Survivor: 1

"It pushes your eyes off the page and then pulls them
back, forcing the kind of visceral relationship between
writer and reader that the best horror writing can
produce"

-The New York Times Book Review

"Fans of Jack Ketchum are definitely going to enjoy
Survivor. You need to buy this book."

-Cemetery Dance

"Quite possibly the most disturbing book I've ever
read in my life."

-Brian Keene, Author of City of the Dead

"J. F. Gonzalez is a writer to watch."

-Bentley Little, Author of The Policy

"[T]his is extreme horror, unflinching and uncompromising."

-Chiaroscuro

Lisa tried not to watch, tried to drown out the sounds
of what was going on, but she felt drawn to the scene
as it was being filmed.

As the assault continued, Lisa had feigned unconsciousness for what felt like hours. Lisa had never heard
anybody scream in pain the way Debbie screamed.
The screaming went on for a while and was punctuated by wet slapping sounds.

Somehow, Lisa managed to suffer through the ordeal
of listening to Debbie Martinez being brutalized while
she cowered in the comer, trying to drown out what
was happening. For the first time since her ordeal the
thought of the fetus in her womb didn't come up. It's
never going to be, she had thought, her heart heavy
with sadness. Brad and I aren't going to have our
baby, %w'11 never get the chance to make a baby again
because when they're finished with Debbie they're
going to-do the same to me.

Lisa didn't know if Debbie was dead or alive until
the three men left. She heard them packing the camera
and lighting gear up, and she heard the blond guy ask,
"Is it okay if we leave that one here until tomorrow or
the next day?"

J. F. GONZALEZ

Thank you: Dave Nordhaus for taking the bait the first
time with Maternal Instinct, and Shane Ryan Staley for
pulling it off; to Bill Relling and Bob Strauss for the
editorial support when I needed it. The biggest thanks go
to Gilbert Schloss for coming to the rescue when
nobody would step up to the plate.

The following people also need to be thanked for
various reasons, primarily for their friendship and support during the writing of this novel; in some cases for
sending me money when I needed it or for providing
technical support; in others, for their sheer wonderfulness: Cathy and Hannah, Joe and Lucy Becker, Jesus
and Glenda Gonzalez; Gary Zimmerman and Bonesaw;
Sean Wallace, Mary Wolf, Brian Hopkins; Matt
Schwartz, Del and Sue Howison; Ramona Pearce and
Salpy Manjikian; Trish Chervenak, Wrath James White,
and Khaled Hosseini, MD, for providing me with
answers to my questions as they pertained to their
individual fields (and I hope I didn't mess up too badly);
the California Highway Patrol and LAPD; Andrew
Vachss and the Zero; Monster.com; the city of Las Vegas
and the Luxor Hotel; John Graff; Kevin Johnson, Gord
Rollo, Garrett Peck, and Brian Keene for their support
and friendship; to Coop for helping stage the first "antireading"; and for my readers who believe in me.