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Six Months
Even the best doctors can not cure the incurable. Even the best doctors have to give the heartbreaking news of a terminal diagnosis, an estimation of life expectancy. When Janey, a brilliant doctor in her own right, heard she had six months to live, it wasn't a medical diagnosis. It was a death sentence. And Gerald, the person who passed the sentence upon her, was going to enjoy every second of Janey's pain and suffering, savouring every moment of her final six months.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 9, 2018
Unique story line, with interesting characters. The pace was just right to really feel for the victim in the story, with a good twist near the end. If I could make any suggestion, it would be that chapters would make reading easier, rather than all one piece. Overall, very enjoyable, and I'll be checking out Rogues very soon.
August 20, 2022
I recently discovered @christy_aldridge on IG, and was curious about the "Southern Belle of Horror". After she recommended Six Months to me as my first Aldridge read, it became the next item on my TBR.
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Janey Taylor is a doctor, who gave a patient six months left to live due to an aggressive form of cancer. The patient's widowed husband holds Janey responsible for his wife's death, and plans his revenge. After kidnapping Janey, he then gives her six months to live and tortures her with ennu every passion his wife dealt with.
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This was among the most original storylines I've come across in a while. The characters of Janey and her kidnapper Gerald are both extremely well-crafted, and the backstories of both are deeply rooted in this story. The plot moves along nicely, with very little written that doesn't advance the story. There are times I noted a similarity to Stephen King's Misery, but Aldridge maintained enough originality to ensure the tale was only her own.
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I'll need to read more of Aldridge's works before calling her the Queen of Horror, but this was a wonderful start to what I hope will be a long, illustrious career.
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My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
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Janey Taylor is a doctor, who gave a patient six months left to live due to an aggressive form of cancer. The patient's widowed husband holds Janey responsible for his wife's death, and plans his revenge. After kidnapping Janey, he then gives her six months to live and tortures her with ennu every passion his wife dealt with.
.
This was among the most original storylines I've come across in a while. The characters of Janey and her kidnapper Gerald are both extremely well-crafted, and the backstories of both are deeply rooted in this story. The plot moves along nicely, with very little written that doesn't advance the story. There are times I noted a similarity to Stephen King's Misery, but Aldridge maintained enough originality to ensure the tale was only her own.
.
I'll need to read more of Aldridge's works before calling her the Queen of Horror, but this was a wonderful start to what I hope will be a long, illustrious career.
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My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
January 28, 2019
Christy Aldridge is a very special horror author. I have read all her works released thus far, and watching her grow as a storyteller has been a real treat. After I read ROGUES, I could feel her emotion coming from the page in a very real and palpable sense. She feels very deeply for all her characters, and this is an increasingly rare trait amongst authors in today’s generation of static and ‘boilerplate’ characters. Every time I sit down to a book, every character feels ‘stock.’ Picked from a $5 bin of stand-ins and deaders. That’s not the case with Christy. She keeps her character count fairly low, she creates them with great care and you spend a great deal of time with each. In this way, her emphasis is on the story rather than the plot. Each of her novels will take you on a journey with the characters to which she forces you to connect. And where I felt that element of her style bloom with ROGUES, it is in full maturity with SIX MONTHS.
This story is simple, and I like that. I never feel like Aldridge is speaking down to me or insulting my intelligence with ridiculous swerves and unnecessary story clutter. She tells you straight what her stories are going to do from the first few pages, and she spends a great deal of time having the characters react to the world around them, rather than the environment shifting around the characters. There’s very little distance between the reader and any character. There is only a razor thin veil between any of the depositions and the points of view. For instance, our main character spends nearly the entire book locked in a room. Kidnapped by a deranged husband whose wife had been given six months to live by her doctor (our main character). Janie, the doctor, is then given the same six months to live by the widowed husband who had kidnapped her. Left alone with only her thoughts for most of the book, SIX MONTHS is a fantastic analysis on character development. How just one character can bloom, and bloom, and bloom, and bloom some more. Janie is a very complex protagonist, and her nightmares with a certain toy clown named “Happy,” from her childhood, is decidedly nefarious and unsettling. Add in her mental state that constantly switches between drug induced stupors and tragic lucidity, courtesy of our kidnapper, and we have a recipe for an incredible tension that builds and builds and builds. And for the conclusion that comes at the apex of the book, it is incredibly satisfying. And to be honest and frank, as an author myself, I’m quite jealous of how smooth this novel wraps itself up. There’s only one goal in mind for the entirely of the story, and to save from any spoilers, I won’t reveal any of it. But that conclusion is very clear very early on, but that does nothing to diminish its effect when it finally comes. And to hold a reader’s attention with one literary goal in mind for nearly three hundred pages without becoming tedious, repetitive or boring is quite a feat. And Christy pulls this off with very professional aplomb.
Before I wrap this up, I want to highlight one final thing about this book. When I read ROGUES, I had a small critique. I felt like Aldridge teased her darkness a bit without fully indulging it. With SIX MONTHS, Christy Aldridge has given her tenaciousness full force. This is a very dark book, and it does so without any of the gore, blood or violence that we are so accustomed toward; especially as authors. I am no exception to this rule. My books are typically very violent, and Aldridge maintains a very similar level of intensity WITHOUT any of the violence or blood that I typically employ to achieve the same effect. With SIX MONTHS, you get some very dark and unsettling character analysis’, both from our captor and from Janie herself. You get some of the nastier bits inherent to captivity: vomiting, waste expulsion, cuts, bruises, dominance and submission. Even some very twisted scenes with Janie and her ex-husband being held at gunpoint at the wim of a very messed up captor.
I’ll let you read to find those nastier bits, but this entire book has a much darker and much more insidious tone than ROGUES. And for that, I was very pleasantly satisfied. Christy Aldridge has proved with this book that she is every bit as ‘horror’ as any other author I’ve read. And that her literary balls are just as big as anyone else’s when it comes to unraveling twisted tales of dread, despair, tension and darkness. Bravo. 5/5 skulls.
This story is simple, and I like that. I never feel like Aldridge is speaking down to me or insulting my intelligence with ridiculous swerves and unnecessary story clutter. She tells you straight what her stories are going to do from the first few pages, and she spends a great deal of time having the characters react to the world around them, rather than the environment shifting around the characters. There’s very little distance between the reader and any character. There is only a razor thin veil between any of the depositions and the points of view. For instance, our main character spends nearly the entire book locked in a room. Kidnapped by a deranged husband whose wife had been given six months to live by her doctor (our main character). Janie, the doctor, is then given the same six months to live by the widowed husband who had kidnapped her. Left alone with only her thoughts for most of the book, SIX MONTHS is a fantastic analysis on character development. How just one character can bloom, and bloom, and bloom, and bloom some more. Janie is a very complex protagonist, and her nightmares with a certain toy clown named “Happy,” from her childhood, is decidedly nefarious and unsettling. Add in her mental state that constantly switches between drug induced stupors and tragic lucidity, courtesy of our kidnapper, and we have a recipe for an incredible tension that builds and builds and builds. And for the conclusion that comes at the apex of the book, it is incredibly satisfying. And to be honest and frank, as an author myself, I’m quite jealous of how smooth this novel wraps itself up. There’s only one goal in mind for the entirely of the story, and to save from any spoilers, I won’t reveal any of it. But that conclusion is very clear very early on, but that does nothing to diminish its effect when it finally comes. And to hold a reader’s attention with one literary goal in mind for nearly three hundred pages without becoming tedious, repetitive or boring is quite a feat. And Christy pulls this off with very professional aplomb.
Before I wrap this up, I want to highlight one final thing about this book. When I read ROGUES, I had a small critique. I felt like Aldridge teased her darkness a bit without fully indulging it. With SIX MONTHS, Christy Aldridge has given her tenaciousness full force. This is a very dark book, and it does so without any of the gore, blood or violence that we are so accustomed toward; especially as authors. I am no exception to this rule. My books are typically very violent, and Aldridge maintains a very similar level of intensity WITHOUT any of the violence or blood that I typically employ to achieve the same effect. With SIX MONTHS, you get some very dark and unsettling character analysis’, both from our captor and from Janie herself. You get some of the nastier bits inherent to captivity: vomiting, waste expulsion, cuts, bruises, dominance and submission. Even some very twisted scenes with Janie and her ex-husband being held at gunpoint at the wim of a very messed up captor.
I’ll let you read to find those nastier bits, but this entire book has a much darker and much more insidious tone than ROGUES. And for that, I was very pleasantly satisfied. Christy Aldridge has proved with this book that she is every bit as ‘horror’ as any other author I’ve read. And that her literary balls are just as big as anyone else’s when it comes to unraveling twisted tales of dread, despair, tension and darkness. Bravo. 5/5 skulls.
April 22, 2018
As ever, with any review, I take great pains to make sure it's spoiler free.
Especially when it come to the work of Christy Aldridge.
Following on from two previous novels and a novella, Aldridge has already become one of my favourite authors, and with good reason.
The stories are solid and the writing style is both captivating and masterful.
This book is no exception. You must read this book, but be warned, if you do you'll become a fan immediately and find yourself wanting to read more of her work.
I cannot go into details of this book without worrying about giving anything away, and I want everybody to begin the book without knowing anything and finish it having learnt everything.
Just let Aldridge guide you through the dark, twisted corners of her mind - you'll be in safe hands, she'll make sure you get out alive... just maybe a little shaken from the experience. You won't regret it.
But you will regret not reading this book.
Especially when it come to the work of Christy Aldridge.
Following on from two previous novels and a novella, Aldridge has already become one of my favourite authors, and with good reason.
The stories are solid and the writing style is both captivating and masterful.
This book is no exception. You must read this book, but be warned, if you do you'll become a fan immediately and find yourself wanting to read more of her work.
I cannot go into details of this book without worrying about giving anything away, and I want everybody to begin the book without knowing anything and finish it having learnt everything.
Just let Aldridge guide you through the dark, twisted corners of her mind - you'll be in safe hands, she'll make sure you get out alive... just maybe a little shaken from the experience. You won't regret it.
But you will regret not reading this book.
May 4, 2019
I follow Christy Aldridge on IG and have had her books in my TBR pile for way longer than they should have been. Six Months is the first novel of hers that I read and it will definitely not be the last.
Six Months follows Janey Taylor, a doctor who is used to telling her patients that they only have a few months to live. However, when she receives her own death sentence she has to face more than just her abductor, she has to face herself.
If you are a fan of Stephen King, you will love Christy Aldridge. Characters beautifully crafted, flawed yet relatable. A tight storyline that keeps you coming back for more and just enough horror to keep this book on your mind for months after you finish the last page.
Six Months follows Janey Taylor, a doctor who is used to telling her patients that they only have a few months to live. However, when she receives her own death sentence she has to face more than just her abductor, she has to face herself.
If you are a fan of Stephen King, you will love Christy Aldridge. Characters beautifully crafted, flawed yet relatable. A tight storyline that keeps you coming back for more and just enough horror to keep this book on your mind for months after you finish the last page.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews