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Stalked
Yori Tanaka lives with crippling anxiety, knowing he carries the “Beast Syndrome” gene yet still unsure what activates it. Thankfully, his boyfriend, Bryce Green, is down to earth and has been more than patient and supportive for the last five years.
But their lives are about to change. When Lance Haney, an old friend, rolls into town, Yori is excited to see him at first—until Yori learns Lance’s motives. Full of malice and bad intentions, Lance plans to activate Yori’s “Beast Syndrome” gene, and Yori’s greatest fear is about to become a reality.
But their lives are about to change. When Lance Haney, an old friend, rolls into town, Yori is excited to see him at first—until Yori learns Lance’s motives. Full of malice and bad intentions, Lance plans to activate Yori’s “Beast Syndrome” gene, and Yori’s greatest fear is about to become a reality.
179 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2015
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 15, 2015
1.75 stars rounded up
The bad guy’s name is in the blurb, but I figure I’d better mark my review with SPOILERS ALERT as well, just in case.
** SPOILERS ALERT SPOILERS ALERT -- PROCEED WITH CAUTIONS **
At first, I was interested with the blurb – the idea of beast syndrome, as well as a promise of thriller aspect (as written by the author herself), intrigued me the most. I always enjoy urban fantasy series (mainly non M/M) and anything with thriller/suspense or murder mystery increases my interest.
But this? This doesn’t meet my standard of a good urban fantasy/mystery. At one point when I was reading this, I actually muttered, “this is not good” *shakes head*.
My main issue with this story is the lack of focus. The story has several plot lines and the flow is choppy. Let’s see, it opens with Yori during his first week of college, feeling the anxiety of majoring engineering, when he stumbled into Bryce when he ran out of class. Suddenly, it was five years later, they have been together all the time, apparently Yori graduated from graphic design (huh?) and is working at thrift store while Bryce is pushing for marriage (what?). Yori is worried about his Beast Syndrome because of his Dad (okay, that talk was so sudden), and someone is killing Asian-looking boys (which prompts Yori’s fear).
Not long after that, we have Lance, who comes out of nowhere (he never is mentioned before), saying that he wants to kill Yori to activate the Beast gene, and along the way there is this other character who befriends Yori and seems to copy his look and everything (I have no idea what the significance of his character, at all!).
I mean, what is this? What does it want to say actually?
The only way I managed to make it to the end was by way of skimming. I never think of myself as a critique; I know that it’s hard to write something, and I’m not going to pretend like I know what’s best to write. I do have notes in which why this story doesn’t work for me (aside from the confusing summary I wrote above)
– The ‘jump’ from prologue to present time, in which suddenly Yori and Bryce are already together for five years robbed the experience of reading about them coming together. Especially since I sensed that Yori and Bryce have opposite characteristics. If this story is not meant as a romance about them, why start the prologue with that? Why not instead introduce readers to the idea of Beast Syndrome and what happens in the world because of it?
– On that note, the whole Beast Syndrome part is weak and blurry. I would like more world-building, as well as a good introduction into the idea, rather than just referring to it here and there.
– Then the murders ... seriously, I didn’t find it suspenseful or thrilling. I would like to read more about the investigations, more tension, rather than reading how Bryce wanted to get married and told Yori to quit his job so Bryce could take care of him. Really, Bryce? What is this, the 1950’s? The murders feel like a scattered afterthought at best.
– Introducing the villain’s identity within 40% (yes, he was in the blurb) by way of him approaching Yori and saying “I want to kill you”… *head desk* ... really, don’t do that. As a mystery lover, that just takes the carpet out from under my feet. I also found him to be appearing out of nowhere with absurd motives.
– Apart from this, there is a sudden switch of perspectives (twice) from Yori (as main narrator) to other people, along with flashbacks between Yori and Lance – which disrupted the flow of the story.
I dislike writing unfavorable reviews for new authors; it is not a fun task to do. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t feeling this. Of course, other readers might enjoy it more than I. Your mileage may vary and everything.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
The bad guy’s name is in the blurb, but I figure I’d better mark my review with SPOILERS ALERT as well, just in case.
** SPOILERS ALERT SPOILERS ALERT -- PROCEED WITH CAUTIONS **
At first, I was interested with the blurb – the idea of beast syndrome, as well as a promise of thriller aspect (as written by the author herself), intrigued me the most. I always enjoy urban fantasy series (mainly non M/M) and anything with thriller/suspense or murder mystery increases my interest.
But this? This doesn’t meet my standard of a good urban fantasy/mystery. At one point when I was reading this, I actually muttered, “this is not good” *shakes head*.
My main issue with this story is the lack of focus. The story has several plot lines and the flow is choppy. Let’s see, it opens with Yori during his first week of college, feeling the anxiety of majoring engineering, when he stumbled into Bryce when he ran out of class. Suddenly, it was five years later, they have been together all the time, apparently Yori graduated from graphic design (huh?) and is working at thrift store while Bryce is pushing for marriage (what?). Yori is worried about his Beast Syndrome because of his Dad (okay, that talk was so sudden), and someone is killing Asian-looking boys (which prompts Yori’s fear).
Not long after that, we have Lance, who comes out of nowhere (he never is mentioned before), saying that he wants to kill Yori to activate the Beast gene, and along the way there is this other character who befriends Yori and seems to copy his look and everything (I have no idea what the significance of his character, at all!).
I mean, what is this? What does it want to say actually?
The only way I managed to make it to the end was by way of skimming. I never think of myself as a critique; I know that it’s hard to write something, and I’m not going to pretend like I know what’s best to write. I do have notes in which why this story doesn’t work for me (aside from the confusing summary I wrote above)
– The ‘jump’ from prologue to present time, in which suddenly Yori and Bryce are already together for five years robbed the experience of reading about them coming together. Especially since I sensed that Yori and Bryce have opposite characteristics. If this story is not meant as a romance about them, why start the prologue with that? Why not instead introduce readers to the idea of Beast Syndrome and what happens in the world because of it?
– On that note, the whole Beast Syndrome part is weak and blurry. I would like more world-building, as well as a good introduction into the idea, rather than just referring to it here and there.
– Then the murders ... seriously, I didn’t find it suspenseful or thrilling. I would like to read more about the investigations, more tension, rather than reading how Bryce wanted to get married and told Yori to quit his job so Bryce could take care of him. Really, Bryce? What is this, the 1950’s? The murders feel like a scattered afterthought at best.
– Introducing the villain’s identity within 40% (yes, he was in the blurb) by way of him approaching Yori and saying “I want to kill you”… *head desk* ... really, don’t do that. As a mystery lover, that just takes the carpet out from under my feet. I also found him to be appearing out of nowhere with absurd motives.
– Apart from this, there is a sudden switch of perspectives (twice) from Yori (as main narrator) to other people, along with flashbacks between Yori and Lance – which disrupted the flow of the story.
I dislike writing unfavorable reviews for new authors; it is not a fun task to do. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t feeling this. Of course, other readers might enjoy it more than I. Your mileage may vary and everything.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
December 8, 2015
This was such a sweet book. Although this storyline was dark and had the feeling of a horror film, I was mostly taken by the main character. I thought Yori was the cutest thing. Yori suffers from server anxiety, so when he sees a frightening creature, his imagination runs wild. He worries that the beast syndrome has spread to his area, and he shares his fears with his boyfriend, Bryce. However, Bryce is used to Yori overreacting and convinces him that he's just imagining things. When it becomes apparent that Yori is being stalked and his fears are justified, Bryce does his best to try to keep Yori safe.
Yori's stalker threatens many bad things, but in contrast, there and plenty of tender moments and a lot of sweetness in this book. Bryce is a loving boyfriend who wants nothing but to shelter and protect the delicate Yori. Yori's insecurities became overwhelming at times, but this only made his character more believable. He needed constant reassurance, and he was continually reaching for a sense of security that he rarely found unless he was in Bryce's arms. With respect to the elements of danger, I was amused by some of the things Yori does since it seemed like the perfect thing a character would do in a horror novel. For example, Yori knows there are creepy creatures since he and Bryce are out in the woods, hiding away from a stalker. Yet one night Yori walks out of his cabin and wanders into the forest. Just as I would be doing if watching a horror film, I was screaming at him to turn around and go back in, but of course he doesn't listen. Overall, reading this book was an enjoyable experience, and I was very pleased with the happy ending.
Yori's stalker threatens many bad things, but in contrast, there and plenty of tender moments and a lot of sweetness in this book. Bryce is a loving boyfriend who wants nothing but to shelter and protect the delicate Yori. Yori's insecurities became overwhelming at times, but this only made his character more believable. He needed constant reassurance, and he was continually reaching for a sense of security that he rarely found unless he was in Bryce's arms. With respect to the elements of danger, I was amused by some of the things Yori does since it seemed like the perfect thing a character would do in a horror novel. For example, Yori knows there are creepy creatures since he and Bryce are out in the woods, hiding away from a stalker. Yet one night Yori walks out of his cabin and wanders into the forest. Just as I would be doing if watching a horror film, I was screaming at him to turn around and go back in, but of course he doesn't listen. Overall, reading this book was an enjoyable experience, and I was very pleased with the happy ending.
September 16, 2015
Stalked, in short a cheesy romance book with a sociopathic old friend from the past coming to kill Yori with extra cheese. I love cheese by the way.
For me the story moved at a nice even pace. Nothing seemed too soon or too slow. The interactions with the characters felt genuine with Lance especially pulling off major creeps, as is his job in the book.
My only complaint is in regards to the "beast syndrome", seeing as it's more of a mutation than anything but never really gets stated as much save for once. Not to mention if it isn't a new thing assuming it's taking place within say, a 40-50 year time period, then wouldn't they have already figured out is was hereditary? It's only a minor complaint since it's a minor plot point that gets the bigger ones rolling.
I give the book a good four out of five and worth the time to take a good read.
For me the story moved at a nice even pace. Nothing seemed too soon or too slow. The interactions with the characters felt genuine with Lance especially pulling off major creeps, as is his job in the book.
My only complaint is in regards to the "beast syndrome", seeing as it's more of a mutation than anything but never really gets stated as much save for once. Not to mention if it isn't a new thing assuming it's taking place within say, a 40-50 year time period, then wouldn't they have already figured out is was hereditary? It's only a minor complaint since it's a minor plot point that gets the bigger ones rolling.
I give the book a good four out of five and worth the time to take a good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2016
Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance
Going into my reading of Stalked by Susanna Hays, I knew it was going to be either really good or really bad. I hoped for the former but was sadly left with the story solidly in the latter camp.
For full review see Prism Book Alliance http://www.prismbookalliance.com/?pos...
October 6, 2015
I don't understand Yori and his reaction to Lance. I just could not sympathize with him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2016
Really different, really entertaining and a great way to spend an afternoon.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews