Bad Karma

Criminally Insane #1

by Douglas Clegg

"I'm coming for you. You will never escape me." She's the most dangerous inmate in the hospital for the criminally insane...and she just broke out. When Trey Campbell takes his family to Catalina Island, his escaped patient leaves a trail of bodies behind as she hunts for her one true love – from a previous life.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Mystery

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, These Smart Psychos!

In a made-for-the-movies thriller, Trey Campbell, who works in a hospital for the criminally insane, and his family, are being stalked by a violent psycho. For some reason, she’s in love with him and believes that he loves her.

So, she breaks out of the asylum and immediately, figures out his summer itinerary, and heads for the island where he and family are spending their summer.

Transportation must be free, unless people locked up in insane asylums are given an allowance, nowadays.

The ending helps make this book worth two stars. 💫

[Elusive · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘Bad Karma’ is about a dangerous and violent criminal, Agnes who escapes from confinement and hunts down her ‘beloved’, a psychiatric technician Trey. Trey’s vacation turns into a nightmare when he realizes that his life as well as his family’s safety is at stake.

The idea behind the story is undoubtedly full of potential. I expected lots of gore and brutality and these were certainly present. However, there was a major lack of realism which I couldn’t ignore. Agnes had been incarcerated for so many years yet she had no problem blending in with the crowd, interacting effortlessly with strangers without arousing suspicion and even flirting. Passing her off as intelligent would be acceptable but no one who’s locked up and isolated would be able to seamlessly behave like a normal person so quickly.

Besides that, Trey was such a dull and self-contradictory character. He’s clearly obsessed with his job to the extent of being paranoid even when he’s not working. When he found out that Agnes has escaped, he was worried and constantly wanted to find out the latest developments yet he gave in easily to his wife who wasn’t happy with how he couldn’t relax and enjoy their vacation. An insane and threatening woman had escaped but he still spent time having fun instead of prioritizing safety and actually keeping up-to-date with the news.

The climax of the story was extremely disappointing as the events leading up to it felt horribly rushed and lacked details. There was no life in this book. Overall, ‘Bad Karma’ was a quick but incredibly forgettable book despite the lure of its cover and storyline.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Clegg writing under pseudonym.

Trey Campbell, a psychiatrist to the mentally insane, is on much needed vacation with his wife and kids. As his luck would have it one of his most dangerous inmates, Agnes Hatcher AKA the surgeon because of her propensity to skillfully remove body parts, escapes. She believes she shares past lives with Trey and sets out to fulfill their destiny and will destroy anyone who gets in her way. This is a chilling, taut, fast-paced story that was impossible for me to put down because the author creates such a fascinating villain: a pretty, petite girl turned into a savage monster. I was repulsed and riveted and enjoyed it completely.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 star read.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I was intrigued by the premise of reincarnation/Jack the Ripper, but that was really never fully explored. It was pretty gruesome, which would have been less troubling except that young children were exposed to these gruesome actions. Trey seemed like an OK guy, but got more and more stupid as the book progressed. He professes to love his wife & family more than life itself, yet he has a job in which he's done things that put them all in mortal danger, and based on the fact that there are more books in the series--and he STILL works at Darden--I can only conclude that he's either an egotistical asshole, a delusional liar, or he is, in fact, Jack the Ripper reincarnated ( I.e., a psychopath).

[David B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agnes Hatcher, kind of a female Hannibal Lecter, escapes from a mental institution and hunts for the man she believes is the reincarnation of her lover from a former life, Jack the Ripper.

Douglas Clegg has mastered the basic mechanics of constructing a compelling plot, so it’s not hard to finish this book, despite some glaring flaws that mitigate its enjoyment. The plot, particularly the parts in the mental institution, seem wildly improbable. The plot thread about reincarnation didn’t seem to amount to much, although this may change in a later novel of the series. If it is just Agnes’s private mental experience to explain her motivation, then too much time was spent on it and it was given too much significance. The book also feels very padded. There were several plot developments, such as Agnes’s escape, that were stretched out to milk them for every drop of suspense with the opposite result. Watching characters in a book be puzzled and surprised doesn’t capture my interest, especially when I feel like I can already see what’s coming. I want the author to make me feel puzzled and surprised.

https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com

[Bettyboop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hate to admit it, considering the horrendous, mind blowing plot of Bad Karma, but I enjoyed it to the extent of reading straight through, just couldn’t put it down. Douglas Clegg’s descriptive writing was so realistic, my mental pictures of characters in the unfolding storyline kept me terrified. The suspense was overwhelming when Trey, Agnes psychiatrist, went on vacation with his family and she escaped to pursue him. No one escapes Agnes, the ending could only be deadly, until a clever twist played out perfectly. This book is a horrific, terrific goodread.

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disturbing

Like a train wreck. Good strong characters. Family vacation is interrupted by an escapee from Treys mental institution. She's got her sights on him and won't let his family get in her way. She's a brutal killer, and leaves bodies in her wake. While I enjoyed parts of the book, others were too unsettling. I won't continue this series.

[Mummy's Naughty Corner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was a good book to break up all the romances I'm reading. Love the characters and the thriller part. Felt it was a little rushed in parts and it could have been longer. A lot happened and it would have been nice to spread it out a bit. I still enjoyed it and will look at reading more by the author. The main character Agnes was unique. I loved her story and what she would do in a horror type of way.

[Vickie Sarmina · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG - this book is not for the faint hearted!! What a read!!

Trey Campbell was a psych tech at Darden State for the criminally insane. One of his patients was so violent that they had to put a hood over her face, and all of her limbs, including her fingers were strapped down. Her name was Agnes Hatcher. Agnes thinks that she is the mistress of London’s notorious Jack the Ripper. Agnes’ previous victims had parts of their body removed by her, which is how she received the nickname, “The Surgeon.” Trey and his family finally get to take a vacation, since he hasn’t had one in quite a long time. During this vacation to Catalina, he still has his phone available in case Jim, who is covering for him, calls. Just when he thinks he can finally relax, he gets a call from Jim that Agnes has escaped. Trey knows that she will be coming for him and his family. He knows this because anyone that has done her wrong has been killed. He knows he is on that list. How did she escape such carefully placed straps? How will she know where to find him? She’s determined to find him, since she thinks they have been reincarnated together from the year 1888. How many people will suffer from her hands? What will he do to protect his wife and his two children from this obsessive madwoman? Will Trey continue to work at Darden? What a very graphic and thought provoking book. The plot kept the reader in mystery all throughout the book, because you never knew where Agnes was going to show up next or what havoc she was going to place on her victims. This book gives you and insight on what a deranged person is capable of, and how dangerous it can be for someone to work in this type of environment. Kept me glued to the pages until the very end!!

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

TITLE: Bad Karma (Book 1 Criminally Insane Series)
AUTHOR: Douglas Clegg
GENRE: Horror/Thriller
PAGES: 246
This book….oh my God, this book! I read it over the weekend, and could have knocked it out in one night, and finished the last 150 pages just last night. Yes, it moves that fast!
The main story deals with a Trey, a man who works as a psychiatric technician at Darden State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He is on vacation with his wife and two kids, contemplating resigning from the job. Then he gets a message to call work, and finds out that all hell has broken loose concerning a patient that Trey know all too well, Agnes Hatcher, A.K.A. The Gorgon.
Agnes Hatcher is beautiful, brilliant, very deadly, and obsessed with Trey. She believes that they are destined to be together, that Trey has the soul of one of her former lovers (and mentor whose identity will knock your socks off) he just needs to realize it. Agnes will also kill to prove her love for Trey, and she will kill anyone that gets in her way.
Being a former psych tech, this book spoke to me on a lot of levels and addressed one of my personal main fears. Either Mr. Clegg was a former PT, or he knows one because everything was spot on!
I cannot recommend this book enough. Seriously, if you want a great quick read that grabs you by the throat and does not let go until well after you are finished, get this book!

[Mavi Santacruz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, I mean the plot was really good, interesting story. But unfortunately it was predictable. The characters according to the plot. The writing style didn't work for me, it should have kept me hooked from the beginning or maybe i had huge expectations (again). It didn't thrill me to read it or keep me wondering about the events that were developing.(which by the way were smoothly coordinated despite the various POVs)

[Coco.V]

FREE on Amazon today (11/02/2017)!

[Thomas Zman]

Grim

Entertaining. The plot moved smoothly throughout. But liked so many of these books the formula is easy to figure out. No twists. Just straight ahead grimness.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced read with a good story and believable characters. Clegg always delivers.

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be a pretty good book. In fact, it was a very enjoyable read. The story is about Dr. Trey Campbell who is a psychiatrist for the criminally insane. While he is on vacation, one of his patients escapes and comes after him for his love. The story proceeds along at a good pace and keeps you interested in what happens. The gore / horror is a bit over the top but it is also infrequent so it's not that really that bad at all. Overall I would have to recommend this novel as a good read. The book is also being made into a movie starring Patsy Kensit; I think that it is going direct to video but I'll be hunting it down.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a sadistic tale of love and well what some believe is love. Dealing with the criminally insane is definitely not something that is easy especially when a patient believes you are her long lost lover and torturer.

Not for the faint at heart as this has some gruesome parts to it but it is well worth a read.

[Bob Platypire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book in and of itself was GREAT! I love the criminally insane aspect of it. The characters were very well written, and I quickly got to know them. The flow was good, and the plot heart-pounding. I especially loved the delusions, and how in detail they were. Really good book! I intend to read more.

The narrator was just okay, for me. Not bad, but not great, either. The tension and emotion just never seemed to be there, and it kind of pulled me out of the reverie. I feel like I would have connected more with the characters had I either read it myself or had a narrator more in tune with the book.

So, 5 for the book, 3 for narration, 4 overall.

[Nicole Cunniff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the premise and think Harper did a good job specially for his first book! I’d love this to be a movie. I like stories about things that are not straight, hence the criminally insane. The end I felt rushed but that’s because I was reading fast and really into it in the edge of my seat.

[Mariëtte Whitcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad Karma is definitely a book I will recommend to avid psychological thriller readers.

A ruthless female serial killer always piques my interest and this book did not disappoint. It is brutal without being gorry. Agnes' pathology was different from the average fictional serial killer and I applaud Mr. Clegg for taking this route.

Saying anything more will spoil it for anyone who wants to read this series. I will definitely read the other books in this series.

[Lawrence FitzGerald]

Hat tip to Mark Monday for mentioning this author.

Good prose, good characterization, good world building, decent story, no theme. 3 stars.

Brilliant and relentless maniac pursues family. Clegg does enough to make this old trope fresh and interesting. A fun read.

[Don · Rating 1 out of 5]

Toss it - piece of shit

[gene spainhour · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sick

Read 4 chapters it just keep getting worse you can write a book without sex and bad words cause I have red them and given them 5 stars but not this one.

[Gabrielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just simply not good.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad karma or bad writing?

This book had an interesting concept, but the writing style was too distracting for me to fully immerse myself in it.

[James S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty atrocious writing. Despite John Lutz's recommendation, I could tell this one would be bad from almost the first paragraph.

[Deb Threadgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book for the most part, especially if it involves any patients from Darden State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It is enjoyable when it is just Trey, his wife Carly, daughter Teresa and son Mark, the Campbell family. Trey has worked at Darden State for over a decade. He is a psych tech,supervisor who would have gone on to become at least a psychologist, but life happened, a wife, two kids and a job that kept him busy even when he was off. He really thought when he first started out that he he could help these people and not all of them are as bad as one or two. One in particular who has fixated on Trey and thinks they knew each other in past lives and that he was Jack the Ripper. He really thought he could help Agnes Hatcher and when he first starts he even wheels her out in the garden. It doesn’t take him long after comments she makes and reading of her chart, he realizes she is a criminally insane psychopath serial killer. She gets so bad at the hospital that they keep her face covered up so that she can,t bit you, they even feed her with an extra lond spoon. Her ankles, her wrists and even her fingers are tied down by leather restraints.
When Trey and his family go on vacatatio to Catalina, Agnes manages to get loose and the killing starts, first in the hospital and then when she gets out of the hospital grounds.
Meanwhile Trey and his family are having a wonderful time. The coworker who is covering for him calls to give him some disturbing news that they think one of the guys on the same ward has killed a nurse. Try says to keep him updated, but Carly says this is vacation and she throws his beeper in the ocean. Trey does call Jim back after he thought about what they thought the other patient had done to the nurse. He doesn’t think that sounds like that patient but like Agnes. So he convincences Jim to go to Agnes room and make sure she is in her bed. He gives Jim the numer and name of where he is staying. Carly doesn’t want him to get calls, he is on vacation so she unplugs the phone and they all have a good afternoon. Later Carly tells him wat she did and he plugs the phone back in and there are several messages. He calls Jim back and said it wasn’t Agnes in her bed but the nurse they thought the man had murdered. Jim said she has to be in the hospital and Trey said you don’t know her she is out. They lock down the hospital but they don’t find her, but do find another nurse. Then Trey gets a call at his room and it is just breathing, but he knows it is Agnes and she is coming for him. He calls Jim one more time and asked did he write down his numer and locatation somewhere. He said he gave it to the nurse that was coming on, in case she needed to call him and that was the nurse that was found in Agnes bed. This book basically starts out terrifying and stays that way to the end of the book. It is fast-paced, extremely graphic and scary. Mr. Clegg portrays his characters well and you fill you know them. For this type of book it was good. I would not watch it as a movie, too bloody and gory for me. That is why I am glad there are books. I think I would say no one under 21 should read it. In my opinion it was that gruesome but also good at the same time.

[graham nuttall · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is my first review on goodreads ,and I would appreciate after reading it ,if you would take the time to read a little about my self. I was looking foreword to this book, sounded like a departure from my normal reads, and it was, but I have to say I was disappointed. lets start with trey who I assume was the hero, trey the head of the psychiatric unit in charge of Agnes ,the most dangerous of the criminally insane, goes on a long needed holiday with his family and spends his time assuming that his staff will lose their worst patient. They do, and she is hellbent on being with trey. having spent the best part of her life locked up with minimum human contact she manages to manipulate and kill her way to her final goal.when reading ,it soon became obvious it would come down to two characters. trey who I found to be self obsessed and Agnes who having escaped from a high security psychiatric unit showing amazing social skills
I was not sure who I wanted to win.
A little bit about myself, reading has been the only thing in my life that has been constant . I am 58 and I read my first book when I was 5 I loved the cover and wanted to know what was inside, it was called little grey men by denys watknis-pritchard I taught myself to read through that book the adventures of those four little gnomes have stayed with me all my life. look it up 5 or 58 you will love it. back to business my rating on this book is I think about right but I think a 1-5 is a little simple I see 5 ratings all too often I don't think it does justice people tend read 5 ratings and they start brilliant, fantastic, superb , I look for the 4 & 3 you get a better idea of the book if someone can say I loved that but? that gets me more interested when you finish your revue is the time to use superbelise I have read over 80 books this year and have rated only 3 as a five 2 of them were in a trilogy were previous ratings where 4 but the end game made the last book a 5 for continuing the standard




























cial skills

[buzy_reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trey has an insane job working with the criminally and mentally ill.

Bad Karma is book one in the criminally insane series where Trey Campbell works as a psych tech at the Darden State Hospital. The hospital is a co-ed facility where the criminally ill and the mentally ill live. Trey works on the D floor which contains fourteen inmates: five are considered sociopaths and the rest are murderers.
A dangerous criminally ill patient escaped Darden State Hospital and is after a family vacationing in Catalina. This patient is a trained killer killing like a machine with no emotion and feelings towards the victims.

Trey has an insane job which he hates, yet he can’t help from being a workaholic. Trey can’t seem to shut his mind off, from the patients at work, thinking about the dangers they impose upon him. So Trey kept his personal life separate from work. Some workers co-mingled with the patients, but Trey kept his personal life private. Since Trey began working at Darden he hasn’t been able to enjoy his family life, not completely, when his mind wonders to the dangerous patients. His job has put pressure on his marriage. Trey is paranoid about the patients escaping Darden and seeking revenge on him and his family, yet he continues to work with the criminally insane.

Agnes’s character is clinically ill. She is restrained and sedated with very little freedom to move around. She is a dangerous patient who has killed thirteen people.
Carly’s character is focused on her husband, kids, and family life. She wants Trey to quit his job so she can have her husband back. Although, she is condescending towards Trey’s paranoia. Her focus is vacation mode. She is ignorant of the imminent danger her family is in. She is patronizing towards her husbands concerns.

Bad Karma is graphically violent with most all the suspense tied to one criminally ill patient. Both the victim and killer are announced from the beginning. The suspense that comes into play is the cat and mouse play when this patient easily locates her victim. When this patient is on the hunt, the killings are graphically violent and grotesque. The criminally ill patient had unusual intentions for killing of which I couldn’t reason with. This was why I rated it 3 ⭐️s.

[Danielle Turko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trey and wife Carley are on vacation with their Kids Teresa and Mark. They need the much needed r&r with his job as psych aide at a psychiatric prison and her job as a social worker, but it's also a time for Trey to decide what he wants to do. He's been there for 10 years, and while he's now a supervisor and good at his job, he's tired of the fear and constantly looking his shoulder to see if someone is after him. That paranoia led to him shooting someone, and he can't get the dying mans face out of his mind. Now he has a inmate, Agnes, obsessed with him, convinced that in a past life they were lovers and are destined to be back together again. When she manages to escape and gets her hands on the address of Trey's vacation home, Agnes takes this as a sign that the fates are allowing them to be together again. Nothing is going to get in her way to bring their destinies back together, and she doesn't care how many bodies she leaves in her wake.

I'm the type of person who doesn't like a lot of blood and gore. I do watch crime dramas, but if they show something that might be violent I close my eyes. I was a bit hesitant to get this book from the blurb I read, but it was free on kobo.com and most of the reviews I read said the graphic nature was rather tame and they were disappointed. I assume now that most of those people are tougher than I am when it comes to gore because I found this book to be quite graphic. Agnes kills people by removing what she views as the place their soul lies which gives her more incarnations in the future. This involved removing peoples eyes, hearts, vocal chords, brains, genitals, even scalping them. Douglas Clegg may not have gone into as much detail as some authors do, but in spots he talks about hearing the blade slice the skin, or the blood seeping through her skin, and Agnes tasting the blood shortly after the kill. That is more than enough detail for me, and it was only through sheer determination and stubbornness I finished the book as I don't like not finishing what I start. I did give it a 3 star rating though because when it wasn't talking about her killing people, the character story was decent.