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Screw, Marry, Kill
Every month, a group of immortals gets together to perform a very special ritual. A game, if you will, with three very simple stages:
Screw.
Marry.
Kill.
They have one lunar cycle to seduce, wed, and kill their mark and finish the game.
Zeke has been a faithful member of the group for years, and has lived the existence of an unchanging vampire since the age of the Messiah. In all that time, personal emotions have never gotten in the way of his feeding, and the ritual provides a perfected way to feed—enrich the victim’s blood with the emotion of love, and you don’t have to feed again for months.
When this month’s mark is a beautiful girl with a dark secret, though, Zeke finds himself on the wrong side of a dangerous arrangement. Failing to complete the ritual results in death. But he can’t kill the woman he loves.
And everything rests upon finishing the game.
Warning: This short story comes packed with emotions. Hate ‘em or love ‘em, you will feel for these characters.
Age range: 18+ (Language and violence)
Screw.
Marry.
Kill.
They have one lunar cycle to seduce, wed, and kill their mark and finish the game.
Zeke has been a faithful member of the group for years, and has lived the existence of an unchanging vampire since the age of the Messiah. In all that time, personal emotions have never gotten in the way of his feeding, and the ritual provides a perfected way to feed—enrich the victim’s blood with the emotion of love, and you don’t have to feed again for months.
When this month’s mark is a beautiful girl with a dark secret, though, Zeke finds himself on the wrong side of a dangerous arrangement. Failing to complete the ritual results in death. But he can’t kill the woman he loves.
And everything rests upon finishing the game.
Warning: This short story comes packed with emotions. Hate ‘em or love ‘em, you will feel for these characters.
Age range: 18+ (Language and violence)
57 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 13, 2016
About the author
Tom Shutt
19 books34 followersTom Shutt writes paranormal suspense with generous helpings of humor and a sprig of mystery thrown in for good measure. Sometimes he dabbles in fantasy, but in all cases, he strives to push the boundaries of modern fiction in search of good answers to hard questions.
He lives on the perpetually rainy East Coast with some cats, dogs, and a basement full of mistresses. His favorite authors are Jim Butcher, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Stroud, and Eoin Colfer. He knows how to hide a body from the police, and the research for his novels has likely landed him on a few security watch lists. He enjoys reading, gaming (Halo, Civilization, BioShock, Call of Duty, Minecraft), playing pool, chasing deer, hunting deer, riding deer, and lying about what activities he does with deer. His favorite shows include Supernatural, Game of Thrones, iZombie, and anything created by Joss Whedon.
He lives on the perpetually rainy East Coast with some cats, dogs, and a basement full of mistresses. His favorite authors are Jim Butcher, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Stroud, and Eoin Colfer. He knows how to hide a body from the police, and the research for his novels has likely landed him on a few security watch lists. He enjoys reading, gaming (Halo, Civilization, BioShock, Call of Duty, Minecraft), playing pool, chasing deer, hunting deer, riding deer, and lying about what activities he does with deer. His favorite shows include Supernatural, Game of Thrones, iZombie, and anything created by Joss Whedon.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 13, 2016
I loved Tom shut's story. It was a paranormal with a new twist. It made me hate the bad guys and fall in love with the good. Even Zeke who didn't know he could be good. I hope to see a series from this short story.
Mary E. Buras-Conway; Author of A Temptation
Mary E. Buras-Conway; Author of A Temptation
February 13, 2016
Screw, Mary, Kill is a paranormal story like no other. I would consider this a short story and Thomas sure managed to pack a lot into it. The plot is different from anything I have read to date, very unique and with quite a few twists. The writing style is extremely pleasant to read.
Zeke is a character that I actually like, even though he is actually one of the "bad guys", but in his own way you feel drawn to him. The others are a bit more of a mystery which adds to this story well.
I really hope there will some series developing from this since I could see there being some spin offs and more coming. I truly enjoyed this book and was happy that the author gave me the chance to read this book for an honest review.
February 15, 2016
***I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the author.***
So overall, it was a pretty interesting concept for a short story. That being said, because it was a short story, there was no ability to world build and so I suffered a bit from not being able to connect to the characters.
The end plot twists were really entertaining and could lead to great potential to the series.
I was also a little disappointed with collapse of the vampiric relationship of Zeke, Roy, Fischer and Skyler, I was hoping for more of a deep connection with everything.
Overall, there was some really good potential and a great quick short read.
3 stars.
So overall, it was a pretty interesting concept for a short story. That being said, because it was a short story, there was no ability to world build and so I suffered a bit from not being able to connect to the characters.
The end plot twists were really entertaining and could lead to great potential to the series.
I was also a little disappointed with collapse of the vampiric relationship of Zeke, Roy, Fischer and Skyler, I was hoping for more of a deep connection with everything.
Overall, there was some really good potential and a great quick short read.
3 stars.
March 16, 2016
I love a good vampire book! This book does not disappoint. If you like to read everything you can one vampires you need to check this book out. I enjoyed it! * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
July 27, 2024
Well that was unexpected.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2016
This is my short story, making me a little biased, so I'll use this space to tell you a bit more about the book—why I wrote it, what to expect inside, and what might be in store in the future.
Screw, Marry, Kill was spawned from the idea that an eternal existence would eventually be boring. You hunt, you feed, you get hunted, you hopefully try not to die. In movies and TV shows, you see vampires still skulking in the shadows or living lavish lifestyles from their enormous accumulated wealth, but their free time was still spent doing the same things they'd done as humans. Where was the unique take on an immortal's downtime? Would an ageless predator really sit around in a library drinking a goblet of blood and listening to concertos?
Then I thought, What would a modern vampire do? One who developed right along with all the centuries and millenia he lived through? He would play a modern game to keep things interesting, and one game that's always fun and a little bit raunchy is F*ck, Marry, Kill. Obviously, the cover was censored a bit for public consumption, but what you'll find on the inside pages definitely delivers on the more crass and crude elements of the game.
The premise is simple: Blood becomes richer, more potent, with the more emotions that are swirling in it upon time of death. That's why vampires inspire fear in their prey through prolonged chases, or heightened dread from their prey sensing something stalking them from the shadows. Once their hunger is satiated with the enriched blood, the vampires don't need to feed again for months. But as we all know, love is the most powerful emotion of all. So my group of immortals take turns in enacting the three stages of the game over the period of a month—one predator, one prey, one lunar cycle to bed, wed, and behead that month's human mark.
Nobody counted on love working the other way, though, with an ancient vampire falling for his food. When the game is turned on its end and darker forces are revealed to be at play, this cycle's game might just be the one nobody wins.
This is the first book of the Paranormal Games. Stay tuned for more paranormal twists on modern party games!
Screw, Marry, Kill was spawned from the idea that an eternal existence would eventually be boring. You hunt, you feed, you get hunted, you hopefully try not to die. In movies and TV shows, you see vampires still skulking in the shadows or living lavish lifestyles from their enormous accumulated wealth, but their free time was still spent doing the same things they'd done as humans. Where was the unique take on an immortal's downtime? Would an ageless predator really sit around in a library drinking a goblet of blood and listening to concertos?
Then I thought, What would a modern vampire do? One who developed right along with all the centuries and millenia he lived through? He would play a modern game to keep things interesting, and one game that's always fun and a little bit raunchy is F*ck, Marry, Kill. Obviously, the cover was censored a bit for public consumption, but what you'll find on the inside pages definitely delivers on the more crass and crude elements of the game.
The premise is simple: Blood becomes richer, more potent, with the more emotions that are swirling in it upon time of death. That's why vampires inspire fear in their prey through prolonged chases, or heightened dread from their prey sensing something stalking them from the shadows. Once their hunger is satiated with the enriched blood, the vampires don't need to feed again for months. But as we all know, love is the most powerful emotion of all. So my group of immortals take turns in enacting the three stages of the game over the period of a month—one predator, one prey, one lunar cycle to bed, wed, and behead that month's human mark.
Nobody counted on love working the other way, though, with an ancient vampire falling for his food. When the game is turned on its end and darker forces are revealed to be at play, this cycle's game might just be the one nobody wins.
This is the first book of the Paranormal Games. Stay tuned for more paranormal twists on modern party games!
July 28, 2016
Good for a short read
I wanted to read this story after I read Day of the Fish Zombies by the same author (and must admit I was disappointed when I realized this was not another "choose your destiny" book). I alternated between thoroughly enjoying this book and despising it. It starts with an interesting premise and a group of guys being... guys... which is always fun. After the first chapter, it gets a little predictable as one might imagine. But in the end, there are twists and turns. If this were a full novel, I'd rate it with 2 or 3 stars. But since it is a short read, I was able to focus on the positives at the end. Hence, I rate this with 4 stars, and am certainly not turned away from Shutt's writing.
I wanted to read this story after I read Day of the Fish Zombies by the same author (and must admit I was disappointed when I realized this was not another "choose your destiny" book). I alternated between thoroughly enjoying this book and despising it. It starts with an interesting premise and a group of guys being... guys... which is always fun. After the first chapter, it gets a little predictable as one might imagine. But in the end, there are twists and turns. If this were a full novel, I'd rate it with 2 or 3 stars. But since it is a short read, I was able to focus on the positives at the end. Hence, I rate this with 4 stars, and am certainly not turned away from Shutt's writing.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews