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3.53 a.m. #1
3:53 a.m.
A troubled soldier. A vengeful dreamer. An outcast. A writer. Fates interwoven by an unsettling shared event from the past. Each person deals with pain in their own way. Sex. Drugs. Art. Death. That's what this is all about. Self-discovery and loss.
47 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 29, 2013
13 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 21, 2013
"3:53am" is a rather intense and emotionally charged reading experience that I enjoyed very much but which I could not light heartedly recommend to just anyone without some prior words of warning.
The story is a great and twisted tale of revenge but contains violence and is sexually explicit which might be slightly disturbing to some readers. However, I am sure to many readers this will be part of the attraction and apart from the violence and the sex there is nothing to warn you about. The book is written in excellent and compelling style, the author has great command of English and the story is cleverly told, adding further layers of appreciation to a gripping tale.
As the story is short I don't want to give away much of the plot, only that there is a gruesome murder and we find out gradually why it was committed. There are great underlying themes of self image, self hatred and sexual orientation, that give this horror story added depth, something that I found very rewarding but that will not get in the way of enjoyment for those who just want a good horror story.
The story stayed with me long after I had finished reading it.
The story is a great and twisted tale of revenge but contains violence and is sexually explicit which might be slightly disturbing to some readers. However, I am sure to many readers this will be part of the attraction and apart from the violence and the sex there is nothing to warn you about. The book is written in excellent and compelling style, the author has great command of English and the story is cleverly told, adding further layers of appreciation to a gripping tale.
As the story is short I don't want to give away much of the plot, only that there is a gruesome murder and we find out gradually why it was committed. There are great underlying themes of self image, self hatred and sexual orientation, that give this horror story added depth, something that I found very rewarding but that will not get in the way of enjoyment for those who just want a good horror story.
The story stayed with me long after I had finished reading it.
April 28, 2013
This is a pretty short piece, so I'm going to skip the synopsis for the most part. Let's just say it's about some severely deranged folks and the way they interact with themselves and each other and leave it at that. Any more would spoil the fun and the punchline.
As is my usual style, first the good points: The entire first section - from the character called Fat Boy's point of view - was fast, intriguing and well layered; I felt like I was really getting into this character's mindset, feeling the panic and well-buried self-loathing. The writing was jumbled, crude and vulgar, but in a way that seemed to be intentional; stream of consciousness from a deeply disturbed mind.
The scene where the killer is revealed, their motivation uncovered and the truth of what happened one dark night was handled well and was suitably twisted; perhaps because I've got a family history full of mental disorders and have been in more than my share of abusive relationships, I always enjoy a twisted love story and I felt this delivered on the theme.
Now, the downsides: Past the first section, the jumbled language continues but seems to be less authentic and more of a case of hurrying without going back to edit later. The characters seem too calm for their heads to be so messy - broken and half-psychotic, yes, but manically fractured, no. I think either a little more fleshing out of the characters - to show that the style fits their mindsets - or a good edit job would help significantly; it would also address two of my other concerns, those being the punctuation - which turns spotty halfway through - and the formatting - which has several instances of extra white space, often mid-sentence, a random duplicate and hyperlinked word, and odd "checkboxes" that would seem to be image placeholders of some kind scattered throughout the manuscript.
While I enjoyed the "screenplay" sequence - anything that gets us into a given character's head is good, especially in a brief piece as this one is - the final sequence felt somewhat tacked on and unnecessary; had the overall work been longer, perhaps with more references to the screenplay or the apparent real-life figures it's referring to, it might have had a place, but as it is, it seems to just stick out like a rudimentary tail.
Some folks are going to read this and be disgusted; they probably should be. All these characters are, in their own ways, repulsive human beings. But isn't half the point of fiction the ability to step into someone else's shoes, particularly someone who you could never (and probably wouldn't want to) be? Crawling into the minds of Fat Boy, Dylan, Becky and Sam is an uncomfortable experience... and it should be. To me it's always a good thing if the author can make me feel something for the characters, even if that something isn't exactly nice; Columbus does this admirably.
Overall, for someone looking for a quick read with seriously warped content, this is probably worth at least a poke, but only those with strong stomachs and a willingness to overlook the rules of English for a bit should apply. With a bit of work - cleaning up the punctuation and formatting, maybe some tweaks to the presentation, and dropping the "epilogue" - I'd be willing to give this a slightly higher score... but I honestly think that an overall expansion - going more into these character's psyches, their daily activities without the feeling of being rushed through them, or more about the people in their lives that led them to this point, perhaps with more focus on the screenplay and the ultimate punchline - is probably the best course, and something I'd definitely be interested in seeing.
As is my usual style, first the good points: The entire first section - from the character called Fat Boy's point of view - was fast, intriguing and well layered; I felt like I was really getting into this character's mindset, feeling the panic and well-buried self-loathing. The writing was jumbled, crude and vulgar, but in a way that seemed to be intentional; stream of consciousness from a deeply disturbed mind.
The scene where the killer is revealed, their motivation uncovered and the truth of what happened one dark night was handled well and was suitably twisted; perhaps because I've got a family history full of mental disorders and have been in more than my share of abusive relationships, I always enjoy a twisted love story and I felt this delivered on the theme.
Now, the downsides: Past the first section, the jumbled language continues but seems to be less authentic and more of a case of hurrying without going back to edit later. The characters seem too calm for their heads to be so messy - broken and half-psychotic, yes, but manically fractured, no. I think either a little more fleshing out of the characters - to show that the style fits their mindsets - or a good edit job would help significantly; it would also address two of my other concerns, those being the punctuation - which turns spotty halfway through - and the formatting - which has several instances of extra white space, often mid-sentence, a random duplicate and hyperlinked word, and odd "checkboxes" that would seem to be image placeholders of some kind scattered throughout the manuscript.
While I enjoyed the "screenplay" sequence - anything that gets us into a given character's head is good, especially in a brief piece as this one is - the final sequence felt somewhat tacked on and unnecessary; had the overall work been longer, perhaps with more references to the screenplay or the apparent real-life figures it's referring to, it might have had a place, but as it is, it seems to just stick out like a rudimentary tail.
Some folks are going to read this and be disgusted; they probably should be. All these characters are, in their own ways, repulsive human beings. But isn't half the point of fiction the ability to step into someone else's shoes, particularly someone who you could never (and probably wouldn't want to) be? Crawling into the minds of Fat Boy, Dylan, Becky and Sam is an uncomfortable experience... and it should be. To me it's always a good thing if the author can make me feel something for the characters, even if that something isn't exactly nice; Columbus does this admirably.
Overall, for someone looking for a quick read with seriously warped content, this is probably worth at least a poke, but only those with strong stomachs and a willingness to overlook the rules of English for a bit should apply. With a bit of work - cleaning up the punctuation and formatting, maybe some tweaks to the presentation, and dropping the "epilogue" - I'd be willing to give this a slightly higher score... but I honestly think that an overall expansion - going more into these character's psyches, their daily activities without the feeling of being rushed through them, or more about the people in their lives that led them to this point, perhaps with more focus on the screenplay and the ultimate punchline - is probably the best course, and something I'd definitely be interested in seeing.
July 12, 2013
A Masturbation Dissertation?
I really wanted to give this book 3.5 stars; however, I decided to round up, rather than down because this is an above average read. Some are probably wondering about my choice of title for this review, which I will explain further on in my review.
First of all, this author's writing style is definitely unique but solid. The author knows how to tell a good story. Taking into account that this is somewhere between a short story and a novella, the author did a pretty good job at creating characters that are complex while writing within the confines of a small space.
This story starts out strange, but I urge people to stick with it. There are several characters that play a role, revolving around a shared event in their past. What's unique about this story is that the author weaves the tale through the eyes of all characters involved and does so well. No loose ends, and as the storyline progresses, the readers learn more through each character's experiences; all building up to a suspenseful conclusion that I did not expect.
Now as to my title choice. While I understand the need to go into some detail about each individuals 'sexual' escapades and habits insofaras moving the story along, I did find it to be a tad excessive. As the reader, it doesn't take much for me to understand a character's sexuality and how it relates to the story. The repeated references to masturbation and other equally explicit sexual content actually jolted me out of the story on more than one occasion. I found myself saying "Gah! I get it already. The guy likes to play with his own fiddle! A LOT!! Back to the plot please!"
With that said, I'm not naive. Graphic sex often go hand in hand with the horror genre (not always obviously); nor am I a prude when it comes to this, or the book would not be getting a high review from me. The purpose in mentioning this is to let the author know that as a reader, I found it to be a bit overdone, to the point of taking my attention away from the story when the author had the opportunity to pull my attention further into the story. I feel it needs to be scaled back just a bit, but that's just my opinion. Other readers may not feel the same way. The other purpose in mentioning this is to make other potential readers aware of the sexual content so they aren't surprised by it and leave scathing reviews as a result. I've seen that happen many times, which is unfortunate both for the reader that had no idea AND for the author that worked very hard. So I'm hoping this helps avoid that situation. With that said, potential readers, it is not so graphic that an average reader of horror would be offended. To reiterate a previous point, most of the sexual descriptions are necessary to further develop the characters and the plot. I cannot say how, or that would spoil what happens to be a very good read.
Overall, I recommend this book. It's a good book to read if you have 30 minutes to an hour to spare, as its hard to put down once you start. I enjoyed reading it, it's edited quite well (huge plus), and the author is one hell of a story teller, excessive masturbation aside (wink). I will be looking for other books by this author. Well done.
I really wanted to give this book 3.5 stars; however, I decided to round up, rather than down because this is an above average read. Some are probably wondering about my choice of title for this review, which I will explain further on in my review.
First of all, this author's writing style is definitely unique but solid. The author knows how to tell a good story. Taking into account that this is somewhere between a short story and a novella, the author did a pretty good job at creating characters that are complex while writing within the confines of a small space.
This story starts out strange, but I urge people to stick with it. There are several characters that play a role, revolving around a shared event in their past. What's unique about this story is that the author weaves the tale through the eyes of all characters involved and does so well. No loose ends, and as the storyline progresses, the readers learn more through each character's experiences; all building up to a suspenseful conclusion that I did not expect.
Now as to my title choice. While I understand the need to go into some detail about each individuals 'sexual' escapades and habits insofaras moving the story along, I did find it to be a tad excessive. As the reader, it doesn't take much for me to understand a character's sexuality and how it relates to the story. The repeated references to masturbation and other equally explicit sexual content actually jolted me out of the story on more than one occasion. I found myself saying "Gah! I get it already. The guy likes to play with his own fiddle! A LOT!! Back to the plot please!"
With that said, I'm not naive. Graphic sex often go hand in hand with the horror genre (not always obviously); nor am I a prude when it comes to this, or the book would not be getting a high review from me. The purpose in mentioning this is to let the author know that as a reader, I found it to be a bit overdone, to the point of taking my attention away from the story when the author had the opportunity to pull my attention further into the story. I feel it needs to be scaled back just a bit, but that's just my opinion. Other readers may not feel the same way. The other purpose in mentioning this is to make other potential readers aware of the sexual content so they aren't surprised by it and leave scathing reviews as a result. I've seen that happen many times, which is unfortunate both for the reader that had no idea AND for the author that worked very hard. So I'm hoping this helps avoid that situation. With that said, potential readers, it is not so graphic that an average reader of horror would be offended. To reiterate a previous point, most of the sexual descriptions are necessary to further develop the characters and the plot. I cannot say how, or that would spoil what happens to be a very good read.
Overall, I recommend this book. It's a good book to read if you have 30 minutes to an hour to spare, as its hard to put down once you start. I enjoyed reading it, it's edited quite well (huge plus), and the author is one hell of a story teller, excessive masturbation aside (wink). I will be looking for other books by this author. Well done.
May 5, 2013
Hmm…a little weird, a bit ‘out there’. I didn’t get it, I’m afraid. Upon finishing, I felt I needed to reread it in order to try to understand, and therein, I think, lies the problem. A reread for me would be to revisit some thought-provoking elements, not as a necessity to comprehend.
The story starts with a shocking murder, and the ensuing chapters flip back to the events leading up to it: four friends, secrets, betrayal, distrust, revenge and lies...all of which also contribute to a somewhat unexpected ending.
This short story does need a pass through a good editor, but whether or not the quality of the editing was what clouded my perception, I’m just not sure. The plot line is good, strong, but it may have been too big for its word count, and…I don’t know whether this is intentional or not…I felt nothing at all for any of the characters. I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to the author and say that perhaps he’s just too clever for me. He certainly has a unique style.
The simplicity of the cover embodies the ‘less is more’ concept and certainly arouses curiosity, which I believe is satisfied by a ‘challenging’ short story.
The story starts with a shocking murder, and the ensuing chapters flip back to the events leading up to it: four friends, secrets, betrayal, distrust, revenge and lies...all of which also contribute to a somewhat unexpected ending.
This short story does need a pass through a good editor, but whether or not the quality of the editing was what clouded my perception, I’m just not sure. The plot line is good, strong, but it may have been too big for its word count, and…I don’t know whether this is intentional or not…I felt nothing at all for any of the characters. I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to the author and say that perhaps he’s just too clever for me. He certainly has a unique style.
The simplicity of the cover embodies the ‘less is more’ concept and certainly arouses curiosity, which I believe is satisfied by a ‘challenging’ short story.
May 6, 2013
A wild ride of angst, guilt, and revenge told in a very graphic and twisted style– definitely not for the faint of heart. It is often difficult to follow, but fascinating at the same time. The author has written in an almost stream-of-consciousness manner – as if the story HAD to be told, and damn the usual conventions of writing.
With that being said, I believe the author would still benefit from an editor. I think a better flow would make it even more horrifying and compelling, but the raw talent of this author is very evident. I’d give the story five stars, but am taking one star off for the editing issues.
With that being said, I believe the author would still benefit from an editor. I think a better flow would make it even more horrifying and compelling, but the raw talent of this author is very evident. I’d give the story five stars, but am taking one star off for the editing issues.
May 1, 2015
Strange book
It's well written, but it's just rather strange. I like unusual books, but this one is too vague. It jumps around so much, you're not which story/s are real, and which are supposed to be stories within a story. ***spoiler alert*** one thing I really did not care for was the inclusion of Adolph Hitler and the implication that the Holocaust came to be after he was spurned by his gay lover, who was a Jew and ran off with a gypsy. For that and the overly vague feeling to the book, 3 stars.
It's well written, but it's just rather strange. I like unusual books, but this one is too vague. It jumps around so much, you're not which story/s are real, and which are supposed to be stories within a story. ***spoiler alert*** one thing I really did not care for was the inclusion of Adolph Hitler and the implication that the Holocaust came to be after he was spurned by his gay lover, who was a Jew and ran off with a gypsy. For that and the overly vague feeling to the book, 3 stars.
May 9, 2013
May I refer you all to my adult-rated blog so that you can view excerpts and learn much more... http://gabixlerpersonalopinion.blogsp...
December 1, 2013
well that was fairly bizarre
February 10, 2016
fuckin weird
November 27, 2023
Complete waste of time
Don't bother. This very short book is so absolutely pointless and basic. The characters aren't interesting. There's no mystery. Nothing original. Pointless.
Don't bother. This very short book is so absolutely pointless and basic. The characters aren't interesting. There's no mystery. Nothing original. Pointless.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews