• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Connect With Me
    • Request An Honest Review
    • Beta Reading Requests
    • Testimonials
  • Review Archive
    • Review Archive
    • Audiobook Review Archive
    • Spooky Children’s Book Review Archive
  • Referral Links
  • Podcast Recs
  • Policies
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

[Novella Review] You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy & J.C. Michael

January 15, 2018      Erica Robyn      10 Comments

Novella Review of You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy & J.C. Michael

You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy & J.C. Michael is a fast paced horror novella filled with violence and suspense, sprinkled with the paranormal and other bizarre elements. Of course, I really enjoyed it!! And phew, what an interesting plot!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy & J.C. Michael

WOW! What an intense beginning! I knew right from chapter one that this was going to be a novella with a great plot! However, I do have to say that I have very strong feelings over the whole, blaming others for someone committing suicide, but I won’t get into that here. If you pick up this book, just be aware of that.

The next few chapters of the book were broken up to focus on each of the four authors and the stories that they wrote. To avoid spoiling too much, I will be breaking down each character and rating their stories from a personal preference standpoint.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW*
Fiona– Her story “The Wrong Girl” was interesting! The beginning was a little rough, but the overall plot of the short story was interesting! I definitely wanted to learn more about the demonic characters, but the lack of information made it that much more intriguing. I would give her story 3/5.

Diane– Her story “Rezerection” was pretty bizarre but full of violence! I loved the zombie trope she used here. 3.5/5

Drexl– I hated this character from the first sentence from his chapter; what a gross character. His story was titled “Feral.”  I’m pretty sure I read this whole story with my eyebrows raised as far up on my face as they could go. Wow. What a crazy story! This is one that will be difficult to forget. 3.5/5

Simon– His story was titled “The Summoned.” I really enjoyed this one! It was dark and violent, and I loved how it ended! I would happily read a whole book based on this one! 5/5
*END OF SPOILERS*

After each of these stories, we dive into the aftermath… I couldn’t wait to see how this situation turned out. Not going to lie, I was pretty bummed my favorite character didn’t make the cut. But I LOVED the ending! Bravo!!

My Favorite Passages from You Only Get One Shot

“You’ll regret taking me, you know. Do you know who my mum and dad are?”
“I don’t give a fuck if your dad’s Liam Neeson, kid. We’ve heard it all before. Now shut up.”

Hopkins Lane was a single-track road running out of the southeast corner of town. Think hedgerows lined the tops of steep verges, and occasional pairs of trees reached for each other over the road like drowning lovers. A reaper-black Mercedes was parked in one of the sporadic passing places carved into the verge. The occupant had murder in mind.

She knew what she should really be doing was running for the door and screaming for help, but her legs felt like they were going to give way and something in her brain told her that the soles of her feet were glued to the spot.

My Final Thoughts on You Only Get One Shot

This novella had such a great plot! And it was everything a horror novella should be; it was suspenseful, bizarre, gritty, uncomfortable, and thrilling! I would definitely recommend this to any horror lover!


Snag a copy through Bookshop to help support local indie bookshops:

Thanks for reading!
What horror novellas have you read? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

Related Reading:

  • 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles
  • 100 Word Horrors Part 2
  • Carnival of Horror
  • Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2
  • Collected Easter Horror Shorts
  • Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick ‘r Treat
  • Dark Thoughts
  • The Gatekeeper
  • Screechers by Kevin J. Kennedy and Christina Bergling

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello there!

Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
I run on hot tea, good books, and loud music. She/Her.
 

Search This Blog

Sign Up For Post Notifications


Loading

Recent Popular Posts

  • [Book Review] Home & Other Stories by P.J. Blakey-Novis
  • [Book Review] Four by P.J. Blakey-Novis
  • [Book Review] Ten Years Gone by H.P. Newquist
  • [Book Review] Corpsing by Kayleigh Marie Edwards
  • [Book Review] The Easton Falls Massacre: Bigfoot’s Revenge

An Easy Guide to Locating Horror Reviews Without Losing Your Mind created by Lori of Barks At The Ghouls
Shirley's Book Blogger List

Categories

ericarobynreads

Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everyt Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everything a horror fan craves! From light and spooky, to full-blown spine-chilling terror, this collection of short stories is a killer mix.

No matter what your personal favorite sub-genre of horror is, you’ll be sure to find something that sinks its teeth into you within this collection!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #sicknessisinseason #aidenmerchant #crossroadspresss #horrorbookrecs #horrorshortstories #horrorbookstagram
My April book haul 😍🖤🙌 My April book haul 😍🖤🙌
NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @greg NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @gregorybastianelli.author tonight in Exeter at @waterstreetbooks! 

I’m SO peeved my back pain flared up and I can’t drive out… but I am so excited that Waterstreet Books sent a signed copy my way! 😍

I can’t wait to see photos from the event!!
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally captivating but nerve-wracking tale that is certainly not for those that fear tight spaces… While reading this tale, I felt so horribly claustrophobic. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find out what happened next!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #ladiesofhorrorfiction #horrorbookstagram #horrorbookrecs #theluminousdead #caitlinstarling
The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is a chilling gothic horror story about what it means to be human. In these pages, you will see plenty of the darkness that humanity can create, but you will also see the light!

Ready to dive into a dark and dreary tale about gruesome medical practices set in Victorian London? Go pick up The Workshop of Filthy Creation today! I can’t wait for you all to meet Maria!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #gothichorrorreads #horrorbookrecs #theworkshopoffilthycreation #richardgadz #horrorbookstagram
Max is one of the most hilarious people that I fol Max is one of the most hilarious people that I follow on Twitter! I originally learned who he was after seeing him participate in the KillerCon 2020 Virtual Event. I went to follow him and his publishing house, Perpetual Motion Machine (that he runs with Lori Michelle), immediately after his reading.

Within the PMM publishing house, they also have the imprint, Ghoulish Books, which launched in January of 2022. Max’s latest book, Maggots Screaming!, launched today April 12th, 2022 from that imprint. In celebration, I’m so excited to be sharing this interview with Max!

Check out the full interview on my blog today! 

#horrorauthor #horrorauthorinterview #maxboothiii #supporthorror #promotehorror
Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collectio Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collection of tales that span numerous dark fears. But as always, even in the darkness, there’s a bit of light.

In the foreword, the author warns that this is a book of fears, and boy does he play on fears wonderfully! Each tale is presented to readers in the first person to really get readers in the characters shoes. Please use caution here when you dive in. The author does not shy away from the darkness.

Phew, this read will take readers on quite the journey! It was the perfect read for a dark and rainy spring weekend.

#bookreview #horrorbookreview #horrorbookstagram #diariesofthedamned #IvanRadev #horrorbooks
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Erica Robyn Reads