Reality Bites: A dark comedy twist on Reality TV

Reality Bites Trilogy #1

by Nick Lennon-Barrett

Doesn’t everybody want their five seconds of fame?

Daniel North, survivor of a gay pub bombing, wants to share his forgotten story with the world, but he’ll have to settle for millions of viewers in the 18-35 demographic.

Complex Neighbours is the latest ratings smash from billionaire media tycoon, Felix Moldoon. Think Big Brother meets the Hunger Games! To win the one-million-pound prize, contestants must compete in challenges that range from legal waterboarding to inducing projectile vomiting, or a showbiz quiz when it’s a low budget week.

Felix will do anything to ensure high viewing figures, even if that involves murder. As well as controlling the media, he also controls the edit. It is for him to determine who will be crowned the winner, and who will be “executed” from the show, with their lives destroyed forever.

Can Daniel resist the temptation of a younger man to achieve his goal? Will Felix sacrifice his own son for the sake of TV ratings? And just how far is the ultimate Reality TV villain willing to go for the grand prize?

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2021

Reviews

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting - it is that type of book - you literally cannot turn away in case you miss something.

What the reader is witnessing is life inside a Big Brother style TV program - all the alliances, back-biting, romance (or lust) - in which the contestants must compete against each other in a series of challenges. There are the inevitable twists - and along with immunity, one contestant can have more control of who stays and who goes. The losers are then"executed" and upon leaving the compound, their deepest, darkest, most personal secrets are revealed to all and sundry - oft times with devastating consequences.

The main characters are the contestants themselves - though Daniel North seems to be the main one - the callous TV producer and media tycoon, Felix Moldoon; Felix's fix-it and assistant Desiree; hostess Zelda; and the shadowy Mrs P. Just how far any of them will go to win - both the cash prize and the ratings - is anyone's guess. Sacrifices will be made all in the name of entertainment.

The reader's focus is centered on Daniel and Felix - and it is pleasing to reader that neither have it all their own way. Whilst the characters have no real depth to them - they are at times as shallow as their storylines - it was still an entertaining read.

I am looking forward to reading the second in the series to see where things lead.

[Dallas Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second attempt at a GoodReads review as the app (typically) crashed during my first review. They should fix their shit immediately.

Anyway, this book was incredible - such a great read. A bleak, near-future reality show (an evil version of Big Brother), run by a psychopathic billionaire who deliberately destroys lives for profit, is the platform protagonist Daniel North seeks to use for his own cause to be highlighted. With tons of twists and turns, this black-comedy thriller takes the reader on a wild ride as it slowly draws the contestants to their final day. Great writing, some excellent characters, and an original plot all add up to a book that’s un-put-downable. Highly recommended.

[Marmalade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically funny book.

[John Needle]

Not a reality tv fan but.......

I am not a fan of these sort of TV shows but was gripped by the story and dragged, sometimes unwillingly, to the very end. A sure sign the author knows what he's doing. I had previously read his Murder series which really drew me to this.
I'll now have to read the 2nd in the series!

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book wondering if I would ditch it partially through; so I was surprised that I enjoyed the story. The premise is interesting and the main characters keep the novel flowing. One does hope that the producers of the various competitive game shows are nothing like Felix. As the story neared the ending, there were some surprises, as well as some guesses confirmed.

Overall, a good read deserving a 3.5-4 star ranking. What brought this down to 3 stars versus 4 stars was the awkward sentence structure and lack of proofreading throughout. This has nothing to do with the use of British slang, just sloppy writing. I’ve highlighted one example.

Thanks to the author and ereader.com for this ebook.

[Stephanie Dial · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful, I couldn't finish it. I rarely do this, put a book away unfinished but fhe more I read of this, the more irritated I got with the characters and the slow moving plot. So, I don't really have a review here, sorry. I will say this if you don't enjoy reality shows you'll not like this either, so save yourself wasted time and avoid this one.

[Mark Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reality?

The only thing real about a reality show is that nothing is real. Although it's a work of fiction, this book demonstrates how "reality" can be manipulated to assure high ratings. If you're a fan of these types of programs, you might be disappointed to learn what goes on behind the scenes. Otherwise, it is a good story with some villains and unexpected twists.

[Shelby Stafford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something about the way this is written makes me unable to care about it at all. Many of the characters and plot points are incredibly cliche and predictable, and while that may be intentional, it makes the story very boring for me.

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não gosto de reality shows exatamente por causa do que vi neste livro, tudo muito forçado, as pessoas representando para conseguir audiência e popularidade. Mas gostei do protagonista, e das decisões que ele toma ao final. Uma leitura interessante.