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Parricide
Stanley Heckley's world was torn apart the night his wife and infant daughter were murdered by James Gandy. Tormented by his inability to avenge his family, Stanley seeks the help of a distant acquaintance known simply as the vampire, Geoff, who gifts Stanley with a thirst for blood and the talent to kill. As a newly turned vampire, Stanley joins Geoff on a complex mission of murder and vengeance as they hunt each member of the Gandy family one by one, wiping the entire bloodline from existence. Or so they thought. Over a century later, Stanley must return to his hometown of Meyers to hunt the remaining Gandy descendant, Amanda. From the get-go, Stanley's mission is plagued with many obstacles including a new henchman for Geoff, a ghost of a sadistic girl, and the fact that Amanda looks remarkably like his late wife. For this member of the undead, hunting the final Gandy may just be the death of him.
360 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2014
58 people want to read
About the author
S. Briones Lim
19 books118 followersThanks to her Mom's unwavering devotion to read a bedtime story to her every single night throughout her childhood years, S. BRIONES LIM's love for books began before she could even speak. Amazon Bestselling author, S. Briones Lim's other obsessions include time with family, POPCORN, sketching, movies and her dogs, Tobi and Roscoe. She currently lives on the East Coast with her husband and continues to write every day.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 3, 2014
I will begin by stating that the vampire genre, while I have nothing against it, is typically not my thing.
I was offered a peek at the advance review copy, and out of curiosity, decided to check it out, and am thankful that I did. This book took me a while to read, but that is only because I kept going back over certain passages that evoked such chilling visions, that I was helpless not to do so.
This is a dark tale, one of vividly described emotion. You will be shocked, do not doubt that. The characters struggle with every shade of rage, heart break, and guilt-laden vengeance. I have never imagined a vampire feeling remorse for his victims, nor feeling my own empathy for his cause.
S. Briones Lim has set a new precedence in the telling of this genre, and there will be few, if any, who will be able to equal the talent that brought us Parracide. Now, I find myself wanting to check out her other books, and having to admit that I've been missing out.
Well done !
I was offered a peek at the advance review copy, and out of curiosity, decided to check it out, and am thankful that I did. This book took me a while to read, but that is only because I kept going back over certain passages that evoked such chilling visions, that I was helpless not to do so.
This is a dark tale, one of vividly described emotion. You will be shocked, do not doubt that. The characters struggle with every shade of rage, heart break, and guilt-laden vengeance. I have never imagined a vampire feeling remorse for his victims, nor feeling my own empathy for his cause.
S. Briones Lim has set a new precedence in the telling of this genre, and there will be few, if any, who will be able to equal the talent that brought us Parracide. Now, I find myself wanting to check out her other books, and having to admit that I've been missing out.
Well done !
April 11, 2014
A vampire's revenge
‘Parricide’ is a different horror book compared to the typical vampire stories I have read in the past. A dual-narrative with flashbacks to how the story began, I found this an intriguing narrative that had my curiosity building as the plot reached its climax.
The narrative moves from Stanley in 1904, when the tragedy of his wife and daughter’s murders sets him on a path of revenge, to present day, when he has returned to his home town to finally finish this mission. Briones Lim also switches between present day Stanley and Amanda, the woman who has returned to find out more about an apparent curse that has haunted her predecessors. I felt that this non-linear narrative works really well; as 1904 Stanley continues his mission of revenge and we learn about how the Gandys were destroyed, readers are brought back to present day and see Amanda getting closer to the truth about what happened. I found it enriching to find out about the past as the narrative moved forwards and felt this just added to my intrigue into events. Rather than being given the past all at once, readers are almost living it at the same time that Amanda is researching events.
The scenes between Stanley and Amanda were quite tense as we see how Stanley tries to keep curious Amanda from learning his secrets. It is at these points that I found the characterisation a little weak. Amanda keeps throwing out questions to Stanley about his knowledge of her family history, his responses are pretty rubbish and, surprisingly, Amanda just accepts this. Maybe because she is blinded by her attraction to him (which, thankfully, does not drive this narrative forwards), but her desire to know the truth just did not match this acceptance to Stanley’s lies. I found myself hoping she would challenge him more and unfortunately this did not happen.
Throughout the present-day story, there is a mysterious little girl who clearly knows Stanley’s secret, but at the same time appears to Amanda which encourages her to question the “truth” she is being presented with. Either I missed something major in the story, but Briones Lim does not reveal who this ghostly little girl is. Her ghostly presence adds to the mystery of the story and by the end of the narrative, I had plenty of theories about who she could be and her purpose. Unfortunately she is dismissed by the end of the story and I wished that the author had expanded on this a bit more.
Throughout the novel, Stanley is warned about his actions from his creator, telling him if the “Bureaucracy” find out about Stanley’s murders, there would be serious consequences. The reader is finally presented with the Bureaucracy as the story builds towards its climax but, like the little girl, I had found myself hoping that this did feature more in the development of the story, particularly as Stanley returns to his home town where he had committed atrocious murders in the century before.
It was a delight to read a story that is not part of a trilogy and did just finish properly on the final page. Whilst I found the ending a little rushed, it was still satisfying and worthwhile. The climax between Stanley and Amanda was fulfilling but I think it would have been better if the author had perhaps included an epilogue to further explain the outcomes. Indeed, whilst this might have ruined the fast-paced ending, it may have lessened my opinion that this was a bit rushed.
‘Parricide’ was a good read for me. I don’t read many horror books and I enjoyed the unique storyline. If you enjoy reading horrors and vampire stories, then I definitely recommend this to you. If not, give this one a go because the mystery and intrigue will certainly have you hooked.
This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
‘Parricide’ is a different horror book compared to the typical vampire stories I have read in the past. A dual-narrative with flashbacks to how the story began, I found this an intriguing narrative that had my curiosity building as the plot reached its climax.
The narrative moves from Stanley in 1904, when the tragedy of his wife and daughter’s murders sets him on a path of revenge, to present day, when he has returned to his home town to finally finish this mission. Briones Lim also switches between present day Stanley and Amanda, the woman who has returned to find out more about an apparent curse that has haunted her predecessors. I felt that this non-linear narrative works really well; as 1904 Stanley continues his mission of revenge and we learn about how the Gandys were destroyed, readers are brought back to present day and see Amanda getting closer to the truth about what happened. I found it enriching to find out about the past as the narrative moved forwards and felt this just added to my intrigue into events. Rather than being given the past all at once, readers are almost living it at the same time that Amanda is researching events.
The scenes between Stanley and Amanda were quite tense as we see how Stanley tries to keep curious Amanda from learning his secrets. It is at these points that I found the characterisation a little weak. Amanda keeps throwing out questions to Stanley about his knowledge of her family history, his responses are pretty rubbish and, surprisingly, Amanda just accepts this. Maybe because she is blinded by her attraction to him (which, thankfully, does not drive this narrative forwards), but her desire to know the truth just did not match this acceptance to Stanley’s lies. I found myself hoping she would challenge him more and unfortunately this did not happen.
Throughout the present-day story, there is a mysterious little girl who clearly knows Stanley’s secret, but at the same time appears to Amanda which encourages her to question the “truth” she is being presented with. Either I missed something major in the story, but Briones Lim does not reveal who this ghostly little girl is. Her ghostly presence adds to the mystery of the story and by the end of the narrative, I had plenty of theories about who she could be and her purpose. Unfortunately she is dismissed by the end of the story and I wished that the author had expanded on this a bit more.
Throughout the novel, Stanley is warned about his actions from his creator, telling him if the “Bureaucracy” find out about Stanley’s murders, there would be serious consequences. The reader is finally presented with the Bureaucracy as the story builds towards its climax but, like the little girl, I had found myself hoping that this did feature more in the development of the story, particularly as Stanley returns to his home town where he had committed atrocious murders in the century before.
It was a delight to read a story that is not part of a trilogy and did just finish properly on the final page. Whilst I found the ending a little rushed, it was still satisfying and worthwhile. The climax between Stanley and Amanda was fulfilling but I think it would have been better if the author had perhaps included an epilogue to further explain the outcomes. Indeed, whilst this might have ruined the fast-paced ending, it may have lessened my opinion that this was a bit rushed.
‘Parricide’ was a good read for me. I don’t read many horror books and I enjoyed the unique storyline. If you enjoy reading horrors and vampire stories, then I definitely recommend this to you. If not, give this one a go because the mystery and intrigue will certainly have you hooked.
This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2014
S. Briones Lim does it again! I was a little skeptical at first with this being a horror / vampire genre…these types of books aren’t really my thing. But from the first chapter, my heart is ripped out of my chest and I was immediately hooked. I couldn’t believe that the she took it to that level, in the beginning of the book!
This book is about revenge with an unexpected romance. Stanley Heckley joins forces with his Geoff and murders all those related to James Gandy, the evil man who killed Stanley’s wife and daughter. The author takes us on this emotional roller coaster through this crusade and leaves us wondering if he could really kill the last member of the Gandy clan.
What I loved about the book was that we bounced from the past to the present so that we can fully understand the pain and suffering that Stanley has experienced and how much rage he truly has. I think what really made me truly love the entire book was the ending. That ending just sealed the deal and made me realize how emotionally connected I was with all characters of the book…and let me say, HOLY ENDING!!!!!!
If you want to try something disturbing, new and an overall great story, pick up this book and start reading now (well, not at night). You won’t regret it! Great job S. Briones Lim!!!
*****I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is about revenge with an unexpected romance. Stanley Heckley joins forces with his Geoff and murders all those related to James Gandy, the evil man who killed Stanley’s wife and daughter. The author takes us on this emotional roller coaster through this crusade and leaves us wondering if he could really kill the last member of the Gandy clan.
What I loved about the book was that we bounced from the past to the present so that we can fully understand the pain and suffering that Stanley has experienced and how much rage he truly has. I think what really made me truly love the entire book was the ending. That ending just sealed the deal and made me realize how emotionally connected I was with all characters of the book…and let me say, HOLY ENDING!!!!!!
If you want to try something disturbing, new and an overall great story, pick up this book and start reading now (well, not at night). You won’t regret it! Great job S. Briones Lim!!!
*****I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 8, 2014
S Briones Lim has written one of the best horror vampire novels I've ever read with this one. I went on an emotional roller coaster right along side with each of the characters! The struggles with heartbreak, anger, guilt, loyalty, love...it has it all!
I really enjoyed the telling of the story through multiple character views and the trek back in time to the beginning of Stanley's life spiraling out of control! The scenes were strikingly detailed and won't disappoint to those who love this genre of reading!
Definitely a 5 star rating for this one and a highly recommended read! Great job S Briones Lim and THANK YOU for sharing :)
I really enjoyed the telling of the story through multiple character views and the trek back in time to the beginning of Stanley's life spiraling out of control! The scenes were strikingly detailed and won't disappoint to those who love this genre of reading!
Definitely a 5 star rating for this one and a highly recommended read! Great job S Briones Lim and THANK YOU for sharing :)
February 10, 2014
First I will say vampire books are not my favorite. Most stories are very corny. But I was given the chance to read this book, and I loved it.
The book started with a heartbreaking scene by Stanley losing his family. I loved how you drew me in, first when Stanley was turned, then piece by piece of each murder, then by Amanda and last by Geoff.
It was a wonderful story of love and heartbreak! Then the ending was killer! But it makes me wonder what happened to Amanda? But I am also curious about Geoff, what happened to him as well?
I loved how the book had the love aspect to it but did not dwell on it.
I can not wait to see what happens next!
The book started with a heartbreaking scene by Stanley losing his family. I loved how you drew me in, first when Stanley was turned, then piece by piece of each murder, then by Amanda and last by Geoff.
It was a wonderful story of love and heartbreak! Then the ending was killer! But it makes me wonder what happened to Amanda? But I am also curious about Geoff, what happened to him as well?
I loved how the book had the love aspect to it but did not dwell on it.
I can not wait to see what happens next!
June 7, 2014
this book was brilliant and wasn't at all what I expected and I loved it, I can't wait to read more from this author x
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews