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Bad Girl
Before the events of Blake Crouch’s horror novels DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS...
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's and Blake Crouch's #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller SERIAL...
The year is 1995, and a young girl with psychopathic tendencies named Lucy (the sweetheart from SERIAL) has run away from home to a mystery convention to see her favorite author in the Andrew Z. Thomas.
But Lucy has problems, and not just the psychopathic kind…to start with, the hotel won’t rent a room to a 15-year-old girl. So she does a bad, bad thing, which only gets worse when a couple of horrifying killers, Orson Thomas, and his protégé, Luther Kite, catch her trying to cover up a nasty mess.
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's and Blake Crouch's #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller SERIAL...
The year is 1995, and a young girl with psychopathic tendencies named Lucy (the sweetheart from SERIAL) has run away from home to a mystery convention to see her favorite author in the Andrew Z. Thomas.
But Lucy has problems, and not just the psychopathic kind…to start with, the hotel won’t rent a room to a 15-year-old girl. So she does a bad, bad thing, which only gets worse when a couple of horrifying killers, Orson Thomas, and his protégé, Luther Kite, catch her trying to cover up a nasty mess.
70 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 5, 2010
About the author
Blake Crouch
77 books60.7k followersBlake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the forthcoming novel, Dark Matter, for which he is writing the screenplay for Sony Pictures. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015’s #1 show. With Chad Hodge, Crouch also created Good Behavior, the TNT television show starring Michelle Dockery based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
October 11, 2016
*2.5 stars. Fifteen-year-old Lucy steals her family car on the day of her father's funeral and drives 600 miles on a learner's permit to a mystery writers convention in Indianapolis to hear her favorite author, the guest of honor, speak and get her stack of eight books autographed. She has also brought a straight-edged razor with her and gets her first thrilling taste of blood while getting advice from two 'expert' serial killers she happens to meet. Pretty gruesome and disturbing stuff--sensitive readers beware!
#2016-aty-reading-challenge-week 40: a novella from your favorite genre. (Ok, so it's not my favorite genre but I just finished reading Dark Matter and this novella was the only other ebook my library had by the same author.)
#2016-aty-reading-challenge-week 40: a novella from your favorite genre. (Ok, so it's not my favorite genre but I just finished reading Dark Matter and this novella was the only other ebook my library had by the same author.)
October 28, 2011
Intrinsically linked serial killers populate the works of the pseudo author’s many facades to deliver a perspective on life focused on death. In this instalment, the origins of the unassuming sadistic killer, Lucy are born in ‘Bad Girl’, the prequel to the disturbing anti hitchhiker movement that is ‘Serial’. At 15yrs of age, Lucy finds her way to a book convention held at a hotel and quickly lures one of the attendees into a hotel room where she satisfies her lust for blood only to be caught by two killers who share her enthusiasm for unwilling euthanasia. Touted as a novella, ‘Bad Girl’ is really a short story easily consumed in a single sitting with its intended purpose to wet the reader’s appetite for the proceeding books featuring Lucy’s serial killer accomplices ‘Desert Places’ and ‘Locked Doors’. While serviceable as a stand alone, ‘Bad Girl’ is best read in close proximity to ‘Serial’ where it adds context and a strong sense of continuity to Lucy’s story. Apart from being very short, ‘Bad Girl’ ticks all the right boxes, I just wish Lucy’s spree and ‘coming of age’ was further embellished. 4 stars.
March 28, 2016
Dark, disturbing prequel novella to Crouch's Serial. This is about a 15 year old girl who is becoming a serial killer. This is not for everyone. It is gross and creepy. I liked it a lot, but it is a true prequel in that the resolution is unsatisfying, saved for the larger book. I totally read this because I loved the cover.
August 21, 2018
I did not know it would be so short but did not mind that it ended because it was so cruel.:)
October 26, 2021
Pretty gruesome but entertaining.
July 30, 2010
super quick read. What can I say? i really liked it. Yep, it is gross and nasty. Sometimes you just gotta go there. besides, I enjoyed it because it gave me some insight into Lucy. Can't wait to read the uncut version of Serial. Heading there next. :)
November 20, 2018
OK
So I start this knowing nothing about the story. I just wanted something small to read. Something short. How in-depth can this be.
Mistake!
I'm reading this, feeling bad for the young girl, and then bam! It got me! Surprise - future serial killer!
Great beginning...on to the next
So I start this knowing nothing about the story. I just wanted something small to read. Something short. How in-depth can this be.
Mistake!
I'm reading this, feeling bad for the young girl, and then bam! It got me! Surprise - future serial killer!
Great beginning...on to the next
April 13, 2012
I am a fan of Lucy's for sure. I think she is not only evil but she has this side to her that just draws the reader too her.
October 7, 2012
I absolutely love Lucy character....Love Crouch!
May 28, 2022
A short-story that made me feel very uncomfortable while reading it. There is a girl who at a convention in a hotel. She is young and small and meets the author of “Death in the Family”. And goes to his room “for his signature and his books”. She ends up using his bathroom, undressing, and she kills him with a blade as soon as he tries to go the bathroom to check on her. Then she meets these two guys who are just like her, murdering psychos. They team up together and kill another guy with various murdering tools. They trick the guy because they just get him to talk about themselves, and what do you know, everyone likes to talk about themselves. The guy goes to the room for an interview. Or what he thought was going to be an interview and then he ends up being killed by them. At the end of the book, the two guys end up splitting from Lucy because they have to. They tell her not to trust anyone and then she gets a hitchhike ride with a baby in the front. It’s implied that she killed both the baby and the mom. It was alright, but I don’t like this genre of books.
July 10, 2019
This is a story of Lucy a serial killer from Blake Crouch. This story is of her first kill. She kills an up an coming writer at a convention in which she wants to meet Andrew Thomas. She ends up meeting Orson Thomas and Luther Kite. They take her under their wing and show her some things. This is were she learns to hitchhike and kill all her prey. Good origin story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2021
A prequel to the book Serial about a 14 year old girl starting out as a serial killer. Meets up with a guy and his friend doing the same thing, gave her some pointers. Interesting story. This is why one should never pickup hitchhikers and never take anyone to their motel room or home that they don't know.
I plan to read Serial and Serial uncut in the future.
I plan to read Serial and Serial uncut in the future.
December 24, 2018
His short stories disturb me but I like them
February 14, 2019
I like it. Was some time since I read it so I can't remember the specifics though.
July 30, 2019
Really short story to introduce some characters. Included and interesting interview with the author.
September 12, 2019
Creepy little novella- Found it intriguing enough to put Desert Places next on my queue!
January 5, 2020
Lucy is such an unexpected character to this series. She is only 15 but she is a straight killer. Perfect example of looks being deceiving
March 26, 2020
A short thriller with lots of blood and gore!
May 19, 2020
Ugh. Another dumb novella. Not even well done. I can’t understand how I can love some of this guys books so much and totally hate others - like this one.
October 16, 2020
Not his greatest. The writing was a bit beginner.
January 16, 2022
Less gruesome and strangely strangely wholesome? Seriously, I wasn't expecting the Fairy Murder Godfathers to show up and make the main character feel more secure about her murder skills.
April 12, 2022
Short novella about a teenage serial killer in the making. The tale gets down to gory business quickly but with very little feeling good any of the characters. Reads more like a how to book.
December 17, 2022
Good book can't wait to see the whole series
May 3, 2024
Dark, dark, dark... this genre is definitely not for everyone, but I thought Bad Girl was very well done and a very honest introduction to the gruesome series!
October 18, 2024
The kind of people I wish I never met
May 18, 2025
Blake writes some seriously effed up shiz. This short story was not for the faint of heart.
March 23, 2017
I love Lucy.
July 23, 2011
Okay, you can read this in an hour - half an hour if you're a fast reader. But for $.99 it was worth it to get Lucy's story from the beginning.
Who's Lucy you ask? Well, she's the serial killer that, in later books, joins Orson and Luther and others in books such as Serial and Truck Stop. Blake Crouch gives us all the specifics for these serial killers, how they got started doing what they do and how they meet up with "people just like them". He makes it seem like a club - the Serial Killer's Club.
Bad girl introduces us to Lucy when she is just 15. She runs away from home after her father died to attend a writer's conference where her hero, horror writer Andrew Z Thomas, is doing a reading and a book signing. It's here that she first murders someone in order to have a room to stay in for the night. In an effort to cover the smell of the rotting corpse in her bathroom, she makes several trips to the ice machine. It's then that she catches the attention of Orson, full blown serial killer, who is amused to find a newbie in their midst. He decides to take her under his wing and teach her the right way to get the most out of killing someone. In an attempt to do this, they find a naive writer who they manage to get to come up to their room under the guise of wanting to interview him for a writer's guild. It's there that Luther, Orson's sidekick, shows her his box of antique tools and shows her how to use them.
That's it, short, sweet and fills in yet another hole in the story of the serial killers. Oh yeah, Orson has a secret, but you'll have to read his other books to find that out!
Who's Lucy you ask? Well, she's the serial killer that, in later books, joins Orson and Luther and others in books such as Serial and Truck Stop. Blake Crouch gives us all the specifics for these serial killers, how they got started doing what they do and how they meet up with "people just like them". He makes it seem like a club - the Serial Killer's Club.
Bad girl introduces us to Lucy when she is just 15. She runs away from home after her father died to attend a writer's conference where her hero, horror writer Andrew Z Thomas, is doing a reading and a book signing. It's here that she first murders someone in order to have a room to stay in for the night. In an effort to cover the smell of the rotting corpse in her bathroom, she makes several trips to the ice machine. It's then that she catches the attention of Orson, full blown serial killer, who is amused to find a newbie in their midst. He decides to take her under his wing and teach her the right way to get the most out of killing someone. In an attempt to do this, they find a naive writer who they manage to get to come up to their room under the guise of wanting to interview him for a writer's guild. It's there that Luther, Orson's sidekick, shows her his box of antique tools and shows her how to use them.
That's it, short, sweet and fills in yet another hole in the story of the serial killers. Oh yeah, Orson has a secret, but you'll have to read his other books to find that out!
August 15, 2016
The only problem I had with this was the length. Too short. I read it within ten minutes. If it would have been longer, I would have rated it higher. That being said, I liked it. A very disturbing read.
It introduces us to Lucy, a 15 year-old budding serial killer. We find her at a writer's convention where she comes to meet her favorite author. Here she also meets two others, Orson and Luther, who also enjoy her hobby, so to speak. The men decide to show her a few tricks of the trade then part ways, sending Lucy off on her own.
This short little read left me wanting more and I will definitely be continuing the characters' stories.
It introduces us to Lucy, a 15 year-old budding serial killer. We find her at a writer's convention where she comes to meet her favorite author. Here she also meets two others, Orson and Luther, who also enjoy her hobby, so to speak. The men decide to show her a few tricks of the trade then part ways, sending Lucy off on her own.
This short little read left me wanting more and I will definitely be continuing the characters' stories.
November 4, 2021
The only problem I had with this was the length. Too short. I read it within ten minutes. If it would have been longer, I would have rated it higher. That being said, I liked it. A very disturbing read.
It introduces us to Lucy, a 15 year-old budding serial killer. We find her at a writer's convention where she comes to meet her favorite author. Here she also meets two others, Orson and Luther, who also enjoy her hobby, so to speak. The men decide to show her a few tricks of the trade then part ways, sending Lucy off on her own.
This short little read left me wanting more and I will definitely be continuing the characters' stories.
It introduces us to Lucy, a 15 year-old budding serial killer. We find her at a writer's convention where she comes to meet her favorite author. Here she also meets two others, Orson and Luther, who also enjoy her hobby, so to speak. The men decide to show her a few tricks of the trade then part ways, sending Lucy off on her own.
This short little read left me wanting more and I will definitely be continuing the characters' stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews