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Killing It
Since the late 1980's, The Square had been one of the most important clubs in New York for the alt-comedy scene. But before that it was something much darker and is now a place where evil lingers, waiting for a chance to spill blood.
After a night of killing on stage, four comics find themselves in a desperate situation as the spirits of the past come out to play, and a fight for laughs becomes a fight for survival in the most unlikely of places.
After a night of killing on stage, four comics find themselves in a desperate situation as the spirits of the past come out to play, and a fight for laughs becomes a fight for survival in the most unlikely of places.
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
November 14, 2023
I think if Killing It was a novella instead of a novel it would have been great.
June 10, 2023
Eeek. What a let down.
I really hate to give this such a low rating after loving Fantasticland so much, written by the same author. But this was NOT IT. Now I'm questioning if my love of his prior novel was mostly due to the interview-style formatting and amazing audio. Bockoven's strong suit is his dialogue, but the plot was lacking BIG TIME in this one.
There was literally no motive.
I love the cover of this novel, and I liked the ode to comics like George Carlin, and comedy in general. I also appreciated the commentary in here about women in comedy. But that is where my praise ends.
The entire premise of this is that 4 comedians are trapped in a New York comedy club and fighting for their lives. The owner of the club wants to kill them all. But WHY, you ask? Because the owner, Jaff, who is a perfectly respectable man for the entirety of his life, heard the voice of a ghost tell him to kill. So he did. WHAT?
I kept thinking there was going to be an explanation for who this ghostly woman was and why she wanted people dead, but no. We just learn that it happened before and that's just the way things are in this particular building. Why does this ghost have so much power over Jaff? Don't know. She just does. WHAT?
So there is senseless killing, and these comics are fighting to stay alive and I don't even really care about them either. I really wanted to DNF this but I was just so hopeful that it would all come together and make sense.
Also, the chapters kept starting back at chapter 1 over and over. Why? What did I miss? Granted, I was so disconnected after about halfway, I could have missed the reasoning behind that but it made no sense to me.
This entire novel felt like a joke, pun intended.
I really hate to give this such a low rating after loving Fantasticland so much, written by the same author. But this was NOT IT. Now I'm questioning if my love of his prior novel was mostly due to the interview-style formatting and amazing audio. Bockoven's strong suit is his dialogue, but the plot was lacking BIG TIME in this one.
There was literally no motive.
I love the cover of this novel, and I liked the ode to comics like George Carlin, and comedy in general. I also appreciated the commentary in here about women in comedy. But that is where my praise ends.
The entire premise of this is that 4 comedians are trapped in a New York comedy club and fighting for their lives. The owner of the club wants to kill them all. But WHY, you ask? Because the owner, Jaff, who is a perfectly respectable man for the entirety of his life, heard the voice of a ghost tell him to kill. So he did. WHAT?
I kept thinking there was going to be an explanation for who this ghostly woman was and why she wanted people dead, but no. We just learn that it happened before and that's just the way things are in this particular building. Why does this ghost have so much power over Jaff? Don't know. She just does. WHAT?
So there is senseless killing, and these comics are fighting to stay alive and I don't even really care about them either. I really wanted to DNF this but I was just so hopeful that it would all come together and make sense.
Also, the chapters kept starting back at chapter 1 over and over. Why? What did I miss? Granted, I was so disconnected after about halfway, I could have missed the reasoning behind that but it made no sense to me.
This entire novel felt like a joke, pun intended.
June 1, 2023
Comedy Chaos: When Laughter Turns Deadly
In this thrilling story, an ordinary comedy night at a bar takes a terrifying turn when the owner goes on a rampage, armed with a gun and hunting down a group of terrified comedians who are desperately hiding throughout the club.
With a wide cast of characters and a relentless pursuit underway, it unfolds with gripping intensity. However, amidst the chaos and panic, the comedians find themselves overanalyzing every move they make to outsmart their pursuer, Jeff. The level of detail in the writing is overly descriptive at times.
Overall, it's an engaging read, but it did not quite reach the same level of brilliance as "FantasticLand."
In this thrilling story, an ordinary comedy night at a bar takes a terrifying turn when the owner goes on a rampage, armed with a gun and hunting down a group of terrified comedians who are desperately hiding throughout the club.
With a wide cast of characters and a relentless pursuit underway, it unfolds with gripping intensity. However, amidst the chaos and panic, the comedians find themselves overanalyzing every move they make to outsmart their pursuer, Jeff. The level of detail in the writing is overly descriptive at times.
Overall, it's an engaging read, but it did not quite reach the same level of brilliance as "FantasticLand."
March 24, 2024
3.5 stars.
August 4, 2023
The owner of a 1980s comedy club slips into psychosis and murders the comedians, his girlfriend and anyone else who crosses his path. What a premise! There's a complicated back story and everything is explained at the end of the book, but in the interim it's a nonstop murder-fest. This book was not received well, but I listened to the audio in one afternoon and loved it. I also loved Fantasticland his most well-known book.
4+ rating from me for originality and pure entertainment.
4+ rating from me for originality and pure entertainment.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
March 1, 2024DNF at 51%
What even was this? After loving Fantasticland, I was excited about this. But this was just boring? We're in the head of the most miserable man alive and there is zero tension or or weight to anything that was happening.
What even was this? After loving Fantasticland, I was excited about this. But this was just boring? We're in the head of the most miserable man alive and there is zero tension or or weight to anything that was happening.
June 8, 2023
Audiobook - 4 stars
I didn’t read Fantasticland so maybe that’s why my rating seems to be higher than others, but I really enjoyed this book! I’m new to the genre but I thought it was well formulated especially around the me too scene. I felt like the story was a bit metaphorical for the movement and the way women are treated in the entertainment industry, which I appreciated. Overall the concept was strong and well executed.
Only thing I didn’t like was the stand up special at the end. I thought the jokes were unusually low effort and if the purpose was just to relay the the info shared then there’s an easier and less cringey way to do it. But beyond that great story and the epilogue brought it together for me!
I didn’t read Fantasticland so maybe that’s why my rating seems to be higher than others, but I really enjoyed this book! I’m new to the genre but I thought it was well formulated especially around the me too scene. I felt like the story was a bit metaphorical for the movement and the way women are treated in the entertainment industry, which I appreciated. Overall the concept was strong and well executed.
Only thing I didn’t like was the stand up special at the end. I thought the jokes were unusually low effort and if the purpose was just to relay the the info shared then there’s an easier and less cringey way to do it. But beyond that great story and the epilogue brought it together for me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2023
I liked this one more than I was going to. It was a rough beginning for me, but I really enjoyed it by the end. I liked it a lot more than Fantasticland.
Read
August 8, 20233.5
July 9, 2023
Rounded up to three, but reluctantly.
The writing was repetitive, even without the narrative device he used (starting the same scene over and over from different perspectives). There were word/phrase frequency issues that really stuck out.
For a novel about stand-up comics, the comedy was weak. And for a novel about a vengeful ghost convincing people to kiiiiiilll... the world-building/plotting was thin to the point of being lazy. We never learn the why, and only get the barest information on the who at the very end of the book.
The third star is for the characters, though, who are actually pretty well developed, especially compared to how underdeveloped the plot and motives were.
SPOILERS:
The only survivors are the emcee (went into a coma), the older female comic (lost an eye) and the younger female comic (lost an arm). The ghost is still there. Someone bought the building to turn into a restaurant, the older female comic went to let him know what happened there and is ignored (in a callback to the opening scene where a survivor comes to warn the new owner who is opening his comedy club what happened there and is ignored). The new owner is already displaying signs of being influenced by the ghost.
And yeah, all we know is that the ghost once ran a pub in that spot and there was a long history of murders in the building. That's literally it. Ugh.
