Back in 2005 -2006 A small publishing company named Black Flame Publishing bought the book rights to Friday the 13th to release a series of books based on the popular character. They released a series based on the regular Friday the 13th franchise and they also picked up the rights to publish books that serve as sequels to the film Jason X I have books from both series and now it's time to review them!

Friday The 13th: Carnival of Maniacs

Plot: Jason's body has been found by a traveling side show and a woman named Alice Whitney plans to sell the body on ebay in a get rich quick scheme. A shock rocker that makes music about the crystal lake murders, a pair of FBI agents and a crazed billionaire all want the body for themselves for one reason or another. Another plot line involves the ghost of Pamela Voorhees

My take: This book is quite awesome I really enjoy this one, even though Jason largely takes a back seat through much of it, the book is never boring, there is a host of odd ball characters in this that make it a blast to read. I love all the little homages to the franchise and the way the plot makes fun of all the little inconsistencies I love the way all the plot lines come together at the very end the author is clearly a fan of the franchise.

on a scale of 1-4 I give the book a 4

if you don't want the book spoiled then skip below it is a list of the murders that occur in the book

Enoch hot coal shoved in mouth, hatchet in neck
Ma Grisson set on fire
Francis head crushed
Pa Grisson burned in fire
Z Moll pushed onto branch split in half
Trick forced to choke to death on cellphone
Carlton Wallace shot in head by Agent Kyler
voodoo man shot multiple times by agent kyler
voodoo man shot multiple times by agent Kyler
voodoo man shot in knee and head by agent kyler
swinburne stabbed multiple times by Pamela
Glow possessed by Pamela later has head punched off by Jason
George Whitney faced slashed apart by broken glass
Vincenzo eyes gouged out
Sparks Eyes gouged out
Judge Stabbed to death by Pamela
Kenton Freely impaled through ass by Jason shot in balls by Alice, burned to death
multiple people mangled and killed by Jason during side show
Ms. Jones shot to death multiple times by Nathanial Morgas
Minter killed with Spade
Sheriff Haslip shot by Agent Torrelson
Agent Kyler tortured half to death, by Torrelson possessed by Pamela
Camera Man face smashed with crowbar
bass player head bashed with Arc Lamp electrocuted
lead guitarist throat slashed with hi-hat
drummer head bashed in
keyboard player metal jack thrust through eye into brain
assistant producer strangled with headphones
producer intestines ripped out electrocuted on mixing board
room full of people implied deaths
agent torrelson shot multiple times by Pamela
Nathanial Morgas Tortured to death by Pamela
Luke Veranti/Jaomi Marantez double impalement with microphone stand
Ross Feratu face crushed with Jason's mask
bus full of people implied deaths

unless otherwise stated the deaths are by Jason

Jason X The Experiment

Plot
Picking up where Jason X left off we find Jason's nano bots repairing him and attacking people at a power plant on Earth 2. After he is put down he is taken to a top secret lab deep underground where he is experimented on to create super soldiers for the government. eventually gets free to kill more people.

Review
Where to start? it's honestly not very good it's pretty dull from the back of the book it sounds like it will be interesting and a good follow up, it has many problems. Not a lot actually happens in the book and much of the carnage caused by Jason is glossed over. Most of the book is devoted to the dull lives of the people that live in this installation. There are a ton of characters many which will pop up, you'll learn about their life and never be seen again. You just keep waiting around for Jason to be reactivated so he starts killing people. When the carnage finally starts there is only about 70 pages left in the book and it is vastly underwhelming there is a bit of suspense but Jason is pretty much kept out of it. There was a lot of promise in the book but it's just a huge let down.

On a scale of 1-4 it gets a 2

This is the confirmed body count

Sawyer hacked to pieces
Mara hacked to pieces
woman hacked to pieces
man burned to death
numerous protesters hacked apart
numerous soldiers at power plant hacked apart
Linda Numinem neck snapped bashed apart
Alonzo dissected/experimented on by Dr. Hyacinthstein
Kray dissected/experimented on by Dr. Hyacinthstein
Powell dissected/experimented on by Dr. Hyacinthstein
Dr. Hyacinthstein pulled apart between Jason and Jason clone
numerous soldiers hacked apart at lab
Jason clone shot to pieces

all the soldiers and protesters deaths are undetermined the book wasn't really clear on how they were actually killed and how many were killed

I'm about to start reading Jason X: Planet of the Beast tonight

I myself dislike what Jason X did, going into the futuristic crap.

Jason X Planet of the Beast

The Plot

Takes place on a research space station with a crew of mostly scientists which is stationed around a planet nick named Planet of the Beast because nothing can survive there. The body of Jason is discovered and a scientist named Bardox believes he can use Jason as a way to clone a brand new species of human that will eventually become the dominate species and wipe out the original humans.

My Take

It's a pretty campy book it doesn't take itself as seriously as the first book does which I kinda like This book book is much more violent than Jason X The Experiment was he's pretty brutal with Jason being more sadistic than he is in the movies, which often times is a bit over the top, this book was never boring, one scene that was a bit silly for me is the sci fi version of a camp fire story as a goth scientist character tells a story about the legend of Jason Voorhees which has him killing a squad of soldiers in the swamps of Louisiana. one thing that holds this book back is all the spelling mistakes and errors, there's a lot of them and they are quite obvious I don't understand how they slipped through the editing process.

I give this book a 3 it would have been a much better read if the mistakes were corrected.

The next review will be Jason X: To The Third Power

Body count

Captain Savini Sliced in the groin
Fedor Stanislav throat ripped out
security member one face slashed
security member 2 top of head chopped off
Miles stomped to death
Emery Peterson bashed against boulder, cut to pieces
Felicity Lawrence Space suit breached, svcked through hole
Andre hand hacked off, head bashed against window
Brandi stabbed through chest
Renata mutilated, hacked to pieces
Bella Morte cut in half
Akako cut to pieces stabbed with needle
Helmet hand exploded svcked out into space
Bill Lawrence foot slashed in half, head bashed in on metal staircase
claude Bartox arm hacked off, stabbed with machete face crushed

If you're into über violent deaths and like low fantasy you should read the a Song of Ice and Fire series. A Dance with Dragons (book 5) is full of horrendous torture, mutilation of hands, feet, mouths and every other body part. Plus, the 'good' guys die.