*Review* Affliction by S.L. Dearing

Genre: Thriller

Published: January 29, 2014

Pages: 27

Ages: 16+

Synopsis

Kaila Montgomery is a vivacious young woman, enjoying her collegiate years. She excels in her classes, shares a great apartment with her best friend Kate, and has many friends. Life is great! That is until she begins to feel as if she’s being watched, and a mysterious package leads to one frightening event after another. Can Kaila figure out who is watching her, before it’s too late? 
**Affliction is a stalking short story. It contains violence, mature situations and potential triggers.**

Review

This story is about a girl who seems to have a stalker. There's a creepy guy who always stares at her at the coffee shop, she's gotten weird letters in the mail, and she and her roommate get random prank calls in the middle of the night. Not to mention that part of the story is told in the form of journal entries written by the stalker (it's kind of a dead giveaway). 

The story starts just before the stalking escalates to violence, and it moves pretty quickly, which is the one thing I didn't like about it. I didn't get a chance to feel connected to the characters because I was trying to figure out "whodunit." I would also really love to see more from the view of the stalker, just something to give us a deeper look into his motives or something. 

What this story did super right was making me suspect pretty much everyone, and still catching me off guard at the end. It helped that I was never able to peg the stalker for sure in my mind.

Overall I give this story 4 out of 5 stars. It would definitely make for a great quick read for your lunch break. - Katie 

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About the Author

Shannon L. Dearing was raised in Westlake Village, California and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, then spent several years studying at Los Angeles City College’s renowned Television/ Film program. She has worked on several film projects in many capacities: directing, writing, First Asst. Director, Etc.. Shannon has been writing since grade school. Over the years she has written several screenplays, poems and short stories. She is wroking on the Lia Fail series as well as several Stand alone projects. Shannon currently lives in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, CA