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Greg Hickey
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Parabellum: A Psychological Thriller Kindle Edition

by Greg Hickey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 74 ratings
Four high-achievers battling psychological demons. Any of them might snap. But which one will become a killer?

A mass shooting at a Chicago beach leaves several dead and dozens injured. Four individuals emerge as suspects in the attack.

An apathetic computer programmer.
An ex-college athlete with a history of head injuries.
An Army veteran turned Chicago cop.
A despondent high school student.

One of them is a mass murderer. But who? And why?

In this thought-provoking psychological crime novel, Greg Hickey turns the "who-dunnit" genre on its head by exploring the "why-dunnit" of an all-too-familiar American tragedy. With finely honed prose and masterfully complex characters, Parabellum examines the darkness in us all as the story builds to a shocking climax.

If you like tortured characters, multiple suspects, and nuanced crime fiction that explores the depths of the human psyche, you’ll love Greg Hickey's compelling and unforgettable novel.

Buy Parabellum today and begin a story you won't be able to put down.
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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 10, 2020
  4. File size
    3.3 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"We live in a time of nameless, faceless evil, and Greg Hickey's Parabellum takes us on a vivid, harrowing journey into the systems and societal circumstances that create it. But it's Hickey's eye for detail and finely honed prose that cast the real spell of this novel--convincing the reader that despite all the bleakness, the possibility of salvation is always nigh." - Jenny Milchman, Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of Cover of Snow and The Second Mother

"Parabellum is taut, slow-burning crime fiction at its best. And it's a great deal more than that. Greg Hickey has crafted a masterfully paced character study within a genre, a study that takes a philosophical and revealing look at the roots of America's seemingly endless struggle with violence. The result is a smart, compelling, brilliantly structured tale that entertains as it challenges. You won't be able to put it down. You won't want to forget it." - Paul Flower, author of The Great American Cheese War

"Once you get going, you just cannot stop. Hickey's story pulls you into the characters' deeply miserable lives, their inexplicable thoughts and their increasing desperation like you are being sucked into a swamp... Parabellum reads like a novel by a mature author, ticking all the boxes for a chilling and pulse-racing psychological thriller." - Seven Circumstances Review

"Fantastic... Should be part of college curriculums." - Chapter One Podcast

"Hickey presents a haunting and deft portrait into a graphicly sweeping tale of modern proportions, with ambition bursting from every page. This may very well be the Crash of the decade." - Curtis H. Stratton, author of The Hamilton Manifesto

"An outright gritty crime novel with a narrative that is unique." - Book Vue

"Everything about Parabellum was beautifully complex... I was blown away by the author's ability to write such phenomenal scenes." - The Literary Apothecary

A selection of comments from Amazon reviewers:

"WOW! Compelling and life-like!"

"Crime and thriller readers would love this!"

"I had chills and was shedding tears at the tragedy of it all."

"Intelligent crime fiction with deep character development."

"If you're looking for suspense, this is it!"

"Four different stories combine to create one unforgettable novel."

"Powerful writing... This book will keep you on the edge of your seat."

"Well-crafted and gripping."

"Harrowing and suspenseful."

"An impossible book to put down."

"Will stay with me forever."

"There are so many amazing things about this book that I'm at a loss for words as to how to give it the praise it deserves."

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08L1NPNWB
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 10, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.3 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1733093710
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

About the author

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Greg Hickey

Greg Hickey

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Author of entertaining stories for smart readers. Download the short novel The Theory of Anything for free on the author's website.

Greg Hickey wrote his first novel, Our Dried Voices, while spending a year in Sundsvall, Sweden and Cape Town, South Africa, playing and coaching for local baseball teams. That novel was published in 2014 and was a finalist for Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award.

Today, he still loves sharing stories while staying busy with the other facets of his life. Following twelve-plus years of work as a forensic scientist, he is now a full-time author. After his post-college travels, he once again lives in his hometown of Chicago with his wife and daughter.

Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
74 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the character development in depth and the distance between them and the reader effective. The story is powerful, with powerful final scenes that underscore the point of the story. However, some feel the story could have been tighter.

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Character developmentStory quality
3 customers mention "Character development"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the depth of character development and the distance between characters and readers.

"...telling than showing’ style, and eventually liked the distancing of characters from the reader...." Read more

"...or in my case, listeners (Alexa read it to me), real insight into the characters’ psyches...." Read more

"I thought that the character development was in depth...." Read more

3 customers mention "Story quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the story. They feel it could have been tighter, but the final scenes are powerful and highlight the point of the story. The story opens with a massacre, but that's all the air time it gets until the end.

"...The story opens with the massacre, but that is all the air time it gets until the end where we finally learn who the shooter is...." Read more

"...I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and examinations." Read more

"Great Story!..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Bobby K.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I have never read a book written in this style. The author does not identify, by name, any of the main characters throoughout the book. I suspected it was leading up to an eventful climax, which it did. It kept me wondering which part each subject would play in the story. It was obvious each had some flaws that was going to lead to a tragic ending, but I was not able to identify which one until the very end. Great read. I look forward to reading this author again.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Susan Rees
    4.0 out of 5 stars What turns a person into a mass murderer?
    Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Parabellum takes an unusual approach to telling the story of another mass shooting in the US, an event that is all too common in a country that, so far, refuses to give up the so-called individual's 'right' to own and shoot any number of guns. Like the news reports we, outside the US, read about such events, the fictional event is covered briefly. The story opens with the massacre, but that is all the air time it gets until the end where we finally learn who the shooter is.
    Most of the story follows four potential suspects, each suffering from a different mental health issue. Each section of the story begins with an omniscient narrator making observations about life, thought, the insignificance of we little humans, followed by the progress or lack of same by each suspect. Some are in therapy; others rely on themselves and/or a friend in their individual battles.
    The ending was not obvious for most of the story, but the author gave sufficient information about each suspect that, when the shooter was revealed, it was the character I thought most likely to be the one.
    None of the suspects (or their friends) are named until the final pages; they are described only as: the student, the ex-athlete, the programmer, and the veteran. This has the effect of distancing them from the reader, but while I found this frustrating because I took quite a while to keep them straight in my head, perhaps this isn't a bad thing. Many people struggle with mental health issues, and by stripping away this element of identity, they become 'anyone' we know.
    By contrast, the victims and their families on the Ohio Beach are all named, with some background given. Families, people with dreams and plans and hopes, young and old and middle-aged - the shooter shot indiscriminately. This made the final scenes powerful, and underscored what the point of the story was for me.
    While the story is effective, I felt it could have been a bit tighter in eliminating some repetition. That said, I got used to the more ‘telling than showing’ style, and eventually liked the distancing of characters from the reader.
    Recommended, especially if you enjoy the challenge of trying to work out the guilty party before the big reveal.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Greg
    1.0 out of 5 stars Pretty derivative
    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The characters really weren't original at all. It's like the writer googled "give me four different profiles of a mass shooter" and then just wrote a story about it.
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  • Lisa J. Lickel
    3.0 out of 5 stars There’s potential here
    Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2022
    Hickey’s writing is smooth and flowing and exceptionally error-free for self-publishing. I hate to give less than four, but I can’t really justify more than three stars. It’s a dilemma, but here’s why: The book contains four well-developed characters in search of a plot. The first two minutes is a mass-murder scene; the rest of the book is walking back some years to follow four people who just go about their lives. There’s no connection to the crime, no actual plotline or story arc; just the back cover blurb telling you to pick one perp. It’s not time travel. It’s not any kind of procedural.

    I did like the technique of anonymity through identifying characters only through their current occupation. There’s a potential for interesting conversation about whether mass-murderers arise from significant life traumas if given the opportunity and means. In a twist the author chose to spend an inordinate time naming and describing the victims just ahead of the crime at the very end of the story. While it might be a way to honor victims, in story-world it’s a waste of time on throw-away characters when the tension is better placed in rising and falling action mid story. To make the reader care about the victims, you have to invest in them and give the reader a chance and a reason to bond with them ahead of time.

    Choosing a perpetrator based on lengthy character analysis does not necessarily lead to good story. Between a sociopath, a PTSD vet, a physically damaged and a psychologically damaged person for choices about who’s a mass murderer, and it’s not all that hard to figure out what’s coming down the pike. In the most distinctive explanation of drama, Hickey’s story is not truly crime fiction, as there are no clues, no attempt to solve a crime, no one in charge of a case, just simply a meandering tromp through traumatized people’s lives as an explanation of why such a horrific crime occurred.

    A sadly missed opportunity of creating drama relating to all of the characters was through the therapist figure. I kept watching and hoping for something to happen as each of our suspects interacted with the same therapist. Instead, readers are left with parental and professional guilt-tripping for not being to anticipate a criminal act. There’s potential here that could be rewoven into a super psychological drama.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • typhoondeb
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great character development
    Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I really enjoyed Parabellum! I thought the author did a beautiful job of giving the readers, or in my case, listeners (Alexa read it to me), real insight into the characters’ psyches. It would be cliche to say that Greg Hickey has a way with words, but as someone who relishes details, I appreciated all the background information that brought his characters to life. It was clear that Hickey conducted a significant amount of research on many topics.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Readsonlife
    4.0 out of 5 stars Solid 4 star read!
    Reviewed in Canada on October 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Can I say this book truly goes into details about how life can spiral when dealing with mental health and traumas. You don't really get to know any of the characters names, you follow them based on some description of them (student, programmer, etc.) and while that seems like it will make for an impersonal read I found that the separation between knowing the characters personally and learning about them through their experiences, their day-to-day made it more possible to experience them as people you would know in your real life, your neighbor, friend, family, colleague. It was that which made this book so endearing and tragic, you realized how easy it was for anyone to be these people. So when you get to the nitty-gritty of the premise of this book, and you know one of these characters your following does something truly horrific the stakes feel that much higher
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  • M A D
    5.0 out of 5 stars Speechless..
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Greg is one of those rare authors, that writes books that I don't want to end. That will stay with me forever.
    Parabellum is worthy of such recognition.
    It's almost 4 books in one. His attention to detail in both the characters and narrative, are woven with such intricacy, they come together, culminating in such clever literary magic.
    Very highly recommended.
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  • ScotttheReader
    4.0 out of 5 stars Different
    Reviewed in Canada on March 6, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Not your typical crime or psychological novel, the book leaves you guessing the whole way through but very little of it really focusses on the mass murder that’s teased at the beginning. In some ways, this is great. It’s a character study that brings life to people, not just an overly obsessed exploration into the crime, itself. In other ways, it can be a little frustrating, to wonder what the significance of any of the characters are.

    The lack of names is an interesting touch. It helps one focus upon the person underneath, and it speaks somewhat to the facelessness (or perceived facelessness) of those whose mental struggles or illnesses dictate their lives and leave them feeling distanced/separated/unfamiliar/unreal. In the end, I’m not sure it was always necessary, however, and sometimes led to confusion, particularly amongst secondary characters who were described/defined in similar fashions.

    Kind of wish there were some more follow up at the end of the book. It finishes quite abruptly, I found.

    On the whole: good characters, interesting personal study, unexpected genre-bending, well-written. Definitely recommend more for people who like a good character study than for people looking for a crime novel, however.
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