Grand Central Publishing / May 2009
Reviewed by: Martel Sardina

As horror fans, we should all know by know that offering a ride to or accepting a ride from a stranger is never a good idea. Stories fall into to two categories: the hitchhiking psychopath who takes advantage of an unsuspecting Good Samaritan or the naive hitchhiker who accepts a ride from a nefarious stranger. But what if the hitchhiking psychopath accepted a ride from a nefarious stranger? In the novella Serial, Konrath and Crouch combine the best of both worlds to give readers a story they won’t soon forget.

Donaldson is a serial killer who is starting to wonder if pursuing hitchhikers as victims is even worth the trouble anymore. Finding potential victims is getting tougher all the time. Delayed gratification takes the fun out of the game. But maybe his luck is improving. Shortly after disposing of his latest victim, Donaldson sees Lucy, a pretty young thing waving her up turned thumb in his direction. Should he give her a lift? Or does he know enough to realize this opportunity is too good to be true?

Konrath and Crouch collaborated on Serial in part to give readers a sampler of their respective works. Konrath writes the Lt. Jack Daniels mystery series and recently released his first horror novel, Afraid, under the pen name Jack Kilborn. Crouch’s first two novels feature Andy Thomas, a suspense writer who gets pulled into a nightmarish world worse than the ones he writes about. His forthcoming novel, Abandon, is about a mining town in the Colorado mountains that vanishes in 1893.

An interview with the authors and excerpts from Afraid and Abandon are included in this free e-book (for Kindle or Kindle for iPhone).

Download Serial by J.A. Konrath and Blake Crouch.