relentless horror fest, and I had a really hard time putting it down.

Since Live Specimens has been out for a while—originally published December 2012—I would like to a bit of comparison and contrast with a few Amazon reviews that caught my eye. Just for clarity, of course.

First, a few early readers clearly dove into this book without knowing they were about to be neck deep in an extreme horror novel. So, let me say again: This Is An Extreme Horror Novel.

Of course, it is possible one or two did not know what extreme horror is, so allow me to clarify that as well. Extreme Horror is graphic. It is impolite in its presentation of violence and subject matter. That is why it is called “extreme” horror. It is extreme. On purpose. If one is not inclined to enjoy such things, one will probably be too distracted by the extreme nature of the story’s presentation to follow and enjoy the story itself. Judging from some of the comments, a few people experienced just that.

Now on to review comments of a different nature, without calling anyone out of course. Live Specimens is a quality story, pure Kelli Owen, just unfiltered. There is depth in this story just as in all of Kelli’s books, but you have to read ALL the words to see it because its organic. It comes from the characters. The characters and character interactions are vivid and compelling and define the storyline under the violence and gore assaulting both the characters and the reader.

If you prefer your gory extreme horror without an abundance of depth, fear not. Kelli Owen does not overwrite. The story is fast-paced and, again, relentless. The life elements and graphic sequences blend seamlessly in this brilliant horror story. Perhaps that is why it’s easy to miss the deeper substance.

As a final thought, I would be interested to know if anyone else verbalized an expletive at the end as I did. No spoilers here, you have to read it to understand why I dropped a verbal F bomb to an empty room at the end.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read nearly everything Kelli Owen has released so far and have been looking forward to reading Live Specimens for a while now - especially after she said that it should be gorier than he normal works.

The story takes place in a small town preparing for an upcoming blizzard; when people start dying from vicious animal attacks - although these are not normal animals - these are genetically altered killing machines - smarter, faster and deadlier. Who, if any, will survive the blizzard and the attacks.

The character in the book are good and the story is fast paced from the beginning with plenty of action and death all of the way through which made this a real page turner for me. Over the years I've read a fair few 'monster/animal on a rampage' books but this has to be one of my favourites as I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the animals.

Overall if your a fan of the horror genre and would like to read something with plenty of mayhem and action then you will enjoy this. 4.5/5

The novel was received in exchange for an honest review

[Shannon Sporleder · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when genetically altered animals get unleashed on an unsuspecting small town with a blizzard moving in? Lots of death. From the first chapter Kelli Owen establishes that this is going to be a gory ride and doesn't let up until the final chapter.
Don't get too attatched the the characters cause they might not make it to the end. Overall this is a great book if you like it action packed and gory.

[Elizabeth Pruett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story, didn't want to put it down.

I love horror with a believable storyline. This is it!! So chilling because it could happen, or at least something a lot like it. Great characters, fast read because it is interesting. And not really predictable. Read it, you won't be sorry. Hope there is a sequel.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced and moderately drenched in gore, Live Specimens delivers the goods. A classic creature yarn for a new generation. Well written, strong characters, and great premise.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and exciting creature story! The opening chapter was amazing. It was pure insanity that sucked you right into the bloody story.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay fun read, quite gory for a Kelli Owen tale. The creatures reminiscent of Gremlins on crack.

[Rhona Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This scared the crap out of me. It’s gory, violent and has exploding puppies. I’m still thinking about it the next day. Mark of a good book.

[Norman Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

First up in my month of reading nothing but horror written by women in celebration of Women in Horror Month. This was a really good story. Loved the creatures and the characters were strong. A lot of violence and fun from the beginning until the end.

[Tammy Hadyniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shocking suprised at the detail and face pace of this story. It throws a lot at you in such a short time period but, I was still able to keep up and see the whole picture the author was going for.

[Ifor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad

Not a bad read, although I did at times the dialogue a little too obvious, and ever so slightly cringe worthy. As I said though not a bad read at all.