The Talented Book Killer

A new example of the skilled BK showed up just in time for my third blog series on Book Killers. A couple of posts ago, I illustrated in words and an example what a Book Killer is. The Book Killer wrote a hit piece on my novel Cold Blooded, but listed reasons for his Book Killing that simply did not exist in the novel. He claimed my main character murdered people in front of their children, and that he died at the end. Neither happened in the novel, so his BK status was easily established.

Today, I’ll cover the stealthy BK. He comes up with just enough vitriol for Amazon to allow his Book Killer review to be published, but reveals nothing other than a sweeping ‘utter trash’ depiction of the novel. This is a BK with talent, who never read the book, but doesn’t reveal his status by making mistakes about what happens inside a novel he hasn’t read. Another clue is the fourth book in the Hard Case series is the only item on Amazon he’s reviewed. I’m very honored.  :)

1.0 out of 5 stars Trash, March 27, 2014

By 

Allan McEvoy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: HARD CASE (The John Harding Series #4) - A Violent Life (Kindle Edition)

Utter trash, don't even think about buying it. If I could think of worse things to say about this book I would.

This type of BK can’t be battled with, other than a polite reminder about the ‘Look Inside’ feature Amazon offers with three full chapters free. This is about all we as authors can do with a talented BK:

‘I'm sorry you didn't like Hard Case Book IV: A Violent Life. Because Amazon gives the reader 'Three' sample chapters free in the very generous 'Look Inside' feature, you could have saved yourself some money and time by taking advantage of the excellent reader's tool Amazon provides. All of the items you disliked about the book were clearly on display in the preview. I hope in the future, you will avail yourself of the 'Look Inside' feature and avoid novels clearly not to your taste.’

Of course this reminder is an author’s only choice in dealing with a BK troll, because waging a troll war will not undo his review, nor will it prove anything. Taking a troll attack personally is a waste of time. A BK doesn’t review your book to give you insights into your writing. They hit your book to kill it. Good reviews following up on a BK’s hit piece buries it a bit, but we have to believe in our readers’ intelligence.

Hard Case BookIV: A Violent Life garnered twenty-six 5 star reviews, and five 4 star reviews before the BK struck. It had achieved a ranking in the top fifty paid books on Amazon in the very competitive categories of Thriller, Mystery, and Assassinations. Since being released on March 1^st, it has done very well, because the Hard Case series has developed a real fan base. Logically, a BK looks rather foolish doing a hit piece on the fourth book in a series. Actual readers of the first three, may well be disappointed by how the fourth book in a series they like develops, and will state their reasoning. A BK does what Mr. McEvoy did.

I know I’m taking a chance doing this BK series on the blog, but I have a lot of writing friends who stop by here, or read my posts on Google + and Twitter. Plus, I’m not much of a ‘hide in the corner’ type. I’ve seen authors go to pieces because of these goofy BK’s. An author writes a novel. It begins to take off in sales and ratings, and suddenly a BK troll swoops in for the kill. Being able to recognize the difference between an honest ‘bad’ review and a BK troll review is important. A legitimate ‘bad’ review usually contains hints about our writing that we can improve upon. That’s it for today on the Amazon troll magnet marketplace.  :)