Kill Switch: America’s Favourite Blood Sport Puts Fifteen Teams of Criminals in a Fight to the Death

by Sean E. Britten

‘Slayerz’, it’s America of the not-too-distant future’s favourite bloodsport. Fifteen pairs of criminals taken from either death row or a life sentence enter the arena and only one team leaves. Each team of two are linked together by a device called a ‘kill switch’. If one contestant dies they’ll take the other with them, forcing the pairs of ultra-violent odd couples to work together or perish.

When ex-police detective James Hageman is recruited by the Slayerz’s producers he sees the deadly game as a potential second chance. But paired up with one of the worst serial killers in living memory, James begins to question what the true cost will be if they manage to slaughter their way to the finish line and go free.

Up against hulking Nazis, crazed cannibals, Yakuza assassins and assorted hitmen, lunatics and killers nothing is for certain or off limits. The only rule is the team that slays together, stays together.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2016

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the near future, humanity shows its unquenchable thirst for gore and death as voyeurs while producers and corporations are right there to make a few fistfuls of money, all in the name of entertainment. Ahhh, reality TV at its gruesome worse and the public is eating it up, making Slayerz the number one bloodsport series. So what if prison inmates are turned into two-man teams in a fight to the death, the gorier, the better.

KILL SWITCH by Sean E. Britten is an over-the-top, super graphic tale of survival and from the moment the action starts, it does not stop its insane pace. Gritty, raw and kind of out there, blood will gush, and only one team can survive. Get to know the characters, their crimes and just how cold humanity has become from the action to the commercials that are peppered throughout. Will the former cop/serial killer team win? Maybe the Nazi’s team? Or perhaps the assassins or cannibals….stay tuned…after a word from the sponsors…

Thank you NetGalley and Books Go Social for offering this one for review!

Publication Date: November 11, 2016
Publisher: Sean E. Britten
Genre: Action/Sci-fi
Print Length: 243 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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[K.C. Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

A complementary, digitized copy of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the work in any way.

James Hageman is an ex-police detective who has long since fallen from his former position's grace. However, after 2 years in prison, a potential second chance arises...in the form of a partner-based battle royale. In Slayerz, if one partner of a duo is killed, their surviving other goes down with them - and James, who has been paired with an infamous, artistically minded killer by the name of Dali Dawson, must now do whatever it takes to survive.

The first aspect of Kill Switch I'd like to positively point out is the world. It was captivating, topical with its themes, and believable in certain regards. Corporations' greed dominates daily life; entertainment producers will take any measure possible to become a hit. One can even detect this via the sponsorship ads at the beginning of most chapters!

Another strong facet of the novel was the cast. Kill Switch reminded me heavily of survival-horror media franchises I adore - such as Danganronpa, Your Turn to Die (known in Japan as キミガシネ/Kimi ga Shine), and select reality TV series - via its quirky assortment of characters. While there was little time to develop them, this worked in the story's favor, as it added to the mystery and suspense.

One of the main elements I'm divided on is the plot. The story itself was unrelenting and graphic, and although I personally enjoyed it a decent amount, I would not recommend it to the faint of heart due to the amount of gore and death, among other content warnings. The ending in particular felt quite underwhelming and anticlimactic when compared to prior events.

As for something I believe could have been done better overall: the writing style was almost too fast-paced at times, and it was littered with grammatical and syntax errors. It wasn't unbearable, but it did detract from enjoyment. Visualization also became a difficult task at certain points, especially during a handful of high-action scenes and during sudden POV changes.

Everything considered, though, this was an enthralling read, and I will definitely check out the next installment!

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books which attempt to tell dramatic stories about one man or woman's struggle against adversity, the system, and hardships before they grow into better people through a good hard long look at their circumstances. Then there's this book which is about a bunch of death row inmates in a sci-fi future being forced to fight in a gigantic "Running Man" gladiator arena to the death.

The thing is, Stephen King's Running Man was always less interesting than the Arnold version due to the fact the premise benefits from being overthetop and goofy. Sean E. Britten takes it and makes it even more insane with insane levels of over-the-top violence punctuated with short biographies of the sadistic psychopaths who are all competing for chance to get out of their death sentences. I'm actually reminded of the Gerard Butler movie, "Gamer" except this doesn't take itself so seriously.

This isn't going to be the kind of book for everyone since it's less concerned with characterization than the utterly mad cap conflict between the deranged characters with our protagonist having sympathy mostly because he's the least monstrous. We're in full-on Roger Corman Death Race territory with a lot of these guys. Neo-Nazi mad scientists, Hannibal lecters, and more populate this group with the game show doing their best to pair the killers up with the most likely to enrage them.

I probably should give this book 4 stars since I would have enjoyed the book dialing it down a bit for characterization (despite that being against the spirit of the book) but the best part of the story is the Robocop-esque commercials which punctuate the chapters. They give great insight into what a caricatured nightmare future the world has devolved into and are hilarious.

[Keith McArdle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great concept! It's a new TV show coming to you in the not too distant future. What's it called? Slayerz! Thirty hardcore criminals are placed into teams of two at random points in the arena, which is a huge area in which there are buildings, rubble, car bodies and plenty of places to hide. James is a former cop down on his luck, but Slayerz might just be the second chance he's been waiting for...problem is, he's paired with one of the worst murderers in living memory. Oh, and if one of them dies, a contraption attached to the forearm of the other (the kill switch) injects them with a lethal concoction of drugs.

This book was fast moving with plenty of action. I was cheering for James and hoping he'd make it through, but sometimes there's not always a happy ending. Wait, so did he make it or not? Well...you'll have to read Kill Switch for yourself to find out!

I liked the little advertisements at the beginning of each chapter as well. I could imagine it being broadcast from some several thousand inch TV screen hanging off the side of a sky scraper. It reminded me of a mix of Blade Runner and Fifth Element.

Definitely worth a read!

[Ty Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a switch up from my usual dark fantasy, sci-fi, or RPG preferences and was a breath of fresh air inbetween the normal reads. Kill Switch is relentlessly fast paced and revolves around a dystopian future America (which frankly doesn't seem all that far off right now) where people fight to the death to the amusement of millions of viewers in hopes of earning their freedom.

There's clear echoes from death match tales and even video games that kickstarted this genre, but Kill Switch really shines on its own with the brutality and the very distinctive personalities and back stories of the characters battling.

Having a disgraced cop main character forced to work with a maniacal serial killer keeps the story grounded with someone to root for, since most of the players are irredeemably evil, and there's a really great cast of interesting fighters. The weaponry and traps are almost characters unto themselves, and there is some crazy death dealing going on here that wouldn't be out of place in a Saw entry.

There's one element of the book that could be a make or break for readers, and that's in the pacing and description. Everything flies back at high speed, with very matter-of-fact descriptions. Normally I'd prefer more "flowery" language with descriptions woven into the narrative rather than stated as info dumps to the reader, but the style works well for this story where you as a viewer are supposed to know the combatant's histories and move on quickly to how they kill (and die).

That issue might lower the star rating for you, but other than that Kill Switch is wildly entertaining, and the darkly humorous dystopian commercial segments that open each chapter are genius.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley. This is gruesome and cheesy and a nice break from my usual reading.
Loved the ads/commercials before each chapter.

[Leland Lydecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kill Switch: Cheesy, Gory Fun

At first look, I wasn’t too impressed with Kill Switch. There are some glaring misspellings (I saw ‘defenceless’ used more than once) and reoccurring punctuation errors. There are also a number of other novels with the same name, and the premise is reminiscent of The Condemned, a lackluster WWE vehicle that saw convicts purchased by a wealthy television producer pitted against each other for a shot at freedom. Explosive ankle monitors tracked the convicts and added a gory twist to the plot.

Like the WWE’s scriptwriters, the author eschews nuanced characters in favor of a diverse collection of stereotypes. The characters’ nicknames have a ridiculously campy feel: we’re introduced to Jacquelyn Hyde and Lucy Loveless, Christmas Daye, Miller Thyme, and Sy Borg, among others.

There’s not much in the way of character- or plot-building, and the promised conflict between the bad-cop protagonist and his serial killer partner doesn’t materialize until the last few pages. The upshot of the lack of character-building, however, is that there’s little to break the flow of the action– and the fast-paced action and over-the-top gore are where Kill Switch shines.

It’s not a terribly long read, and Sean Britten keeps the tension cranked up throughout so its doubtful you’ll want to put it down. I could have finished this in a day if I hadn’t had to go to work. If you’re looking for some fast, campy, violent action, Kill Switch absolutely satisfies.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy, violent gorefest

In the future, a bloody New United States reality television show called Slayerz pits fifteen pairs of convicts from either death row or life sentences to a gladiator-style televised mess of body parts and blood.

The fights to the death happen in an arena and if one of the pair dies, the other dies in a minute.

Ex-cop James Hageman is paired with Dali Dawson, the Babyface Killer. There are serial killers, Nazis, samurai killers, and more all on the rampage because the last pair alive is offered freedom.

There wasn't much character development but there was fast-paced action all the way through the book.

I'm now on the way to read the sequels: KILLER SWITCH: SERIAL ESCALATION and KILL SWITCH: FINAL SEASON.

I received this book from BooksGoSocial through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language: R (39+ swears, 26+ "f" + Spanish swears); Mature Content: R; Violence: R
This is a more extreme -- and more explicit -- version of The Hunger Games played with convicts for a chance at freedom. The story is interesting, but not so interesting that I want to wade through the sex scene halfway through and whatever happens afterward.
The mature content rating is for innuendo, mentions of drugs and alcohol, nudity, mentions of rape and other illegal activity, and sex. The violence rating is for blood and gore, gun and other weapon use, mention of suicide, and murder.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley.

If you want violence and gore in your reading this would be for you.

This is fast moving and action packed, with very little back ground given to the characters.

A quick read.

[Sibil · Rating 3 out of 5]

maybe 3.5 stars. I have to think about it
RTC

[Brian Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guilty fun!

Ok, to be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I started reading Kill Switch. I was, of course, immediately reminded of the 1980s movie The Running Man...however, outside of the style of the contest, it immediately became clear that was where the similarities ended.

Where Ben Richards was an innocent man, wrongly imprisoned, James Hageman is not innocent and not a good guy. Teamed with a true sociopath, the two of them battle their way through the Slayerz arena in a gore-filled, bloody good time.

Oh, and the P.E.T.P. loonies are exactly the type of people who'd emerge in this situation...

[Genessa]

Interesting premise—it seems to be some time in the future; society is more messed up than it is now, leading to the success of this gladiator reality tv show. It’s super gory, of course. James is a character you end up rooting for and liking even though he has also done some pretty bad stuff like the rest of the combatants. Also, this does need some copy editing still, although the writing does a good job of keeping up a pace and tone that work well.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy through the TBRIndr database in exchange for an honest review.