The writing was repetitive, even without the narrative device he used (starting the same scene over and over from different perspectives). There were word/phrase frequency issues that really stuck out.
For a novel about stand-up comics, the comedy was weak. And for a novel about a vengeful ghost convincing people to kiiiiiilll... the world-building/plotting was thin to the point of being lazy. We never learn the why, and only get the barest information on the who at the very end of the book.
The third star is for the characters, though, who are actually pretty well developed, especially compared to how underdeveloped the plot and motives were.
SPOILERS:
The only survivors are the emcee (went into a coma), the older female comic (lost an eye) and the younger female comic (lost an arm). The ghost is still there. Someone bought the building to turn into a restaurant, the older female comic went to let him know what happened there and is ignored (in a callback to the opening scene where a survivor comes to warn the new owner who is opening his comedy club what happened there and is ignored). The new owner is already displaying signs of being influenced by the ghost.
And yeah, all we know is that the ghost once ran a pub in that spot and there was a long history of murders in the building. That's literally it. Ugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2023
This book was just so weird and bla. I know there are tons of reviews saying that it's not fair to compare this book to FantasticLand but it's inevitable to do so since the sole reason I read this was because it was by the same author. To say this was a complete let down compared to FantasticLand is an understatement. I also read Pack by the same author and it too was disappointing but nothing like this book. The minimal plot just makes it seem like the author wanted to write extreme graphic gory details for the sake of doing so, and the plot came as an afterthought. There were so many questions left to answer at the end of the book. Questions that almost needed answering to make the reason for the chaos in this book to work and make sense. Also, the random comedy acts throughout the book were so awkward. I assume they were there as an attempt to give the characters more depth, but it all just fell flat.
March 26, 2024
This book was a WILD ride. I have a lot to say about it. Buckle up.
I love comedy and stand up, which is why I was drawn to this book. And putting a slasher novel on top of it? I was intrigued.
After reading the first 200 - 230 pages, I was at about a 2 to 2.5/5 rating. The story was interesting, but the writing was not very compelling. Some of the writing and parts of the early plot are pretty awkward. I’d be enjoying the story and then an awkward sentence would arrive that would pull me out of the moment; and in sections, this awkward writing seemed prevalent. It was very distracting. An example- not the best one- is “he seemed to take glee in doing it”. This may not sound awkward to you, but that’s how it felt for me - jarring.
The plot was keeping me entertained, despite the writing that felt choppy. I definitely enjoyed the humor sprinkled into the plot. Once the slasher scene really started though, I felt gripped, and I didn’t feel or notice any awkward writing pulling me out of the novel- perhaps there was none! The last 70 pages - mama LIKE. That section was like a 4/5 rating for me. Thus my rating of a 3/5 - averaging my initial and final impressions.
Alas- what happened to the editor in the last chapter before the epilogue? I found at minimum 4 (probably 5) typos in that chapter - 2 within 3 paragraphs and later on, another 2 in the same paragraph. The editor seemed to have just given up- which is both funny and embarrassing. It was an odd experience to encounter so many typos in one chapter, especially the last. Talk about throwing you off the flow of the plot. Makes you wonder if it was for some reason, above my comprehension, that it was intentional?!
I’m interested to read Bockoven’s ‘Fantasticland’ after reading this one, as it seems like that got better reviews, but I’m not sure I’m ready for it and am not sure I ever will be. What an odd journey reading this book was…!!
I love comedy and stand up, which is why I was drawn to this book. And putting a slasher novel on top of it? I was intrigued.
After reading the first 200 - 230 pages, I was at about a 2 to 2.5/5 rating. The story was interesting, but the writing was not very compelling. Some of the writing and parts of the early plot are pretty awkward. I’d be enjoying the story and then an awkward sentence would arrive that would pull me out of the moment; and in sections, this awkward writing seemed prevalent. It was very distracting. An example- not the best one- is “he seemed to take glee in doing it”. This may not sound awkward to you, but that’s how it felt for me - jarring.
The plot was keeping me entertained, despite the writing that felt choppy. I definitely enjoyed the humor sprinkled into the plot. Once the slasher scene really started though, I felt gripped, and I didn’t feel or notice any awkward writing pulling me out of the novel- perhaps there was none! The last 70 pages - mama LIKE. That section was like a 4/5 rating for me. Thus my rating of a 3/5 - averaging my initial and final impressions.
Alas- what happened to the editor in the last chapter before the epilogue? I found at minimum 4 (probably 5) typos in that chapter - 2 within 3 paragraphs and later on, another 2 in the same paragraph. The editor seemed to have just given up- which is both funny and embarrassing. It was an odd experience to encounter so many typos in one chapter, especially the last. Talk about throwing you off the flow of the plot. Makes you wonder if it was for some reason, above my comprehension, that it was intentional?!
I’m interested to read Bockoven’s ‘Fantasticland’ after reading this one, as it seems like that got better reviews, but I’m not sure I’m ready for it and am not sure I ever will be. What an odd journey reading this book was…!!
May 19, 2024
Much more gore than actual storyline.
June 11, 2023
The blurb compared this story to Shawn of the Dead and From Dusk Till Dawn but I don't know if that's apt. Those movies got their laughs from absurd situations while Killing It has clever dialogue in a grounded narrative. I'd say it's more "Green Room in a comedy club".
I don't know if Bockoven ever was a comic (the short bios I've seen don't mention it) but this book certainly feels authentic. Granted, I'm just a guy who has heard untold hours comedians talking about their craft on podcasts, but it feels right to me.
I don't know if Bockoven ever was a comic (the short bios I've seen don't mention it) but this book certainly feels authentic. Granted, I'm just a guy who has heard untold hours comedians talking about their craft on podcasts, but it feels right to me.
June 16, 2023
This author is does a fantastic (lol) job writing horror, suspense, and gore, but the supernatural elements are never fully explained. Instead of feeling intrigued, I was very dissatisfied when the book ended. I loved Jackie, but PLEASE ask JUST ONE Jewish person to proofread if you’re gonna include our faith. Given that he did make jokes about her Jewishness, saying that a Christian prayer said in English was “Mourners Kaddish” was kind of offensive and not a mistake we should be making when Google exists.
Audiobook narrator consistently said “Jaff” instead of Jeff, which was a little annoying for me.
Audiobook narrator consistently said “Jaff” instead of Jeff, which was a little annoying for me.
June 22, 2023
I became a fan of Mike Bockoven through FantasticLand and was very excited when I saw he had a new book coming out, particularly on standup comedy (a past hobby of mine). This book, Killing It, is extremely dark, but also highly entertaining and fast-paced. While there are multiple POVs and jumps in time (usually annoyances for me) this book made it work and kept the work easy to follow. Moreover, the audible narration was very good and kept me focused throughout the book. I’m surprised and some of the lackluster reviews (although some of those straight up dislike standup, so maybe that’s part of it). For me, I appreciated this book fort what it was and very much enjoyed it!
May 17, 2024
(4 Stars)
This was very good Horror... Not the typical tropes, but also not very far away from it at the same time. This is my first book by this author and I have already queued up two of his other books. It reminds me a little of Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. Not necessarily because of the story, but because of the offbeat experience.
There is also a gritty realism and honesty in this book. Great characters, compelling backgrounds, and quirky humor.
This was very good Horror... Not the typical tropes, but also not very far away from it at the same time. This is my first book by this author and I have already queued up two of his other books. It reminds me a little of Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. Not necessarily because of the story, but because of the offbeat experience.
There is also a gritty realism and honesty in this book. Great characters, compelling backgrounds, and quirky humor.
July 9, 2024
I've been wanting to read Fantasticland for a while and when I saw this book on Hoopla from "The author of Fantasticland", I figured Id give it a go. This book was intense with a lot of action scenes and a lot of gore. I also enjoyed how the ending and epilogue left very little unanswered. Unfortunately those two things are about all this book has going for it. The characters are mostly unlikable and act with no common sense which instead of causing tension just causes a mix of frustration and devastation. I think this story would've been way more successful as a short story/novella.
September 24, 2023
It ain't Fantasticland, but it was fantastic!
If a kid tells you not to buy a haunted nightclub and to DEFINITELY not listen to a ghost voice, you should probably listen. If not, you might go on a rampage and / or have a really bad night one day.
The stand-up sections were especially delightful and felt genuine. Mike Bockoven absolutely shines when writing outside the story itself. Given the story's length, it's a very fast-paced funny horror show.
If a kid tells you not to buy a haunted nightclub and to DEFINITELY not listen to a ghost voice, you should probably listen. If not, you might go on a rampage and / or have a really bad night one day.
The stand-up sections were especially delightful and felt genuine. Mike Bockoven absolutely shines when writing outside the story itself. Given the story's length, it's a very fast-paced funny horror show.
October 13, 2023
I really enjoyed this thriller. A bit of a slasher story.
The author created a believable modern story in which the characters would not be able to use their phones to gain assistance. I am not always a fan of books told from different perspectives, but this was done very well. I enjoyed the look into the villains head as well as the rest of the characters. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an exciting thriller.
The author created a believable modern story in which the characters would not be able to use their phones to gain assistance. I am not always a fan of books told from different perspectives, but this was done very well. I enjoyed the look into the villains head as well as the rest of the characters. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an exciting thriller.
February 5, 2024
Weird book. It was interesting but got old fast. By the end I sorta just wanted it over. You had to wait till the last second to finally find out what was happening with the voices and it felt like a foot note not the catalyst for the entire story. The jokes were ok. Not great but ok. Not a big deal since they were in a low budget club and the comedians hadn't "made it" yet. Meh, this book was.....ok.
June 21, 2024
This book was painful to read. I could have done a better job editing it, than the actual editor did. I can understand a couple of incorrect words, but the amount of misspelling, incorrect names and changing character actions was distracting. I almost didn’t finish the book because of it. The story was interesting and I gave it two stars because the ending was better than I expected. This book had so much potential, it just fell short for me.
September 14, 2023
This is an author to watch for me - he has the perfect blend of comedy, horror, and suspense not to mention dynamic characters put into insane situations. A haunted building wreaks havoc on all who dare to attempt to do business out of it, and the ensuing bloodshed seems to be as unpredictable as it is unable to avoid.
May 15, 2024
I feel like this book started at the climax, and just continued on from there. It was fun, but that was it. A quick, bloody night at a comedy club that started at the punchline and never bothered to explain the joke. Was a quick listen on audiobook, but I doubt I’ll remember anything from this story a week from now.
July 9, 2023
One of the few books recently that I have picked up and couldn’t put down. The story draws you in, never dulls, never slows down and never disappoints. After reading the book I also listened to the audio book, which only enhanced the experience. Absolutely fantastic!
July 16, 2023
Haven’t Read fantasticland so this may be subject to change but I did thoroughly enjoy this book especially through the audiobook version. Kept me going and anxious about what all happened. Some may complain about the lack of motive but the no motive really added to the terror for me !!
November 9, 2023
I really wanted to like this book based off the premise. Unlike other low ratings, I never read his work before. It starts and ends well, but the middle is tough to muddle through. Wanted to DNF, but was really hoping it would get better.
Off to read Fantasticland and love it I suppose
Off to read Fantasticland and love it I suppose
December 7, 2023
It is criminal that Mr. Bockoven is not more well know. I've read each of his horror books and they are all imaginative, horrific and very good. Do yourself a favor and read this. Then read FantasticLand and tell me I'm right. ; )
April 2, 2024
This is the second book I read from this author and will pick up more of his books in the future. The only reason this wasn't a five star for me was the lack of information pertaining to the why Jeff does what he does, it just left me wanting more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews