Kindle Edition Amazon Feedaread Clothing women in horror Category:  Horror Publisher: Amazon ISBN-10:  B00579EBA4 Type: Fiction Pages: 318 Copyright: June 11, 2011 Price: $4.74 (eBook) Within its pages is a story of Murder, Mayhem, Mystery and Romance, all wrapped around an intriguing plot. When the act of murder is so evil, the story itself becomes an entity that forces its author into feeding it's blood lust.     "Novelist Jake Stone has sacrificed everything for this story, including anyone who crossed his path - a story Composed in Blood. Tommy, the incestuous and psychotic offspring of a crooked judge, has had a boyhood from hell. He is surviving the only way he knows, by eating what he kills. He is observed by a has-been writer, Jake Stone, who becomes obsessed by the concept of recording the story that unfolds to create his greatest work. Stone starts to bring in new victims for Tommy to butcher, feeding the incessant thirst of the story for blood. Despite the best efforts of law enforcement, this bizarre situation spins rapidly out of control in a maelstrom of murder and madness, to a final resolution: or is it final?       Excerpt The flame from the old oil light cast eerie shadows around the room. The night was still, except for the steady "ping, ping," sound of the last of the evening's rain drops, falling from the shack's roof to join the many before them in the rusty black cast iron pot which was a permanent fixture on the kitchen table. A breeze caught the flame and made the shadows appear alive as they swayed to and fro on the blood soaked walls. A figure sat with his hands held up to the lamp, squinting his eyes in the dim light. His face was screwed up in a grimace; his tongue, held between twisted, blackened teeth, lolled from the side of his mouth. Lost in deep concentration, he slowly uncupped his hands to reveal a desperately fluttering moth. The young man held the moth carefully between thumb and forefinger and slowly pulled off one wing. The insect tried desperately to regain its freedom, beating furiously with the other appendage. He closely examined the liquid and tissue that formed a string from thorax to wing as he slowly pulled the other wing free, then losing interest in his captive, he dropped it into the flame where it popped and hissed as flame engulfed it. Tommy's head cocked to one side as he listened to the sound of a dog barking outside. Jumping to his feet, he moved quickly towards the door. His left foot started to slip sideways as he stepped in a puddle of blood on the linoleum floor. Quickly he shifted his body weight to the other leg, regaining his footing as he reached for the doorknob, and opening the door he stepped out into the night. Grabbing the axe that was leaning against the wall of the tool shed, he rushed out into the back yard. The dog was standing only a few yards away, head lowered and lips drawn back in a menacing snarl, revealing large, sharp canines. A deep low growl emanated from somewhere deep within its chest. Even for a shepherd-wolf cross, he was a massive animal. The dog's fur was wet from the rain and matted with a mixture of blood, leaves and mud. Tommy raised the axe above his head and swung it with all his strength at the dog just as it lunged. "I'll kill you this time Max" Tommy shouted at the dog, but the axe made contact with only air; the animal had vanished. "I'll get you next time Max" he mumbled to himself as he started to walk back to the shack, flinging the axe to the ground. Realizing the time, Tommy broke into a run: it was time for Grandpa's bath, and he would be in big trouble if he were late. "Where were you?" his Grandma said in her cruel voice. "You were out there trying to see a girl again, weren't you?" "Well, speak to me!" She screamed. "You've been a nasty boy again haven't you? You have been playing with nasty boy parts, haven't you?" "No Gram" he said in a quivering voice. "I told you next time I would cut the whole thing off and not just clip it with the nail clippers. Didn't I?" came his Grandma's voice. The young man started to cry and backed away slowly, pleading all the way. Of course his Grandmother could no longer hurt him with the clipper, or get that great beast of hers to attack him any more. She could not hurt anyone and neither could Max. Tommy had seen to that. His Grandmothers corpse sat in a corner propped up in a chair, a piece of toast and a warm cup of tea in front of her. The right arm was missing at the elbow. The youth had removed this with the axe to use as bait for the dog. Fresh meat had always perked its interest, and as he suspected, it hadn't been long before the smell of the fresh kill brought it running to the kitchen. As he looked at his Grandmother, a movement on her arm caught his attention. A mass of flies buzzed on the decaying limb. A large fat worm-like creature drew his eye. He picked up a carving fork and poked at it. There was a slight popping feeling as its flesh yielded to the fork's pressure and he brought it nearer to his face for closer inspection. He wondered if he could use these as bait to catch a fat catfish for his dinner. Tommy was now 17 years old and had only seen the outside world through the grimy glass of the small room he was locked in most of his life. His mother, only a child herself, had died giving Tommy life. Just three days after her thirteenth birthday and two months pregnant with Tommy, Jenny Fox moved from Upstate New York to an abandoned mining camp in the back woods of Minnesota to give birth to her illegitimate son. Jenny Fox was born of society parents. Her father was a well-known Supreme Court Judge and the father of Jenny's child. Because of their Catholic faith, abortion was out of the question, and so a young Jane Doe was found and a Doctor's malpractice suit was dismissed in exchange for his signature on a phony death certificate for the young Jenny Fox. Under the pretense of mourning, the judge's wife was said to have gone to another state to stay with friends. Jenny was put into a large steamer trunk and loaded into the back of a truck and taken to the camp, so as not to be seen by anyone. Her mother resented the child's very existence, not only because it was her husband’s child, but because it caused her to lose her social standing and life of ease and luxury. It forced her to go from a large estate that was always full of guests, to a rundown drafty shack without plumbing or electricity and a life of secrecy and solitude. Tommy remembered the good days, the days when once a month, Grandpa would drive to the camp and under the cover of night, take him to the lake to fish. He would gorge himself on the fish they would catch, cooked over a fire near the shack. His misshapen jaw caused a severe speech impediment, and his legs, although strong, were deformed from many breaks, causing him to walk with one leg trailing slightly. He didn't understand why his Grandma and Grandpa fought so much, but he knew it was his fault. Grandma told him this. Carl, the man that worked for Grandpa, would come once a week to bring groceries and would secretly put special treats for Tommy in through the broken window of Tommy's room. Tommy would have to hide them and play with these when he was alone in the room. Carl once brought him a flashlight so he could play in the dark. He knew that if Grandma found out about these special things that Carl could no longer come. Grandpa would always bring him something as well, but these he could only play with the day Grandpa brought them. Grandma would always throw them in the fire as soon as he left. As Grandpa started getting older, he had difficulty doing things for himself and Tommy would have to help him with his bath. He would make the many trips back and forth to the well, carrying bucket after bucket of water, pouring them into the big black kettles that hung over the fire to heat. Then he would carry them to the back room to fill the metal tub for Grandpa's bath. Grandpa liked it when Tommy bathed him, because Tommy was Grandpa's good boy. He was the only one that called him a "good boy" and Tommy didn't mind doing things for Grandpa. "You make sure and clean my bad boy parts" he would say, "make sure you use lots of soap, so Grandma knows I'm nice and clean." "Oh, that's so good. You are such a good boy" Grandpa would tell him, "I will bring you something special." He was awakened from his memories by a scuffling sound as a rat ran out from under the cupboards and towards his grandfather's body that was lying on the cot in the other room. Tommy had stripped the old man down and prepared him for his bath. Grandpa had passed away from a heart attack one night last week, while fishing with Tommy. Tommy had never seen a dying person before and not knowing what to do, sat a few feet away and quietly watched with curiosity as his Grandfather held his chest and started turning blue. Tommy was fascinated by the way Grandpa's eyes seemed to almost pop from his head as the old man struggled to take in air. His arm stretched out toward the boy as he slowly dragged himself over the ground towards him, trying to get his help. Tommy slowly backed away to stay just out of reach of the outstretched arm, but still staying close enough to see the struggle for life by the light of the campfire. Tommy had seen his Grandpa have breathing problems and hold his chest a lot lately and knew that the little pills in the funny red container in his breast pocket made it go away. Maybe that was what he wanted Tommy's help with. His attacks had never been this bad before and Tommy was interested to see what came next. The boy pushed down with the palm of his hand against the old mans stomach. He leaned with more and more pressure and listened as the final breath escaped past the purple-blue lips. It was some time before Tommy put the fire out and dragged the old man's body up the bank and down the path towards the group of shacks that made up the old mining camp. He put his Grandpa's body in one of the dilapidated shacks closest to the outskirts of the town and headed to the one he and his Grandma occupied. Upon entering the shack, his Grandmother started questioning him about his Grandfathers whereabouts. Her voice was getting louder and louder as she stared past him down the path searching for her husband's silhouette. The questions stopped abruptly as Tommy reached out and caught her by the throat: he realized the effect was the same as with the rats he used to kill and eat when the hunger became to much to bear, laying alone in the dark of his locked room. Tommy heard a dull snapping sound when he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back sharply. Thinking about the rats in his room brought the memory of the running rat back into his mind and he followed its path to the cot that his Grandpa was laying on. The rat, taken by surprise, leaped into the air and off the old man's chest, where it had been dining on the decomposing flesh of the right cheek. The rat tried to make a run for the open door, but the hard heel of Tommy's boot crushed its spine. He picked it up and carried it into the kitchen, dropping it on the counter; he would save it for later, he thought. Hearing his Grandmother's voice, he slowly turned around to face her; "I found that book in your room, that dirty girl book. Do you really think any girl would want you? You are no good to a woman. That thing of yours doesn't work, and you are ugly. Anybody would think you a monster." He held his hands tightly over his ears to block out the sound as she began to laugh and taunt him. He turned away until her voice and laughter fell silent. He slid one hand down the front of his pants and scratched himself. He remembered the day he had been so bad that Grandma had put rubber bands around the two round parts under his body's water hose. He remembered being locked in his room, holding back with all his might the urge to scream with the pain. He also remembered Grandma's warning him that if she heard so much as a peep from him, she would cut out his tongue. His muffled sobs went on the rest of that day and well into the night until the pain overcame him and he passed out.

Wow.Seriously disturbing and amazing horror.
It has been awhile since I have read any Horror. My interest in books spans all genres. I used to read only Fantasy and Science Fiction, then I read only Stephen King, then I started reading Romance, but only Paranormal Romance, recently I started reading more Contemporary Romance. I also like reading YA, especially YA Dystopian. So now I feel like my reading interests have gone full circle back to Horror. I should pick up some Science Fiction/Fantasy while I am it. I used to be a fan of scary movies too, and I guess I still am though I haven't watched any in awhile. Slasher movies aren't something you can watch too many of with a small child in the house. I think a good horror tale should have just enough of the creepy and macabre to draw you in and keep you there quivering in terror until it's over. A good horror story makes you jump at strange noises in the night. A good horror story is something you remember long after you've finished reading it. Cindy Sprigg's book drew me in with the very first line and didn't let go.

The son of an incestuous relationship, Tommy lives in a shack surrounded by the bodies of his dead grandparents. Tommy was horribly abused by his grandmother and he grows up to be a crazed killer. A down on his luck writer, Jake, finds a body and thinks he may be on the verge of finding a really great, scary story. Jake is drawn into Tommy's madness. "The novel was now telling him he must supply victims to feed the boy, to feed it. The novel was everything; the story was his soul."

The writing in this book is amazing. It is descriptive and full of tension. The pacing is perfect. "A tale designed to make the reader both afraid to turn the page, but at the same time afraid not to." The story is twisted, messed up, bloody and scary. But it is also kind of sad. I feel sympathetic towards poor, crazy, killer Tommy. If you like Silence of the Lambs, Dexter, Psycho, or Saw than you will appreciate Composed in Blood. The dynamic between Jake and Tommy also reminded me of the 2006 movie Bug with Ashley Judd, based on a play, about the disorder where one person is drawn into another person's delusion.

The book is amazingly terrifying and after reading it you may need to sleep with a light on. Tommy and Max's story is one full of pain, blood and death. And Jake's descent into madness is seriously twisted. There is so much going on in this book. Sprigg seamlessly collects several fragments and weaves them into a whole. Thank you for this amazingly, disturbed, twisted tale, oh Mistress of the Macabre. After reading it all I could think was 'Wow'.

in a word...SCAREY
Wow! I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review, and I want to say THANK YOU to this wonderful writer for giving the World , the gift of this book. If you are a true horror fan you will love this book! Fast pace, with bloody twists ,turns and plots that will have you scream. Make sure you leave a light on while reading this book!! BRILLENT, BRILLENT, BRILLENT!!!!!!!!

OMG!!! Brilliant
This is a story that will keep you turning the pages, even the virtual ones with it's mixture of characters, mayhem, planning and an author with a good horror story in his future plans. Tommy is a young man that is brought up knowing nothing different, Jake is the author that can not resist the temptation of writing a second successful novel. This leads Jake into a world where he has the power and planning time to make the events happen so that he can `feed' the story. Reading the book I felt sorry for Tommy, he doesn't know what he is doing is wrong, even though I knew help was needed. Jake knows what he is doing, at least to start with, but then is possessed by something telling him what to do? Then you have the involvement of the police, a spark of romance to help bring this to a closure. But does it end there? Twists and turns in the book feed the reader enough to keep you wrapped in the story. There is a possibility here for a sequel and I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds.