Limb to Limb

by John A. Russo

Tiffany Blake was a beautiful long-limbed dancer with a glorious future and the backing of a rich benefactor. Then a monstrous accident severed her leg at the hip.

And now her fellow dancers are disappearing without a trace. One by one they fall victim to a dark and deadly pattern of evil – caught by the bloody, brutal logic that would have them pay with their lovely bodies for the cruel fate of another . . . victims of the sadistic madman whose flashing knife will make them writhe a gruesome new dance.

Genres: Horror

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

John A. Russo, sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film Night of the Living Dead. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws. The latter two, he also directed. He has performed small roles as an actor, most notably the first ghoul who is stabbed in the head in Night of the Living Dead.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiffany, a gifted ballet dancer, is losing her left leg in an accident. It can be refixed but is a bit shorter. The story turns bizarre when two doctors claim to make her whole again. Their father worked in a concentration camp and learned some incredible techniques there. What are they about to do? What about Adrienne and Julia, two ballet dancers in Tiffany's ensemble? Who hired the two doctors? This is an intriguing story with some really horrific details. John Russo did it again and comes up with a nail biting story until the very end. Nicely shaped characters and a hair raising story. What a blast from the past. Early 80s shocker that reads like a movie. Really recommended!

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read like a b-movie screenplay, but to be fair, Russo is a screenwriter of b movies. Set in Pittsburgh, the story concerns an upcoming ballerina who tragically lost a leg via being run over by a train. We have a brotherly pair of mad doctors, whose father worked in a Nazi concentration camp doing medical experiments. The mad doctors have concocted a serum utilizing parts of human fetuses to stop rejection in transplanted organs and other things. You know where this is going to go-- rich father of ballerina hires the mad doctors to transplant a new leg to his daughter; unfortunately, they need live donors...

I loved the references to the Pittsburgh film scene in the 60s and 70s, but that for me was the highlight of the book.

[Horror Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sort of feels like John Russo needed to pump out one more book for Pocket Books, so instead of thinking of many ideas mainly just sticks the Majorettes in the microwave, adds in a bit of Save The Last Dance for Me by Judi Miller, reheats it so that's it's lukewarm and serves it up.

Not that it's awful. It's pretty good for John Russo's work that I've read, it's just nothing special. If you didn't enjoy the Majorettes for not being gory enough, there's at least more sleaze (Nazis!) and limb amputations to hold you over.

Just don't search it out unless you stumble across it.

[Frankie · Rating 1 out of 5]

How you make a book about mad nazi scientists who are kidnapping ballerinas boring is beyond me but I am ready to physically fight a stranger after reading this book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here:

https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...

My biggest issue in here is that we keep switching focus on characters with no real warning, and the transitions can be like grinding a gear trying to shift. But once you get used to it, it's a good read.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Losing a leg and not being able to ever dance again would be hell. What about a crazy fathers desperate need to make his daughter whole again. Missing ballerinas, missing limbs, crazy doctors, a fast paced read.

[Rose 'I Have Too Many Books To Read And No More Room' Barrientos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was genuinely creepy!