What do you think?
Rate this book
The US government spends billions of dollars training soldiers to kill. Now they’re attempting an alternative approach. Instead of turning soldiers into killers, the military has trained five psychopathic murderers to be part of a classified Special Forces unit. Red-OpsThey are the most fearsome weapon ever created, meant to be dropped behind enemy lines. Their Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. Five Hannibal Lectors with Rambo training. But something horrible has happened...Welcome to Safe Haven, Population 907A tiny community of families, retirees, and artists, nestled between Big Lake and Little Lake MacDonald in the northwoods. One road in, one road out, thirty miles away from everything. A town so small and peaceful they don’t even have a full time police force.Hell has come to Safe HavenOn their way to a mission, the Red Ops helicopter has crashed just outside of town. The team is now roaming free in the wilderness, heading for the nearest lights. Heading there to do what they do best.Soon the phone lines are cut, the cell phones jammed, and the road blocked. Safe Haven’s only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of an aging county Sheriff. And as the body count rises, he’s quickly realizing something terrifying—maybe the Red Ops haven’t come to his small town by accident...Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Population 907. . . 906. . . 905. . .Are you afraid of the dark? You should be. You will be.
308 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
1012 people are currently reading
9888 people want to read
About the author
Jack Kilborn
39 books848 followersJack Kilborn is pen name for writer J.A. Konrath. The Kilborn name denotes his horror novels; the Konrath name his thrillers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,105 reviews
January 15, 2025
Welcome to Safe Haven. Welcome to Hell.
This was the first book I read by the author, and for a debut - it was pretty good.
The sleepy town of Safe Haven is about to have a nasty wake-up call, when a helicopter crashes and explodes in the forest on the outskirts of town. The towns' populace is 907 permanent residents - but over the course of one night, that number will start to dwindle - significantly.
Sal Morton, hears a helicopter traversing the lake he's been fishing on - followed by an explosion, which is close to his lakeside property, where his wife, Maggie, is sleeping. But not for long. Someone or something is in the house, and it likes pop-corn. As Sal heads home - he hears his wife scream, like a Banshee. Unfortunately, his boat conks out, so he ends-up having to row the rest of the way and he's unprepared for the nightmare he is about to encounter, when he finally gets home.
Elsewhere, General Alton Topes' pager bleeps; which reads: 6735. Following procedure, he adds four-digits to the day's date, which makes it: 6762. What does it mean?
Ashburn County Sheriff, Arnold 'Ace' Streng, will have to put his chilli and cheese on hiatus, when he receives a call about the crash. He's going to have a very long night.
It's not long, before the electricity goes out, then the fun begins; when the blood begins to flow, and the bodies pile-up.
There are multiple POV: Sal, Maggie, Erwin, Josh, Jessie Lee. Sloan, Dr. Stubin, Arnold, Warren, Duncan and Fran, etc. Fran receives a semi-erotic toe-job - at the diner, where she works.Ouch!!
So what is happening in Safe Haven, Wisconsin? What does the Military have to do with it? Who's going to win the town's impromptu lottery that's being held at the Gymnasium, Junior High? What does Warren Streng, Arnold Streng's brother have to do with what's befallen the residents of Safe Haven? And what is Dr. Stubins involvement? His speciality is in Behaviour Modification, Transhumanistic Neuropathology.
In conclusion: I really enjoyed this book. The prose was decent enough. There were the occasional typos - nothing major, though. With multiple POV - it never got repetitive. So that's good. And it had a copasetic ending, too.
This was the first book I read by the author, and for a debut - it was pretty good.
The sleepy town of Safe Haven is about to have a nasty wake-up call, when a helicopter crashes and explodes in the forest on the outskirts of town. The towns' populace is 907 permanent residents - but over the course of one night, that number will start to dwindle - significantly.
Sal Morton, hears a helicopter traversing the lake he's been fishing on - followed by an explosion, which is close to his lakeside property, where his wife, Maggie, is sleeping. But not for long. Someone or something is in the house, and it likes pop-corn. As Sal heads home - he hears his wife scream, like a Banshee. Unfortunately, his boat conks out, so he ends-up having to row the rest of the way and he's unprepared for the nightmare he is about to encounter, when he finally gets home.
Elsewhere, General Alton Topes' pager bleeps; which reads: 6735. Following procedure, he adds four-digits to the day's date, which makes it: 6762. What does it mean?
Ashburn County Sheriff, Arnold 'Ace' Streng, will have to put his chilli and cheese on hiatus, when he receives a call about the crash. He's going to have a very long night.
It's not long, before the electricity goes out, then the fun begins; when the blood begins to flow, and the bodies pile-up.
There are multiple POV: Sal, Maggie, Erwin, Josh, Jessie Lee. Sloan, Dr. Stubin, Arnold, Warren, Duncan and Fran, etc. Fran receives a semi-erotic toe-job - at the diner, where she works.Ouch!!
So what is happening in Safe Haven, Wisconsin? What does the Military have to do with it? Who's going to win the town's impromptu lottery that's being held at the Gymnasium, Junior High? What does Warren Streng, Arnold Streng's brother have to do with what's befallen the residents of Safe Haven? And what is Dr. Stubins involvement? His speciality is in Behaviour Modification, Transhumanistic Neuropathology.
In conclusion: I really enjoyed this book. The prose was decent enough. There were the occasional typos - nothing major, though. With multiple POV - it never got repetitive. So that's good. And it had a copasetic ending, too.
December 3, 2008
Awesome debut. I wish I'd written it...
July 4, 2018
It starts with a mysterious helicopter crash in the town called Safe Haven...
Okay, since it's called Safe Haven, you know that shit's about to go down, don't you?
The murders start soon. An elite, highly-trained, completely sociopathic, sadistic and, as if they needed another edge, chemically enhanced team of terrorists are only asking one question:
Where is the sheriff's brother?
In a town of less than one thousand people, how many can survive this attack?
Think of the movie 'Universal Soldier', but actually worth watching...
Okay, since it's called Safe Haven, you know that shit's about to go down, don't you?
The murders start soon. An elite, highly-trained, completely sociopathic, sadistic and, as if they needed another edge, chemically enhanced team of terrorists are only asking one question:
Where is the sheriff's brother?
In a town of less than one thousand people, how many can survive this attack?
Think of the movie 'Universal Soldier', but actually worth watching...
August 2, 2009
I like cozies. I might as well be honest about that. Also happy ever afters. Further, in the interests of full disclosure, you should know that I read AFRAID by Jack Kilborn (with a view to a review) because Joe Konrath dared me to do so.He has a thick skin, and a strong stomach... and anyone who reads AFRAID needs both.
This is not a book to take on a fishing trip, especially if you've left your loved ones at home, alone. In fact, this book ought to come with a free membership of the NRA. You'll want your Brinks alarm turned on, and a loaded shotgun under your mattress if you read AFRAID in bed at night. You might want one of those panic button pendants, too.
Be warned. It is gruesome. AFRAID is the sort of book to be read aloud, in a large group. Maybe journalists who need to be kept up all night --for a slow-to-break story on Airforce One, for instance-- or secret types on a stakeout, would get a bang out of AFRAID.
The villains are seriously, SERIOUSLY, nasty. My own most horrible villain (Insufficient Mating Material) rendered his victims insensible, had his wicked way, then took a small plug of pubic hair for a souvenir. Jack Kilborn's baddies do a great deal more than that. You get a sense of the horrors to come when a faceless bad guy sits on his first victim's bed, and when she asks what he's going to do to her, he says "Everything."
And that's just page 7.
Jack Kilborn is exceptionally readable. His prose is clear, elegant, vivid, and intelligent. I'm hooked.
This is not a book to take on a fishing trip, especially if you've left your loved ones at home, alone. In fact, this book ought to come with a free membership of the NRA. You'll want your Brinks alarm turned on, and a loaded shotgun under your mattress if you read AFRAID in bed at night. You might want one of those panic button pendants, too.
Be warned. It is gruesome. AFRAID is the sort of book to be read aloud, in a large group. Maybe journalists who need to be kept up all night --for a slow-to-break story on Airforce One, for instance-- or secret types on a stakeout, would get a bang out of AFRAID.
The villains are seriously, SERIOUSLY, nasty. My own most horrible villain (Insufficient Mating Material) rendered his victims insensible, had his wicked way, then took a small plug of pubic hair for a souvenir. Jack Kilborn's baddies do a great deal more than that. You get a sense of the horrors to come when a faceless bad guy sits on his first victim's bed, and when she asks what he's going to do to her, he says "Everything."
And that's just page 7.
Jack Kilborn is exceptionally readable. His prose is clear, elegant, vivid, and intelligent. I'm hooked.
July 2, 2016
AFRAID is a bungee jump into pure terror, a story that plays brilliantly on all our primal fears, and stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best of Harris, Koontz, and King. A classic horror novel.
April 22, 2021
"What turns a person into a monster like this? Training? Some horrible event in his past? Genetics? How does a man lose his humanity?"
I've had this book sat on a shelf for nearly a year. Why the hell did it take this long for me to read it? It has pretty much everything I look for, violence, violence and more violence. All done with a quality of writing that draws you in and grips you from start to finish. Grips you like a bear trap!
This one is set in the small, quiet Wisconsin town of Safe Haven. A sleepy little hollow where nothing ever happens. That is until a crack team of blood thirsty, special forces maniacs goes on the rampage. This town is anything but a safe haven. If you've got a weak stomach, give this one a miss.
"I’m not afraid of the dead,” Streng remembered saying. “I’m afraid of what made them dead."
The character work and quality of writing isn't amazing, Stephen King level, but it is solid and does the job very well. Where this book really shines is the breakneck pacing and over the top violence. Backstory and history is only given to the reader when absolutely necessary and never interferes with the action. It's very frantic, nail biting stuff.
Overall, I was very satisfied. I wanted a fresh, exciting horror experience and that's exactly what I got. Afraid is part of a trilogy and I'm all over it like a tramp on chips. I've heard the last installment is the best. It will have to go some to top this beautiful piece of literature.
Jack Kilborn
October 4, 2021
That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had reading a splatterpunk novel! Imagine a novel that’s as brutal as a Jack Ketchum novel with the pacing of a Blake Crouch novel and a high body count that rivals the John Wick franchise.
Brutal, disturbing, violent, gory, intense, you name it, it’s in this! However, this isn’t a book that feels realistically disturbing. It’s not The Girl Next Door or Knockemstiff where those two felt very real, this has almost a B-movie quality to it. BUT, there were a couple of scenes that made me squirm and made me go “HOLY SHIT!”
It reminded me of some of those big budgeted horror movies in the mid 2000s such as Dawn of the Dead remake, Planet Terror, Slither, etc., where it was really violent and gory, it had a team of survivors against a much deadlier threat, it had lots of intense action, and a pretty high body count.
This book was pretty damn scary too. Most of the horror and carnage takes place in the dark. A lot of the horrific events are seen with flashlights, lighters, moonlight, and car lights.
You have the most sadistic and ruthless team of bad guys I’ve read in a book in a long time. Imagine the Terminator, but it was more than one. Now imagine they weren’t robots but humans. Now imagine they weren’t just humans either, but bloodthirsty psychopaths.
What made this book great too is it’s all from the perspective of the good guys, multiple perspectives actually. You root for them because they’re average, good small town citizens and they remind you of people you know or even yourselves. Nothing extraordinary about any of them, but they’re all likable and they turn into straight up badasses. There are some surprisingly small emotional moments that I didn’t expect in a novel like this. It wasn’t sappy, but it was nice reading a touching moment with the characters in a book filled with blood and mayhem.
I highly recommend this book to horror fans. It is one of the most memorable books you’ll ever read in this genre.
Brutal, disturbing, violent, gory, intense, you name it, it’s in this! However, this isn’t a book that feels realistically disturbing. It’s not The Girl Next Door or Knockemstiff where those two felt very real, this has almost a B-movie quality to it. BUT, there were a couple of scenes that made me squirm and made me go “HOLY SHIT!”
It reminded me of some of those big budgeted horror movies in the mid 2000s such as Dawn of the Dead remake, Planet Terror, Slither, etc., where it was really violent and gory, it had a team of survivors against a much deadlier threat, it had lots of intense action, and a pretty high body count.
This book was pretty damn scary too. Most of the horror and carnage takes place in the dark. A lot of the horrific events are seen with flashlights, lighters, moonlight, and car lights.
You have the most sadistic and ruthless team of bad guys I’ve read in a book in a long time. Imagine the Terminator, but it was more than one. Now imagine they weren’t robots but humans. Now imagine they weren’t just humans either, but bloodthirsty psychopaths.
What made this book great too is it’s all from the perspective of the good guys, multiple perspectives actually. You root for them because they’re average, good small town citizens and they remind you of people you know or even yourselves. Nothing extraordinary about any of them, but they’re all likable and they turn into straight up badasses. There are some surprisingly small emotional moments that I didn’t expect in a novel like this. It wasn’t sappy, but it was nice reading a touching moment with the characters in a book filled with blood and mayhem.
I highly recommend this book to horror fans. It is one of the most memorable books you’ll ever read in this genre.
December 22, 2011
At the end of this book is this "About the Author" blurb...
Fortunately, I do know where he lives. He resides in the body of author J. A. Konrath. During the day he is harmless. But at night, he sneaks out and makes Mr. Konrath write these deliciously disgusting little books.
Or at least that is the way I imagine it.
The one thing that is clear is that Kilborn is not for everyone. Afraid is a non-stop action/horror novel that is waist-deep in blood and violence. It is also very creative and very witty in a droll sick way. The basic plot features an invasion of a Wisconsin town by a special forces team from Hell, figuratively speaking. What they are after and who will survive is the mystery. If you like action and horror you will get a satisfying double dose. If you don't, I understand The Help is available on DVD.
Jack Kilborn prefers not to share personal details about his life. He could be living anywhere. Possibly near youConsidering what he writes, that is a very scary thought.
Fortunately, I do know where he lives. He resides in the body of author J. A. Konrath. During the day he is harmless. But at night, he sneaks out and makes Mr. Konrath write these deliciously disgusting little books.
Or at least that is the way I imagine it.
The one thing that is clear is that Kilborn is not for everyone. Afraid is a non-stop action/horror novel that is waist-deep in blood and violence. It is also very creative and very witty in a droll sick way. The basic plot features an invasion of a Wisconsin town by a special forces team from Hell, figuratively speaking. What they are after and who will survive is the mystery. If you like action and horror you will get a satisfying double dose. If you don't, I understand The Help is available on DVD.
September 30, 2012
This was the first Jack Kilborn novel that I read and I was instantly hooked! I loved this book--the suspense, the graphic gore and violence...it was good from beginning to end.
You can't go wrong with a Jack Kilborn novel...if you have the guts to read one...!
You can't go wrong with a Jack Kilborn novel...if you have the guts to read one...!
November 20, 2021
Warning: This book may cause severe heart palpitations and lack of sleep.
Afraid is intense! Right from the first page, it pulls you into this macabre world that you're afraid to stay in but to engrossed in to leave. This is a gory, gruesome and action-packed story that develops meaningful characters only to rip them away right as you start rooting for/caring about them. Savage!
I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.
Afraid is intense! Right from the first page, it pulls you into this macabre world that you're afraid to stay in but to engrossed in to leave. This is a gory, gruesome and action-packed story that develops meaningful characters only to rip them away right as you start rooting for/caring about them. Savage!
I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.
October 26, 2021
GOOD GRIEF!! Holy freaking crap, so brutal. NOT for the faint-hearted! Sheesh...that's all I can say right now.
July 18, 2022
3.5 stars. I thought the opening sequence was so chilling and unsettling; it truly disturbed me. It’s written in such a way that makes your mind go wild imagining all the horrible things that could be happening.
The rest of the book is basically one horrific act of violence and torture after the other. Absolutely no one is safe.
I found some of the descriptions to be kind of repetitive at times, and a few other times I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the writing and happenings, but overall I thought it was a pretty good dark thriller.
The rest of the book is basically one horrific act of violence and torture after the other. Absolutely no one is safe.
I found some of the descriptions to be kind of repetitive at times, and a few other times I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the writing and happenings, but overall I thought it was a pretty good dark thriller.
February 9, 2014
Rating: 5/5
OH MY GOD THIS BOOK!!! I have no words... but I'll try to find some, just so I can write a review.
Afraid is the first book by Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath that I've ever read, and let me tell you it's not going to be the last. I was in the perfect mental state for a book like Afraid. I really wanted to read something action packed, with a military experiment gone bad, and a group of people trying to survive. And Afraid was exactly that, plus it was terrifying and totally gory, which I adored.
So, in Afraid the small town of Safe Haven gets a surprise visit from a group of physically enhanced soldiers, created to bring mayhem and distraction, when a helicopter crashes near the town. None of the people has the slightest idea what is going on or why those people are suddenly after them. And what originally looks like a military mission gone bad, may turned out to be exactly what was planned for the little town.
This book as insane. So much action, never a boring moment, always someone's life in immediate danger, there was so much death and fights and running from the enemy, it was really insane, beautifully insane. The first few chapters were the most terrifying thing I've ever read, and I read them at night, right before sleep. The story is very addicting, once I had the book in my hands I couldn't stop reading.
I loved the characters, even the bad guys, there all just gave life to the story. Seeing them suffer and run for their lifes kept me on edge for the whole book. My favorite one has to be Duncan, the little kid involved in the story, he was pretty amazing for a kid. If things like that happened to me when I was his age, I'd just hide under bed until the bad guys found me.
Anyways, this is an amazing story. It has a movie sense about it. I could picture everything going on. But be warned, it is not for younger readers. There is so much torture and gore, that I would only recommend this to adults only and not the fainthearted ones.
OH MY GOD THIS BOOK!!! I have no words... but I'll try to find some, just so I can write a review.
Afraid is the first book by Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath that I've ever read, and let me tell you it's not going to be the last. I was in the perfect mental state for a book like Afraid. I really wanted to read something action packed, with a military experiment gone bad, and a group of people trying to survive. And Afraid was exactly that, plus it was terrifying and totally gory, which I adored.
So, in Afraid the small town of Safe Haven gets a surprise visit from a group of physically enhanced soldiers, created to bring mayhem and distraction, when a helicopter crashes near the town. None of the people has the slightest idea what is going on or why those people are suddenly after them. And what originally looks like a military mission gone bad, may turned out to be exactly what was planned for the little town.
This book as insane. So much action, never a boring moment, always someone's life in immediate danger, there was so much death and fights and running from the enemy, it was really insane, beautifully insane. The first few chapters were the most terrifying thing I've ever read, and I read them at night, right before sleep. The story is very addicting, once I had the book in my hands I couldn't stop reading.
I loved the characters, even the bad guys, there all just gave life to the story. Seeing them suffer and run for their lifes kept me on edge for the whole book. My favorite one has to be Duncan, the little kid involved in the story, he was pretty amazing for a kid. If things like that happened to me when I was his age, I'd just hide under bed until the bad guys found me.
Anyways, this is an amazing story. It has a movie sense about it. I could picture everything going on. But be warned, it is not for younger readers. There is so much torture and gore, that I would only recommend this to adults only and not the fainthearted ones.
October 2, 2021
Wow! What a crazy, creepy gory ride that was! I really enjoyed this book! My first by this Author and now off to look up his others!
May 14, 2009
Afraid is the first horror novel from Jack Kilborn, aka thriller writer, JA Konrath. While this novel is touted as horror, I see it more of a horror/action hybrid that travels at an unrelenting pace, and is inhabited by likeable heroes and vile villains. Set during one harrowing evening, Afraid pits the citizens of the sleepy Wisconsin Northwood's town of Safe Haven against a special forces unit programmed (with implanted computer chips and chemical enhancements) to torture, maim and kill whoever gets in their way. How and why are these trained killers let loose on the unsuspecting town? That answer lies in the land of spoiler alerts, and I won't tread that line in this mini review. Rest assured, the Safe Haven citizenry--average citizens who could reside in any American town--rise up and fight back against this Goliath-like enemy. While I generally shun spoilers, I will warn readers about becoming too attached to these likeable characters. Like I said, the pace of Afraid is relentless, and there are casualties along the way--even the fleshed out characters you can imagine settling down to a good long life are at risk of untimely demise. Recommended for horror and/or thriller fans.
March 16, 2009
Jack Kilborn knows that a small town in America's heartland is the perfect place to set a horror thriller: remote, surrounded by shadowy woods, and sparsely populated by residents who still live by an unlocked-door policy. After reading this book, residents of small towns everywhere will be locking their doors with deadbolts and going to bed with .357 Magnums under their pillows. I know I would.
The evil that descends upon this town, literally, in a helicopter, is motivated by the worst of all nightmares: inflicting pain and death for the sheer enjoyment of it. Sure, there is an agenda behind it all, but the reader realizes pretty quickly that the agenda is secondary to the basic goals of pain and death, in that order. And pain is dispersed among the townspeople in spectacularly grisly fashion. Mr. Kilborn is very good at visiting every possible nightmare from biting to stabbing, from burning to drowning, dismemberment to electric shock, with unremitting darkness and the occasional bout of claustrophobia thrown into the mix. One can almost picture Kilborn sitting at his keyboard and rubbing his hands in cackling glee as he speeds from one ghastly vision to the next.
This is not to say that the entire book is nothing but gore. The reason this book succeeds so well is that beneath the surface layer of horror is a tight, strong, well-founded story that follows the path of three (and a half) unlikely heroes as they battle not only to survive but to overcome the monstrosity that has derailed their lives. The fact that all of them have been clothed in very real flesh and blood by the author will keep the reader turning pages to see what happens next, because you will care what befalls each of them.
If you are seeking a page-turner that will have you switching on more lights as darkness descends and will linger in your mind long after you've reached the end, then AFRAID is the book for you. Just do yourself a favor and try to read it when you can consume it in one gulp. It's that good.
The evil that descends upon this town, literally, in a helicopter, is motivated by the worst of all nightmares: inflicting pain and death for the sheer enjoyment of it. Sure, there is an agenda behind it all, but the reader realizes pretty quickly that the agenda is secondary to the basic goals of pain and death, in that order. And pain is dispersed among the townspeople in spectacularly grisly fashion. Mr. Kilborn is very good at visiting every possible nightmare from biting to stabbing, from burning to drowning, dismemberment to electric shock, with unremitting darkness and the occasional bout of claustrophobia thrown into the mix. One can almost picture Kilborn sitting at his keyboard and rubbing his hands in cackling glee as he speeds from one ghastly vision to the next.
This is not to say that the entire book is nothing but gore. The reason this book succeeds so well is that beneath the surface layer of horror is a tight, strong, well-founded story that follows the path of three (and a half) unlikely heroes as they battle not only to survive but to overcome the monstrosity that has derailed their lives. The fact that all of them have been clothed in very real flesh and blood by the author will keep the reader turning pages to see what happens next, because you will care what befalls each of them.
If you are seeking a page-turner that will have you switching on more lights as darkness descends and will linger in your mind long after you've reached the end, then AFRAID is the book for you. Just do yourself a favor and try to read it when you can consume it in one gulp. It's that good.
May 9, 2009
Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Population 907. . . 906. . . 905. . .
A military helicopter crashes in the tiny Wisconsin town of Safe Haven. Unleashed is a Red Ops group of serial killers-turned-soldiers who go from house to house, business to business torturing the townsfolk for the answer to the question: Where’s Warren Streng?
A sheriff, a firefighter, a single mom, and her 10-year-old son band together for survival and seek the answer to their own question: Why would the military drop on their quiet town a band of programmed, enhanced killing machines whose objective is to: Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate?
One by one South Haven's friends and neighbors meet the men who make up this special force: Ajax, a 7-foot giant whose first victims were his parents, whom he flayed with an electric turkey carver; Bennie, who grew from a child playing with matches into a man who likes to burn and eat his victims; Taylor, a serial killer snatched from death row who likes the crunch and saltiness of his victims’ fingers and toes; and Santiago, a painful manipulator of internal organs.
Afraid gets one of the saddest and goriest starts imaginable when longtime married sweethearts Sal and Maggie are introduced. They bought a home on the lake where the nearest neighbor is miles away, but forgot that in the country no one can hear you scream. Around midnight Maggie hears the microwave beeping and smells burned popcorn. Doesn't Sal know that eating late at night is bad for his heartburn? She's about to go into lecture mode as she hears her husband casually munching popcorn outside her bedroom door. Then she hears her husband's boat driving up. When the trembling woman asks the intruder what he plans to do to her, he answers "everything."
I guess the easiest way to explain Jack Kilborn's Afraid is that it's a cross between the writing of Jack Higgins and Jack Ketchum. Afraid is Kilborn's first novel; let's hope it won't be his last.
A military helicopter crashes in the tiny Wisconsin town of Safe Haven. Unleashed is a Red Ops group of serial killers-turned-soldiers who go from house to house, business to business torturing the townsfolk for the answer to the question: Where’s Warren Streng?
A sheriff, a firefighter, a single mom, and her 10-year-old son band together for survival and seek the answer to their own question: Why would the military drop on their quiet town a band of programmed, enhanced killing machines whose objective is to: Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate?
One by one South Haven's friends and neighbors meet the men who make up this special force: Ajax, a 7-foot giant whose first victims were his parents, whom he flayed with an electric turkey carver; Bennie, who grew from a child playing with matches into a man who likes to burn and eat his victims; Taylor, a serial killer snatched from death row who likes the crunch and saltiness of his victims’ fingers and toes; and Santiago, a painful manipulator of internal organs.
Afraid gets one of the saddest and goriest starts imaginable when longtime married sweethearts Sal and Maggie are introduced. They bought a home on the lake where the nearest neighbor is miles away, but forgot that in the country no one can hear you scream. Around midnight Maggie hears the microwave beeping and smells burned popcorn. Doesn't Sal know that eating late at night is bad for his heartburn? She's about to go into lecture mode as she hears her husband casually munching popcorn outside her bedroom door. Then she hears her husband's boat driving up. When the trembling woman asks the intruder what he plans to do to her, he answers "everything."
I guess the easiest way to explain Jack Kilborn's Afraid is that it's a cross between the writing of Jack Higgins and Jack Ketchum. Afraid is Kilborn's first novel; let's hope it won't be his last.
August 27, 2019
4 Stars
I never thought their luck would get better; maybe it did..... not.
I never thought their luck would get better; maybe it did..... not.
May 8, 2021
Wow!! What a wild ride that was!! This book is packed with action from cover to cover! Such a fun, intense read!!
March 21, 2009
One word describes the first novel from author Jack Kilborn: relentless. Much like the works of Jim Butcher and David Morrell, Kilborn’s premiere work, AFRAID, is non-stop tension. Each section break, while short, somehow manages to ratchet up the suspense to the point that you wonder how much more you can take. You won’t want to put the book down once you start it and a small part of you will wonder what possessed you to pick it up in the first place. The story is a non-stop horror ride…once on, you can’t get off.
The story centers on Safe Haven, Wisconsin, a small town that prefers its privacy over even economic depression. Snowbirds flee south for the winter, leaving the 900+ full-time residents to their quiet, peaceful place of fishing and relaxation. That is, until what appears to be a helicopter crash ignites a world of trouble for every one of the town’s 900 inhabitants.
The main characters are 70-year-old Sheriff Streng, three weeks from retirement, Josh VanCamp, a young firefighter dealing with the loss of his fiancé and the desire to save people as a paramedic-in-training and Fran Stauffer, a single mother whose husband had earlier been killed in a traffic accident, leaving her and their ten-year-old son, Duncan, emotionally scarred. Through their eyes (and half-a-dozen other peripheral characters), we witness the horrors that can befall those unprepared. The attacks, when they come, are lightning quick…yet seem to last for hours. Gripping stuff!
From page one of AFRAID, author Kilborn grabs the reader and refuses to let go. The story slowly, methodically unfolds even as the body count rises. The gruesome factor rises exponentially as the story heads toward its violent climax, but the real horror, the real suspense, comes from those scenes where the information is doled out in tidbits, allowing the mind to fill in the gaps…and it is guaranteed that those gaps will eventually be filled with the most awful things imaginable. It is to Kilborn’s credit, however, that he manages to come up with horrors that make even the unimaginable feel tame.
The antagonists, (yes, there are multiple baddies), gain brief moments of humanity before they are snuffed out by the monsters they’ve become. There are moments of pure beauty, selfless heroism and several scenes that, were this to be a movie, would illicit screams of pandemonious glee and gut-wrenching terror. AFRAID, as a novel, does pretty much the same thing. It is exhausting. I didn’t want to put it down and yet, at the same time, I wanted to fling it across the room and run screaming from it. The words are visceral. You can see the enemy approaching, smell the burning flesh, taste the blood, feel the knife slither across your skin and hear the sounds of your heart thumping madly in your chest. Yes, the book is that good.
This may be Kilborn’s first novel, but he writes with the assuredness of a seasoned veteran. That is not to say this is a perfect book. The characters are not as fully-rendered as I would have liked and the nasties felt, at first, contrived and dull. However, like a pro, Kilborn takes these quibbles and sets them aside, due mostly to the frenetic pace of his story, the bareness of his prose and, in the end, our personal desire to see good triumph over evil. The realization that we humans are capable of atrocities similar to what are revealed throughout this book permeate the soul long after the last words are read, much like mold over rotting food. It is a bitter pill to swallow, that we are capable of such great good and yet, perform such hideousness upon one another. Both sides of that coin get equal billing here.
Get AFRAID and be afraid. Then hold on tightly for a ride you will both want to jump off…and ride again and again.
The story centers on Safe Haven, Wisconsin, a small town that prefers its privacy over even economic depression. Snowbirds flee south for the winter, leaving the 900+ full-time residents to their quiet, peaceful place of fishing and relaxation. That is, until what appears to be a helicopter crash ignites a world of trouble for every one of the town’s 900 inhabitants.
The main characters are 70-year-old Sheriff Streng, three weeks from retirement, Josh VanCamp, a young firefighter dealing with the loss of his fiancé and the desire to save people as a paramedic-in-training and Fran Stauffer, a single mother whose husband had earlier been killed in a traffic accident, leaving her and their ten-year-old son, Duncan, emotionally scarred. Through their eyes (and half-a-dozen other peripheral characters), we witness the horrors that can befall those unprepared. The attacks, when they come, are lightning quick…yet seem to last for hours. Gripping stuff!
From page one of AFRAID, author Kilborn grabs the reader and refuses to let go. The story slowly, methodically unfolds even as the body count rises. The gruesome factor rises exponentially as the story heads toward its violent climax, but the real horror, the real suspense, comes from those scenes where the information is doled out in tidbits, allowing the mind to fill in the gaps…and it is guaranteed that those gaps will eventually be filled with the most awful things imaginable. It is to Kilborn’s credit, however, that he manages to come up with horrors that make even the unimaginable feel tame.
The antagonists, (yes, there are multiple baddies), gain brief moments of humanity before they are snuffed out by the monsters they’ve become. There are moments of pure beauty, selfless heroism and several scenes that, were this to be a movie, would illicit screams of pandemonious glee and gut-wrenching terror. AFRAID, as a novel, does pretty much the same thing. It is exhausting. I didn’t want to put it down and yet, at the same time, I wanted to fling it across the room and run screaming from it. The words are visceral. You can see the enemy approaching, smell the burning flesh, taste the blood, feel the knife slither across your skin and hear the sounds of your heart thumping madly in your chest. Yes, the book is that good.
This may be Kilborn’s first novel, but he writes with the assuredness of a seasoned veteran. That is not to say this is a perfect book. The characters are not as fully-rendered as I would have liked and the nasties felt, at first, contrived and dull. However, like a pro, Kilborn takes these quibbles and sets them aside, due mostly to the frenetic pace of his story, the bareness of his prose and, in the end, our personal desire to see good triumph over evil. The realization that we humans are capable of atrocities similar to what are revealed throughout this book permeate the soul long after the last words are read, much like mold over rotting food. It is a bitter pill to swallow, that we are capable of such great good and yet, perform such hideousness upon one another. Both sides of that coin get equal billing here.
Get AFRAID and be afraid. Then hold on tightly for a ride you will both want to jump off…and ride again and again.
December 31, 2020
Finished the last book of the year 2020 😎 I'm sooo happy but...but... Why does the ending sounds like a cliff hanging? And what?! Why no punishment for the bad people? Are all government or military or whoever related this are as bad as mentioned in the book? Or am I the only one knowing about the reality now? 🥺
July 25, 2018
"I'm not afraid of the dead, I'm afraid of what made them dead."
Better late than never right? So I'm a little behind on my reviews... why do one at all at this point you ask? Well, I'll tell you why... because this one deserves it.
So here's the thing... I LOVE horror movies, but when it comes to horror novels, well they're a tricky thing, aren't they? Sometimes horror just doesn't translate on the page quite like it does on the big screen. So, when I find a horror novel that delivers, well then it needs the praise it deserves. Am I right folks?
Be WARNED... gore, brutality, this thing is a bloody mess. This is not for the squeamish or easily afraid. When reading you will want to have all the lights in the house on and your guns loaded and a phone nearby in the event of an emergency.
A helicopter crashes in the small town of Safe Haven (sweet irony there) and it's not long before the small town is taken over by a small group of highly advanced supped up super soldiers. These "soldiers" aren't just your typical American soldiers however. They have dark pasts, and this experimental drug that enhances their abilities, well, let's just say that it doesn't exactly make for the perfect "ops" team.
As the soldiers descend on Safe Haven, they have one mission, find Sheriff Streng's brother. The plan is simple, do WHATEVER it takes to find Streng, and let NOTHING and NO ONE stop them. Only Sheriff Streng knows the whereabouts of his brother Wiley and he's not telling. He will do whatever it takes to stop these soldiers from destroying his town and the people in it. He soon realizes that it might just cost him his life.
This is my first novel by Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath) and it certainly did not disappoint. While there were aspects of this novel that were somewhat out of left field, there were others that were completely believable and downright terrifying. Kilborn was able to tap into a multitude of situations that any number of people would find terrifying. There is without a doubt some place in this novel that will terrify you. I'm sure of it.
I listened to the audio version narrated by Phil Gigante, and I have to say, he brings these characters to life for sure. He brought out the CRAZY and CREEPY in each and every one of the soldiers. Yet, at the same time he was able to bring empathy and warmth to characters such as Duncan, Josh, and Fran.
I definitely plan to check out some of Jack Kilborn's other novels. I'm certain they'll be just as entertaining.
Better late than never right? So I'm a little behind on my reviews... why do one at all at this point you ask? Well, I'll tell you why... because this one deserves it.
So here's the thing... I LOVE horror movies, but when it comes to horror novels, well they're a tricky thing, aren't they? Sometimes horror just doesn't translate on the page quite like it does on the big screen. So, when I find a horror novel that delivers, well then it needs the praise it deserves. Am I right folks?
Be WARNED... gore, brutality, this thing is a bloody mess. This is not for the squeamish or easily afraid. When reading you will want to have all the lights in the house on and your guns loaded and a phone nearby in the event of an emergency.
A helicopter crashes in the small town of Safe Haven (sweet irony there) and it's not long before the small town is taken over by a small group of highly advanced supped up super soldiers. These "soldiers" aren't just your typical American soldiers however. They have dark pasts, and this experimental drug that enhances their abilities, well, let's just say that it doesn't exactly make for the perfect "ops" team.
As the soldiers descend on Safe Haven, they have one mission, find Sheriff Streng's brother. The plan is simple, do WHATEVER it takes to find Streng, and let NOTHING and NO ONE stop them. Only Sheriff Streng knows the whereabouts of his brother Wiley and he's not telling. He will do whatever it takes to stop these soldiers from destroying his town and the people in it. He soon realizes that it might just cost him his life.
This is my first novel by Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath) and it certainly did not disappoint. While there were aspects of this novel that were somewhat out of left field, there were others that were completely believable and downright terrifying. Kilborn was able to tap into a multitude of situations that any number of people would find terrifying. There is without a doubt some place in this novel that will terrify you. I'm sure of it.
I listened to the audio version narrated by Phil Gigante, and I have to say, he brings these characters to life for sure. He brought out the CRAZY and CREEPY in each and every one of the soldiers. Yet, at the same time he was able to bring empathy and warmth to characters such as Duncan, Josh, and Fran.
I definitely plan to check out some of Jack Kilborn's other novels. I'm certain they'll be just as entertaining.
July 23, 2012
This is probably my first one-star rating. After being told I needed to keep up with more contemporary horror writers a few years ago, I bought a selection of novels, Afraid included. Here's the first sentence:
"The hunter's moon, a shade of orange so dark it appeared to be filled with blood, hung fat and low over the mirror surface of Big Lake McDonald."
In my opinion, this is all you need to read of the novel to know exactly how badly-written the rest is going to be. This novel has an average of four stars, and I'm always happy to hear that people enjoy reading--heaven knows we need more people reading. But I've read a lot of very good books and some very bad books, and there's just no way this gets more than one star. I found the characters flat, the story trite and, as I mentioned at the start, the writing abominable. I suppose I could say that the good news is there are no typos. Sure, why not, I didn't see any typos. Grammar? Well, look back at that first sentence. Sorry, you can't fill a shade of orange with blood, that's simply a badly-phrased sentence. And it's the first one in the book. (And yes, I managed to make my way through the entire book. I gave Jack Kilborn the benefit of the doubt. My doubts were justified.)
There are a whole lot of really great books out there to read, and many more that are simply passable. I'd pass on this one if I were you.
"The hunter's moon, a shade of orange so dark it appeared to be filled with blood, hung fat and low over the mirror surface of Big Lake McDonald."
In my opinion, this is all you need to read of the novel to know exactly how badly-written the rest is going to be. This novel has an average of four stars, and I'm always happy to hear that people enjoy reading--heaven knows we need more people reading. But I've read a lot of very good books and some very bad books, and there's just no way this gets more than one star. I found the characters flat, the story trite and, as I mentioned at the start, the writing abominable. I suppose I could say that the good news is there are no typos. Sure, why not, I didn't see any typos. Grammar? Well, look back at that first sentence. Sorry, you can't fill a shade of orange with blood, that's simply a badly-phrased sentence. And it's the first one in the book. (And yes, I managed to make my way through the entire book. I gave Jack Kilborn the benefit of the doubt. My doubts were justified.)
There are a whole lot of really great books out there to read, and many more that are simply passable. I'd pass on this one if I were you.
November 29, 2011
This was like watching SAW; pretty gruesome torture scenes, although the author doesn't go into many gory details. However, there is plenty of shocking stuff through-out the book. I don't love that kind of stuff, but it's like watching a train wreck; I just had to keep turning the pages because the story was so good! I really cared about the characters and was rooting for the small group of people (and scene-stealing Woof) fighting the evil that had come to their town. Nothing supernatural going on here, just a horrifying thriller. I had to suspend belief when it came to how much physical and psychological damage the heroes and heroine could take and keep on running and fighting. In spite of that, I really enjoyed this fast-paced novel.
April 5, 2009
“Afraid” written by Jack Kilborn is one hell of a ride. No not a ride, more like an express elevator to hell. It starts fast and only picks up speed. It is relentless with enough horror, gore, action and twists to keep even the most hardcore adrenaline junkies satisfied. These are very bad people doing very bad things. You’ll have a toe sucking good time. Don’t worry, you’ll figure out the reference. Kilborn is the pseudonym for JA Konrath writer of the “Jack Daniels” series of books. Don’t expect the same laugh out loud humor. “Afraid” is like a good punch to the gut. It will leave you out of breath, shaking your head and saying to yourself, “Holy S***, I can’t believe that just happened.”
Mike Hagen
Mike Hagen
August 12, 2009
Quite possibly the worst peice of crap I have ever read. Not only was the story convoluted and far fetched the writing was horrible. For example, in the middle of escaping a burning building, several serial killers and a town held hostage the author was describing clothing down to what color Fran's scrunchi was. The other 2 people were talking about what kind of fish they pulled out of the local lake. This sort of inappropriate narative was all through the book. I see the about the author page states that Mr. Kilbourn prefers not to share personal information. Probably because if people knew where he lived they would show up on his doorstep and kick his ass.
This does give me hope that I might actually get my novel published because apparently good writing and a cohesive story line are not important. They will publish any old junk.
This does give me hope that I might actually get my novel published because apparently good writing and a cohesive story line are not important. They will publish any old junk.
July 31, 2020
Afraid is a creature feature story, but without the creature - all human, if you can call some of these characters that.
It's violent and over the top gory, but you are warned by the summary. You have to suspend your disbelief a lot, but not because of the villains. What a seventy-year-old sheriff, a firefighter, a single mom and her ten-year-old son go through and keep on moving forward, stops being believable even before the first third of the book ends. This is just a comment, not a critique. As I said, I knew what to expect from Afraid. It's an entertaining story.
It's violent and over the top gory, but you are warned by the summary. You have to suspend your disbelief a lot, but not because of the villains. What a seventy-year-old sheriff, a firefighter, a single mom and her ten-year-old son go through and keep on moving forward, stops being believable even before the first third of the book ends. This is just a comment, not a critique. As I said, I knew what to expect from Afraid. It's an entertaining story.
October 18, 2019
There are certain types of horror I find truly horrifying and not extremely satisfying and unfortunately this book fell into that category. Give me a brain eating monster or a alien invasion any day over things like home invasion, cannibalism and torture. The atrocities the human species is so much worse than any creature going on instinct or a species trying to defend itself. Stories like this are too believable I did find myself absolutely terrified and equal parts grossed out while reading the book. Other reviews note the gore factor and I second that, the author holds nothing back and any squeamish person should steer far clear of this book. This book is certainly not for everyone and many probably won’t enjoy the graphic imagery painted by the author, especially once your mind takes over but the fear factor is real. This book is horrifying in execution and while not my cup of tea if it sought to absolutely scar me, consider me in line for reconstructive surgery.
November 9, 2009
This book really sucked me in right from the start. I was trying to figure out what was going on and then once I realized something was very wrong, along with Maggie, there was no going back.
I felt sorry for everyone in this book as they were just going on with their lives and then were thrown in hell where there were no rules, you did what you needed to, to survive. All of the people in town were faced with such horrific choices that in most cases you had to choose the lesser of the evils.
As the book went on you realized just how bad the bad guys were and somehow that just made it seem more horrible and real. There weren't any lines that these people didn't cross. In the end they got what they deserved, none more so than Taylor. It also amazed me how the worst people were the ones that were on the good side.
I hope that Josh and Fran can follow through on their plan because people do need to know this.
I felt sorry for everyone in this book as they were just going on with their lives and then were thrown in hell where there were no rules, you did what you needed to, to survive. All of the people in town were faced with such horrific choices that in most cases you had to choose the lesser of the evils.
As the book went on you realized just how bad the bad guys were and somehow that just made it seem more horrible and real. There weren't any lines that these people didn't cross. In the end they got what they deserved, none more so than Taylor. It also amazed me how the worst people were the ones that were on the good side.
I hope that Josh and Fran can follow through on their plan because people do need to know this.
May 12, 2014
A truly masterful story written in a small town with a host of characters that made me nervous. I kid you not, I was trying to figure out two things from the start of this novel...first, what is going on and then, how will I ever keep all these characters straight in my head?
As it turns out the author did an amazing job in fixing these characters in my mind and as I learned to get to know them and invest in them emotionally the story started to unfold.
Graphic scenes, might make this not the best book for the younger aged YA but I am sure if you are a thriller, horror freak like me, then you will love this.
Weirdly enough, I started and stopped this book 3 times. On my fourth go, I started it and it hooked me in the same part I have read over three times prior....so note. Keep on keeping on, if I gave up on it I would have missed an amazing read.
WaAr
As it turns out the author did an amazing job in fixing these characters in my mind and as I learned to get to know them and invest in them emotionally the story started to unfold.
Graphic scenes, might make this not the best book for the younger aged YA but I am sure if you are a thriller, horror freak like me, then you will love this.
Weirdly enough, I started and stopped this book 3 times. On my fourth go, I started it and it hooked me in the same part I have read over three times prior....so note. Keep on keeping on, if I gave up on it I would have missed an amazing read.
WaAr
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,105 reviews