A Murderous Adventure follows small-town theatre manager Owen, a tick-tick-ticking time-bomb of mental menace and savage dreams soon-to-be realized.
“As for my patience, I had none. I grew up with my grandfather, a short-tempered man who never allowed me to sit around and do nothing. If I ever spoke of boredom in front of him, he would smack me in frustration and find work for me to do. I guess that explains a bit of why I was the way I was.”
The writing style gets in the Reader’s face early and often with a bold, barely pent-up rage that seems ready to boil over at any moment. The language is angry and aggressive, as Mr. March does not sugarcoat. His words are raw, sometimes brutal, often eye-opening. This is no doubt by design and happens to work quite well to tell the story of Owen’s unraveling.
“It baffled me to think of how inconsiderate the public was. With how often they threw trash on the floor and how filthy they were, it made me wonder what the inside of their houses looked like. Had everyone lost their manners, or did they ever have any in the first place?”
There’s a straightforward brutality in the narrative that is unsettling and captivating all at once. It’s a tangible, terrifying quality that I liken to certain Laymon titles, but where Laymon walked carefully out on delicate limbs, Mr. March chops down those very branches with brusque prose and ferocious violence.
“How could I not appreciate the piece of artwork that I had constructed with my own hands? With the help of the trusty old mallet of course; I couldn’t take all the credit. I would have liked to believe that my grandfather would be proud, but I couldn’t say for sure.”
I found myself hoping that Owen would simply get laid; to perhaps soothe his madness, maybe lower the testosterone levels, if not outright quell his extreme irritability that spurred the thoughts of murder and mayhem . . . but then he did get laid, and this arguably pushed him ever closer to the brink of an eventual blowout.
“I couldn’t stop. The power within me that I felt was much more satisfying than the time we’d had sex. This was everything that I had longed for.
Another swing.
Crack!”
The Author’s voice gains confidence as the fury unfolds, with sneaky-stylish prose that, in a way, suggests it’s been there all along, hiding in a sandbagging manner, only waiting for the more climactic — and vicious — moments to show its face. In fact, I can’t help but see a correlation between the strength of the storytelling amping up very much in step with the Adventure marching toward Murderous. This being a first-person narrative, the effect is remarkably hard-hitting.
“I was overjoyed by what I had done. It was definitely hard work, but well worth every bit of the effort. The power and excitement that I felt brought a newfound perspective into my life. It was so uplifting that I knew there was no way I was going to stop.”
Amidst the madness and mayhem, however, behind the brutal violence, resides a very simple message that is as relevant today as it was yesterday, that will remain relevant tomorrow and forevermore . . .
You never know what someone is truly thinking, or how close to the edge someone might be; so even if we’re unable to muster up the humanity to be kind — we should always do our very best to at least not be rude.
After all, you never know who might be making a list. And even if they check it twice, there’s no guarantee they’re going to be nice.
Menacing and still meaningful, furious and fun, A Murderous Adventure is an immensely enjoyable rampage of a ride, which all fans of the late-great Laymon need to read.
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Reviews with images
Thrilling until the end!
A MUDEROUS ADVENTURE by Sonny March takes the reader inside the troubled-mind of Owen, a young man with a short fuse, struggling with inner-turmoil between the things he cannot control, his distorted perception of reality, and sinister nightmares that begin to infiltrate his existence.Owen manages a single-screen movie theatre, located in a historic and haunted building in the small town. This ominous setting lends to the dark imagery surrounding this man. Having hardly any family to speak of, aside from the estranged Grandfather who raised him, and no friends, Owen is left to his own devices. The only thing that can permeate his hateful and horrific thoughts is the attention of his employee, Kathryn. Owen’s pent-up sexual frustration and fantasy of having his way with the flirtatious red-haired, party girl, may be in the realm of possibility, as she continuously throws herself at him. However, the distraction is only a brief respite. His murderous nightmares become so vivid that it is difficult to discern the difference between fantasy and reality…so much so that he won’t be satisfied until he can fulfill his darkest, most evil desires.I couldn’t put this down! Sonny pulled me in from the first page. As the story rolled on like the film in a projector, I found myself feverishly turning the pages. This novella is well-written and precisely paced. The author brilliantly created a complex character, whose layers continue to unravel until the shocking ending. Owen deals with is own feelings of inadequacy from his past, his current place in life, struggles with his own questions of morality, and feelings of isolation and rejection from a world he perceives as cold and unfeeling. I highly recommend this novella and can’t wait to read more from Sonny!
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2022
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2020
A MUDEROUS ADVENTURE by Sonny March takes the reader inside the troubled-mind of Owen, a young man with a short fuse, struggling with inner-turmoil between the things he cannot control, his distorted perception of reality, and sinister nightmares that begin to infiltrate his existence.
Owen manages a single-screen movie theatre, located in a historic and haunted building in the small town. This ominous setting lends to the dark imagery surrounding this man. Having hardly any family to speak of, aside from the estranged Grandfather who raised him, and no friends, Owen is left to his own devices. The only thing that can permeate his hateful and horrific thoughts is the attention of his employee, Kathryn. Owen’s pent-up sexual frustration and fantasy of having his way with the flirtatious red-haired, party girl, may be in the realm of possibility, as she continuously throws herself at him. However, the distraction is only a brief respite. His murderous nightmares become so vivid that it is difficult to discern the difference between fantasy and reality…so much so that he won’t be satisfied until he can fulfill his darkest, most evil desires.
I couldn’t put this down! Sonny pulled me in from the first page. As the story rolled on like the film in a projector, I found myself feverishly turning the pages. This novella is well-written and precisely paced. The author brilliantly created a complex character, whose layers continue to unravel until the shocking ending. Owen deals with is own feelings of inadequacy from his past, his current place in life, struggles with his own questions of morality, and feelings of isolation and rejection from a world he perceives as cold and unfeeling. I highly recommend this novella and can’t wait to read more from Sonny!
Owen manages a single-screen movie theatre, located in a historic and haunted building in the small town. This ominous setting lends to the dark imagery surrounding this man. Having hardly any family to speak of, aside from the estranged Grandfather who raised him, and no friends, Owen is left to his own devices. The only thing that can permeate his hateful and horrific thoughts is the attention of his employee, Kathryn. Owen’s pent-up sexual frustration and fantasy of having his way with the flirtatious red-haired, party girl, may be in the realm of possibility, as she continuously throws herself at him. However, the distraction is only a brief respite. His murderous nightmares become so vivid that it is difficult to discern the difference between fantasy and reality…so much so that he won’t be satisfied until he can fulfill his darkest, most evil desires.
I couldn’t put this down! Sonny pulled me in from the first page. As the story rolled on like the film in a projector, I found myself feverishly turning the pages. This novella is well-written and precisely paced. The author brilliantly created a complex character, whose layers continue to unravel until the shocking ending. Owen deals with is own feelings of inadequacy from his past, his current place in life, struggles with his own questions of morality, and feelings of isolation and rejection from a world he perceives as cold and unfeeling. I highly recommend this novella and can’t wait to read more from Sonny!
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Top reviews from other countries
Elias Chase
A killer read! Highly recommend
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2021
Elias Chase
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2021
I fell in love with that style after reading Mike Omer’s A Killer’s Mind-and have been loyal to the Zoe Bentley series ever since. So, after picking up this quick read, by indie author Sonny March-I knew without a doubt I was in for a treat.
The story was written in first person - where we are able to see the internal dialogue of MC, Owen. He is a wonderfully tortured antagonist and the author vividly portrayed his array of emotions, which were mostly anger and annoyance, flawlessly. I couldn’t help but “see it from Owen’s POV” how the horrific scenes of some of his atrocities (imaginary or real-you’ll have to read to find out) - were in fact works of art and even at times, euphoric-in the sense that he would get to release those fragile, pent up feelings -that without a doubt-should be kept in check. Or is that just societies standard?
This book is a twisted and captivating story with a great ending. I found myself wanting more of the adventure.
I highly recommend this book-especially to my fellow horror fans out there! Owen is right on par with Patrick Bateman, Joe Carroll, Hannibal Lecter, and Rod Glover (just to name a few that came to mind while reading this novella).
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