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First Time Killer
In shock radio, nothing is too far over-the-top in the pursuit of ratings.
Not even murder.
During his twenty-six-year career, D.C. radio talk show host Rick Jennings steered clear of outrageous radio. Wasn’t his thing. So when WTLK execs tap him for the Afternoon Circus to land a lucrative satellite deal, Rick struggles to maintain his standards—and his dignity. A chilling call (“I’m a long-time listener, first time KILLER.”) leads to the discovery of an intern’s arm in a trashcan. Rick spars with the “First Time” killer over the airwaves. The police are stymied. Ratings skyrocket. And First Time continues to knock off members of the Circus, phoning in to gloat afterward.
In a world of psychics and poseurs, crazy deejays and crazier callers, it’s up to Rick to bring First Time down before more people perish.
****************************************************
If you toss the movies Network, Play Misty for Me, and Talk Radio into a blender and add a liberal serving of Howard Stern, you’ll get the flavor of FIRST TIME KILLER (a full length suspense/thriller – 86K words, the equivalent of approximately 350 printed pages).
Not even murder.
During his twenty-six-year career, D.C. radio talk show host Rick Jennings steered clear of outrageous radio. Wasn’t his thing. So when WTLK execs tap him for the Afternoon Circus to land a lucrative satellite deal, Rick struggles to maintain his standards—and his dignity. A chilling call (“I’m a long-time listener, first time KILLER.”) leads to the discovery of an intern’s arm in a trashcan. Rick spars with the “First Time” killer over the airwaves. The police are stymied. Ratings skyrocket. And First Time continues to knock off members of the Circus, phoning in to gloat afterward.
In a world of psychics and poseurs, crazy deejays and crazier callers, it’s up to Rick to bring First Time down before more people perish.
****************************************************
If you toss the movies Network, Play Misty for Me, and Talk Radio into a blender and add a liberal serving of Howard Stern, you’ll get the flavor of FIRST TIME KILLER (a full length suspense/thriller – 86K words, the equivalent of approximately 350 printed pages).
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 22, 2013
Book Review
Of
First Time Killer
By Alan S. Orloff
Reviewed by Wayne L. White
Sneaky. Deceitful. Lying first time killer is only a first-time killer the first time. But the psycho bastard keeps on killing and killing. If you're a fan of talk radio and hinky horror stories, step into the studio at WTLK syndicated talk radio with Rick Jennings, silver-tongued slick talker who controls the mayhem on the Afternoon Circus with a dubious balance between his quiet manners and the dump switch. Nice guy. Red-blooded American. Justice, baseball and apple pie, drove my Chevy to the levy kind of decent radio show jock. The kind of guy you'd give your chaste daughter a thumbs up to date. Trustful. Intelligent. You know damn well he'll have your daughter back before midnight with not as hair on her head out of place. However, he is a bit more mature than that. A satellite radio show is in the works for WTLK, it's full cast of engineers, producers and station masters, and most of all―it's full complement of shock-jocks, if―IF― they can get their ratings up and keep them up, they'll all share in the multimillion dollar bonanza.
First time killer gives them exactly what they need to keep their listeners Krazy Glued to their sets. As a first-time caller to the Afternoon Circus, he directs Rick to a garbage can where, on the air, they find a severed human arm. Dump switch! Radio call-in kooks come and go like flies on watermelon, but no one has ever talked to a killer on an open mic. The show is a sensation and Ricks producer insists that they milk the killer thread for every scintilla of ratings possible. Rick disagrees, especially after one of WTLK's shock jocks turns up dead after ripping First Time a new one on syndicated air to 42 cities. We're inciting him to murder, Rick says. We're giving him the audience the psycho bastard needs to fulfill whatever sick fantasies he has.
But the ratings go up and Rick battles with his conscience and the show's producer. The police enter the mix hoping to shut the show down, First Amendment rights be damned.
Put on your earphones, ear buds. whatever you've got and tune in to Afternoon Circus and Alan Orloff's quick wit and grasp of the technicalities of talk radio broadcasting. Be forewarned as the cast of Orloff's brilliantly conceived characters leap from the page to gnaw on your patience and sense of humor. You'll scream and beg Orloff to expose the heinous killer long before he does. By the way, Alan's a damned good writer, too. Get your copy of First Time Killer before he loses it and gives them all away.
Of
First Time Killer
By Alan S. Orloff
Reviewed by Wayne L. White
Sneaky. Deceitful. Lying first time killer is only a first-time killer the first time. But the psycho bastard keeps on killing and killing. If you're a fan of talk radio and hinky horror stories, step into the studio at WTLK syndicated talk radio with Rick Jennings, silver-tongued slick talker who controls the mayhem on the Afternoon Circus with a dubious balance between his quiet manners and the dump switch. Nice guy. Red-blooded American. Justice, baseball and apple pie, drove my Chevy to the levy kind of decent radio show jock. The kind of guy you'd give your chaste daughter a thumbs up to date. Trustful. Intelligent. You know damn well he'll have your daughter back before midnight with not as hair on her head out of place. However, he is a bit more mature than that. A satellite radio show is in the works for WTLK, it's full cast of engineers, producers and station masters, and most of all―it's full complement of shock-jocks, if―IF― they can get their ratings up and keep them up, they'll all share in the multimillion dollar bonanza.
First time killer gives them exactly what they need to keep their listeners Krazy Glued to their sets. As a first-time caller to the Afternoon Circus, he directs Rick to a garbage can where, on the air, they find a severed human arm. Dump switch! Radio call-in kooks come and go like flies on watermelon, but no one has ever talked to a killer on an open mic. The show is a sensation and Ricks producer insists that they milk the killer thread for every scintilla of ratings possible. Rick disagrees, especially after one of WTLK's shock jocks turns up dead after ripping First Time a new one on syndicated air to 42 cities. We're inciting him to murder, Rick says. We're giving him the audience the psycho bastard needs to fulfill whatever sick fantasies he has.
But the ratings go up and Rick battles with his conscience and the show's producer. The police enter the mix hoping to shut the show down, First Amendment rights be damned.
Put on your earphones, ear buds. whatever you've got and tune in to Afternoon Circus and Alan Orloff's quick wit and grasp of the technicalities of talk radio broadcasting. Be forewarned as the cast of Orloff's brilliantly conceived characters leap from the page to gnaw on your patience and sense of humor. You'll scream and beg Orloff to expose the heinous killer long before he does. By the way, Alan's a damned good writer, too. Get your copy of First Time Killer before he loses it and gives them all away.
January 16, 2017
First time
The storyline started out really well. It got a little slow but then BAM! you can't put the book down. I liked the twists. I'm glad First Time wasn't who I thought it was. Good story.
The storyline started out really well. It got a little slow but then BAM! you can't put the book down. I liked the twists. I'm glad First Time wasn't who I thought it was. Good story.
January 20, 2026
surprising finish. Never could have figured out guilt parties until the last minute.
Interesting read. So many twists and turns. Good ending . Why all the firings at the end? Glad Winn ok.
Interesting read. So many twists and turns. Good ending . Why all the firings at the end? Glad Winn ok.
March 13, 2017
Great ending!
I cannot remember if I paid for this book or not, but if not, I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it. You can see the plot unfolding, but then there is a sharp corner from out of nowhere. I really enjoyed the ending.
I cannot remember if I paid for this book or not, but if not, I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it. You can see the plot unfolding, but then there is a sharp corner from out of nowhere. I really enjoyed the ending.
April 17, 2012
Kindle Version (free from author via Library Thing for review)
What do you do if you are a radio host trying to get better ratings to please your boss and then you get the opportunity to make that happen? Well, you would use that opportunity like crazy right?! Well, you may think so, but you man change your mind about that if the opportunity turns out to be a crazed serial killer calling in to tell about his latest and “greatest” kills he has made. Rick is a radio host of a radio show called The Afternoon Circus, which he shares with another host nick named Tin Man. They have been doing this slot since the original host Rhino died. Their goal is to see which of them is the better host and who can draw in the listeners more, then that host gets the whole show. If the ratings are up the radio station also has a chance to seal a deal to go satellite and make millions. To a small radio station this is huge, so Celia (the manager of sorts) is willing to do anything to make sure ratings climb and stay high. The question soon becomes…how far would she really go? Is she somehow connected to the man calling himself First Time Killer, a man that called Rick at the station on air to tell him that he had killed someone and it was someone he knew? When Rick’s world is turned upside down by First Time, he struggles with what to do in the situation. Rick wants to try and help the police find First Time and catch him for the murder he has admitted to on air, but also doesn’t want to put his wife and daughter in danger if he talks to First Time more. As the plot thickens there are more murders, more chaos at work for Rick, more stresses put on his marriage/family by the whole First Time drama, and lots of decisions for Rick to make about his morals/ethics/job. Can he really be a key man to helping stop First Time? Does he really want to be the one to keep First Time talking…on air? Will the serial killer really ever stop just because he talks to Rick about his kills on the air? And more importantly who is First Time and why is he killing in the first place?
I very much enjoyed reading this book. I loved the interesting serial killer-radio twist to the plot. I have read many books that do the serial killer/TV show angle, but I thought the whole radio twist was very unique and very interesting. I loved Rick as a character, he is a good man just doing what he loves to support his small family. He wants nothing more than to just interact with people on the air and help them solve small problems they have or hear their rants about traffic if that is all they want. Boy is he surprised when he gets in the middle of a mad man’s serial killing “game” being played out through talking to him on the radio. The plot of this book was great and the adventure was always underlying the chapters. I also love how the book takes some turns that, as the reader, made me think…”ha, I solved this and I know exactly what will go down” only to make my jaw fall to the floor when not much of what I saw happening did happen. I had a hunch from the start who First Time was and I stuck to that theory all the way through the book…was I right you may ask…well I won’t tell you if I was right completely or not, as that may spoil some of the reading fun for you, but I will say that some things snuck up on me and were very surprising. This book plugs along in true mystery fashion and I think the writing was amazing. I also loved the detail of this book, I really, truly felt like I was there, in the book, seeing what the characters were looking at and doing. Very good read, would recommend to any mystery or serial killer fiction buff out there.
4/5 Stars!
What do you do if you are a radio host trying to get better ratings to please your boss and then you get the opportunity to make that happen? Well, you would use that opportunity like crazy right?! Well, you may think so, but you man change your mind about that if the opportunity turns out to be a crazed serial killer calling in to tell about his latest and “greatest” kills he has made. Rick is a radio host of a radio show called The Afternoon Circus, which he shares with another host nick named Tin Man. They have been doing this slot since the original host Rhino died. Their goal is to see which of them is the better host and who can draw in the listeners more, then that host gets the whole show. If the ratings are up the radio station also has a chance to seal a deal to go satellite and make millions. To a small radio station this is huge, so Celia (the manager of sorts) is willing to do anything to make sure ratings climb and stay high. The question soon becomes…how far would she really go? Is she somehow connected to the man calling himself First Time Killer, a man that called Rick at the station on air to tell him that he had killed someone and it was someone he knew? When Rick’s world is turned upside down by First Time, he struggles with what to do in the situation. Rick wants to try and help the police find First Time and catch him for the murder he has admitted to on air, but also doesn’t want to put his wife and daughter in danger if he talks to First Time more. As the plot thickens there are more murders, more chaos at work for Rick, more stresses put on his marriage/family by the whole First Time drama, and lots of decisions for Rick to make about his morals/ethics/job. Can he really be a key man to helping stop First Time? Does he really want to be the one to keep First Time talking…on air? Will the serial killer really ever stop just because he talks to Rick about his kills on the air? And more importantly who is First Time and why is he killing in the first place?
