Violets are Red

by Mylo Carbia

From the #1 bestselling author- that brought millions of readers Ava DeSantis, comes the heart-stopping, psychological thriller about a Manhattan housewife who captures her husband's young mistress and quietly keeps her prisoner in the basement of their Upper East Side townhouse . . . VIOLETS ARE RED.

"She's the next Stephen King." - Horror Society

"The best horror-thriller novel of the year." -- Top10Novels.com

"The greatest battle of 'wife versus mistress' ever told." - Great-Novels.com

Forty-nine-year-old Violet Ramspeck is the envy of the Upper East Side. Wealthy, witty, and childless, she harbors secrets of self-destruction, devoting all of her time to others as an artistic socialite turned trophy wife.

Without warning, Violet discovers her adoring husband of twenty-four years is having an affair with a twenty-three-year-old bartender who is an exact, younger replica of Violet. Upon learning of his plans for divorce, Violet's inner sanctum deteriorates as she morphs into a sadistic captor of the strong-willed, millennial mistress she keeps naked in the basement of her expansive townhome.

Meanwhile, Violet's prisoner--Allegra Adams--spends every waking moment trying to escape her luxurious prison. She soon discovers her mental games prove more effective than her physical attempts to run, challenging everything Violet has ever known about her husband, her values, and her sanity.

The epic struggle between two flawed women fighting over the same man is profound.

Lovers of Grimm's fairy tales will enjoy this suspense-filled, action-packed battle of two minds. With unforeseen twists and turns, the shocking twist ending will have you talking about VIOLETS ARE RED for years to come.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Halloween, Fiction, Crime

435 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

Mylo Carbia is a Hollywood screenwriter turned #1 bestselling author widely known for her work in the horror-thriller genre and trademark of surprise twist endings.

Ranked among “The Greatest Horror Writers of All Time" by Ranker.com, "The Top 10 Horror Writers Alive Today" by Booklaunch, and "The Most Influential Authors" by Richtopia.com, her award-winning writing style has been described as "a perfect mix between Stephen King, M. Night Shyamalan and Quentin Tarantino, but infused with a signature female sharpness that is all her own."

Born in Jackson, New Jersey, Carbia famously spent her childhood years writing to escape the terrors of growing up in a severely haunted house. By the age of 17, Carbia was already well established as a prolific young playwright. By the age of 30, her very first screenplay was optioned only 28 days after completion, earning Carbia a three-picture-deal and the cover of Hollywood Scriptwriter in 2003.

After that time, Carbia moved to Manhattan and quietly penned numerous television and film projects under her production company, Zohar Films. While she was there, she earned the nickname "The Queen of Horror" and the reputation of being one of Hollywood's top film ghostwriters in the horror genre.

In 2015, Carbia left Hollywood to release a series of novels all featuring strong female protagonists. Her debut novel THE RAPING OF AVA DESANTIS—a story about a woman who waits 15 years to seek revenge against the families of three wealthy fraternity boys who assaulted her in college—hit #1 bestseller in four categories and won five awards including the prestigious 2016 Silver Falchion Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fiction.

Her second novel, VIOLETS ARE RED—A horror-thriller about an aging Manhattan housewife who captures her husband's young mistress and quietly keeps her prisoner in the basement—was called the best story of 2019 by PopHorror.com, hit #1 New Release and #1 in American Horror on Amazon, and continues to receive critical acclaim from readers and critics alike.

Carbia’s highly anticipated, science-fiction horror-thriller Z.O.O.—the story of a young girl with albinism who is abducted by aliens in pure daylight, only to discover they are creating a zoo of Earth—is scheduled for worldwide release on October 25, 2022.

Reviews

[Vicki Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Grimm's Fairytale for the Modern Day...

VIOLETS ARE RED by Mylo Carbia

No spoilers. 4 1/2 stars. Filthy rich blue bloods Violet and her husband Balthazar Edward Ramspeck III (Ram to his friends) have been married 24 years when...

... Violet learns that Ram is carrying on a serious affair with a twenty-something naive and ignorant millennial named Allegra...

At age 49, Violet is approaching her Manhattan First Wives Club expiration date...

Allegra, a chunky, unpolished bar tender, met Ram on a shopping spree with her roommate Chloe..

And it was love at first sight...

The couple began their secret affair almost immediately, but...

One day, as Allegra was going for her daily run, she disappeared, and while people were searching for her...

She woke up in the soundproof bomb shelter basement...

... of Ram's Upper East Side townhouse naked and chained by her neck to an antique radiator by Ram's angry wife Violet...

Violet, who since childhood, has enjoyed the original Grimm's Fairytales (before they were cleaned up for modern-day day children)...

... tells Allegra one of the fairytales from the book every time Allegra doesn't cooperate. The moral of the story is modified to illustrate...

What might happen if Allegra doesn't obey Violet...

At the end of one such story, Violet quickly produced a razor-sharp meat cleaver and chopped off one of Allegra's pinkies...

Violet gave Allegra a steady diet of gas station mini mart food to make her already chubby body fatter...

Each morning, Violet brought Allegra a blended mystery smoothie for breakfast, which tasted of chocolate, was faintly sour and...

Demanded that she drink it all...

... the secret ingredient in that smoothie would fit right into an Aron Beauregard extreme horror novel quite nicely!...

... I must mention the collection of Little Red Riding Hood dolls displayed in Violet's dressing room...

One of the dolls talks to the maids as they clean the room and terrifies them... what does the doll say? You'll have to get the book to find out...

Ram was out of the country on business as all of the drama unfolded in his townhouse. How will it all end?...

I'll never tell...

This was a remarkable psychological thriller that had elements of horror, yet it didn't introduce an avalanche of clues and characters.

This book will keep you on your toes until the astonishing climax. At about the 30% mark, I couldn't put the book down until the end... and what an ending!

If some of you think that this is just another beach read, look at some of the glowing reviews left by men and reconsider. otherwise, you'll miss a great story.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is ... bananas! I loved it. I felt all the feelings. I laughed and I was moved. I hated and loved the two main characters in turn -- felt for them and was angry at them. The tone was snarky and cynical, but then sweet and empathetic. And while I figured out some things, the book still managed to surprise me.

Anyhow, I'm actually hoping there's some kind of sequel as not everything felt resolved, and not everyone who deserved a comeuppance received one. I have to think that will be remedied.

I can't even share my favorite quotes, because they're spoilery, but they were choice.

I love that a conversation Violet had about the nature of Hell and the power of choice took on more resonance as the book continued. Letting go and holding on are both options, and each leads down a different path.

I also loved the different, very dark, fairy tales shared throughout the book. I actually thought I knew the darker versions of stories, and the darker stories, but ... whew!

Ba-na-nahs!

Edited because I forgot to mention I won a Kindle copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but I promise I'd tell ya if I didn't like it!

[Noel Penaflor · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite novels of the year. A demented premise with an ending that I'm not sure that I like...or I love as it seems to come out of nowhere. The fact that I'm still thinking about it hours after I read the last words is a tribute to the Carbia's ability to make the Extreme part of the in-the-moment reality of the novel.

I guess I loved the ending and will read anything Carbia does.

My only real quibble comes from the page count being inflated from oddly large print. As if someone had to fill some grade-school-type quota. I thought I had gotten one of this Reader's Digest Enlarged print copies. Nope, just SUPER BIG LETTERS

[Adeline Roffo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

This book was pretty good. It kept the reader on edge from start to finish. And the ending... wow. I never expected that. After I read it, I thought back to the events during the book which made me confused, and the ending resolved all of it. There were a couple specific things that made it good: 1) Character building. You can see that the author took a while into creating Violet's character. A little bit of crazy and some insanity mixed into a blend created a scary, but at the same time, in some way, a realistic, understandable character. 2) Nothing could be foreshadowed. I'll leave it at that. 3) Story building. The author did a good job of showing the timeline. Everything fell well into place.
I would recommend this book for someone looking for a unique, interesting, but chilling, book.

Thank you for the chance to read the book!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freaking LOVED this. 💯

[Lexxi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was into this book for the first 90%. The ending left me asking why I spent the last few days reading this. A lot of the “twists” were predictable. I thoroughly dislike a book relying on the supernatural when that’s not what I’m lead to expect from the description. And the doll was completely unnecessary. I was expecting a psychological thriller and ended up with something else entirely.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome read. First off, it paints a magnificent picture of Manhattan Upper East Side life, which NYC familiar readers will appreciate. It tells the story from so many people's perspectives, from the struggling to the immensely wealthy and everything in between. I always say that Carbia's novels play out like a movie. You can definitely notice her screenwriting ability in this book, which draws you in deeper and deeper. The book keeps me involved all the way to the end. Some of my favorite parts are the incorporations of several Grimms' Fairy Tales in the storyline. Little twisted life lessons here and there. The twist ending is awesome and I guarantee there's nothing that compares to this brilliant story line anywhere in the literary world. What a great American thriller.

[Derek Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put the book down

i was pulled into the story right away, never saw the ending coming. Looking forward to more books from this author.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I appreciate receiving a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

High marks for the quick pace and for the author's thoughtful crafting of the plot lines so that there are some well-timed twist reveals that work even if you see them coming.

Less enthusiasm for throwing so many random devices into the book. The spirit-possessed doll was especially annoying to me. I'm good with supernatural elements, but the doll had such a small part that it seemed unnecessary, and the reveal at the end didn't pack the punch it could have. I also prefer supernatural elements to have consistent rules, like for how ghosts interact with physical objects, and these didn't. In order to make all of the crazy devices work, some characters have fractured personalities that flip as the gimmick requires. A couple of the gross-out elements between Violet and Allegra seem to have no purpose except to be gross.

The basic themes are well-used: Rich man falls in love with working girl, jilted icy wife seeks revenge against the other woman, emotionally stunted woman with daddy issues, wealthy privilege. If you can imagine a mash-up of Pretty Woman, Fatal Attraction and the Sixth Sense, with a dash of Bride of Chucky and Misery, you'll just about have this book.

I liked the psychological thriller at the core of this book, and I really liked the Violet-Dr. Cohen subplot, even if the reveal was dead obvious. I just think it would be a better read if a few plot twists had been chosen and treated really well, rather than packing in so many "hey, look at this" bits that aren't developed fully enough to deliver a strong emotional reaction.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

A major factor in enjoying a book for me is having at least one character I can root for. That is not the case here. Every single one of them is a scumbag, and there really isn't even any enjoyment in watching them suffer because none of them are worth getting invested in. I suffered through half of this and gave up because I was dreading picking it up every single time I started to read. Don't waste your time.

[Hande Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ne yalan söyleyeyim çok sağlam bir ters köşesi var bu kitabın.

Uzunca bir süre "yahu hakikaten klişe bir hikâyeyi mi okuyorum ben eğer öyleyse bile yazar anlatımda çok iyi iş çıkarmış he" diye çevirdim durdum sayfaları. Sonra bir yerde benim alamet-i farikam olan """"ocd-suffered""" zihnim alarm vermeye başladı, o an dedim ki "hop bir dakika, burada bir şeyler farklı gidiyor"

Nitekim birkaç sayfa daha çevirdikten sonra kitap gerilim türünden çıkıp çok farklı bir kulvarda ilerlemeye başladı ki ben gerilim/horror unsurlarının doğaüstü dokunuşlar ile bezennmesine hasta olan biriyim.

Spoiler vermekten hiç çekinmem lâkin burada yazacağım tek bir kelime dahi sizin okuyuş zevkinizi ve o muhteşem ters köşeliği zedeleyeceğinden şu noktada susuyor ve asla ama asla bir insanın bam teline ne olursa olsun pek basmamak lazım diyorum zira hikâye tam olarak da bam teli koparılmış insanların etrafında şekilleniyor.

Aslında hikâye basit: aldatılan mid-age wife, işinde gücünde varlıklı bir koca ve gencecik filinta gibi bir hatun. Mid-wife durumu öğrenir, filinta hatunu kaçırır vs vs. Eh ama olay işkenceden, seksüel dürtülerden daha çok psikolojik savaşa geldiğinde yazara şapka çıkarmamak elde değil. Av-avcı arasındaki o muhteşem sıcak ve de bir o kadar da soğuk savaşın, işin ucunda sağlı sollu nasıl bir doğaüstülüğe itildiğini fark edince tam o noktada bir "ters köşe" oluyorsunuz. Sizi bilmem ama ters köşeler okurken beni fazlasıyla keyiflendiriyor.

Kitabın Türkçe çevirisi var mı emin değilim, varsa da bazı yerlerin çevrilmesi hakikaten sağlam çalışma istiyor benden söylemesi.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violet Ramspeck is the perfect urban socialite. She has a home all of her wealthy acquaintances envy, a jam-packed social calendar, and (almost) everything money can buy. Despite her somewhat disturbing obsession with the original Grimm fairy tales, her struggles with infertility, and episodes of self harm, she also has the unwavering love and support of a perfect husband. But like many of the unedited Grimm tales, her fairy tale soon comes to a crashing end when she finds out about her husband's affair to a woman half her age and almost an identical look-alike to her younger self. So what is a petite, perfect trophy wife to do when faced with this dilemma? Why, kidnap her husband's mistress and hold her hostage in her basement, of course. After all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

HOLY. COW. At first glance, this novel seems like an interesting twist to your cliche'd 'wife finds out husband's cheating' story, which is what drew me in the first place. But as I kept turning the pages, Carbia kept grabbing my attention further and further until I didn't want to put the novel down for a second so that I could find out what was happening. It is such a unique tale of two women fighting over a man (who, let's face it, doesn't deserve either woman). Like many books before, I wish I had a half star option. I flipped back and forth between 4 and 5 stars because there were a few minor plot holes that bugged me but overall this novel is well worth the read.

Recommend if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a GoodReads giveaway, but the thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Ky Schlundt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon winning this book through a giveaway, I pushed it back on my reading list, thinking it was going to be a tedious read. After starting it, I struggled to put it down. I'm a slow reader, but devoted this book quicker than I nearly ever do. The story is filled with twists and turns and doesn't let up or keep things PG. I look forward to reading more of Mylo Carbia's works in the future!

[Ashley Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sick!!! Super twisted and full of surprises. Myyyy goodness. Definitely a page turner. Wouldn’t recommend for the squeamish.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. I really enjoyed. will read more from this author.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won the ebook version of this novel in a Goodreads giveaway. Sure glad it worked out that way because I haven't seen any of my regular Goodreads reviewers post on it and I haven't seen it hyped on Bookstagram either, so I don't think I'd have known it existed.

This story is a darkly twisted, narcissistic thrill ride with an ending I never saw coming.... and that cover!Although the twist at the end was a complete surprise, it didn't really work for me.... that being said though, I'm still quite happy I had the opportunity to read it and would definitely reccomend it. I look forward to reading more from this author soon!

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

A year or so ago, I saw an article online which included Mylo Carbia on a list which purported to be the ten best horror writers alive today. Based on this, I obtained this book from Amazon to see what all the hype was about. I finally got around to reading it and it definitely did draw me into a rather intense tale about a wealthy woman, Violet, living in Manhattan who discovers her husband is having an affair with a young 20-something beauty named Allegra. Somehow Violet is able to kidnap Allegra and hold her captive in the basement (which is converted into a safe room) of her luxurious Manhattan mansion while her husband is away on business. Violet is bulimic and has had some other mental issues and is still seeing a retired psychiatrist. She is also enamored with Grimm's original fairy tales which are sometimes quite graphic and violent. (She mentions the original Cinderella story where the stepsisters actually cut off their toes to try to fit in the slipper when the Prince brings it by. I had never heard this before but coincidentally, I recently read Stephen King's Later and he also includes this as part of his story). Violet tells some of these violent stories to Allegra during her captivity as supposed moral lessons. In the mean time, Allegra is trying her best to escape but she is locked behind two steel doors with different security codes needed to open them. And then the story has a very unexpected twist at the end that comes out of the blue and sort of turns the whole story upside down.

Overall, I thought this was a decent thriller. Like I said, the twist at the end was very unexpected but it was also quite far-fetched and I'm not sure I really liked the ending. I think Carbia is a very good thriller writer. She supposedly has also written screenplays for movies but I only found one movie on IMDB with her as a writer and it was a documentary. Although I did enjoy this, I don't think I would consider Carbia to be one of the ten best horror writers alive. However, I would probably read something else by her if I happened upon it.

[Jason Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things are not always how they seem in this spine tingling thriller from acclaimed Horror writer Mylo Carbia. Enter the world of the mega rich through the lives of Violet and Ram who live in New York's luxurious Upper East Side. I have never been there but the detailed way that Mylo describes it, I feel like I have already experienced it. Violet and Ram live lives few of us will know however, you can't help but to empathize with both when you are in their shoes. They take Weekend trips to the Hamptons to party and Ram travels to Asia for business aboard his private jet. They have a great life they is interrupted when Ram meets a beautiful young bartender, Allegra, who looks like a younger version of his wife. This is when things start to sour for all involved. I will not give away anything plot related in this review. I will say I could not predict the ending and it is such a thrill ride that I got lost for an hour reading the terrifying conclusion. There are a handful of writers who I quickly get lost in while reading. Stephen King, Lovecraft, and Poe all have that effect on me where I get instantly sucked into their creative worlds and have to read anything they wrote. Now other writers I do get lost in but it takes time maybe twenty minutes and sometimes a hour before it hits. I put Mylo Carbia on my short list of writers that instantly get to me. Give Violets Are Red a read and see for yourself.

[RONNY'S BOOK REVIEW · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Review - I hope you have read the plot, so I am not getting into that and jumping directly into my review of the book. Friends this book is a potent combo of thrills - chills - suspence - unexpected plot twists - raw gut wrenching scenes. In this story author have put time in building the characters , every characters have many shades which they revel as the story progresses. Now for the what did I liked 👍 & what I didn't liked 👎 -


What did I liked 👍 - 1st I liked the story as a whole, 2nd I liked the potent combo which I have already told, 3rd the narrative of the story is very good, 4th different shades of every characters changes reader's perspective towards them, 5th the climax and ending of the story is awesome, it's of different level making the readers amazed, surprised, schoked and making them fall in love with the story.


What did I didn't liked 👎 - There are not many things to dislike about this story, but still according to me the first part of the story is bit slow and lagging and except of that I liked the story very much.


Rating - 4 / 5 ⭐


Overall Review - The story mainly for horror fans, you need very strong heart to read this story, it is definitely a 18+ story because it contains mature content and sexual scenes 😉😉, other than that I recommend this book highly because this is a mind blowing book.


So stop reading the reviews and start reading the story.

[Kimberlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking!

Wow, just wow, this book is grab you by the front of your shirt and scream in your face good! Books like this one are the reason I love to read. I in no way saw the end of this one coming.

Violet Edward Ramspeck has the perfect marriage, the perfect husband of 24 years, and the perfect life ... other than the fact that she has been unable to bear a child. Everything changes however, when she finds out in a gut-wrenching way that her husband Ram is having an affair with a much younger woman, and suddenly she is living the coveted revenge fantasy of countless women who have, and are, dealing with unfaithful husbands and their girlfriends.

Allegra has met her prince charming, her knight in shining armor, the man who is going to give her the world ... until her fairy tale story turns into an umimaginable nightmare.

This is not your run of the mill "kidnap, harass, annoy, threaten, release" story ... it is much worse. Eventually you think you know just how bad this is going to get, but I promise, you do not. Just when you think it could not get any worse, it does.

This book has jaw dropping revelations, relentless shocking twists, and will not allow you put it down. I am going right now to find out what else this author has written, I want to read them all!

I won this book in a giveaway, but in no way did that influence my review.

[Travis Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2

Kinda felt jerked around by this one which is a good and bad thing. Once everything is revealed at the end I felt the author's cleverness with how she told the story and trying to trick us became a flaw because some stuff didnt make much sense or wasnt explained when you look back at the whole story. First why is Ram trying so hard to sell a house that has 2 bodies in the basement? Was he trying to get the realtors to discover the bodies? Was he switching the codes or was violet? Never explained. And the therapist was dead the whole time too? How? When? Were the therapy sessions ghost therapy sessions or real? It seems like they happened before violet died. I also feel like for the heaven ending to work we needed to like the 2 female main characters more and I just didnt. They were ok but not likeable enough for me to be moved by the ending. But I will say I didnt see the twist coming and it is a page turner so I enjoyed it. I liked this one enough to read her other book so that's saying something.

[Neri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I felt like I was in a rollercoaster with this book. There was soo many twists and turns! Once I thought I had it all figured out, BOOM! Something new would come out confusing me more. I just couldn’t trust no one in this book. At times I was disgusted and shocked with the things Violet did. I felt sorry for Allegra, even though she did bad things, she didn’t deserve what happened to her. Ram ended up being a very twisted person. I never imagined the ending was going to be like that. I felt sorry for both Violet and Allegra at the end. This book left me wanting more. I will definitely check out more books from this author.

[Amanda Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first read by Mylo Carbia. This book sucked me in from the minute I picked it up. The author writes in such a detailed fashion that you can get a true feeling of the characters inner thoughts and picture yourself in their shoes. The greatest thing about this book is the suspense and how the story leads you to believe it is going to end one way throughout most of the book...and then BAM! The ending comes out of nowhere...and oddly, I loved the ending. Not what I expected but so clever. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

[Beth Shuler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read

I must admit this is the first book I have read from this author. I am so glad that I actually did as I found myself not wanting to put it down or sleep until I was finished. I was very pleased and will continue to read more from her. So if you are looking for a good book or a writer that has a very active imagination then you have found it!!! I really look forward to my next book by her!!!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a great book. I never typically sit down to read, but this book held me captive from the time I picked it up, to the time I finished. The detail in the writing makes you feel like you are right there in the book. Just when you think you have it all figured out at the end, huge plot twist and all your feelings change. What an amazing book! Highly recommended! I cannot wait to read more from Mylo!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hell hath no fury like a wife scorned. I'll never cheat on mine after this read! I was really with it for the first 90% but....well no spoilers since my wife is also reading (and hell hath no fury if I ruin it for her) but did not dig the ending at all. The author could have taken it in a different direction that would have been much more satisfying (and also made a lot more sense). Will still keep an eye on her for future reads though!

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-4.75/5 stars

This was such a crazy entertaining book. It had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel and the twist in the end was great. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to end the way it did.

I definitely look forward to what Mylo Carbia writes in the future. I’m eagerly awaiting her next novel Z.O.O., which I hope comes out really soon.

[Chelsea Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I was going to give this 4 stars, but then I thought deeper about the messages that went unsaid and I realized this story absolutely deserves a 5. Every single thing made absolute sense in the end. Plus, I love all the humor Carbia managed to fit in to a story with such a heavy topic. Definitely recommend!

[Things I have read · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have known I was being scammed based on the "#1 bestselling author" description (best seller where? On what list?)

Learn from my mistakes and download a sample before you buy. Or simply take a closer look at sources of those glowing quoted reviews. There are plenty of undiscovered gems in indie horror fiction, but this is not one of them.

[Kathy Stibal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one of the most black, terrifying, psychological thrillers I have ever read. The more I read the more horrifying the story. The fact that I thought everything in the story was what happened was even more of a surprise at the end. Kind of creepy but I had to finish it as I needed to know the ending.