Book Review - AFRAID by Jack Kilborn

The US government spends billions of dollars training soldiers to kill. Now they’re attempting an alternative approach. Instead of turning soldiers into killers, the military has trained five psychopathic murderers to be part of a classified Special Forces unit.

Codename: Red-Ops

They are the most fearsome weapon ever created, meant to be dropped behind enemy lines. Their goals: Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. Five Hannibal Lectors with Rambo training. But something horrible has happened...

Welcome to Safe Haven, Population 907

A tiny community of families, retirees, and artists, nestled between Big Lake and Little Lake MacDonald in the northwoods. One road in, one road out, thirty miles away from everything. A town so small and peaceful they don’t even have a full time police force.

Hell has come to Safe Haven

On their way to a mission, the Red Ops helicopter has crashed just outside of town. The team is now roaming free in the wilderness, heading for the nearest lights. Heading there to do what they do best.

Soon the phone lines are cut, the cell phones jammed, and the road blocked. Safe Haven’s only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of an aging county Sheriff. And as the body count rises, he’s quickly realizing something terrifying—maybe the Red Ops haven’t come to his small town by accident...

Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Population 907. . . 906. . . 905. . .

Are you afraid of the dark? You should be. You will be.

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I knew I was getting into something great when I heard myself whisper "Oh, shit!" while reading.

I think the above blurb (found on Kilborn's website here) is enough explanation as to what the story is about. What it doesn't give you is the flat-out stomach churning atrocities dealt to these residents. As a woman, I wasn't much impressed with the details and descriptions about what kinds of guns, etc., were being used, but I could understand why that information was crucial to the story. I'm normally not a fan of military type stories, but the blurb drew me to this book, and I'm so glad I bought it.

This is definitely one story I would love to see in film!

My recommendation?