What do you think?
Rate this book
Digital Children
When newlyweds Marsha and Josh are struck with tragedy, they turn to the enigmatic Dr Laverick for the answer to their problems.
Laverick gives them a solution that will make their dream of becoming parents a reality. But is Laverick’s controversial research safe?
Or should they leave the past in the past?
Laverick gives them a solution that will make their dream of becoming parents a reality. But is Laverick’s controversial research safe?
Or should they leave the past in the past?
- GenresHorror
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2014
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 28, 2014
A thrilling plot, vivid fight scenes, an interesting concept,and a great reminder that it’s always best to read the manual first! Rayne’s Digital Children rather reminds me of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary on steroids.
This is a gripping read, and gives 'the terrible twos' an entirely new meaning.
This is a gripping read, and gives 'the terrible twos' an entirely new meaning.
March 21, 2014
This is the story of Marsha and Josh. Newlyweds and having just lost their newborn son, Caleb, they will do anything to turn the clock back. They are given that chance in the form of a creepy scientist called Dr Laverick. He offers to answer their prayers and bring back Caleb as a Digital Child. All is well for the first two years, then things suddenly start to go horribly wrong....
This was amazing. The creep factor was ramped up to extreme, to the point where I was almost peeking through my fingers at certain bits. I think this was because it's one of those stories where you think to yourself, 'What if?'. I was glued to the book and the characters from beginning to end. Marsha and Josh were great as the tragic heroes, and Dr Laverick was so smarmy and creepy, in places I just wanted to punch him on the noggin! The pace was unrelenting, and the ending was both explosive and heartbreaking in equal measure. I am fast becoming a firm fan of Jacob's work, and I am eagerly awaiting his next release!
This was amazing. The creep factor was ramped up to extreme, to the point where I was almost peeking through my fingers at certain bits. I think this was because it's one of those stories where you think to yourself, 'What if?'. I was glued to the book and the characters from beginning to end. Marsha and Josh were great as the tragic heroes, and Dr Laverick was so smarmy and creepy, in places I just wanted to punch him on the noggin! The pace was unrelenting, and the ending was both explosive and heartbreaking in equal measure. I am fast becoming a firm fan of Jacob's work, and I am eagerly awaiting his next release!
July 28, 2014
I had a hard time rating this book. I feel compelled to give it 4 stars because I was never bored while reading it. It was a page-turner for me. I wanted to keep reading to figure out what happened next.
But then I wanted to give it 3 stars, because I thought the book had a few major problems. Or maybe just one thing really annoyed me. There's a scene where I found the main characters to be incredibly stupid.
I was more impressed with the beginning of the book. I thought it did a good job of showing the despair and desperation of parents who have lost a child. And it was like a surreal dark (VERY dark) comedy. It also brought up interesting questions of modern parenting and morality. But then the book turns into a basic slasher story and I started liking it less.
Also, some of the point of view feels inconsistent. It's usually limited point of view, but then we get random glimpses of what's going inside the head of other people in the scene. Or we see through the eyes of an invisible all-knowing narrator.
I feel the book might have been better if it were longer and we had more time to understand the parent's motivations and feelings.
But then I wanted to give it 3 stars, because I thought the book had a few major problems. Or maybe just one thing really annoyed me. There's a scene where I found the main characters to be incredibly stupid.
I was more impressed with the beginning of the book. I thought it did a good job of showing the despair and desperation of parents who have lost a child. And it was like a surreal dark (VERY dark) comedy. It also brought up interesting questions of modern parenting and morality. But then the book turns into a basic slasher story and I started liking it less.
Also, some of the point of view feels inconsistent. It's usually limited point of view, but then we get random glimpses of what's going inside the head of other people in the scene. Or we see through the eyes of an invisible all-knowing narrator.
I feel the book might have been better if it were longer and we had more time to understand the parent's motivations and feelings.
Read
June 23, 2014This book was very creepy! A couple who had just lost their newborn baby get an offer from a Mr. Laverick. He will bring their baby back using bionic implants, hence the "digital children". You'll have to read the book to find out what happens as I don't want to give anything away. Let's just say that it gave me the heebee jeebies!
Good novella- recommended.
Good novella- recommended.
September 13, 2016
This was a seriously creepy story! Made me look at children in a whole new light this morning....
June 4, 2014
It's funny... just a couple of days ago, a coworker came in on their day off, and brought their adorably squishy faced baby! So cute! That perfect baby age (- smiling and waving, but still not talking!)
That crap is contagious!
I found myself cooing, and giggling, and after 19 years - saying... "ohhh.. I want another one..."
What the hell was wrong with me?!
Temporary insanity! That's it!
image:
Thank you, Jacob Rayne!
Digital Children was just the birth control I needed!! Holy $hit! Creepy little bastards in this book!!
Literal Me was pissing me off, wondering how their son would grow...(physically grow, with age...), but, I shut her up.
And... that ending!! OMG! It's creepy as hell!
I can see this becoming a terrifying movie!!
P, L, & N <3
~sg
That crap is contagious!
I found myself cooing, and giggling, and after 19 years - saying... "ohhh.. I want another one..."
What the hell was wrong with me?!
Temporary insanity! That's it!
image:
Thank you, Jacob Rayne!
Digital Children was just the birth control I needed!! Holy $hit! Creepy little bastards in this book!!
Literal Me was pissing me off, wondering how their son would grow...(physically grow, with age...), but, I shut her up.
And... that ending!! OMG! It's creepy as hell!
I can see this becoming a terrifying movie!!
P, L, & N <3
~sg
March 4, 2014
Jacob Rayne has done it again!This chilling tale of digital children is absolutely terrifying.Josh and Marsha were eagerly looking forward to parenthood but the unexpected horror that awaits them is beyond your wildest imagination.Having read Jacobs two other books I had to snap this one up as soon as it became available.Being an avid reader I had several other books to read ahead of this one but as I opened this book for a quick glance of what was inside I couldn't manage to put it down until it was finished.This was such a Brilliantly creepy story complete with a mad scientist who made me think of the tall man of phantasm fame.Jacob Rayne has a brilliant imagination for horror and I look forward to reading anything he comes up with next. Bravo Jacob! Well done!
August 27, 2016
Rayne of Techno Terror
Josh and Marsha experience a terrible loss. In the hospital, creepy Dr. Hank Laverick approaches the grieving couple. He offers them a second chance. In spite of their reservations, Josh and Marsha sign a contract. Dr. Laverick points out a particularly chilling clause: failure to pay means they will have to give their child to Dr. Laverick.
They learn there are worse fates than repossession.
Jacob Rayne's Digital Children: From the Grave to the Cradle is a great work of horror. Mr. Rayne's deft foreshadowing sends chills up and down the reader's spine. As Josh and Marsha hurtle toward the terrifying climax, the reader cries out a warning. But it's too late.
Josh and Marsha experience a terrible loss. In the hospital, creepy Dr. Hank Laverick approaches the grieving couple. He offers them a second chance. In spite of their reservations, Josh and Marsha sign a contract. Dr. Laverick points out a particularly chilling clause: failure to pay means they will have to give their child to Dr. Laverick.
They learn there are worse fates than repossession.
Jacob Rayne's Digital Children: From the Grave to the Cradle is a great work of horror. Mr. Rayne's deft foreshadowing sends chills up and down the reader's spine. As Josh and Marsha hurtle toward the terrifying climax, the reader cries out a warning. But it's too late.
November 24, 2014
After only reading two shorts from this author, I am going to prematurely say that he is becoming a favorite. The ideas behind what I have read are creepy in the most intriguing way. I will definitely be reading the rest of Jacob Rayne's output shortly.
June 13, 2015
Creepy little novella-what's dead should stay dead.
July 15, 2017
Awesome book! If you like scary,gory and slightly disturbing movies this is a good book for you. I could easily see this turned into a movie. He's a great writer and very discriptive you can picture everything the way he writes. I like his writing better than some of the more popular horror authors. I got this as a free download through a site that sends me free downloads occasionally. You can also get this on Kindle app or Amazon.Digital Children
June 17, 2017
While this book kept me entertained I felt there were a lot of unanswered questions
August 5, 2016
WARNING: SPOILER REVIEW!
A short science-fiction/horror novella about a Frankenstein-like procedure performed by taking advantage of grieving parents, granting a kind of robotic, artificial intelligent life to their stillborn son.
The premise is a good one, the events chilling as they unfold, but the story is rushed. Characters act on whims, like the father blatantly overreacting and physically assaulting hospital orderlies without any sufficient rational cause, or the at first very reluctant parents suddenly going along with the doctor’s plans without any inner struggles or evidence of how and why exactly they changed their minds; acts that just don’t seem to come from the characters themselves but are only there to keep the story rolling.
This story desperately needs to show the reasoning behind the characters’ actions. They constantly “weigh up the pros and cons”, but they are never offered to the reader. This could have been accomplished, for instance, by having Cynthia, another mother suddenly introduced halfway through the story, play the part of Marsha’s dear friend right from the start, creating dialogues about Marsha’s grief, discussing the doctor’s plans, etc. But it’s a novella and perhaps that’s why it lacks such character motivations, details, descriptions, inner dialogues.
We never get to know who the characters really are. The doctor is constantly referred to as being creepy and ominous, but without any details on what exactly makes him so. Too much tell instead of show. The crisp spoken dialogue certainly brings the characters to life, but I thought it made the doctor more of a manic, euphoric zealot than a sinister mad scientist creeping around morgues, robbing graves and experimenting on corpses in his dark basement. Okay, in the end it might turn out he really does that (no idea where he would get his specimens from, otherwise), and THEN the many instances where we were told he was creepy seem justified, but he could have been given specific mannerisms, resort to talking to himself during conversations and muttering ambiguous things; that would’ve upped his creepy factor nicely. But of course then you might ask again why the parents would go along with such a character in the first place.
The story, while fun and interesting, is lacking plausibility; I can’t believe that two adult human beings, even struck down by grief, would ever agree to reanimate the corpse of their son; can’t believe that they don’t realize it will never really BE their son, since mind and soul can’t be duplicated. At the very least it needs a detailed explanation of what is actually scientifically possible with bionics, specifically concerning artificial neural networks. Rayne is definitely capable of writing this amount of detail, as the part where the doctor explains the remote control functions – the first truly captivating part of the novella – proves. Then again, it is hard to believe that all bodily functions can be activated by a tap on a button, seemingly happening out of nowhere, and also the possibility to have those functions completely suppressed as well. But these are thoughts that only come to mind when you start to think things through.
The cop near the end of the story was a welcome addition and even though his role isn’t that big, he might well be my favorite character in the piece, as he goes to investigate the doctor’s house like a Van Helsing type character.
A short science-fiction/horror novella about a Frankenstein-like procedure performed by taking advantage of grieving parents, granting a kind of robotic, artificial intelligent life to their stillborn son.
The premise is a good one, the events chilling as they unfold, but the story is rushed. Characters act on whims, like the father blatantly overreacting and physically assaulting hospital orderlies without any sufficient rational cause, or the at first very reluctant parents suddenly going along with the doctor’s plans without any inner struggles or evidence of how and why exactly they changed their minds; acts that just don’t seem to come from the characters themselves but are only there to keep the story rolling.
This story desperately needs to show the reasoning behind the characters’ actions. They constantly “weigh up the pros and cons”, but they are never offered to the reader. This could have been accomplished, for instance, by having Cynthia, another mother suddenly introduced halfway through the story, play the part of Marsha’s dear friend right from the start, creating dialogues about Marsha’s grief, discussing the doctor’s plans, etc. But it’s a novella and perhaps that’s why it lacks such character motivations, details, descriptions, inner dialogues.
We never get to know who the characters really are. The doctor is constantly referred to as being creepy and ominous, but without any details on what exactly makes him so. Too much tell instead of show. The crisp spoken dialogue certainly brings the characters to life, but I thought it made the doctor more of a manic, euphoric zealot than a sinister mad scientist creeping around morgues, robbing graves and experimenting on corpses in his dark basement. Okay, in the end it might turn out he really does that (no idea where he would get his specimens from, otherwise), and THEN the many instances where we were told he was creepy seem justified, but he could have been given specific mannerisms, resort to talking to himself during conversations and muttering ambiguous things; that would’ve upped his creepy factor nicely. But of course then you might ask again why the parents would go along with such a character in the first place.
The story, while fun and interesting, is lacking plausibility; I can’t believe that two adult human beings, even struck down by grief, would ever agree to reanimate the corpse of their son; can’t believe that they don’t realize it will never really BE their son, since mind and soul can’t be duplicated. At the very least it needs a detailed explanation of what is actually scientifically possible with bionics, specifically concerning artificial neural networks. Rayne is definitely capable of writing this amount of detail, as the part where the doctor explains the remote control functions – the first truly captivating part of the novella – proves. Then again, it is hard to believe that all bodily functions can be activated by a tap on a button, seemingly happening out of nowhere, and also the possibility to have those functions completely suppressed as well. But these are thoughts that only come to mind when you start to think things through.
The cop near the end of the story was a welcome addition and even though his role isn’t that big, he might well be my favorite character in the piece, as he goes to investigate the doctor’s house like a Van Helsing type character.
July 30, 2016
Fan horror. I was recommended and given this book by Iain Rob Wright only took me half a day to get through it. I was very impressed with it a perfect horror story. Marsha and Josh are happily married expecting their first baby. When she goes into labour things however things don't go smoothly and she's whisked off for a caesarian. The baby doesn't make it. They are inconsolable and when they are approached by a strange doctor who says he can give life back to their son, they are skeptical at first but decide to agree with disastrous consequences. It's a great horror and I will be keeping my eye open for more by Jacob Rayne
August 25, 2016
Enjoyed reading this creepy story but I'm not sure how plausible the reactions of the parents are. It offers some interesting moral conflicts. Would I want my baby reanimated? I don't think so and then when strange things start happening and you don't consider that your digital children are the cause. These people want to continue having more digital children. I know I wouldn't but I guess that's the driving force behind the story. I will grant that the story is creepy but not very plausible.
July 29, 2015
The dead kids come back
An eerie story of parents who lose their children at birth, and a doctor who brings them back. Could it ever be possible to happen. A great short story, worth the read.
An eerie story of parents who lose their children at birth, and a doctor who brings them back. Could it ever be possible to happen. A great short story, worth the read.
July 28, 2016
The beginning was interesting and different-pretty good. Unfortunately, it became to much like B movie and had very unbelievable, far-fetched and unexplained happenings. I feel that the author has potential and a good editor could help him achieve good stories. Good luck Mr. Rayne.
July 15, 2016
A well-written horror story. I like the concept and creepiness alike in this tale. Rayne's book came to me highly recommended. I understand why - and I pass that recommendation along to you. Enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews