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evavroslin's review
4.0
Beth Baker, an elderly concerned resident of an apartment building, and the main character of "Apartment 7c," has been hearing mysterious things in Apartment 7c for a long time. She moved in recently, and became aware of a situation that the neighbours all seemed to ignore–a wife-abusing corrupt cop who beats his wife, Marcy. When she finds out what’s going on in 7c, it turns out she has a personal attachment to the matter, something in her own history that she has seen before and this time, she vows to do something about despite her age and physical limitations.
One of the saddest, most complex, and most disturbing human problems of society is women trapped by men who beat and abuse them. Bernstein exploits this to its full effect in "Apartment 7c." It turns out that people used to call the police until they realized the abusive husband had them in his pocket so it was no use. Still, Beth becomes determined to stop what’s going on any way she can, even if it means sticking her own neck out.
Although I could have done without the “is she dreaming or seeing things or is this real” montages, I thought they served their purpose well enough. What worked better was the cop’s mental games with Beth, and their game of cat and mouse, only he didn’t expect the results he got. One of the challenges of short fiction is that writers don’t necessarily have as much room to go into the kind of depth they’d like to, but Bernstein does a great job conveying the nuances behind the characters while making readers question who’s right and who’s wrong, which adds more dimension to the tale.
Fans of Eli Roth should get a kick out of "Apartment 7c." If you want to check out another horror read, a novel that deals with similar subject matter and interesting consequences, try "Die, You Bastard, Die!" by Jan Kozlowski, which I previously reviewed.
From my original review: http://thedarkeva.com/2014/08/08/book-review-apartment-7c-by-david-bernstein/
One of the saddest, most complex, and most disturbing human problems of society is women trapped by men who beat and abuse them. Bernstein exploits this to its full effect in "Apartment 7c." It turns out that people used to call the police until they realized the abusive husband had them in his pocket so it was no use. Still, Beth becomes determined to stop what’s going on any way she can, even if it means sticking her own neck out.
Although I could have done without the “is she dreaming or seeing things or is this real” montages, I thought they served their purpose well enough. What worked better was the cop’s mental games with Beth, and their game of cat and mouse, only he didn’t expect the results he got. One of the challenges of short fiction is that writers don’t necessarily have as much room to go into the kind of depth they’d like to, but Bernstein does a great job conveying the nuances behind the characters while making readers question who’s right and who’s wrong, which adds more dimension to the tale.
Fans of Eli Roth should get a kick out of "Apartment 7c." If you want to check out another horror read, a novel that deals with similar subject matter and interesting consequences, try "Die, You Bastard, Die!" by Jan Kozlowski, which I previously reviewed.
From my original review: http://thedarkeva.com/2014/08/08/book-review-apartment-7c-by-david-bernstein/
charshorrorcorner's review
4.0
This was a fast paced revenge tale that pulled no punches.
Beth Baker is 82 and she's tired of listening to her neighbor beat his wife every night. However, he's a policeman and her neighbor can't stand up to him. Since Beth lost her daughter to an abuser, she can't take it anymore. And since her dead daughter is visiting her every night urging her to do something, she does.
This novella rushes right along to its all out crushing finale and has you rooting for the 82 year old Beth the entire way. Will she get her revenge for what happened to her daughter? You'll have to read this to find out.
I recommend this quick novella to lovers of well written revenge stories, who do not mind a touch of extreme horror.
*I was provided a free copy of this novella to honestly review and that is what I have done.*
Find this review and others like it at: www.Horrorafterdark.com.
Beth Baker is 82 and she's tired of listening to her neighbor beat his wife every night. However, he's a policeman and her neighbor can't stand up to him. Since Beth lost her daughter to an abuser, she can't take it anymore. And since her dead daughter is visiting her every night urging her to do something, she does.
This novella rushes right along to its all out crushing finale and has you rooting for the 82 year old Beth the entire way. Will she get her revenge for what happened to her daughter? You'll have to read this to find out.
I recommend this quick novella to lovers of well written revenge stories, who do not mind a touch of extreme horror.
*I was provided a free copy of this novella to honestly review and that is what I have done.*
Find this review and others like it at: www.Horrorafterdark.com.
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