David R. Williams deserves to be fleeced for robbing my sleep, chilling me to death and gifting me a grossly uncomfortable state of perpetual wariness. Welcome to the �not so obscure�, violent, grotesque and scrumptiously insane world of David R. Williams.

The book is a treat for all you true lovers of horror who have been turning anorexic; thanks to a diet of toon-land, terror billboards, and noodle thin �frighteners�. The master of blood and gore is here and he is making a bold statement; the font color is undoubtedly red.

"Killer Asylum" is about a government research facility where a coven of the world's most heinous serial killers have been gathered for the purpose of trying to understand how their minds work and how they came to be. The inmates soon take over the asylum and hold the staff hostage. Their single demand is that, in exchange for the lives of their hostages, the one person responsible for their capture be brought to them - Alison Moire.

This work is an awe-inspiring journey into personalities, that are visceral and demanding, to the extent that the readers, will be coaxed into becoming a part of the horrifying nightmare. Soren Cabal is devil in a serial killer�s dress and he is a boogey-man sans conscience, sans pity. Alison Moire who is haunted by the memories of her family�s murder, is a tribute to David�s ability to etch flesh and blood characters that will haunt you forever. A well-researched work of fiction; Killer Asylum will keep you glued to your chair. It is true that the atten tion to details is outstanding, but I strongly feel that his ability to create a gripping storyline with an elegant sense of timing has been overlooked. A visually rich, terror machine, the cat and mouse game played by the protagonist will leave you yearning for more.

Killer Asylum would make an excellent movie; as regards the mistakes, this very fact is the origin of all disappointments a serious reader would face while reading. The author�s prose goes hopelessly haywire. The comparisons are less than impressive and the narration choppy. It is almost as if we are watching a thriller, breathless and aching for closure. That is precisely the worst mistake to commit while writing a book. The typos have virtually raped the book and turned it into a scarred, bruised corpse. Dear David, please send the book to a good editor because with a systematic elimination of such flaws, you can assuredly brag of having written a genuinely frightening work, which will continue to be read and cherished by generations of readers. The main protagonist is definitely a clone of Clarence Starling and Cabal the �larger, better extra strong, now in a new pack� Hannibal Lecter. Even if I am wrong, nobody can blame thousands of readers for drawing a similar conclusion; Williams could have really done something about it in the planning stages. A similarly bad aspect is the �I have seen it in that movie� effect, which will not help his cause of establishing himself as a truly gifted writer. The characters are sometimes inflated to an appalling extent, so much so that we feel suffocated; our initial impression regarding the character also takes a beating. The book has its fair share of errors, which need to be corrected.

All said and done it�s a delectable dish, rich and terrifying, action packed and pulsating with effervescent energy and above all it is �Horror at its best�. Meanwhile brace yourself for terror beyond your wildest dreams because he will assuredly deliver more than what you can handle.

Nikesh Murali, eBook Reviews Weekly

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

One of the best of the genre!  Oct 07, 2004
By meiringen "meiringen"
This is one of the most horrifying horror novels I've ever read. It's terrifying, but once started, you can't put the blasted thing down. This is like no other book about serial killers that I've come across, and I thought I'd read some pretty gruesome ones!

WARNING:
This is not for the faint of heart, nor for the kiddies.

(And, don't read it before bedtime--it may keep you up all night!)

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

A Dark Stroll Through a Serial Killer's Mind  Mar 13, 2002

One of my biggest complaints with books dealing with serial
killers is how often the authors create dark godlings instead
of believable monsters. While Cabal does fall into the
eyebrow-raising realm of credibility, the stage is creatively
set for you to WANT to believe he exists. He is the symbolic
boogey man, complete with nightmares and closets partially
opened. This is not to say this book is meant for whiling away
a lazy afternoon. I strongly forewarn the potential reader.
Reading Killer Asylum is the closest you will ever want to be
to walking in a serial killer's mind.

Killer Asylum reminded me of approaching a car wreck. The
closer you get to the accident the more you want to turn away
- yet still find yourself trying to see the carnage. Even as you
turn away in disgust a part of you wants to look one last time.
Cabal's behavior is so horrendous; it stuns the reader with
the blatant crudity and honest viscousness that David
Williams splashes across the pages like a victim's corpse.
The bleak reality Alison (the protagonist) defines her life by is something many profilers touch on, but have never quite explained so clearly.

The terror of falling into the abyss, yet drawn to the dark
control, is a struggle every profiler relates to. Killer Asylum's
vivid imagery allowed the reader to feel the struggle within
Alison, to feel the aching tiredness in her mind. The imagery
is so clear, the reader is left identifying with the heroine. You
want her to retire, as you can sense how close she is on the
edge. You feel for the heroine as only a well-written book
allows you to.

This is a dark read, but highly enlightening for those who do
not understand the fascination of the serial killers mind. Do I
recommend this book for mainstream? No. It is too brutal,
graphic, too real for the mainstream to digest. Do I
recommend it for reading? Definitely. I recommend anyone
interested in the serial killer's mind or a profession dealing
with profiling read this book. And, once done, ask yourself the
question I finally had to face. Could you handle the real thing,
when this is just a taste?

Absolutely Fabulous  Mar 03, 2004

This book was great! David Williams is the future of horror. Great story line with excellent imagery.

The Patients Have Taken Over the Asylum  Oct 17, 2003
By J. Barnes "earsphere"
This book is as gruesome and action-packed as any you are likely to find in bookstores today, complete with a kick-ass female FBI agent and a devilishly intelligent serial murderer as her nemesis. Williams has an extensive vocabulary of the vulgar which he uses to the full extent to describe the horror of what happens when a bunch of institutionalized serial killers manage to take over the asylum.

Williams has packed a lot of interesting ideas into a compact and quick read. Especially ambitious is his attempt to bring to life so many extreme characters. Although the ringleader of the madness, Soren Cabal, is fascinating I sometimes missed the intimacy of exploring the pathology of one specific madman. But having an asylum full of killers is what really puts the action over the top.

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