Breaking Point

by Aric Davis

His ex-wife is out to ruin him, his kids hate him, and he’s flipping burgers at a McDonald’s. Ken Richmond hits his breaking point when he puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. When his plan misfires—literally—he interprets the failed suicide as his calling to a higher purpose. Fueled by long-simmering hatred, Ken sets out on a murderous mission—but in order to get away with it, he’ll have to leave a trail of blood through the city.

Detectives Dick Van Endel and Phil Nelson start chasing Ken toward a special spot in hell. But can the detectives put an end to the fiend’s sprees for good, before more bodies pile up?

Genres: Thriller

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2013

About the author

Aric Davis is married with one daughter and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he has worked for the past fourteen years as a body piercer. A punk rock aficionado, Davis does anything he can to increase awareness of a good band. He likes weather cold enough to need a sweatshirt but not a coat, and friends who wear their hearts on their sleeves. In addition to reading and writing, he also enjoys roller coasters and hockey.

Reviews

[Matt Levy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first few parts, but the last part was boring and sloppily plotted. The rest of the plot dragged-mostly too much-but the last part was quick and too eager to wrap it all up with a nice little bow.

[John Bunyan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was interesting enough to finish so I gave it. 2 instead of 1. Some really bad writing in many places. Two dimensional, stock characters and some bad plotting, especially in the final crime. No reason the perpetrator would have thought it was "brilliant".

[Danielle Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Easy to follow and read, fast paced enough to keep me interested. Very well written and enjoyable, good for a quick read.

[Cindy (leavemetomybooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite by Aric Davis, but readable enough.

[Liz Chiodo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's my opinion and a recap of the book so you don't have to read it.

This book was a little rough. It not only was disturbing - but that's ok, that was my own fault because that WAS a warning in the description - but disturbing for no reason. I might have been more ok with the murders and rape if there were some reason for it all. There is partial reason given for the main character, Ken, slaughtering and dumping his own teenaged children, but it has nothing to do with his earlier "hunting," which is what he calls his killing sprees. Not only do some characters come and go, suddenly disappearing from the book altogether (Ken's boss, the twin boys, the McDonalds employees) but the writing itself is lack-luster. It's not the worst I've come across, but the book is boring; even the murders are not exciting, making it a page-turner. The book was edited very well but there is nothing compelling about any one of these characters.

Quick recap of Breaking Point:
Ken works at a McDonalds, and it's clear from the start that his ex-wife is the reason for his rage and hatefulness toward most of the world. But there is no explanation when Ken enters another McDonalds at random and shoots everyone inside with the exception of small twin boys who miraculously missed Ken's line of sight. He tried to turn the gun on himself, but it misfired, and Ken looks at the remaining bullet as his own magic bullet which will keep him from capture. Ken's desire to kill again spurs him on to a hardware store where he repeats his previous mow-down of all inside and escapes. His crimes don't end there and Ken also shoots up a grocery store, but not before raping the woman who was having sex with the boss as Ken discovered them. Ken evades the police eye as the woman's husband is questioned, where we learn the woman was cheating but detectives quickly eliminate the husband as a suspect. Then, with next to no back story on this, Ken speaks with his ex-wife, we learn she has remarried and Ken thinks that she poisoned their children against him. Ken agrees to watch the kids (both about 14-15 years old) while the happy couple go on a vacation. He plans to meet them at the McDonalds where he works and kill all four of them, and then himself. It doesn't work out because that's when Ken's boss is arrested for drug use. Seeking a lead, the police imagine Ken's boss has a need for money to buy his drugs and question him as well. The man lawyers up and we hear a little of the deal they'd like to create with Ken's boss - if he can prove an alibi at the time of the murders, his time will be reduced for the drugs. Nothing is followed up on regarding this man, he just disappears from the story line. Ken takes his children home, bummed that he missed the opportunity and once they arrive at Ken's home they start laying into him. As the children accuse Ken of being a poor father, we are then informed that neither Ken nor his ex-wife of her new husband even have enough money to buy two different kinds of soda at a time. This was never lined up in the story and seemed ridiculously out of place. Ken is fed up and kills his kids, dumps the bodies hours from his home, on the way to the vacation spot of his ex, leaving the detectives to suspect the ex-wife and her current husband. It doesn't take much to realize Ken was the murderer all along, and the cops quickly apprehend him. We learn nothing more than Ken's magic bullet was his own demise. How, you ask? It's never explained, so I can't answer that one for you. Just seemingly exploded as Ken attempted to shoot the cops.
Throughout this story, we are given a window into the life of the main police officer, who is promoted to detective for the murder case(s) since this cop, Van Endel, was the man who discovered the twin boys at the scene of the first shooting. His wife is pregnant for the third time but she never carried to term. The only real element we know of Van Endel's life is that he is spending less time with his wife since he's been promoted and the night she finally uses an old cookbook, she turns out to be a pretty good chef. It seems out of place and simply doesn't fit with anything else in the book.

[Leane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was my least favorite story from Aric Davis so far.
That being said, it was still good.

[Susan Crowe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my newest Kindle Serial. I am in the process of reading the first episode. It's a little hard to get into. the lead character seems to have some mental illness issues.
Just finished the first episode. This might end up being ok. I believe I just need to get use to this authors writing style. I am curious to see what happens next.

episode 2. Still not too sure about this book. I am going to continue it just because there are a few humorous moments and the story seems to be going somewhere interesting. It is a little raw though. The language and the adult situations.
There is entirely too much detail at times. You really dont need to tell what kind of frozen dinner you are making and everything that is contained in that frozen dinner as well as the temperature it is to be cooked on. Just say the man threw a frozen dinner in the oven then ate. The same message will be given.

episode 3. improving. left off at a cliffhanger of course.

episode 4. I actually do see real potential for this writer. I am really wanting to like this book but it is becoming a chore to read. Entirely too much description. The police detectives brag on themselves entirely too much. There is no need for them to continue pointing out how well they believe they can do their job and how invested they are in their job.
There are so many things i would like to point out and use as an example but that would be too much info and could possibly ruin the story for others.
One thing that is really bothering me, no breaks in the scenes. You can be reading along and then before you know it, you are in another scene with no break at all.
I have one more episode left. IF I read it, it will be only for the fact that I have invested so much time in it so far.
I have brought my rating down one star since my last review update.

Ok, just finished the final episode. I am finally through. I am sorry, but this is just bad. I have tried to be as positive as I can but this is just bad. Honestly, I believe if it had been edited properly it might possibly have been ok. It's like a long winded short story if that makes any kind of sense at all. As I said before, entirely too much detail.
I just couldn't wrap my head around the thought of someone writing about a guy that just starts out all of a sudden killing people and then decides to kill his own children.
I am very torn over this book. Parts of me definitely sees potential in this author. I see where he has several others published but I wont be reading them anytime soon.
I am going to stop at this. I wish this author luck. I am being very generous with this rating.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pulpy dreadful serial that explores a man at the center of a group of mass shootings that originate in his dissatisfaction with his existence, this is a well approached story that seems intriguing but contains a few flaws in my opinion.

I think that this story is okay and remains a terribly entertaining story - and remained that way as the first couple episodes were released. But with the two weeks in between every episode, I had the time to think about some of its fundamental problems. I think that the piece really lacks any reason behind why this man committed the crime that he did, and I wasn’t convinced by the end of the book that there was any sort of pathology at play. I also thought the figurative language was rushed and hasty as the book progressed - and I felt as though the writing began a lot stronger in the first installments than in the end.

In terms of the things I liked about the book is its driving force and speed that the plot and the narrative takes. It is clear that he definitely knows how to tell a story and expand it into the page-turning genre, but I think that at times the writing itself could have been quicker, bolder, and have had more imagery throughout. Unfortunately, I know nothing of his other work, and I can only say that his writing holds a lot of promise if this is one of his first releases in the mass market.

That said, this is not the regular type of reading that I do - so I have nothing to compare it with and will likely not pick up another of his works. But I was disappointed in the final installment, and found myself highlighting and reading aloud some really silly sentences that definitely should have faced some revision prior to release.

If you are the type of person to read fast crime novels, this is a serial for you.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, Davis' Breaking Point felt like a reimagining of De Niro's role in Taxi Driver. It's also a sharp comment on where people end up in this distorted economy in a downward spiral where there's nothing
left and nothing to look forward to. It's a noir-ish descent into nihilism.

It's a story of a man at the end of his rope, isolated, desperate, and finds that his answer is in random and not so random killings. The main character's life has been destroyed by drinking, unemployment,
the bitter end of a marriage, the custody disputes, and his future as a fast food worker.

There's also a switch in narrative from the point of view of one of the officers chasing the killer.

This book is well written, easy-to-read and quite engaging. Davis talks about tough subjects with a dose of irony and humor and it works quite well. This is certainly a writer to keep an eye on.

[Dave Holzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad story and certainly not bad story telling but this book is definitely a bit more coarse in terms of language and character behavior than what I'd generally read.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable! Fast paced, interesting charactersn intriguing plot. Definitely worth looking into more of Aric Davis's work.

[Kelsey Redington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kept me reading. Fast read. Not the best writting.

[Jarrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like Aric Davis but the writing in this one is very meh. The characters aren't very well developed and there were just too many poorly described characters and plot points.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fast flowing read.

[Ryan Macgillivray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't bear to finish this, I got as far as the grocery store and gave up on it. I feel like this book is pretty much trash disguised as pulp.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like a book that makes you want the bad guy to win.

[B.J. Hyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I'd really like this, but the story went in a direction in the middle that I really didn't like. The end was good.

[Mark Zodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, but disturbing book. Very good author.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and very disturbing on so many levels.

[Hickmanbryahoo.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boring read

I have enjoyed several of the authors books before but did not care for this one at all. It was unimaginative, boring, and has no redeeming qualities.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark. So very dark. Aric's knowledge is growing as his writing ability. He is just going to get better and better. I fully expect to see him on the bestseller list one day.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

7

[mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great pace and satisfying read

The narrative lends itself to the episodic nature of the story, really creating the feeling that the reader is watching it unfold!