I very much enjoyed reading this book. I loved the interesting serial killer-radio twist to the plot. I have read many books that do the serial killer/TV show angle, but I thought the whole radio twist was very unique and very interesting. I loved Rick as a character, he is a good man just doing what he loves to support his small family. He wants nothing more than to just interact with people on the air and help them solve small problems they have or hear their rants about traffic if that is all they want. Boy is he surprised when he gets in the middle of a mad man’s serial killing “game” being played out through talking to him on the radio. The plot of this book was great and the adventure was always underlying the chapters. I also love how the book takes some turns that, as the reader, made me think…”ha, I solved this and I know exactly what will go down” only to make my jaw fall to the floor when not much of what I saw happening did happen. I had a hunch from the start who First Time was and I stuck to that theory all the way through the book…was I right you may ask…well I won’t tell you if I was right completely or not, as that may spoil some of the reading fun for you, but I will say that some things snuck up on me and were very surprising. This book plugs along in true mystery fashion and I think the writing was amazing. I also loved the detail of this book, I really, truly felt like I was there, in the book, seeing what the characters were looking at and doing. Very good read, would recommend to any mystery or serial killer fiction buff out there.
4/5 Stars!
May 5, 2012
Wow! I wasn’t quite sure just what I was getting into when I started reading FIRST TIME KILLER. What I got was a wild ride. FIRST TIME KILLER is written in first person and a very well done first person at that. That is a style that is often attempted but very rarely done well. I want to give kudos to Mr. Allen for mastering the style.
Rick Jennings is under pressure from Celia to bring up the ratings so that the Afternoon Circus can be syndicated through satellite when he receives a caller that identifies himself as a first time killer. The ratings soar but Rick really questions whether or not he is letting his dignity and standards fall by the wayside.
We are also introduced to several secondary characters who contribute to the story such as Rick’s family, and longtime friend Winn. There are also several fans as well as the rest of the crew at the Afternoon Circus. Mr. Allen has a very deft touch with characters as we do really get to know them all through Rick’s eyes.
This is a very tense story with a lot of twists and turns. And I can tell you that I was definitely off base in my thought about just who the killer really is. I was shocked and very impressed by the satisfying conclusion.
If you are looking for a very tight and tension filled thriller, I highly recommend FIRST TIME KILLER. I rate FIRST TIME KILLER a 4.8.
***I received this book at no charge from the author in return for giving a fair and honest review.
Rick Jennings is under pressure from Celia to bring up the ratings so that the Afternoon Circus can be syndicated through satellite when he receives a caller that identifies himself as a first time killer. The ratings soar but Rick really questions whether or not he is letting his dignity and standards fall by the wayside.
We are also introduced to several secondary characters who contribute to the story such as Rick’s family, and longtime friend Winn. There are also several fans as well as the rest of the crew at the Afternoon Circus. Mr. Allen has a very deft touch with characters as we do really get to know them all through Rick’s eyes.
This is a very tense story with a lot of twists and turns. And I can tell you that I was definitely off base in my thought about just who the killer really is. I was shocked and very impressed by the satisfying conclusion.
If you are looking for a very tight and tension filled thriller, I highly recommend FIRST TIME KILLER. I rate FIRST TIME KILLER a 4.8.
***I received this book at no charge from the author in return for giving a fair and honest review.
February 23, 2013
Imagine being a radio talk show host with a large following and a program director that wants you to push the envelope because of a satellite radio deal that may mean millions for everyone that works at the station and you receive a call from someone that calls himself “First Time Killer” and gives directions to where you can find an arm of the person he killed. That is what occurs to Rick Jennings one afternoon. He cuts the caller off, but the arm is found and it is determined that it belonged to an intern that worked at the station. That is the beginning of a story that leads Rick to quit, to come back, and eventually to go after the killer on his own.
The novel gives a view of the listeners of talk radio and how rabid they can become in their following of different radio personalities. They feel safe on the other end of a phone line and no can physically reach them. The novel also shows how some people in the industry push to get higher ratings and that is all that they are concerned with, rather it is the “shock jock” or the directors of the radio programming. It becomes a battle between what is descent and the struggle for ratings.
It is a very interesting book and easy to read. It has its twists and turns as any good mystery should have and it keeps the reader guessing right up to the end. It is a very good read.
The novel gives a view of the listeners of talk radio and how rabid they can become in their following of different radio personalities. They feel safe on the other end of a phone line and no can physically reach them. The novel also shows how some people in the industry push to get higher ratings and that is all that they are concerned with, rather it is the “shock jock” or the directors of the radio programming. It becomes a battle between what is descent and the struggle for ratings.
It is a very interesting book and easy to read. It has its twists and turns as any good mystery should have and it keeps the reader guessing right up to the end. It is a very good read.
May 11, 2013
I could not finish this book for two main reasons. The first was, swear words were written in a censored fashion (f-wads, a-hole, etc) even in dialogue. Some people may like this, but in my opinion, if you have a character who swears, then let him swear. He sounds ridiculous calling people "f-tards." I could have gotten beyond that, though. I got the book while it was free, and the story was interesting enough to continue reading. What stopped me though, was the following passage:
"It's sick, all right," Garth said. "I mean, what kind of monster kills someone and cuts his body up into pieces?"
"A psycho, that's who," Rick said. "Some stunted Anthony Perkins wannabe."
Anthony Perkins was not a killer nor a psycho, he merely played one in a series of movies. The dialogue should read "Some stunted Norman Bates wannabe," if the author wants to make that comparison. I find confusing an actor and the character he plays to be sloppy. This should have been caught before it was published, and the fact that it was not makes me think that not a lot of time was devoted to edits and rewrites. It's not a bad story so far (I got 12% of the way through), and if I were handed this and asked to beta it, I'd enjoy reading it and giving feedback, but I don't feel it is polished enough to be worth my time reading as a published novel.
"It's sick, all right," Garth said. "I mean, what kind of monster kills someone and cuts his body up into pieces?"
"A psycho, that's who," Rick said. "Some stunted Anthony Perkins wannabe."
Anthony Perkins was not a killer nor a psycho, he merely played one in a series of movies. The dialogue should read "Some stunted Norman Bates wannabe," if the author wants to make that comparison. I find confusing an actor and the character he plays to be sloppy. This should have been caught before it was published, and the fact that it was not makes me think that not a lot of time was devoted to edits and rewrites. It's not a bad story so far (I got 12% of the way through), and if I were handed this and asked to beta it, I'd enjoy reading it and giving feedback, but I don't feel it is polished enough to be worth my time reading as a published novel.
March 10, 2012
First Time Killer takes a radio talk show host down a path into murder. A dark book, the story is set in a radio station and the characters on air and behind the scenes. When someone begins killing people who work at a station that is trying to land a huge satellite deal, people think this is all about ratings. With a nod at the great Network, First Time Killer stands alone with a sadistic killer who calls into the station to get on the air and tell his story.
The killer targets one of the talk show hosts as his mouthpiece, refusing to talk to any other on-air personality. As the murders mount up, everyone at the station lives in fear. When it becomes clear one of their own or one of their standard listeners is the killer, the book plunges the reader into a morass of suspicion and tension.
When the killer calls the show at the start of the book, he identifies himself as a long time listener, but a first time killer. That sets the stage for this noir thriller.
The killer targets one of the talk show hosts as his mouthpiece, refusing to talk to any other on-air personality. As the murders mount up, everyone at the station lives in fear. When it becomes clear one of their own or one of their standard listeners is the killer, the book plunges the reader into a morass of suspicion and tension.
When the killer calls the show at the start of the book, he identifies himself as a long time listener, but a first time killer. That sets the stage for this noir thriller.
January 21, 2014
First Time Killer pits a serial killer against a radio talk-show host. The plot was good and kept me guessing. And I liked how Rick dealt with his conflicting feelings - needing to keep the job, hating the killer, wanting good ratings. It's a bit disturbing, but stays away from the gory and the FCC regulations the radio hosts have to abide by keep the language from going too far over the line.
Radio and murder make a good match. I could totally understand why people stopped coming to work at the station, between the fear of becoming a victim and watching your co-workers with suspicion. I liked the ending, too, the wrap-up after the killer is exposed. It made me smile.
You can find my whole review at Carol's Notebook.
Radio and murder make a good match. I could totally understand why people stopped coming to work at the station, between the fear of becoming a victim and watching your co-workers with suspicion. I liked the ending, too, the wrap-up after the killer is exposed. It made me smile.
You can find my whole review at Carol's Notebook.
September 26, 2013
I have to admit first that I worked in the radio industry for several years, so I'm sure that contributes to the appeal this story had for me. And I've experienced some unusual calls from listeners. But I believe this story would appeal to mystery fans anyway. It was well paced, had a sense of tension that built throughout, and didn't dwell on the gore while hunting for a killer. I found the characters relatable, and didn't get frustrated by any supernatural or miraculous occurrences that assisted with finding a solution to the mystery. Would recommend, and will look for others by this author.
March 7, 2016
3 1/2 stars - rounded up.
Great plot. I could feel Rick's frustration between needing the financial security for his family and his frustration with Celia's running of the show.
For as much time as we spent in his head though, I would have expected him to be concerned about more than his job and the killer. He just seemed to be all about his job and his ethics. I would have expected him to be a bit more rounded, and to have more friends than just one. The random times he thought of his family were also a bit too idealic, IMHO.
Great plot. I could feel Rick's frustration between needing the financial security for his family and his frustration with Celia's running of the show.
For as much time as we spent in his head though, I would have expected him to be concerned about more than his job and the killer. He just seemed to be all about his job and his ethics. I would have expected him to be a bit more rounded, and to have more friends than just one. The random times he thought of his family were also a bit too idealic, IMHO.
June 13, 2014
By most objective standards of writing, this is not a good book. But I was nonetheless reasonably entertained. I found myself being, if nothing else, curious as to how the events of the book played out, even if not a single action or reaction of the book's characters was remotely credibly or reminiscent of real life.
February 9, 2013
Bit boring. Not sure if the characters are boring or if the radio station plot isn't interesting. The main character just plowed on with how unhappy he was with his job and how angry he is at his boss. Moved a bit slow and couldn't wait to just be done with it.
February 19, 2013
Overall I really liked the book. It was about as light and entertaining as a murder mystery could be. I thought the characters were extremely well written and identifiable and the idea behind the plot was not only well thought out but well executed. Only thing I didn't like was the end.
November 18, 2014
THIS is the type of book I love to read! It jumps right into the action in the first chapter, and keeps you going at rollercoaster speed until the end. I did nothing until I finished the book because I couldn't put it down, and the ending is a real shocker!
February 5, 2013
Started slow but got better. I never guessed the ending.
March 18, 2013
Very, very good read! I couldn't put it down! Keep 'em coming, Alan!
May 8, 2013
Another first time author for me. Haven't read Alan Orloff before but will definitely read more of his stuff. This one keeps you on the end of your seat right up to the end. Really enjoyed it.
May 12, 2013
This was good. Moved along well and kept me thinking about the killer. Enjoyable and another author to add to my list.
June 2, 2013
Very good book. There were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. I thought I had it figured out, but was surprised at the end.
June 29, 2013
Pretty good. Brought back memories of my days in radio. Good twist on the solution.
August 2, 2013
Not really my style but the mystery is decent. I did find the language excessive.
September 15, 2013
It was a fascinating plot that kept me thinking. Others may be very surprised who the killer is in the end.
January 2, 2015
Short but solid story. What do you do when as a radio host, the pressure is on for ratings and you discover that you have a stalker for a fan? Very intense but fun.
April 29, 2016
I couldn't put this book down it has a few great twists to it, and its a really well written crime thriller definitely worth a read for any crime fan
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews