Rotten Apples

by Jon Athan

On his thirteenth birthday, Jacob White discovers his older brother, Kevin, is a violent serial killer. Kevin doesn't want to hurt Jacob, though. Kevin wants to teach Jacob about the world—from his twisted perspective. He wants to mold his little brother into a serial killer so that they can kill together. However, as his brother goes on a murder spree, Jacob finds himself wrestling with his conscience... Can one rotten apple spoil the whole barrel? Jon Athan, the author of A Family of Violence and The Abuse of Ashley Collins, brings you a provocative horror story of family, adolescence, and violence. Could you keep your brother's secret? This book contains scenes of graphic violence and disturbing themes. Many of these scenes involve violence committed by and against minors. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.

Genres: Horror

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2017

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was intense! Poor Jacob is just an underprivileged kid, living with an unfit mother and psychopath older brother, Kevin. And Kevin is involved with all sorts of disgusted, sick, and downright twisted habits, now wanting to groom his little brother to be the same way. I loved how Jon Athan made this so realistic, as far as how Kevin manipulated Jacob throughout. For anyone who is that age, who has an older sibling, it was all very believable. The conflicting thoughts and emotions, loyalties, wanting to be accepted, etc were all in play. And I also want to compliment the author for accurately depicting how abusive teachers can be. I'm not condemned all teachers, at all, and highly respect what they do. But I suffered from very serious and debilitating anxiety growing up, and lived with parents who did not believe in therapy and/or psychiatric medications. So my symptoms made each day at school a horrible and exhausting event. But I was a very good student, albeit quiet, as I tried to control my symptoms independently, but I did had a good deal of teachers take that 'shyness,' as they liked to put it, to abuse me. They would call me out publicly and do things like announce my grades to the class and constantly attempt to goad me into verbal altercations. It wasn't ok then and sure as hell isn't ok nowadays, either. So my heart went out to Jacob during those portions of the book. But Athan made this story seem very plausible in a lot of ways, which is terrifying, but shows how easily young children can be influenced. My only critique here is that I didn't love the ending. Jacob had been through so much, and I just wanted to see him finally get a happy finale, which wasn't the case. But otherwise, this was a vicious, dark, and mesmerizing ride into the mind of adolescents. Well done!

[Carrie Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature or nurture is the age-old question when it comes to asking what makes a serial killer. When Jacob White turns 13, his older brother Kevin has a special gift for him...he shares that he has been a serial killer since he was Jacob's age.

There is so much misery in the pages of this book. Jacob is simultaneously shunned at school and singled out by a vicious group of bullies. His mother, a single parent who is always looking for the next man to bring home, is so oblivious to her son's suffering that she invites his tormentors to his birthday party. Jacob endures night after night of hearing his mother's bedroom activities and gets no respite at school, where the violence escalates to a scene in the restroom that was so vile, so graphic, my eyes filled with tears.

Jacob has to decide to either keep his brother's secret or join him for a release that will allow him to forget his suffering. As with any book by this author, be advised of graphic, extreme violence and the many trigger warnings before proceeding.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rotten Apples was action packed like all of Jon Athan’s books. It was similar to A Family of Violence and explored many dark themes.

The plot revolves around a middle school student who is viciously bullied and becomes influenced by his psychotic brother who is obsessed with killing people. There are many dark turns this story takes…

In terms of Jon Athan novels, I would say Rotten Apples is on the weaker end (says a lot considering I’m still giving it 4 stars). There were points in this story that were unbelievable. The older brother was all “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Every second and it was a bit over exaggerated. This made the violent scenes feel a little over the top and for shock value.

However…

The story was still fun to read due to the subject matter. Jon Athan takes on real life horror themes and it is actually wild to realize stuff like this happens all the time. Scary stuff. Mix that with good fast paced writing and it’s hard to put down.

[Shadow Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read this for the second time.
I am enjoying Jon Athan's more realistic 'human horror stories' better than the fun & sadistic extreme horror that made me find him in the beginning.
It's not very common to get emotional while reading extreme horror, but this author seems to get me every time.
I highly recommend Rotten Apples. You all know that I have been fan-girling on my blog since... what, 2015, or 2016(?), but, you also know it's for damn good reasons. He somehow keeps getting better, and his stories shine a light on real human horrors, helping to bring attention to subjects that matter, but people want to ignore. Stories based on real cases, like Into The Wolves Den, and The Groomer.
Check him out!

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick 2 hour read for the morning!
Pros =
- action packed, kept interest from start to end!
- writing style = I gelled with it!
- scene descriptions = easy to imagine everything
- gory!

Cons =
- because of the pencil assault scene, implied dog grape and the grape of the homeless man I can’t let anyone actually know that I’ve read this
- nearly every chapter included something about the mums boobs or moans or about how Kevin wanted to f her (he eventually did)
- in a nutshell it’s seriously deviant

This was my first jon athan book though and the way it has been written makes me think that I’ll enjoy other similar books maybe a bit more - going to read the social media murders next hopefully it’ll be more on the ‘murdery’ and action side maybe instead of as much sexual content

[CARLEEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A REALLY BAD APPLE INDEED!

Jacob, on his 13th birthday, finds out that his older brother Kevin is sick, DEMENTED psychopath serial killer....how does he find out? Kevin tells him and adds that he wants Jacob to join him and be a killer too.

Poor Jacob has a lot on his plate, he is quiet, bullied at school, father gone, a loose mother with a horrible town reputation and oh yeah...his brother is a killer....a super psychotic killer!!

I liked this book, the kills were a bit toned down from other J. Athan kills I've read up to now, but still gross. I didn't expect the ending (Jon A than is good at tricking you with endings) but the ending fit well. As usual if you can handle sick, twisted, graphic shocking kills with some sexual assaults on the side, I recommend this book.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

No stupid review for this one. This was a fantastic book and I would have been happy if it were twice as long. Great characters, Stephen King-like bullies, and perfectly executed (like a couple characters in this novel ha, ha, ha, talking about you, Sweets), this one is equal to Into the Wolf’s Den. Most of Athan’s novels I have read are fun, gross, graphic reads but I don’t get a lot of substance out of them. This is honestly a great read. It reminded me a lot of the fantastic The Voice of the Night by Dean Koontz. Check it out if you have a couple free hours because you will probably read this quick novel in one sitting.

[kaylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not the type of person to be easily offended or grossed out but this book was hard to get through. I only gave it 2 stars because when it was about murder, it was well written. the rest of the material was just sick. I expected this book to be about a serial killer teaching his younger brother how to be a serial killer. Instead, it was more about a teenaged serial rapist who put his victims out of their misery and then twisting the narrative so that the younger brother felt he was involved in the crimes too. The kid sexually abuses homeless people, talks about sexually abusing animals, and even sexually abuses his own mom. Incest and rape were the main themes in this book

[Dane Dallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few Jon Athan books so far and have enjoyed all of them. "Rotten Apples" continues to cement Athan as one of my favorite extreme horror authors. What he does well (compared to other authors in this genre) is actually taking the time to create relatable characters and situations, instead of just going right for the shock factor. Highly recommend for those who like more shocking horror.

[Thomas Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a gruesome tale of two brothers. One good, one evil. Jacob the younger brother has been bullied everyday and even though he is still considered the good one. Kevin the older brother is very disturbed young man. The author never discussed his mentality or history but this kid/ young man was mentality psychotic.

[T. Giachetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deviant behavior galore

Well written, this book just had more deviants running amok than actual graphic horror for my reading enjoyment.Not saying it is a badly written book, as it is not...the deviant genre is not for my personal taste in reading material.

[Page Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another sick and twisted story by an author I have recently begun to follow. Something was missing in this one for me, but still a good read.

[Tam French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book

Another twisted story to leave you cringing and wondering where he comes up with this craziness!!! Left me squeamish on a few occasions!!

[JENNIFER FOREMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

I loved this book and Jon Athan is awesome. None of his books have ever disappointed me yet. They are always suspenseful.