Review: Skip this one
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2012
Some reviewers have been critical of this story because of excessive violence and profanity but I think both were consistent with the plot and realistic to a hostage situation.  That being said, I was disappointed on a few fronts.  The style for me was reminiscent of that from a creative writing class.  The premise was a good one for a short story but there was effectively no character development at all.  Nor did the author elicit empathy or frankly any emotion for any of the characters.  And I was greatly disappointed in the ending.  Very weak.  A caveat: this is a very short story and can be read in minutes.  Following the story were previews of more of the author's works.  Because of its brevity this story really should have been sold as part of an anthology.  If the real purpose of putting out a short story is to expose the reader to other works, then be up front about that and don't charge for the short story.  After reading this one I felt no compulsion to read the excerpts. Had I downloaded a free story knowing the author was using it to promote other works I'd at least have felt obligated to read the previews.