Oh my gosh-this is the sickest book I've ever read.It is so disturbing! Worse than any Clive Barker/King/Little book ever! I was unprepared for what was inside the book and I cannot for the life of me get it out of my mind! It freaked me out so much that I drove my son to school instead of walking him through about 20 feet of wooded area to get to school.All I could think about was getting abducted! I can honestly say that I wish I had NOT read this book:(

What do you think about it?

Stacy

Yes I read it.  That is one book that REALLY got to me...maybe that was the point.  I think the author went too far...of course that's just my humble opinion.  And I agree, I wish I had never read it...

Who wrote it?

J. F. Gonzalez.

Haven't heard of this one before. Of course, I've been trying to read the book I've already got and avoid bringing more into the house. It hasn't been working so well.....

Are you going to post it by any chance? lol I have been at #8 on the wishlist forever now and I really want to read it.

I'll probably be listing it next week.I'm all out of stamps right now!

Stacy

I read it and I think J.F. Gonzalez wrote it for the shock value. It worked!! All I read is horror and true crime and I have read alot of disturbing things but nothing as disturbing as this book. It made me sick as I have children. But I found it very interesting because it's something I've never read about and the fact that snuff films have been around for years. SAD because it really happens!!!

Christa

I just started it today and will post it when I'm done.

Survivor is sick, twisted, and very, very disturbing.  I briefly considered abandoning it in frustration after Lisa did what she had to do to get out of her situation.  Then I realized I had to finish to see if Tim, Animal and the other depraved monsters got their due.  I'm relieved it is finally done.

Yep,I felt the same way about not finishing it!

I read this book last year and I still think about it! I have gotten a couple more books by him and they were nothing like Survivor.

When I got the book and started reading it I was telling my husband about it and of course I was told I was sick, now I do have Edward Lees books and some are pretty sick (Family Traditions, The Pig & The House and The Bighead just to name  few) but they are a different kind of sick. It was the baby that really bothered me in Survivor.   

I started reading this book this afternoon and am halfway through it.  I've almost quit reading it three times but now I have to see how it ends.  I took a break from reading this about two hours ago and I can't get it out of my head.  If I finish reading this I'm going to have to read some kind of feel good book because this book has deffinately given me a serious case of the hebbie jeebies. 

I agree one of the more disturbing books I have ever read!  However I just had to finish it to see how it ended.  Definitely one that I didnt' want to keep to read again.

It wasn't a keeper for me either.  As a matter of fact, I couldn't wait to get it out of my house!

I have a book marker that I've used for years.  About half way through this book I quit using it because I didn't want it tainted.  I wrapped the book up and shipped it minutes after I finished reading it.  I actually felt nauseous while reading this but couldn't stop. 

I had a big problem with the way the story ended.  WARNING, SPOILERS below.

As vicious and violent as the Animal was, I thought he should have had a far more grusome death than he did.  It seemed way too tame compared with the way the story had been going up to that point.  It was set up perfectly for the Grandma to do nasty things to him while he was incapacitated. 

I agree with you, Bob.  Grandma could have at least taken his eyes before she left. 

Well, I must say that the reviews made me interested and I went to order it from another site.  We'll see!

Nancy wrote:   "As a matter of fact, I couldn't wait to get it out of my house!"

I felt that way about American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I've never liked any of his books; I don't know why I'd thought I'd like that one. It's quite possibly the cruelest book I've read to date. Of course, I just got Survivor via my wish list, so Psycho might find its way to second place soon.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding American Psycho when it first came out, particularly by feminist groups.  I was curious and read random pages while I was at B & N.  Those few pages were enough to turn my stomach and I never bought the book or saw the movie. 

I honestly don't know what possessed me to buy Survivor.   I like well written horror stories and don't mind some violence and gore, but Survivor wasn't particularly well written and the excessive violence and brutality made me feel dirty for reading it.  

I was never interested in reading this book or never even heard of it until I read some reviews and saw some posts about it.  Most of the reviews I read from readers said something along the lines of  it being the most disturbing book they ever read and they wish they had never read it.

To me, that is like telling a 6 year old not to peek at the Christmas presents under the bed so I of course rushed out and got the book.

After reading this, I found the reviews and discussions right on.  Of course here I am agreeing with the reviews but adding to the hype because I keep talking about it.

I'm laughing to myself here, as  Robert  had it right on.  Saying it was disgusting and gross made me buy it off half.com and read it.  I'm just like that kid who wanted to peek at the Christmas presents.  And yes it was disgusting and yes it was gross and probably worse than my keeper book Suffer The Children by John Saul.  I didn't keep this one though.  Ugh!!   However, I know I will be reading more of this author's books, because I'm sure this had to be the worst you could imagine and I do like horror so.....

I decided to go ahead and read this myself, having recently ordered it here at PB. I've only just finished the prologue - yikes!

Well, I finished the book. It's certainly not great literature, and it's not even great horror. I guess it would fall in the "splatterpunk" category, if that still exists. *****SPOILERS BELOW.*****

He did a great job with the gore. My only problem was him getting into the heads of the characters. When the guys would be thinking to themselves (especially Tim) about what they were doing, there was a bit of repeat going on. Talking about all the people they'd snag who wouldn't be missed - junkies, wh*res, and b*tt boys. I think those terms were used 2-3 times. Another was kind of funny, when Tim was musing about getting more deeply involved in the scene - as the paragraph went on, he first "couldn't comprehend", then later in the same paragraph "couldn't understand". Lots of thoughts with these people going on and on and on.

The most interesting part was trying to figure out who was the bad guy, other than the obvious. Who tipped off the bad guys as to where they were? That one kept me guessing until the end.

I really didn't like the end much. Brad simply wasn't that interesting, nor was much time spent with him earlier to have the ending be, essentially, all about him. I was frankly thinking "ho hum" during the last chapter.

I'll probably give Gonzalez another try, though.

Yep, that was a tough read. I like the core theme though - what would you do to get out of a situation like that, and could you live with yourself? Not to inflate it more than necessary, but it does ask that kind of "Sophie's Choice" question. Unfortunately, the exploration of that question was obscured somewhat in the quagmire of brutality.

Anyone who is interested in what Gonzalez has to say about writing this book (how and why and how difficult it was), go to the dorchesterpub.com forums. He's a member there.