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Bad People: Four terrifying short novels of suspense
A collection of four critically acclaimed short novels:
Box of Bones - Jim is an American expat teaching English in the Philippines. After a night out with his girlfriend in one of the country's remote provinces, he wakes to find himself in a pitch-black coffin--and quickly running out of oxygen. With only his cell phone and his own wits to rely on, it's a race against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap.
Six Bullets - The end of civilization arrived in the form of a giant asteroid thirteen months ago. For Burt James, a survivalist, it was not a complete surprise. He'd spent much of his adult life prepping for such a catastrophe. Consequently, while the majority of the population scoured the post-apocalyptic landscape for water and food, regressing into primitive killers, he bunkered down in his fortified hilltop home in a small town in the middle of the Australian Outback. But now he's out of food and down to his last six bullets, and he will have to make the most difficult choice of his life.
The Mailman - Los Angeles, 1985. Never was the motto sex, drugs, and rock n' roll more apt than the scene on the legendary Sunset Strip with the arrival of the underground Hollywood glam bands.
While Mick Freeman, a record executive with a major label, works tirelessly to sign five toxic rockers whom he believes might flip the entire music world on its head, his wife, Jade, spends her days bored and alone at home, struggling with a midlife crisis that threatens to topple their twenty-year marriage.
And then she meets the new mailman. Young and handsome, he sweeps her off her feet--straight into a nightmare the likes of which she could never have imagined.
Re-roll - In the near future, breathtakingly humanoid robots called Mechs are for sale, and they're designed to fulfill whatever role you want: husband, wife, best friend, slave. Manufacturers allow new owners one free "roll" to randomly determine their Mech's three leading characteristics. But as everybody knows, scoring your ideal traits is a crapshoot, though you can always re-roll--at a price.
Box of Bones - Jim is an American expat teaching English in the Philippines. After a night out with his girlfriend in one of the country's remote provinces, he wakes to find himself in a pitch-black coffin--and quickly running out of oxygen. With only his cell phone and his own wits to rely on, it's a race against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap.
Six Bullets - The end of civilization arrived in the form of a giant asteroid thirteen months ago. For Burt James, a survivalist, it was not a complete surprise. He'd spent much of his adult life prepping for such a catastrophe. Consequently, while the majority of the population scoured the post-apocalyptic landscape for water and food, regressing into primitive killers, he bunkered down in his fortified hilltop home in a small town in the middle of the Australian Outback. But now he's out of food and down to his last six bullets, and he will have to make the most difficult choice of his life.
The Mailman - Los Angeles, 1985. Never was the motto sex, drugs, and rock n' roll more apt than the scene on the legendary Sunset Strip with the arrival of the underground Hollywood glam bands.
While Mick Freeman, a record executive with a major label, works tirelessly to sign five toxic rockers whom he believes might flip the entire music world on its head, his wife, Jade, spends her days bored and alone at home, struggling with a midlife crisis that threatens to topple their twenty-year marriage.
And then she meets the new mailman. Young and handsome, he sweeps her off her feet--straight into a nightmare the likes of which she could never have imagined.
Re-roll - In the near future, breathtakingly humanoid robots called Mechs are for sale, and they're designed to fulfill whatever role you want: husband, wife, best friend, slave. Manufacturers allow new owners one free "roll" to randomly determine their Mech's three leading characteristics. But as everybody knows, scoring your ideal traits is a crapshoot, though you can always re-roll--at a price.
299 pages, Paperback
Published January 5, 2018
208 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Bates
46 books1,840 followersUSA TODAY and #1 Amazon bestselling author Jeremy Bates has written over twenty novels and novellas, selling more than one million copies worldwide. His work has been translated into multiple languages and optioned for film and television by major studios. Midwest Book Review has likened his storytelling to that of Stephen King and Joe Lansdale, calling him a "master of the art." Bates is a KDP Select All-Star and the recipient of the Australian Shadows Award and the Canadian Arthur Ellis Award. He was also a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards, the only major book honors chosen by readers.
His latest novel, *The No-End House*, is a standalone horror story set in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter, where a pair of volunteers must navigate nine mysterious rooms in a sinister house. Scheduled for release by Kensington Publishing in July 2025, it’s a chilling tale of survival and escape.
Visit Amazon to get DENISOVANS for a special release-date price now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F...
Also, MOUNTAIN OF THE DEAD is currently only $0.99 in a limited-time deal.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079KW3N72
Finally, visit Jeremy’s website to receive a free copy of *Black Canyon*, winner of the Lou Allin Memorial Award.
https://www.jeremybatesbooks.com
His latest novel, *The No-End House*, is a standalone horror story set in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter, where a pair of volunteers must navigate nine mysterious rooms in a sinister house. Scheduled for release by Kensington Publishing in July 2025, it’s a chilling tale of survival and escape.
Visit Amazon to get DENISOVANS for a special release-date price now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F...
Also, MOUNTAIN OF THE DEAD is currently only $0.99 in a limited-time deal.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079KW3N72
Finally, visit Jeremy’s website to receive a free copy of *Black Canyon*, winner of the Lou Allin Memorial Award.
https://www.jeremybatesbooks.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 6, 2022
I found this book to be very boring. The first story was slow and dragged on and on. And I just lost interest in reading it there was no interesting characters in the story to make you want to know or care what happened to them. This was only the first story which was called the mailman I just read the story Six Bullets, and I didn't like that story either sorry surprising because I normally like Jeremy Bates books, I don't know why but having this end of the world story set in Australia just didn't interest me, I thought the writing was very lazy too. After trying to read another story called Re Roll,, I also found the story very boring and not intellectually stimulating if you know what I mean. It was sort of about the gym robotics women and sluts. Didn't interest me at all really I'm not going to attempt to any of the other stories two stories out of 4 that I didn't like, I don't think Id like any of the others so I'm not going to attempt to read the other stories. I don't recommend this book I think it is too highly rated.
February 19, 2022
I read before The Mailman and Box of Bones, and now I had a pleasure of enjoying Six Bullets and Re-Roll. A great collection!
June 30, 2022
This is my second book by Bates (I read The Sleep Experiment last year) yet my first experience reading his novellas/short stories. I haven’t always been a great fan of anthologies, but I think the horror genre (or at least in Bates’s style) is very well-suited for this format.
Speaking of format, it was a bit strange (although not in a negative way) how the stories alternated between much longer stories with chapters - stories 1 & 3 - and shorter stories with only a beginning and an end, no chapters - stories 2 & 4. I think 1 and 3 are probably 2/3rd of the book, with the combined total of those two stories being approximately 177 pages, and the second and fourth stories only being about 100 pages.
Each story was more terrifying, more nightmarish than the last (at least in my opinion). I enjoyed the last two the most, the first one was okay (a bit slow though) and it was only the second one, Six Bullets, that I wasn’t really that impressed with. I mean, I’ve seen quite a few reviews mention how depressing the story is, but I don’t really see it. I understand what they’re referring to, but the characters and their relationships aren’t exactly firmly established nor developed enough to feel too much heartache or attachment - but what else to expect from an apocalyptic 60 page dystopia? I just felt that one was very straightforward... a guy has six bullets left in his gun in a world where the vast majority of the population has already died off, and of course you know how the ending will play out (mostly) as soon as you understand the basic premise of the plot and the title of the story itself.
Mr. Kim in the third story, Reroll, was definitely just as despicable as other reviewers have mentioned. It didn’t stop the story from being great though, and the twist in the ending was fantastic. Although that one was creepier in a way, the last one, Box of Bones, was the one that can really play on nearly everyone’s worst fear. Very unsettling, and without ruining the ending... to think that an even worse fate awaited the man who seemed destined to die throughout that story in one of the most horrifying ways, was terrifying, ingenious, and incredible.
Must read for horror fans and those fascinated by the macabre. Bates does a phenomenal job of laying the groundwork for the concept of “just when you’ve thought things couldn’t go any further, get any sicker, or more frightening” - that assumption that you have is turned right on its head, lol. Don’t look to this book for happy endings! Take its name to heart... there are very, very bad - evil, to be precise - people in each and every one of these tales (all seem to revolve around a theme of revenge, jealousy, and/or greed, as well).
Speaking of format, it was a bit strange (although not in a negative way) how the stories alternated between much longer stories with chapters - stories 1 & 3 - and shorter stories with only a beginning and an end, no chapters - stories 2 & 4. I think 1 and 3 are probably 2/3rd of the book, with the combined total of those two stories being approximately 177 pages, and the second and fourth stories only being about 100 pages.
Each story was more terrifying, more nightmarish than the last (at least in my opinion). I enjoyed the last two the most, the first one was okay (a bit slow though) and it was only the second one, Six Bullets, that I wasn’t really that impressed with. I mean, I’ve seen quite a few reviews mention how depressing the story is, but I don’t really see it. I understand what they’re referring to, but the characters and their relationships aren’t exactly firmly established nor developed enough to feel too much heartache or attachment - but what else to expect from an apocalyptic 60 page dystopia? I just felt that one was very straightforward... a guy has six bullets left in his gun in a world where the vast majority of the population has already died off, and of course you know how the ending will play out (mostly) as soon as you understand the basic premise of the plot and the title of the story itself.
Mr. Kim in the third story, Reroll, was definitely just as despicable as other reviewers have mentioned. It didn’t stop the story from being great though, and the twist in the ending was fantastic. Although that one was creepier in a way, the last one, Box of Bones, was the one that can really play on nearly everyone’s worst fear. Very unsettling, and without ruining the ending... to think that an even worse fate awaited the man who seemed destined to die throughout that story in one of the most horrifying ways, was terrifying, ingenious, and incredible.
Must read for horror fans and those fascinated by the macabre. Bates does a phenomenal job of laying the groundwork for the concept of “just when you’ve thought things couldn’t go any further, get any sicker, or more frightening” - that assumption that you have is turned right on its head, lol. Don’t look to this book for happy endings! Take its name to heart... there are very, very bad - evil, to be precise - people in each and every one of these tales (all seem to revolve around a theme of revenge, jealousy, and/or greed, as well).
October 4, 2023
crazy stories. will haunt my dreams
June 10, 2020
A good collection of short stories, i enjoyed them all. But Mr. Kim was an asshole.
June 18, 2022
What a great collection of dark delights. If you like a more gritty read, these will be right up your street.
I particularly loved the authors spin on Oedipus Rex in the first story. This takes revenge to a whole new level of wrong!
I particularly loved the authors spin on Oedipus Rex in the first story. This takes revenge to a whole new level of wrong!
October 7, 2019
I really enjoyed reroll . Im usually not a fan of short stories at all. But when im having trouble concentrating they are wonderful.
November 7, 2021
There are a lot of titles to choose from, but Jeremy Bates delivers a better quality short story than many others do.
June 29, 2023
Bitterly disappointed.
February 16, 2022
A very disturbing read which lives up to its title. Honestly I can't recommend it and wish I'd never read it but at the same time I have to admit it was well done.
While I saw the twist in the first story coming, it was far more extreme than I expected. This is the only story with a remotely happy ending.
At the very beginning we can guess how the second story would end. The trope of being down to your last bullets is very well known. Even knowing it was coming the ending stuck with me.
Being depressed after the second story, I welcomed the detestable main character of the third tale. He was a terrible human being who got what he deserved and I would much rather be angry than sad. Very smart choice in the order.
I found the last story to be a disappointment. While it certainly was suspenseful that's really all it had going for it. The conclusion was a disappointment and the revenge execution just doesn't work for me.
Read at your own peril. I greatly prefer the authors other works.
While I saw the twist in the first story coming, it was far more extreme than I expected. This is the only story with a remotely happy ending.
At the very beginning we can guess how the second story would end. The trope of being down to your last bullets is very well known. Even knowing it was coming the ending stuck with me.
Being depressed after the second story, I welcomed the detestable main character of the third tale. He was a terrible human being who got what he deserved and I would much rather be angry than sad. Very smart choice in the order.
I found the last story to be a disappointment. While it certainly was suspenseful that's really all it had going for it. The conclusion was a disappointment and the revenge execution just doesn't work for me.
Read at your own peril. I greatly prefer the authors other works.
October 23, 2020
Damn he's good.
I had read all of these stories before, individually; but just on a whim I got the book and read them again. I still marvel at Jeremy Bates skill as a writer, and especially as a story teller. The short story is an art form all into itself, and Bates keeps proving that he's in the DaVinci class at his art. If you haven't read them, do. If you have, give them another look. You'll be glad you did. I know I was.
I had read all of these stories before, individually; but just on a whim I got the book and read them again. I still marvel at Jeremy Bates skill as a writer, and especially as a story teller. The short story is an art form all into itself, and Bates keeps proving that he's in the DaVinci class at his art. If you haven't read them, do. If you have, give them another look. You'll be glad you did. I know I was.
June 12, 2022
I read this because I had enjoyed merfolk, and had bought this at the same time, so it was just on my kindle waiting patiently.
I enjoyed these stories, my favourite was Six Bullets, but that's probably just because I'm originally from Rural NSW and used to have to travel 2 hours to see a movie, or over an hour to go to a major Supermarket, so the remote location spoke to me.
I did enjoy all four stories though, and will be reading more from this author.
I enjoyed these stories, my favourite was Six Bullets, but that's probably just because I'm originally from Rural NSW and used to have to travel 2 hours to see a movie, or over an hour to go to a major Supermarket, so the remote location spoke to me.
I did enjoy all four stories though, and will be reading more from this author.
October 18, 2022
Left me wanting more
Each story of this book, the next more disturbing yet enticing than the previous, takes a dive into little known facts around the world and it makes you sit back and seriously think about what people are really capable of. The mere fact that one of the novels is literally a peek into the next 100 years just makes my hair stand on end. I loved reading every bit of the book, but am also weary with anticipation now........
Each story of this book, the next more disturbing yet enticing than the previous, takes a dive into little known facts around the world and it makes you sit back and seriously think about what people are really capable of. The mere fact that one of the novels is literally a peek into the next 100 years just makes my hair stand on end. I loved reading every bit of the book, but am also weary with anticipation now........
February 22, 2024
Good, but a repeat
The actual stories contained in this volume are great! The problem is three of the four stories...or 75%...can bef ound in his Midnight Book Club Anthology.
**If you have read Midnight Book Club, it will be a waste and repetitive to get this book as well.
With that being said, both "Six Bullets" and "Re-roll" are both very imaginative stories that I highly enjoyed.
The actual stories contained in this volume are great! The problem is three of the four stories...or 75%...can bef ound in his Midnight Book Club Anthology.
**If you have read Midnight Book Club, it will be a waste and repetitive to get this book as well.
With that being said, both "Six Bullets" and "Re-roll" are both very imaginative stories that I highly enjoyed.
February 13, 2022
Very Good
The stories are truly about bad people as the title states. All three stories recount how horrific people can be to one another, but the second story, "Six Bullets," has to be one of the saddest stories I've ever read. This tale will stay with me for a long time. Well done.
The stories are truly about bad people as the title states. All three stories recount how horrific people can be to one another, but the second story, "Six Bullets," has to be one of the saddest stories I've ever read. This tale will stay with me for a long time. Well done.
July 11, 2025
First book of short stories I’ve read by this author and I really wasn’t blown away. I found most of the stories to be obvious and tedious. I do plan to read a full novel by this author because the reviews are so good. I can’t remember the name but it’s a ghost story about a forest in Japan. I really hope it lives up to the hype.
September 28, 2021
Good tales
These stories are quite good, each with quite an interesting twist. I found myself having to stop after each just to think on it and maybe decompress from the suspense and shock. All in all, I really enjoyed this book.
These stories are quite good, each with quite an interesting twist. I found myself having to stop after each just to think on it and maybe decompress from the suspense and shock. All in all, I really enjoyed this book.
February 24, 2022
Bad People: A collection of short novels
Another set of great stories from Jeremy Bates. The title is perfect for what you are about to experience. I liked the fact that the stories were short and could be read quickly.
Another set of great stories from Jeremy Bates. The title is perfect for what you are about to experience. I liked the fact that the stories were short and could be read quickly.
November 20, 2022
Just ok
I wouldn’t really call this horror in the classic sense of the genre. These are stories (except for the Sci Fi based one) that could happen in real life. Nothing imaginative. Nothing grabbed and held my attention. Very basic writing with basic characters having no depth.
I wouldn’t really call this horror in the classic sense of the genre. These are stories (except for the Sci Fi based one) that could happen in real life. Nothing imaginative. Nothing grabbed and held my attention. Very basic writing with basic characters having no depth.
September 22, 2023
I liked all of these stories. Some made me really uncomfortable and made my skin crawl. I really hated a lot of the characters and I’m pretty sure that’s what he was going for. I like the way there were no heroes and villains. Just people in the worst light and how that catches up to them.
March 1, 2024
This book of four short stories was honestly very good. Each story is unique in their own way, giving everyone something to enjoy. I believe my favorite story from this book was "Six Bullets". I love the way its written and it has a horribly sad story line.
October 26, 2020
Really Good!
All of the stories were good. But the last one...oh my. Definitely one of my worst nightmares. I love the endings also!
All of the stories were good. But the last one...oh my. Definitely one of my worst nightmares. I love the endings also!
November 9, 2020
I really liked this book. The story about Mr. Kim was my favorite. The stories cover all kinds of subjects and I think anyone would enjoy. Give it a chance, you won't be sorry.
June 20, 2021
Pure awesomeness
July 4, 2021
Ehhh only the first story and last story was good.
February 20, 2022
Not bad, enjoyed the writing style, 3,90pts.
February 23, 2022
I heard he was better than King, he has potential but not there yet.
March 15, 2022
Great Stories!!
Enjoyed all 4 stories in this collection.
I can honestly say I have never enjoyed all stories in a collection before...until now :)
Enjoyed all 4 stories in this collection.
I can honestly say I have never enjoyed all stories in a collection before...until now :)
August 2, 2022
Thought provoking
I really enjoyed how each novel had an open ending leaving you to your own conclusions of what the endings looked like. Great read.
I really enjoyed how each novel had an open ending leaving you to your own conclusions of what the endings looked like. Great read.
January 19, 2023
Such a great writer!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews