Driven to Kill

by G.G. Garth

Renting a limousine for the annual Halloween dance, Aaron and Katrina anticipate a romantic evening in full style, until the limo turns out to be a hearse, and the couple wonders if they've been taken for a final ride. Original.

Genres: Horror

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[G.G. Garth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a love note to all my dear fans who have stood by me since 1994-1995 when we first saw the release of Bantam Doubleday Dell's publication of my 4 pre-internet thrillers, NIGHTMARE MATINEE, DRIVEN TO KILL!, BAD DOG: A VAMPIRE'S CANINE, and PARTY TILL YOU SCREAM! My heavens, how things have changed now in 2021! But, I have excellent news for you! My 4 bone-chilling yarns have been re-edited for a 21st Century attention span and re-released as "vintage pre-cell phone when you couldn't text, 'MOM, COME GET ME!' ". Now my 4 original teen thrillers are published under the title THE G.G. GARTH TETRALOGY -- meaning a collection of 4 (JumpMaster Press, December 2020). For those of you, like my wedding photographer's lovely bride, who still have collector copies of the original publication of 25,000 of each title, now's an opportunity for you to salvage or re-sell them at prices staggeringly higher than back in the 20th Century, since they're few and far between and out of print. However, if you would like a full set of newly-minted 4-in-1 binding, I do hope you'll visit JumpMaster Press' website directly. And enjoy, too, my 5th millennial work of fiction, DRAGON SLAYER OF THE PINK SAND DEAD SEA DESERT (JumpMaster Press, January 2021) -- click for the full set of 5 G.G. Garth books https://www.jumpmasterpress.com/produ...
...and THANK YOU!
Be well,
G.G. Garth

[Matthew MacIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 out of the 4 by GG Garth, I found this book to be better than the first. While definitely more thriller than horror the characters are definitely more fleshed out than the first book. Set in an undetermined time from the first book the same protagonists are in this book. The 4 kids are getting ready for a Halloween party so they want a cool ride and find an ad for a limo service. The owner of the service strives to give great customer service and does his best to give them a ride they will never forget. As the days to the Halloween dance get closer murders are happening in the town. Who could it be? Is it the limo owner who wants to give outstanding customer service to his clients or maybe someone else. While the ending is left sort of ambiguous and the evil motive was kind of muddled I throughly enjoyed it. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason I can give Driven to Kill more than two stars is because the ending had such a great twist.

We get the same characters from Nightmare Matinee and some title drops that allude to the first book and its plot. This book is very early 1990s with maybe some leftover 1980s gaudiness in the way the female characters talk.

The couples are still going together but Katrina Phillips' father has died in-between books. It isn't specific about how he died but he was a recovering alcoholic so his heart or liver might have already had some damage from his former bouts of rage. Katrina's mom is doing much better and has found a passion in cooking by making some "gross" snacks for Westlake High's upcoming Halloween dance.

Aaron wants Katrina to arrive in style so the teens decide they will rent a limo for the occasion and find a business all too happy to provide customer service. Too bad it is spoiled for us pretty early that the owner is bad news.

First his name is Bob McGhoul yet he says it is pronounced like the word fool at the end. Even then it is quite a horrible name but the fact that he will rent you out a lime green or hot pink limo is a red flag there. We also get him being not so nice to Dan's little sister Josie as he questions a ten-year-old running a lemonade stand in the fall with no change to break a dollar.

It is also clear that he has an unhealthy interest in Katrina the moment he sees her and then mentions that his high school sweetheart was murdered.

Also, the back of the book mentions that there are two killers going on a murder spree in Westlake and we get mention of Bob having an assistant named Paul.

Driven to Kill is more of a psycho slasher than a gross-out bad B-movie like Nightmare Matinee
so, the story is good, and the characters are kind of growing on me. Dan is my favorite then Aaron, Katrina and Correy.

[Erica Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teens hire a skeevy limo driver bc they want to make out in the back of his fuchsia hearse after the Halloween dance (cool!) but come face to face with a serial killer instead. The teen protag gets forcibly kissed and groped by the limo dude (not cool!) and he reveals he did it bc she reminds him of his dead ex-girlfriend from hs??

Great Halloween dance vibes but no plot

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've had this book in our house for a while. Way back, my husband was a wedding photographer. He happened to be the photographer at the author's wedding. Let's just say I know a little bit about the inspiration behind the book.

My guess is this book was written for the middle school age set and for them, this was perfectly fine. I think you know who the bad guy is from the get go, it's just a matter of knowing how it will end.

A supper quick read and it was amusing, but certainly not one that crosses into adult reading.