Jeff Strand Reviews

Page One

Added July 6, 2006

Andrew Mayhem: Single White Psychopath Seeks Same

Review 1

Author: Jeff Strand
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
Available At: www.hardshell.com
Publishing Date: March 2003
Genre: Fiction: Suspense/Thriller/Horror/Humor
Format: Ebook download in Mobi Rocket, PDF, PDB, LIT, FUB, PRC, IMP
Price: $5.50
ISBN: 0759934339
Author Email/Website: members.aol.com/jeffstrand/
Reviewer: Summer Lasaire
Rating: 8 Gargoyles

Andrew Mahem is back and yep, in trouble again. Who'd have thought that a group of people that kidnapped victims for made-to-order snuff films would have friends that would miss them? It was just Andrew's luck that this would happen and that Daniel Rankin, just happened to be that type of guy.

Andrew is talked into helping a man with a missing wife, Craig Burgin, and an FBI agent (who turns out to really be a private investigator), Thomas Seer, to find and rescue aforementioned wife that was kidnapped almost a year ago. The odd thing was the VHS tapes that Craig received once a month, showing his wife, sometimes bruised and cut up, other times physically ok, but tied up and gagged, with a message in the backdrop saying things like, "She's still alive, but you can't have her, neener, neener." No ransom asked, just taunting him, saying that they had his wife and he couldn't have her back. Andrew, being the stand up guy he is, couldn't just sit back and not help, so a plan was formed. Thomas is going to impersonate The Headhunter, Andrew and Roger, his "prisoners". If all goes according to plan, the trio catch the bad guys and bring home Craig's wife. *sigh* If you know Andrew, you know things usually don't go according to plan...and they don't.

In the warehouse they're to meet the kidnappers, Thomas gets stabbed by a homeless guy with a broken bottle and takes off after him, the kidnappers show up while he's off on his chase and Andrew and Roger are left with coming up with another plan, fast. After doing some fast talking (luckily he's is a really good liar and thinks fast), Andrew convinces Daniel that he's the serial killer, The Headhunter, who Daniel has been in contact with, setting up both his and Roger's kidnapping. Andrew ends up hanging out with a bunch of psychopathic serial killers while Roger ends up in a cell with the rest of the victims. After the first "game" that ends in the deaths of two people by way of dart loaded cannons, Andrew has pretty much blown his cover; and now the real game begins, the death of Andrew Mayhem.

This is once again a classic "Andrew Mayhem Thriller" in the very unique style of Jeff Strand; a mix of humor with gruesome horror topped off with Andrew Mayhem's penchant for trouble. I truly enjoyed every page of this story, which in turns had me laughing out loud and going 'ewww'. I felt as if I was walking in step with Andrew and living through everything he went through...although I wasn't particularly fond of getting buried alive with him, partially decomposed corpse along with us for the ride, I had a great time getting the bad guys. I highly recommend Single White Psychopath Seeks Same if you like humor with your horror, there's no way you'll be disappointed with this book.

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Added July 6, 2006

Andrew Mayhem: Casket for Sale (Only Used Once)

Review 1

Author: Jeff Strand
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
Available At: www.hardshell.com
Publishing Date: June 2006
Genre: Fiction: Suspense/Thriller/Horror/Humor
Format: Ebook download in Mobi Rocket, PDF, PDB, LIT, FUB, PRC, IMP
Price: $6.00
ISBN: 0-7399-4286-2
Author Email/Website: members.aol.com/jeffstrand/
Reviewer: Summer Lasaire
Rating: 8.5 Gargoyles

Andrew Mayhem has a few...flaws. To name a few, he can't hold down a job for long, he's not the best husband and father (but he does try), and at least once a year it seems, someone, or I should say some people, try to kill him. I'm not sure (nor is he) how Andrew gets into these...circumstances, but he's got a real knack for it.

This time Andrew has decided to take a family vacation and asked both Roger and his girlfriend Samantha, the blonde bombshell that Andrew doesn't like, but he doesn't know why. After the last time that he'd been asked for help and ended up in the company of several psychopaths trying to kill him as slowly and as painfully as they could, Andrew has become responsible. No, really, he has...to the best of his ability. With the plans laid to go camping in Georgia, Andrew, family and friends are on their way, but true to Andrew Mayhem luck, they end up in the middle of nowhere, on a little-traveled dirt road, facing a truck in the middle of the road that refuses to move. Things go from bad to worse; another truck comes from behind him and blocks in their motor home, then forces Andrew to back up, slowly between the two trucks. One thing leads to another, the motor home goes into a ditch, it goes over on to it's side and the people outside, throw in three Molotov cocktails into the vehicle to force them out.

Samantha has jumped out of the motor home and run for the woods, cell phone in hand, trying to get help, but gets shot in the process, Helen and his kids take off into the woods with two of these guys following, and Andrew and Roger get lucky and get away too, for now. Through a series of mishaps and mayhem (no pun intended), Andrew, Roger and Samantha get caught, and are taken to a lab where the, yes, another psychopath has decided that it's really cool to make human cyborgs. The downside is that none of these people survive, and the transformation is excruciatingly painful before their deaths, on the upside, they die rather quickly. The next ones to be transformed of course, are Andrew, Roger and Samantha. What do you think? Can Andrew come out of this alive along with his family and friends, or will they lose at least a few members of their group?

I loved Casket For Sale (Only Used Once). Jeff Strand has become one of my favorite authors for when I can't decide what I want to read; this series has a mixed bag of genres that he has a definite talent in blending perfectly. Casket For Sale (Only Used Once) captured both my attention and my imagination so well that I just couldn't put it down. This story had me so involved that I was right in the thick of the action, experiencing everything that the characters did. I couldn't go into even half of what happens to Andrew and crew, this time also told in part by Helen, his wife, there's just too much going on; although very easy to follow. I highly recommend the Andrew Mayhem Thriller series to those that like humor with their horror, it's truly a series not to be missed.

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