Hooker

By Ian Thompson

Beauty can be only skin deep. Horror can go right through to the bone.

Nigel Fawson is down on his luck - he's lost both his job and his family - so he sets out to get drunk in a seedy bar. Soon Fawson is comforted by a beautiful girl named Valerie. When he discovers that his new friend is a prostitute, he decides to throw caution to the wind and return to her apartment with her... And that's when his night turns from awful to utterly lethal.

Valerie has a hideous secret. She really isn't what she appears to be. Worse still, she's very, very hungry.

'Hooker' is the second in a new series of Short Horror Tales - quick reads written to captivate readers with thrills, chills and unexpected twists.

Reviews from this author's horror releases:

"...thoroughly spooky, enticing and well written from start to finish."
"...great... I could feel the fear..."
(Glancing Blow - Short Horror Tales #1)
"Great short story..."
(Ignition Source - Short Horror Tales #4)
"...well-written, descriptive and enthralling page-turner, that's not for the faint-hearted... The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat..."
(God Of War)
"...extremely well written and very dark. The author did a great job of creating a palpable sense of doom that surrounds the main character from the beginning, and then creating more tension and horror as the story went on..."
(Into The Hole)

Review from 'Home Grown Horror Reviews':

Ian Thompson's Hooker tells the tragic tale of the worst day of Nigel Fawson's life. He's lost his job, found his wife cheating on him, and discovered that his kid isn't even his. All he wants to do is drink himself into oblivion. In a shady part of town, the drunken Nigel is propositioned by the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. As uncharacteristic as it is for him, he decided to take her up on the offer and buy a night of fun. Before long, his night of fun turns into a night of terror when the woman isn't what she seems.

As is par for Thompson's Short Horror Tales series, Hooker lays the groundwork with likable and relatable characters before ruthlessly punishing them. There is just enough set-up so that the reader is invested in Nigel and his troubles. This can be a tricky line to balance in a short story. Too much exposition and the reader is bored; too little and the reader just doesn't care. Once again, Thompson walks that tightrope with expertise.

When the blood starts to splatter, Nigel's day gets really rough. Thompson has devised a brilliantly brutal creature to sic on his leading man. Creative and twisted, the monster is a total terror. This seems to be one of Thompson's strongest points; an ability to think up unique, awful monstrosities.

Short and to the point, Hooker is an absolutely insane, blood-pumping ride. With just enough characterization and set up to bring Nigel fully to life, Thompson wastes no time getting to the horror. And once the horror starts to flow, it explodes like a firehose, utterly drenching poor Nigel till the last page. With a wicked cool monster and a page-turning climax, this is one Creature Feature you won't want to miss out on.

(for full review refer: hghorror.wordpress.com/category/authors/thompson-ian/)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1722953527
• ISBN13: 9781722953522
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 50 Pages
• Weight: 0.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.3" x 8.0"