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Sympathy for the Widow
October 12, 2002: Trevor Morrison, a young man with a loving family and a promising future, is slaughtered at the back of a public bus. The killer, Mario Flores, is found not guilty for reasons of insanity. Fifteen Years Mario, free and rehabilitated, lives a peaceful life with his wife and daughter. His career is blossoming, his family is healthy, and his home is beautiful. However, Naomi Morrison, Trevor's widow, plans on changing that... Naomi has planned a night of gruesome torture for Mario and his family. She hopes to find closure, she hopes to find the truth. She wants an answer to her was Mario really mentally unstable when he killed Trevor or was he faking it? Jon Athan, author of The Law of Retaliation, brings you another tale of extreme horror and vengeance. Can you sympathize with a killer? This book contains scenes of graphic violence and disturbing themes. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.
- GenresHorror
113 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 15, 2018
111 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 13, 2025
3.5 stars. This was a very ugly, intense story. Surface-level violence and gore at its finest. As a parent and spouse, some of the situations made me genuinely upset, but that was the point. Jon Athan is a top tier horror author, more specifically for body horror style gore. So my first thought was how Mario was depicted with his mental health difficulties. He seemed to be a completely different person between his attack on Trevor versus when Naomi returns all those years later. And he was supposedly suffering from psychosis, which is very tough to treat from my understanding. And even with treatments, someone is unable to function normally, so the depiction here was not accurate at all. Beyond that, I struggled with the point of the story. Like I get the theme of revenge, but it just all felt like a reason to write violence. I tend to prefer good stories that happen to contain violence, and not just violence that tries to be a story. So I’m unsure if this was just a mismatch of my preferences and the author’s decisions here, but it wasn’t totally my cup of tea. The torture scenes, which were aplenty, were really great, but everything else just fell to the wayside beyond that. Not Athan’s best work, but still a good effort.
December 2, 2023
First of all I am going to give this book a 10 out 10.
Second I am going to un-advise anyone to read this book unless you have a tolerance for torture, cannibalism & child body harm.
This is a disgusting book. I was at the hospital (due to my asthma) and I though I was going to spend 2 hours I was going to get a short novel of 200 pages. I finished in the ER. There were parts of the novel that was truly disgusting that made wanna puke (literally some parts were too hard to read). I usually support well body mutilation but here Jon Athan went overboard and it was awesomely disgusting. Why? Well because when I read splatterpunk I want the author to go all the way and he did.
I am not going to spoil you BUT let me talk about the brief synopsis. A man kills another man in a bus due to his mental problems (or was it) and even eats part of him. His wife was waiting at home with a 18 month child. Then we jump 15 years in the future as we get to meet him, now cured (or is it) with a wife and a child. The surviving woman is hell bend to get revenge from the man who has taken everything from her and noone is safe...
The story ends and we get some info on the author and he poses some interesting questions.. per example, should a person with a mental disability (crazy that hear the voice of god or aliens) not go to jail and be treated since he committed murder or something like that? Well it was very very good story and made me wonder how far I would go to have revenge or at the most accept society resolution (either institutionalized or prison)... can we really know? One is the thing we say, " I wouldn't commit murder at all" but in a severe place of mental problem, hatred etc wouldn't you? If you had a gun and was him or you, would you not? There is no absolute answer...
Either way, if you enjoy splatterpunk please go ahead but be warmed.
Second I am going to un-advise anyone to read this book unless you have a tolerance for torture, cannibalism & child body harm.
This is a disgusting book. I was at the hospital (due to my asthma) and I though I was going to spend 2 hours I was going to get a short novel of 200 pages. I finished in the ER. There were parts of the novel that was truly disgusting that made wanna puke (literally some parts were too hard to read). I usually support well body mutilation but here Jon Athan went overboard and it was awesomely disgusting. Why? Well because when I read splatterpunk I want the author to go all the way and he did.
I am not going to spoil you BUT let me talk about the brief synopsis. A man kills another man in a bus due to his mental problems (or was it) and even eats part of him. His wife was waiting at home with a 18 month child. Then we jump 15 years in the future as we get to meet him, now cured (or is it) with a wife and a child. The surviving woman is hell bend to get revenge from the man who has taken everything from her and noone is safe...
The story ends and we get some info on the author and he poses some interesting questions.. per example, should a person with a mental disability (crazy that hear the voice of god or aliens) not go to jail and be treated since he committed murder or something like that? Well it was very very good story and made me wonder how far I would go to have revenge or at the most accept society resolution (either institutionalized or prison)... can we really know? One is the thing we say, " I wouldn't commit murder at all" but in a severe place of mental problem, hatred etc wouldn't you? If you had a gun and was him or you, would you not? There is no absolute answer...
Either way, if you enjoy splatterpunk please go ahead but be warmed.
June 18, 2023
Mario's past sins come back to haunt him and his family, as Naomi prepares for a night of torture. She's going to make him pay for what he did, and the lies she believes he told. By the end of the night, the lives of both Mario and Naomi will never be the same again.
Can you forgive a killer? Can they be understood? Is vengeance ever right? Where does it end?
These are just some of the questions that Jon Athan is putting forward in this book.
Gory, violent, and full of revenge. Not for the faint hearted, but definitely for the extreme horror lovers.
Can you forgive a killer? Can they be understood? Is vengeance ever right? Where does it end?
These are just some of the questions that Jon Athan is putting forward in this book.
Gory, violent, and full of revenge. Not for the faint hearted, but definitely for the extreme horror lovers.
March 19, 2023
Absolutely BRUTAL read! Jon Athan is one of my most favorite extreme horror writers and I've got a huge collection of his books, and I think this was his most violent and messed up yet! That's saying a lot. It's hard to shock me but there were moments during this read where my jaw dropped! And Athan was somehow able to make me feel for both the protagonist and the antagonist which made for an interesting experience while reading. 5/5 decapitated skulls 💀
July 16, 2025
This book had a few warnings usually I am good at the warnings. My trigger warnings can probably be 2 of the worst crimes, rape and child torture or murder. Chapter 15 was hard on me. I can usually do well with murder, but the killing of a child or harm of a child is different. It kind of cuts into your soul. But other than that I like Jon Athan he has written over 60 books and I probably have read maybe half of them. I would like to read all by the end of next year.
November 20, 2023
While reading this, I thought this was going to be one of my least favorite Jon Athan books. There wasn’t much buildup and Mario’s family didn’t have any background before the torture scenes began. This led me to believe that Sympathy For The Widow would focus way too much on disturbing torture scenes rather than providing a good story.
To be fair, the torture scenes were still there, but after finishing the novel, I felt it was so much more than what I expected. This book makes you think and challenge difficult situations that individuals could be put in. The characters have good and evil traits and are not one dimensional.
To be fair, the torture scenes were still there, but after finishing the novel, I felt it was so much more than what I expected. This book makes you think and challenge difficult situations that individuals could be put in. The characters have good and evil traits and are not one dimensional.
April 22, 2018
Fun
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Well they served this up steaming hot. Lots of Gore, sex and violence. Not for the squeamish.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Well they served this up steaming hot. Lots of Gore, sex and violence. Not for the squeamish.
January 18, 2025
I love a great revenge book! Naomi is definitely a favorite character of mine!
March 29, 2023
Not for the weak of heart. Jon Athan has no fear when it comes to writing his stories. He never holds back. All you think is “ Don’t do it Jon. Don’t do it” and of course he does it.
December 24, 2020
Love was the antidote to pessimism and madness, love saved his life and created his future.
Mario Flores played three role of a twisted soul, one tormented and plagued by voices in his ears and shadows in his sights. Slipping into the character of a panicked, deeply disturbed individual to allude from the gory crime he committed to Trevor Morrison, he found solace for himself at the haunting of others. Pleading a case of mental insanity, Mario managed to slip through the cracks of the judicial system and land an eight year sentence at a psychiatric hospital instead of a prison sentence for murder. The Victim, Trevor, was brutally mauled and eaten by Mario in an act of unhinged brutality. He was stabbed countless times, nearly decapitated, and had his eye and ear bitten off and ingested while in stared on in horror and shock. He was merely twenty six years old when a stranger on the bus ride home took his life, and left his wife widowed (Naomi) with an eighteen month old daughter (Riley). Hell bent on seeking out revenge against a the man who robbed her of her fairytale ending fifteen years ago, Naomi Comes under the cloak of darkness and is ready for her test on insanity.
“....And, like a disease, depression will eat away at your body and your mind. It will feel like you're... you're decaying. It will make you want to give up, it will make you want to kill yourself. Depression is mankind's worst enemy. It's something that can invite itself into our minds, make itself at home, then kill us from within. It's fucked up.”
With a twist on a shocking home invasion, Mario, a construction site manager returned to his quaint and lavish home after a night with his employees at a local bar to discover a shocking silence radiating from within the walls. Confused by his wife Vicky’s lack of greetings or snoring, he finds himself staring at her unconscious body tied to a chair in their living room. As he too feels the sharpness in his skull from the blunt force trauma, he awakens to a nightmare. As Naomi shares her story of loss and love, she brutally bests and targets the couple forcing her feelings or hatred and despair deep within them. Smashing his hands and feet with a hammer, to nearly drowning his wife in their pool, nothing could of came worse then what it does to your mind. After pleading for his wife and daughter (Layla) to be released and soared, She shoots Vicky multiple times to continue her suffering before finishing her off with a final blow. Yet the vengeance wasn’t sweet enough as she turned to his daughter, who was bound to her mattress in her bedroom upstairs. Carrying her bridal style down the steps, she leaves her tied and bound before dumping nearly seven liters of gasoline on her body in the bathtub, before striking the match and allowing her body to burn and blister until her death flurry five seconds later. Pleased with the brutality, she speaks in pleading to her deceased husband and daughter (suicide through hanging and wrist mutilation at 14 years old), and finds herself surrounded by the gruesomeness of death. As she walks through their front dood, she’s giggling to herself as police drag her off to their station. Slipping quickly into the role of someone emotionally I sound, she’s hoping for a similar turnover in her court proceedings.
you can kill without remorse, you're not afraid of my threats and you're not afraid of the law, you are mankind's worst enemy.
Forgiveness, he thought, what good is forgiveness if it comes after vengeance?
“No, no, no. Extraterrestrials. Aliens. Martians. Gods. They are the... the people in the sky. They talk to me. They've told me things, important things.”
Mario Flores played three role of a twisted soul, one tormented and plagued by voices in his ears and shadows in his sights. Slipping into the character of a panicked, deeply disturbed individual to allude from the gory crime he committed to Trevor Morrison, he found solace for himself at the haunting of others. Pleading a case of mental insanity, Mario managed to slip through the cracks of the judicial system and land an eight year sentence at a psychiatric hospital instead of a prison sentence for murder. The Victim, Trevor, was brutally mauled and eaten by Mario in an act of unhinged brutality. He was stabbed countless times, nearly decapitated, and had his eye and ear bitten off and ingested while in stared on in horror and shock. He was merely twenty six years old when a stranger on the bus ride home took his life, and left his wife widowed (Naomi) with an eighteen month old daughter (Riley). Hell bent on seeking out revenge against a the man who robbed her of her fairytale ending fifteen years ago, Naomi Comes under the cloak of darkness and is ready for her test on insanity.
“....And, like a disease, depression will eat away at your body and your mind. It will feel like you're... you're decaying. It will make you want to give up, it will make you want to kill yourself. Depression is mankind's worst enemy. It's something that can invite itself into our minds, make itself at home, then kill us from within. It's fucked up.”
With a twist on a shocking home invasion, Mario, a construction site manager returned to his quaint and lavish home after a night with his employees at a local bar to discover a shocking silence radiating from within the walls. Confused by his wife Vicky’s lack of greetings or snoring, he finds himself staring at her unconscious body tied to a chair in their living room. As he too feels the sharpness in his skull from the blunt force trauma, he awakens to a nightmare. As Naomi shares her story of loss and love, she brutally bests and targets the couple forcing her feelings or hatred and despair deep within them. Smashing his hands and feet with a hammer, to nearly drowning his wife in their pool, nothing could of came worse then what it does to your mind. After pleading for his wife and daughter (Layla) to be released and soared, She shoots Vicky multiple times to continue her suffering before finishing her off with a final blow. Yet the vengeance wasn’t sweet enough as she turned to his daughter, who was bound to her mattress in her bedroom upstairs. Carrying her bridal style down the steps, she leaves her tied and bound before dumping nearly seven liters of gasoline on her body in the bathtub, before striking the match and allowing her body to burn and blister until her death flurry five seconds later. Pleased with the brutality, she speaks in pleading to her deceased husband and daughter (suicide through hanging and wrist mutilation at 14 years old), and finds herself surrounded by the gruesomeness of death. As she walks through their front dood, she’s giggling to herself as police drag her off to their station. Slipping quickly into the role of someone emotionally I sound, she’s hoping for a similar turnover in her court proceedings.
you can kill without remorse, you're not afraid of my threats and you're not afraid of the law, you are mankind's worst enemy.
Forgiveness, he thought, what good is forgiveness if it comes after vengeance?
“No, no, no. Extraterrestrials. Aliens. Martians. Gods. They are the... the people in the sky. They talk to me. They've told me things, important things.”
April 25, 2022
𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.~𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆
Trevor Morrison is a family man, doting on his wife and young daughter. An out-of- commission car puts him on the bus going home. When Mario Flores sits down next to him, babbling about aliens and Juno, Trevor realizes he's in trouble. What happens next is so horrific because it's ripped straight from the headlines. In just under seven minutes, Trevor is stabbed more than 30 times, and Mario eats his victim's eye, nose, and part of his scalp. It was a brutal, horrific death.
Fifteen years later, Mario is living the good life. He is a free man, 'rehabilitated', with a good job and a loving family...until the night Naomi Morrison, the still-grieving widow, shows up at his house. What follows is a revenge story so visceral, it was difficult at times to keep reading. If harm to children is one of your triggers, proceed with caution.
This book definitely made me think about the flaws in our justice system. Can someone who committed such a grisly crime as Mario ever truly be deemed safe to live in society again? Does vengeance give the wronged a tool to exact revenge when the system fails? These are difficult questions with no easy answers. The news doesn't report what happens to survivors of violent crime, and that's why books such as this one are so important.
Trevor Morrison is a family man, doting on his wife and young daughter. An out-of- commission car puts him on the bus going home. When Mario Flores sits down next to him, babbling about aliens and Juno, Trevor realizes he's in trouble. What happens next is so horrific because it's ripped straight from the headlines. In just under seven minutes, Trevor is stabbed more than 30 times, and Mario eats his victim's eye, nose, and part of his scalp. It was a brutal, horrific death.
Fifteen years later, Mario is living the good life. He is a free man, 'rehabilitated', with a good job and a loving family...until the night Naomi Morrison, the still-grieving widow, shows up at his house. What follows is a revenge story so visceral, it was difficult at times to keep reading. If harm to children is one of your triggers, proceed with caution.
This book definitely made me think about the flaws in our justice system. Can someone who committed such a grisly crime as Mario ever truly be deemed safe to live in society again? Does vengeance give the wronged a tool to exact revenge when the system fails? These are difficult questions with no easy answers. The news doesn't report what happens to survivors of violent crime, and that's why books such as this one are so important.
January 1, 2020
This book is intensely violent and disturbing, but not in a sensational way. The shocks come right from the beginning and don't leave you much room to breathe. This will upset and disgust a lot of people, so be warned. For those of a stronger constitution who stick with it, you will be in for a dark and twisted treat. This is not just a splatter book. Yes, there is extreme graphic violence and torture but there is a reason for what takes place. At each step you are subconsciously questioning what is happening - Is THIS justified, how would I react, how would I feel?
A VERY thought provoking, at times distressing book, that breaks the boundaries and pushes you to the limit. Simply put, one of the BEST books that I have ever read!
A VERY thought provoking, at times distressing book, that breaks the boundaries and pushes you to the limit. Simply put, one of the BEST books that I have ever read!
May 25, 2018
BRUTAL, SAD & SADISTIC!!
A widow (Naomi) gets revenge on the man who brutally killed her husband Trevor 15 years earlier.
Naomi had nothing left to lose and she got her revenge BIG TIME...sadly her rage didn't stop with her husband's killer aka Mario; she took her sick, TWISTED revenge out on his family too.
Naomi's methods of torture were ABSOLUTELY sick, TWISTED, horribly gross, disgusting, and eye-popping (pun intended-LOL)
A widow (Naomi) gets revenge on the man who brutally killed her husband Trevor 15 years earlier.
Naomi had nothing left to lose and she got her revenge BIG TIME...sadly her rage didn't stop with her husband's killer aka Mario; she took her sick, TWISTED revenge out on his family too.
Naomi's methods of torture were ABSOLUTELY sick, TWISTED, horribly gross, disgusting, and eye-popping (pun intended-LOL)
June 28, 2024
This book was AMAZING!!!!
It really pulled me out of my reading slump and left me with so many emotions and thoughts!
I will be thinking about this for a long, long time.
Also just ordered a physical copy right after finishing for my trophy shelf, haha.
I will definitely check out more by this author!
(PLEASE check trigger warnings before reading!!!!)
It really pulled me out of my reading slump and left me with so many emotions and thoughts!
I will be thinking about this for a long, long time.
Also just ordered a physical copy right after finishing for my trophy shelf, haha.
I will definitely check out more by this author!
(PLEASE check trigger warnings before reading!!!!)
October 18, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ but I'm bumping it to 4 because I love a good brutal revenge story, and it was a quick easy read. But I think it was *too* quick for me. The characters fell a little flat, it jumped 15 years later and then right into action. I just felt unattached and disconnected from allll the characters in this one.
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October 8, 2019Wow
J really enjoyed the book it was very exciting from the beginning to the end. I hated for it to end. I was anxious to see what would happen next. I was with her all the was! Please keep up the good work! See you next book.
J really enjoyed the book it was very exciting from the beginning to the end. I hated for it to end. I was anxious to see what would happen next. I was with her all the was! Please keep up the good work! See you next book.
January 12, 2026
Fantastic gripping to the very end
Finished this in 2 nights
One of the best jon athan books I've ever read and I've read a lot of his books
Highly recommend
It's splatterpunk horror so not for the faint of heart
I love vengeance splatterpunk and Jon athan does this flawlessly
Finished this in 2 nights
One of the best jon athan books I've ever read and I've read a lot of his books
Highly recommend
It's splatterpunk horror so not for the faint of heart
I love vengeance splatterpunk and Jon athan does this flawlessly
April 12, 2018
Great
Great book, loved it, read it in a few days and I was in awe of the good storyline. Highly recommend.
Great book, loved it, read it in a few days and I was in awe of the good storyline. Highly recommend.
October 21, 2018
Very intense, love it!
March 5, 2019
Sick twisted
I found this book very dirsturbing I felt sorrow for the widow as well as the victim, beautifully written. Once I started had to finish
I found this book very dirsturbing I felt sorrow for the widow as well as the victim, beautifully written. Once I started had to finish
January 10, 2020
Okay, so in usual Jon Athan fashion, it was gory and crazy. Unless I missed it somewhere in the text while cringing at the gruesomeness, Naomi didn't explain what happened to her daughter though.
March 20, 2024
Fantastic story😂
I am one that believes an eye for an eye!!. Vengeance is a powerful tool!!. Jon is a fantastic storyteller and is a PHENOMENAL writer!!.
I am one that believes an eye for an eye!!. Vengeance is a powerful tool!!. Jon is a fantastic storyteller and is a PHENOMENAL writer!!.
April 1, 2024
Vengeance and torture
I understand her point. If I lost my family I'd go crazy too. Thank you for writing. Still curious about how authors do research.
I understand her point. If I lost my family I'd go crazy too. Thank you for writing. Still curious about how authors do research.
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June 2, 2024A very good read
I liked this revenge story, highly unlikely, but worth a read l imagine that so many people would wish this could happen
I liked this revenge story, highly unlikely, but worth a read l imagine that so many people would wish this could happen
November 12, 2024
Really enjoyed this. Vengeance was the widows. Such a good read.
November 15, 2024
disturbing
It’s completely disturbing and disgusting but I loved it. Horror is my guilty pleasure. It’s just like reading a scary movie.
It’s completely disturbing and disgusting but I loved it. Horror is my guilty pleasure. It’s just like reading a scary movie.
September 25, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
January 26, 2019
He paid his debt to society. She feels like he still owes something. Rage & vengeance on steroids!
October 19, 2024
3.5 rounded up.
BRUTAL revenge story 🙈 i wanted more of a backstory on Mario though. i have questions!!!
BRUTAL revenge story 🙈 i wanted more of a backstory on Mario though. i have questions!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews