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The Second One
The Second One is a short story as told by a serial killer. The story details his first and second killings, and how he became a killer.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 27, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2014
I hovered on the star-fence of rating [is that a thing? quick, hashtag it!], wanting a solid 3.5 but crossing over to 4 rather than landing on 3. And here's why:
The Introduction was almost perfect, shot through with lovely ironies. Our unnamed killer ["John" he later allows we can call him] is articulate, cool, and so, so reasonable in his assessment of himself, the world, and his chosen hobby. He gives voice to any number of things most people would consider legitimate philosophical meanderings of a practical mind.
And slowly, through the Introduction, he escalates, and we see the monster.
He makes much of being an atheist . . . but then writes of how things happen for a reason; how people never find their purpose - sounds pretty spiritual to me, oh irony of ironies! His purpose is to rid the world of hyenas. I loved this analogy, for in a certain sense, hyenas are the filthy vermin of the animal kingdom, living off the carrion scraps what real hunters [lions, for instance] kill. Naturally, the killer sees himself as a lion!
The next section is about his first kill and here I found my first bit of glitchiness. "The First One" was published earlier and, happily, included here. But the original lead-in echoes what I've just read in the new Introduction, so I felt slightly backtrack-y [not a word!] and I lost, momentarily, the momentum. However, Mr. Kiam grabs me back with more delightful irony: The killer mocks the profiler professionals and then promptly displays his outrageous ego, something they would have profiled! He's already fulfilled a classic profile: an abusive childhood, mommy issues, reliving the experience of the kill, taking trophies, living in isolation . . . bragging about his kills.
The voice changes somewhat as the killer relives his First and Second. Both were well written, though I found the First more interesting. [No spoiler specifics; and I'm not dismissing the Second. I loved the "every professional needs the right tools and lots of experience" analogy].
But the end is where I really landed on my star-rating fence. I found it weak. Mr. Kiam articulates a lovely allusion to sugar: the cravings, the addictions, the rushes. But then he drops the allusion in favour of the killer's musings that he might entertain us in the future with more bragging of his exploits. I'd have liked if these were tangled together; if the killer's careless suggestion that maybe he'll share more exploits with us in the future was underscored by our complete understanding that - even though he doesn't know it - his bragging is as much his sugar as the doing.
That's also my way of saying, Mr. Kiam, I want more of this! For I'm slightly addicted, too!
The Introduction was almost perfect, shot through with lovely ironies. Our unnamed killer ["John" he later allows we can call him] is articulate, cool, and so, so reasonable in his assessment of himself, the world, and his chosen hobby. He gives voice to any number of things most people would consider legitimate philosophical meanderings of a practical mind.
And slowly, through the Introduction, he escalates, and we see the monster.
He makes much of being an atheist . . . but then writes of how things happen for a reason; how people never find their purpose - sounds pretty spiritual to me, oh irony of ironies! His purpose is to rid the world of hyenas. I loved this analogy, for in a certain sense, hyenas are the filthy vermin of the animal kingdom, living off the carrion scraps what real hunters [lions, for instance] kill. Naturally, the killer sees himself as a lion!
The next section is about his first kill and here I found my first bit of glitchiness. "The First One" was published earlier and, happily, included here. But the original lead-in echoes what I've just read in the new Introduction, so I felt slightly backtrack-y [not a word!] and I lost, momentarily, the momentum. However, Mr. Kiam grabs me back with more delightful irony: The killer mocks the profiler professionals and then promptly displays his outrageous ego, something they would have profiled! He's already fulfilled a classic profile: an abusive childhood, mommy issues, reliving the experience of the kill, taking trophies, living in isolation . . . bragging about his kills.
The voice changes somewhat as the killer relives his First and Second. Both were well written, though I found the First more interesting. [No spoiler specifics; and I'm not dismissing the Second. I loved the "every professional needs the right tools and lots of experience" analogy].
But the end is where I really landed on my star-rating fence. I found it weak. Mr. Kiam articulates a lovely allusion to sugar: the cravings, the addictions, the rushes. But then he drops the allusion in favour of the killer's musings that he might entertain us in the future with more bragging of his exploits. I'd have liked if these were tangled together; if the killer's careless suggestion that maybe he'll share more exploits with us in the future was underscored by our complete understanding that - even though he doesn't know it - his bragging is as much his sugar as the doing.
That's also my way of saying, Mr. Kiam, I want more of this! For I'm slightly addicted, too!
January 3, 2014
This short story is so well written it should come with a warning label, “This story contains graphic details of the death of two innocent victims by a mentality disturbed killer.”
Most introductions offer background information which leads the reader into the story. This is not the case in “The Second One”. The beginning of the introduction conveys an apology from the author, Omar Kiam, for any spelling or grammatical errors before presenting sporadic mumbling regarding religious beliefs, if having a conscience is a good or bad thing, as well as other ramblings, which leave the reader wondering where the author is heading with his dialog. However, by the second paragraph you realize the introduction is written by the killer. From this point forward you enter the mind of a mad man as he explores his thoughts and feelings before, during and after he takes his victim’s life.
As the killer tells his story he continues to repeat several elements of his troubled mind, which creates a chilling realism to the story and a clever way to reveal the character’s psychologically demented psyche.
Most introductions offer background information which leads the reader into the story. This is not the case in “The Second One”. The beginning of the introduction conveys an apology from the author, Omar Kiam, for any spelling or grammatical errors before presenting sporadic mumbling regarding religious beliefs, if having a conscience is a good or bad thing, as well as other ramblings, which leave the reader wondering where the author is heading with his dialog. However, by the second paragraph you realize the introduction is written by the killer. From this point forward you enter the mind of a mad man as he explores his thoughts and feelings before, during and after he takes his victim’s life.
As the killer tells his story he continues to repeat several elements of his troubled mind, which creates a chilling realism to the story and a clever way to reveal the character’s psychologically demented psyche.
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January 7, 2014I'm not sure what to rate this
so I definitely enjoyed this book since it came first hand from experience and all... but I just don't know what to rate the book cuz I feel like if I rate it high I will be agreeing with what he has done... but at the same time I wanted to keep on reading and only put the book down when absolutely needed... so I'll just go in the middle I guess haha... Der would recommend this book tho!! def am looking forward to the next book!!!
so I definitely enjoyed this book since it came first hand from experience and all... but I just don't know what to rate the book cuz I feel like if I rate it high I will be agreeing with what he has done... but at the same time I wanted to keep on reading and only put the book down when absolutely needed... so I'll just go in the middle I guess haha... Der would recommend this book tho!! def am looking forward to the next book!!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews