Review: “Pit Stop” by Ben Larken
Posted by Jacko | Filed under Jacko's Reviews
I was hoping to have reviewed more books by now, but, alas, no. I’ve been caught up writing A Fistful of Rubbers. Now that is done, or at least, a draft has been handed into my publisher, I am free once more to roam, to play, and to frolic.
To begin my season of frolicking, I am going to review an award winner. Pit Stop is Ben Larken’s debut novel, and it won best horror in the Eppie Awards, 2009. The Eppies recognise outstanding achievement in the world of electronic publishing (Pit Stop is available both electronically and as a paperback), and to win one with your first novel is something special indeed. So, I am going to read it and I am going to review this “award winner.” And let me warn you, Ben Larken, I am one jealous bitch…
…who was very impressed, very entertained and ultimately enthralled by your work.
Pit Stop follows the journey of ten individuals…actually, no, first line in and already I’ve misguided you. Pit Stop is not about a journey, at all. It’s a story of waiting; ten people, waiting for their last voyage, a one-way ticket to Hell. Impressively, everyone is dead from page one. It’s good to start on a high.
Ten souls wait in purgatory, and they’re waiting, strangely, in a service station. The Pit Stop, on Route 66 in Arizona, is somewhere I really wouldn’t fancy a coffee. The trip to Hell is not a pleasant thought, and if I was to use my deepest and darkest grey matter to concoct an image of the being that would guide me to the only place worse than Great Yarmouth, I’d be thinking spikes, tentacles, mucus, blood and possibly a little faeces. Bearing in mind the horrible nature of Larken’s warped mind, I was expecting a monstrosity from the very bowels of Hell…oh yeah, that’s sort of obvious, as it technically is something from the bowels of Hell. Still, I was expecting something a little scarier than a bus. However, as I got to know the bus and its psychopathic, ultra-powerful driver, Ramsey, I hoped that the bus would stop being so damned nasty. The bus and its driver are desperate to take the ten occupants of the diner straight to Lucifer and Pit Stop is the tale of their bid for freedom.
Pit Stop is unquestionably horror. It is gruesome, vile and disturbing in its imagery and Larken makes sure the reader not just sees the horrific violence, they feel it too. On top of that, with a set of characters lined up to be royally buggered in Hell, you know you are going to be in the same company as some rather unsavoury beasts. Paedophiles, murderers and prostitutes are the order of the day, but we have some heroes to make this a wonderfully eclectic mix of the damned. Scott Alders and Dustin Calloway are the boys you’ll be rooting for. Dustin’s a bad man with a talent for avoiding any heat that’s coming down on him (death not included). However, his heart is questionably in the right place. Scott Alders is the interesting one. He’s a straight down the line cop who puts his job first. From the start, you’ll be wondering what Office Alders did to earn a trip to Hell, possibly my only point of contention in the story.
Is Pit Stop scary? Pit Stop is a slasher tale with a beautifully evil stalker, Ramsey, who is roguely charismatic for someone who doesn’t really say much, and whose main role is to maim, torment and torture. Personally, I don’t find slashers particularly scary, even though I love them, and I get my kicks from the inventiveness of the violence and my affinity to the characters. Pit Stop had me routing for Scott and Dustin who are wonderfully linked. The book also appealed to my carnal instincts and my desire for bloodlust was well and truly satisfied. I desperately wanted to see some of the characters torn into a thousand gory pieces and Mr. Larken gave the mob what they wanted. To answer my initial question, I didn’t find Pit Stop particularly scary, but that wasn’t in the slightest bit detrimental to my enjoyment of the book (incidentally, I’ve just picked up his latest book, The Hollows, and read the first chapter and that scared the bejesus out of me. I’m hooked already).
Is Pit Stop worth reading? Oh yes, undoubtedly so. It’s an exceptionally good read from start to finish and Ben Larken should be extremely proud of what he has achieved. If you read this, Ben, not many fictional bad guys have quite grabbed my attention as much as Ramsey, the bus driver, and if you ever base a book solely on him, I’ll camp outside the bookstore, the night before, to get hold of it.
Listen out for Ben Larken. I won’t be the least bit surprised if you hear the name in the future.
Pit Stop is available direct from the publisher, LL-Publications, and is also available from Amazon (UK and USA
Find out more about Ben Larken on his website.
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Tags: Ben Larken, e-book, Epic, Eppie, horror, Jacko, Jacko: Author, LL-Publications, mark jackman, paperback, Pit Stop, Ramsey, review
Jacko’s First Ever Book Signing
Posted by Jacko | Filed under Jacko: Author
August 23rd saw my first ever book signing in Borders, Gateshead. Book signing, huh? It took a while for it to sink in that I was actually going to do one. Those who have the displeasure of being one of my buddies will know that I started writing to stop playing Playstation. I was putting too many hours into Pro Evolution Soccer 3, and decided to plough my spare time into something a little more constructive, and gave writing a go. Those days are a distant memory: waking up on a Sunday morning with mild alcohol poisoning, vomiting through to four p.m., playing Master League on my PS2, flicking through the copy of Razzle that had mysteriously appeared by my bed, vomiting a bit more until the Chinese opened at six and I could put in my order for chicken fried rice, curry sauce and chips, flick through Razzle once more, and then pass out. When Queen sung the words “Those Were the Days of Our Lives,” I will remember those happy times, and I like to think that Roger Taylor penned those words whilst pulling a quick one to Reader’s Wives, hungover, waiting for his Chinese to turn up.
Writing has turned into something more than a past-time, and I have not played Playstation since, and not just because I bought an Xbox (although that is probably the main reason). What I am trying to say is that I never thought that I would get this far and it all hit home with the book signing. A book signing…that’s what authors do! It was a very surreal moment indeed and I would like to thank everyone who has helped make this possible.
To the book signing! I am still in the infancy of my writing career, with The Great Right Hope only being released asa paperback about four weeks only, so I was certainly not expecting to be greeted with a queue like this:
And I wasn’t.
Nope, I was much luckier than that.
The first two people I met were Jim Brown and Zetta Brown, the husband and wife team behind LL-Publications, the publishing house who are behind big Sid Tillsley and The Great Right Hope, may he bring them lots of money and little hate mail. It was the first time that we had met in person and a great moment. I was lucky enough to be part of a double act, and Ellen Dean was also signing her book, Beautiful Stranger. I’d like to say a big thanks to Ellen who made me feel very much at home sat in front of a store full of people. Ellen gave me loads of hints and tips on marketing as she has been promoting Beautiful Stranger for the last two years and her and her partner Gloria are book promoting gurus! It was very enlightening, and so much fun as they are both as mad as a box of frogs! Thanks to Ellen, Gloria, Zetta and Jim for making it such a fantastic day, and cheers to Peelo for keeping me company in the car.
From left to right, Peelo (the missus), me, Jim (publisher), Ellen, Gloria (Ellen’s partner), Zetta (on camera-LOL)
So what you are all gagging to know is whether I sold any books or not? And the answer is, thankfully, yes. Seven to be precise. Not a huge number, but it was never going to be. It was a great learning experience, and I think it is something that I can build on. Writing really is the easy part. It is the promotions that are the hard work, and I am now learning the craft.
Let me tell you about the first person I signed a book for. His name was Alan, or at least I think it was.
Alan didn’t really want to come and see me, but, like a lioness picking out a sick gazelle, Gloria sensed weakness. She attacked him when he wasn’t expecting it and made him approach me at the desk. I shook Alan by the hand, he asked me about my book and I told him all he wanted to know. No pressure was added by myself, and young Alan asked for a copy to be signed. “Do you want me to sign it to you, Alan?” asked I. “Erm….actually…..no,” he said, shiftily. “I see,” said I, narrowing my eyes, smelling something fishy. I gave Alan the book and he was on his way. I watched him take it down to the tills, and then, he slyly changed direction, and came back towards me. He walked confidently to the bottom of the stairs, just near where I was stationed, and pretended to look upstairs, as if he was trying to find someone. Up he went…and never came down.
The book was found later, dumped on an information stand.
My first ever signing…dumped.
I don’t know where Alan went. Like Keyser Söze, he disappeared without a trace. “The greatest trick that Alan ever pulled, was convincing Borders the book didn’t exist.” There was one exit! He must have leapt out of the window of Starbucks or escaped through the ventilation system. Why did he ask me to sign it?
Alan, if you are reading this, please explain your actions on the bottom of this blog and I’ll send you the book for free!
As an author at a book signing, you also develop another special power: Superman, The Man Of Steel’s heat vision.
People refuse to make eye contact with you, as if you have leprosy or work for N-Power. This old fella was reading my banners and then he slowly raised his line of sight to see me looking at him, and he cowered as if I was a Nazi stormtrooper, and not one of the nice ones. He had to walk past me to get to his interest section, and every time I looked up he wilted, and moved away from me. I think I could have driven him into the sea, like in 300, just with the power of the “Author’s Eye.”
It was a good day though. Book signings are not big business in terms of sales, even for the big boys, but are ways of gaining exposure. People see your name, see your work and then can go back into the book shop later. Borders, Gateshead is the first non-web bookshop to store my book, and that’s a cool feeling, knowing a kind educated Geordie can walk in, pick it up and steal it.
The next book signing for me will be in Waterstones in Loughborough, and hopefully more will come as a result. I’m hoping to visit Borders in Leicester, York and Norwich. Hopefully, I’ll see you at one, and you too, Alan.
Jackman and Dean converse with a fan, a small child and a gothic person.
Jackman signs a book which is not dumped.
“Honestly, the toilets were like that when I got here.”
Special thanks to Ryan, Jane, Norm and Ruth the Goth, for popping in and saying hello! I’m glad you have met my girlfriend, and I hope you’ll finally believe that I am straight.
Tags: Beautiful Strange, Book Signing, Borders, comedy, Ellen Dean, Gateshead, goth, horror, humour, Jacko, Jim Brown, Leicester, Loughborough, mark jackman, Norwich, Playstation, Pro Evolution Soccer, Queen, Reader's wives, Roger Taylor, Sid Tillsley, Team Valley Retail Park, The Great Right Hope, Vampire, Waterstone, Xbox, York, Zetta Brown
