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The Box Office of Terror Trilogy #1
Second Unit
Everyone's dying to make it in Hollywood...
Especially Davis Lowe. Unfortunately, he keeps finding only second unit work, taking the jobs the real directors can't--or won't do. Together with cameraman Jared Man and film editor Terrance "Otter" Ottman, he runs a tiny independent studio off ( waaay off) the Sunset Strip, where he scrounges for crumbs left by the big studios and puts off marrying the lovely aspiring actress Susan Campbell.
Enter Torsten enigmatic German director whose violent horror movies seem a little too real for Davis and his crew. After signing on to work with the filmmaker and his brutal leading man, the boys are faced with a rash of actress suicides in the midst of a movie shoot stranger than anything Hollywood could dream up.
Soon Davis will race to save those he cares about from the clutches of a man who will stop at nothing to finish production, as he unravels a mystery that will have him doubting the art of filmmaking...and reality itself.
Especially Davis Lowe. Unfortunately, he keeps finding only second unit work, taking the jobs the real directors can't--or won't do. Together with cameraman Jared Man and film editor Terrance "Otter" Ottman, he runs a tiny independent studio off ( waaay off) the Sunset Strip, where he scrounges for crumbs left by the big studios and puts off marrying the lovely aspiring actress Susan Campbell.
Enter Torsten enigmatic German director whose violent horror movies seem a little too real for Davis and his crew. After signing on to work with the filmmaker and his brutal leading man, the boys are faced with a rash of actress suicides in the midst of a movie shoot stranger than anything Hollywood could dream up.
Soon Davis will race to save those he cares about from the clutches of a man who will stop at nothing to finish production, as he unravels a mystery that will have him doubting the art of filmmaking...and reality itself.
- GenresHorror
324 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
53 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Russell C. Connor
38 books77 followersRussell C. Connor has been writing horror since the age of five, and is the author of two short story collections, four eNovellas, and ten novels. His books have won two Independent Publisher Awards and a Readers’ Favorite Award. He has been a member of the DFW Writers’ Workshop since 2006, and served as president for two years. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his rabid dogs, demented film collection, mistress of the dark, and demonspawn daughter.
His next novel, Predator, will be available in the fall of 2018.
His next novel, Predator, will be available in the fall of 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 12, 2025
Davis, Jared and Otter have a shoestring second unit company in LA. The think they might be getting a big break but it turnabout to be more second unit work, this time on a horror movie for an offbeat German director, Torsten Gross, whose previous films look a little too real. Working with him is very odd, then Davis’s girlfriend Susan gets a bit part in the movie.
I like books combining film and horror, but this was pretty standard stuff. Apparently this is book one in a three book series, but I’m not quite sure how it would go on from here and don’t care enough to see.
I like books combining film and horror, but this was pretty standard stuff. Apparently this is book one in a three book series, but I’m not quite sure how it would go on from here and don’t care enough to see.
June 27, 2025
I did end up DNFing this one at about half way I did really like the concept and it wasn't a bad read. The pacing was just a bit too slow for my liking and it wasn't really keeping my interest.
August 23, 2019
This was a really good read with a unique twist. It had a really good original story line with gruesome gore and great characters. I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy. This was another book I could not put down.
April 26, 2025
I’ve been a big fan of author Russell C Connor after reading his great novel “Good Neighbors“ some years back. As such, I’d been looking forward to reading a trilogy of novels he did centered around the Hollywood film industry. “Second Unit” is the first in that series.
The setup, in brief, is as follows. Davis and Jared, two men who operate a second unit camera operation in Hollywood, are hired to work on a film by a famed German splatter horror director named, ironically, Torsten Gross. After some time on the job, they notice that the director’s actors, after being seemingly killed in disturbingly brutal death scenes during shooting, return to life, but changed. (This aspect of the plot brings to mind a certain Herschell Gordon Lewis film from the sixties.) The mystery builds from there.
This is fun, action horror. There’s no deep rumination on the nature of grief or man’s dark soul here. There are several dialogue chuckles, and I had a total “laugh out loud at Starbucks” moment towards the very end.
The beginning was a bit more soap opera-ish than I would’ve liked, but things did get going.
Connor’s prose is always solid, and I appreciate his very creative metaphors.
One thing that was a bit of a kick for me: the West Los Angeles office in which the two main characters operated in was a couple blocks from where I lived for several years. I love those little moments in fiction.
Five stars
The setup, in brief, is as follows. Davis and Jared, two men who operate a second unit camera operation in Hollywood, are hired to work on a film by a famed German splatter horror director named, ironically, Torsten Gross. After some time on the job, they notice that the director’s actors, after being seemingly killed in disturbingly brutal death scenes during shooting, return to life, but changed. (This aspect of the plot brings to mind a certain Herschell Gordon Lewis film from the sixties.) The mystery builds from there.
This is fun, action horror. There’s no deep rumination on the nature of grief or man’s dark soul here. There are several dialogue chuckles, and I had a total “laugh out loud at Starbucks” moment towards the very end.
The beginning was a bit more soap opera-ish than I would’ve liked, but things did get going.
Connor’s prose is always solid, and I appreciate his very creative metaphors.
One thing that was a bit of a kick for me: the West Los Angeles office in which the two main characters operated in was a couple blocks from where I lived for several years. I love those little moments in fiction.
Five stars
April 8, 2025
3.5 stars
Credit to the author for giving this story a twist I wasn't expecting. Second Unit started out as a typical horror story about a horror movie where maybe those bloody kills aren't all just special effects. I'm glad I stuck with it long enough to see where things were going because it was definitely a direction I wasn't expecting. The bad guy wasn't at all what I was anticipating and that was enough to get me to the end.
The pacing was good and the gore didn't hold back. What did not work for me: this is a book written by a man for a audience of boys. This is solely my opinion. There were so many asides directed at a young male audience, the author focused too much on Otter's weight and too much on the female characters boobs, outfits, and libidos.
This is a book for a particular audience and I think it was well done, with that in mind. I would recommend this book to slasher lovers in the mood for a quick, down and dirty slasher with a twist.
Credit to the author for giving this story a twist I wasn't expecting. Second Unit started out as a typical horror story about a horror movie where maybe those bloody kills aren't all just special effects. I'm glad I stuck with it long enough to see where things were going because it was definitely a direction I wasn't expecting. The bad guy wasn't at all what I was anticipating and that was enough to get me to the end.
The pacing was good and the gore didn't hold back. What did not work for me: this is a book written by a man for a audience of boys. This is solely my opinion. There were so many asides directed at a young male audience, the author focused too much on Otter's weight and too much on the female characters boobs, outfits, and libidos.
This is a book for a particular audience and I think it was well done, with that in mind. I would recommend this book to slasher lovers in the mood for a quick, down and dirty slasher with a twist.
June 11, 2022
My wife bought me this a couple years ago at Texas Frightmare. A few pages into it, my dog, who has a taste for book binding glue, gave it a whirl. Met Conners the following year and let him know what happened, bought another copy and he signed it, encouraging me to keep this one away from the dog. I sped through this book quick, quicker than most. I grew to love the characters, story, and twists. Oh the twists.... If you are looking for something new, pick this one up. This year at Texas Frightmare, I stopped by Conners booth, and bought Director's Cut (book two in the trilogy of terror) and Good Neighbors. Needless to say, I should have bought a few more, while I was there. I have already read both, and while I patiently wait for book three, I will be ordering some more titles by him, which have caught my eye. .
August 30, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book.
The writing brought some of the scenes in the book to life so vividly that I was able to picture them in me mind. That rarely happens to me.
There were a few spelling mistakes, but they didn't take away from the overall experience. If you can overlook that, you are in for a great read.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys gory slashers with a unique twist.
Rating 5 stars
The writing brought some of the scenes in the book to life so vividly that I was able to picture them in me mind. That rarely happens to me.
There were a few spelling mistakes, but they didn't take away from the overall experience. If you can overlook that, you are in for a great read.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys gory slashers with a unique twist.
Rating 5 stars
April 21, 2021
Fun read
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a fun quick read with well developed characters that I actually cared about and an entertaining fun storyline. I can’t wait to read the next book in this trilogy.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a fun quick read with well developed characters that I actually cared about and an entertaining fun storyline. I can’t wait to read the next book in this trilogy.
June 24, 2025
Second unit
I really enjoyed this book and the plot but I found myself wanting to get to the end to get to the point
I really enjoyed this book and the plot but I found myself wanting to get to the end to get to the point
August 20, 2024
Great read for horror movie fans that are into behind the scenes type stories. Not much is said about the work second units do to help round out a movie. While this is fiction, it still is a different look at this side of movie making. Really dug this group of friends and how they worked together. I think most readers will find themselves relating to either Davis, Jared, or Otter (I’m definitely the Otter of my friend group haha). Connor does mostly solid character work here but I am not sure I completely understood the villain. His motives and what he was spiritually just left me confused in the end. But the main Henchman, Krieg, more than makes up for it. The first half of the book is downright chilling and disturbing thanks to Krieg.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews