Women Scorned

By Angela Alsaleem

After Camilla is murdered, an ancient spirit possesses her, to use her body as its tool of vengeance. Tortured by visions of murdered women, she is thrust into a world of terror as she seeks a way to rid herself of the nightmare she has become. Her dead flesh hungers however for a substance that only exists on the breaths of criminals. Their tortured souls fill her, complete her, injecting her with more energy than she ever possessed while living. Like an addict, she is torn between ending her suffering and tasting retribution. A secret cult in need of her spirit, for an ancient ritual, has sent their Chosen One to capture her, a dark virgin who delights in teaching unwilling victims the pleasures of pain. The spirit inhabiting Camilla’s body is their key to unlocking hell and unleashing a horde of demons into the human realm. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Camilla learns this first hand on her journey through death and back again. Revenge isn’t always sweet and its bitterness lingers in the soul forever. This book is intended for adults and contains extreme violence, torture and graphic murder scenes. You have been forewarned

• Language: English
• Publisher: JournalStone
• Release date: Apr 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781936564392

Book preview

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Part One

The Question

Chapter

One

A shriek ripped through the night before it was muffled, then silenced. A police cruiser sat behind a beat-up blue car that rocked in the headlights. Grunts and moans came from within. A man’s legs protruded from the backseat, feet grinding in the dirt, police uniform slacks pooled around his ankles. The man laughed. A heavy metallic smell hung in the air.

After a satiated groan, the rocking stopped. The peace officer heaved himself from the backseat, his groin and hands covered in blood. He stuffed a woman’s naked legs inside the automobile and closed the door, leaving behind a red smear. In his other hand, he held chains dangling with charms of various materials and sizes - necklaces. The policeman duck-walked to a bucket filled with sudsy water sitting next to his cruiser and cleaned himself, stripping latex gloves from his hands, scrubbing his face, groin, and arms, careful to remove all traces of her.

When he finished, a crimson fleck clung to his cheek. He didn’t notice. He pulled his pants up and patted his legs, smacking dust from the fabric. After dumping the bloodied water onto the graveled shoulder, he placed the bucket in the trunk, rubbed his hand over his Marine-styled hair, and got into the cruiser with a sneer plastered to his face. The red dome lights circled in the darkness, lighting his twisted grin. With a sigh, he pulled away from his mess, his taillights diminishing to pinpricks before disappearing around a bend in the road.

*  *  *

The moon shone down on the abandoned car, the night hiding the dark secret inside. The wind settled into an ominous stillness. The air grew heavy and something rumbled in the distance, something felt more than heard.

A loud crack split the silence. A dark form materialized, a woman swathed in shadow shifting toward the car, feet crunching through gravel. Her matted hair untouched by wind, her naked body covered in scars, she moved with the darkness. At a touch, the back passenger-side door opened. Naked legs flopped out, covered in blood and new bruises. The body was motionless, vacant eyes staring. The shadowed stranger laid her hands on the legs dangling from the back seat.

The moment she touched the girl’s thigh, blinding light seared the night, radiating from inside the car, illuminating for one brief moment a torn picture on the dashboard of a smiling girl with spiky, black hair and haunted eyes. A man’s hand rested on her shoulder, just inside the tattered edge.

The light vanished. The shadowed figure stood. As the wind blew, she became as immaterial as the night itself and vanished.

Once again, silence pervaded the back road, the only sound the car engine ticking as it continued to cool. Indifferent stars went on their nightly course overhead, and the trees swayed in a new wind. From the forest, yellow orbs glowed in the shadows between the trees. They disappeared as a howl spliced the air, wavering at its peak before it trailed off to mingle with the other noises of the night.

A gray wolf emerged from the forest, trotted to the car, circled it, and then rested next to the open door. It sniffed the dead woman’s toes then howled again. Several howls responded from the nearby trees. Five smaller wolves filed out and took their places, forming a circle. They threw their heads back, their cries echoing through the distance. The dominant male’s voice outlasted the others’. They growled and huffed air out of their cheeks, a chant with almost recognizable words and meaning. The largest wolf’s fur glistened in the moonlight, rippling with an aura of its own. The leader remained fixated on the woman’s toes hovering above the gravel, dripping blood. They twitched. The wolves stood and walked back to the forest.

The woman’s toes twitched again. Her leg jerked.

Blood dripped from the backseat of the car, seeping into the gravel. It came from between the dead woman’s cold legs, saturating the cushion on which she’d died. Her torn shirt exposed her breasts. Hand shaped bruises marred her flesh. Semi-circle wounds covered her belly and shoulders. A gash on the side of her head oozed cold, tacky blood. On her left ear, a silver rose tangled in her spiked hair. The right lobe split and smeared red, matching earring gone. Her arms rested above her head, crossed at bruised wrists.

But her face, dark and haunted, was unmarred. Vacant eyes gazed at nothing, glazed with death's kiss. The shadows cast from the moonlight made her face a foreign landscape, her pointed nose a possible mountain, her lips the foothills, eye sockets the valleys. Black makeup caked her eyes and streaked down her cheeks in tear stains. Her slack mouth exposed a small overbite, white teeth gleaming in the dark.

Camilla sat up and screamed, a drawn out, whistling sound. This can’t be happening to me, she thought. San Francisco. That’s where she was supposed to go, to be an artist, to live her life. She would be famous,

….but not as the victim of this cop.

Body tense, she splayed her arms to either side, bracing herself against the seats, drawing her knees to her chest, ready to kick and fight. But no one invaded the backseat anymore. No one was attacking her. She pushed herself against the closed door. Darting glances out the back window, the open door, the windshield, over her shoulder, moaning deep in her throat, she pawed her face, head, breasts, legs.

Where’d he go? She checked the windows again and murmured to herself, her voice high, strained, the words spilling over one another. No red lights, no cruiser. Quiet. All around. Alone in the dark. Surely he’d be back. The last thing she remembered was him on top of her, ripping her shirt off, pressing his palm to her mouth. She tongued the cuts on the inside of her lips where the tender flesh had split, smashed against her teeth.

She felt her chest and neck. Her necklaces. The fucker took her necklaces. Breath coming in harsh gasps, she moaned deep in her throat, the precursor to tears. But she wouldn’t cry. Tears were useless now.

She fluttered her hand over the cut in her head and winced. She felt her breasts and cringed, the ridges of his bite marks tender. Her pants were gone. She sniffed and ran the back of her arm under her nose, hitching in a breath. No tears. She was a big girl. She could handle this. She squeezed her eyes shut and explored between her legs. She pushed her fingers inside a slit much larger than it should be, made larger by the cop’s knife. She remembered how large it had been, how it had glinted the red lights from his cruiser into her face. Bloody mucous draped her fingers like string when she pulled them out. She shuddered, recalled his grin as he had cut her open. She pulled her torn shirt around her, leaving smears on the white fabric and scrambled for her pants, hands shaking so badly it took her a couple tries before she could get her feet into the correct holes.

Alive.

She slid between the two front seats, leaving traces of herself on the upholstery and plopped into the driver’s seat. She didn’t dare venture outside. Not after what had happened. The scent of cherries wafted from her air freshener, masking the unpleasant smells from the back seat. She turned the key in the ignition with a shaky hand. The car wouldn’t start. Slamming her palms into the steering wheel, she screamed, No, no, no! After a minute, she regained control and took a deep breath.

Okay. She looked out the window. Okay, okay, okay. She took three short breaths the way women do when giving birth, just before pushing. With her last held gasp, she opened the car door and stepped into the windy night. Still. Waiting. Listening. No one there but her.

Okay, she said again.

Blood soaked through her clothing. She looked at her crotch and touched the fabric. Wet. She needed help, or she would die. There was a town up ahead. She could hitchhike. Maybe no one would notice all the blood in the dark. Or maybe they would and know she needed help. Either way, she needed to get to a hospital.

She walked away from her car, surprised by the lack of pain between her legs. So much blood. She was probably in shock. Her jeans squelched, cold and sticky against her thighs. Rocks bit into her naked feet. Her duffle bag, full of clothes, sat on the floorboards, forgotten. She hugged her body. Her open shirt fluttered in the wind. Crimson footprints marked her passage.

Headlights stabbed through the darkness as a car approached from behind. The first car in hours. She stuck out her thumb and stopped walking, turning toward the vehicle, a half smile on her face, eyes lit. The driver didn’t slow down. A look of shock erupted on her face. Her hand dropped and smacked her leg in its descent.

Fuck! She kicked the ground leaving a red smudge in the dirt. Damn it! She hugged her chest, covering her breasts and shuffled on. Her small, slow steps didn’t get her very far, but she couldn’t move faster. How long was this back road, anyway? She passed a couple empty houses and what appeared to be a boarded up market, but nothing else. Night turned to day and she trudged on, each labored step scuffing the ground. In the daylight where she knew her condition would be obvious, someone would have to help her. Another car came and went. And then another.

The sound of an engine rumbled from behind her. She was ready to flag it down when she noticed the dome lights on the roof. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. She was certain it was the same cop, certain he had come back for her to do more damage, stop her from telling. She darted off the road, seeking the shelter of the trees. The cruiser passed without stopping, a female officer behind the wheel. When Camilla was sure the road was clear, she ventured out again, legs more shaky than before.

When a car approached from ahead, Camilla stood in the middle of the road and waved her arms above her head. The driver would have to stop or hit her, she decided. Enough of this passive shit. She could make them give her a ride to a hospital. Or at least make them give her their phone. Something. But when the driver didn’t slow, Camilla let her arms drop. It hurtled toward her at an alarming speed. At the last moment, she lunged out of the way, scraping her knee on the road. She lay on her back staring at the blue sky above. A hawk circled.

I’m not dead yet, you idiot, she said to the bird as she got back to her feet and kept walking.

The next day, Camilla took to twisting her belly button ring up and down as she shuffled along, shoulders hunched, head drooped. Her matted, black hair stuck out at odd angles, the gel she’d used to style it two days before still there, holding the basic shape of her textured spikes. Another car approached from behind. She didn’t raise her thumb, but instead extended her middle finger at the dwindling taillights. Over the last two days, too many had passed without stopping for her to get excited anymore.

She stopped her slow shuffle and thought back over how long she’d been walking. Her brown eyes lost their focus as she looked inward, her lips moving as she counted under her breath. Three nights. Three nights without stopping. She’d been traveling along this back road without rest, without food. The town looked a lot closer on the map. How long until she came to civilization? She looked at the ground, then into the forest. Should be resting, she thought. She stepped off the shoulder, toward the forest, in search of a place to sit. She wasn’t tired, knew she could keep going, but logic said she needed rest.

After finding a mossy patch at the base of a tree, she reclined, back against the rough bark. The blackness swarmed around her, choking out the light, but she didn’t care. She closed her eyes, heaved sighs and then shuddered. Her body tensed as she tried to relax, back arched, neck straight, head leaning against the trunk. Camilla wrapped her hands around her knees and hugged them close to her chest causing more blood to ooze from between her legs, soaking through her jeans, staining the green moss beneath her.

Bats chirped, insects buzzed, wind soughed through the branches overhead. There was meaning in these sounds, she just knew it. Then a different noise caught her attention, heavy breathing next to her cheek and the smell of thick air, rotten breath. Her eyelids flickered open, and she gasped. Large, golden eyes stared into hers. The wolf panted then growled and took a step away. It sat in front of her, its tongue lolling, tail batting the ground, and threw its head back ululating into the dark, the sound echoing all around.

Camilla screamed and clapped her hands over her ears.

Five other wolves lunged from nowhere and nipped at her. She flinched and yipped like a pup every time they got close enough to bite, but they didn’t actually touch her. Then they stopped and sat, watching. She stared at them, panting, calming herself. They began a murmured growl. She scrunched her eyebrows, cocking her head, listening. There were words in those noises, telling her to get going.

Okay, she said and stood up. The large one snapped at her ankles, its teeth grazing her enough to hurt. I’m going, she said, no longer afraid and sounding more like a petulant teenager talking to her stern father. The wolves watched as she trudged back to the road. Once there, the pack faded into the shadows. The sky grew lighter in the east, and the night ended.

After less than a mile, she saw what they had said would be there. Just over the next rise, a city sprawled beneath her, only a few miles downhill. She ambled along, glancing over her shoulders every once in a while. She no longer tried to hide her breasts within the tattered remains of her shirt, intent on finding a hospital rather than concealing her nakedness.

Morning-gray lit the horizon from behind the city, marking the start of her third day on this journey. She smiled for the first time since its inception, as she trotted down the hill, a new bounce in her step. Soon, she would get the help she needed.

Questions flitted through her mind—why hadn’t she bled out yet; why wasn’t she dead?—but she pushed them away knowing it did no good to think on these things. Her pants squished as she shuffled toward civilization. The smell of cold hung in the air.

Streetlights cast orange pools on the sidewalk. She walked through the creamy circle of each glow as she followed the road signs directing her toward the hospital. The sleeping town nestled around her. It didn’t take her long to reach her destination. In front of it, she stopped and stared at the two-story building. She looked down at her bloodied jeans and curled her lip at the mess between her legs. She hugged her breasts again when she noticed people moving around inside.

I made it, she whispered, unaware that she had spoken. It didn’t hit her until now that she’d never believed she would make it to safety. The realization made her knees buckle. With a firm hand, she steadied herself against a car and took a couple of slow deep breaths. The air she sucked into her lungs couldn’t satisfy her, however, didn’t soothe the way it should’ve. She ran her dry tongue over her cracked lips, tried to swallow.

A man walked past her in the parking lot. There she stood, bleeding, clothes in tatters, and he didn’t even ask if she needed help, didn’t act alarmed, as if she didn’t exist. She glared at his back and sighed. Something was severely wrong with people in this area. Were they demented? No one seemed to care about a woman covered in blood standing mostly naked in the road. She walked across the parking lot without pause, head held high, shoulders back. This would not be the end of her, she decided. She had made it to town without anyone’s help. What was one more person passing by?

Despite her resolve to be strong, her bottom lip quivered. She wouldn’t cry. You’re a big girl. You can do this. Back straight, she marched to the glass doors. A yellow sticker cautioned her they were automatic. She walked into them, bumped her nose and breasts against the glass, then bounced back.

What the fuck, she said, rubbing her nose, which throbbed like a rotten tooth. A nurse came up behind her, walked right past her. Camilla raised her hand, a warning for the nurse on her lips when the double doors slid open and the nurse walked through. Camilla slid inside, shadowing the nurse, a quick glance over her shoulder at the closing doors. They were smeared with a bloody face and body print.

Suppressing a shudder, the confidence she’d felt moments before seeping from her gut like air from a balloon, she went to the nurse’s station. Avoiding eye contact with the patients waiting in the emergency room lobby wouldn’t be easy, but she thought she might be able to manage it if she kept her head down. Her nakedness screamed at her, begging Camilla to hide it, cover it up with her torn shirt. If there was a hole somewhere, she would’ve slid down it like a snake grateful for the dark confines.

At the front desk, she glanced at the closest nurse typing on her computer, leaned in so that she could whisper to the harried woman.

Excuse me, she squeaked. The nurse didn’t look up. She cleared her throat and tried again. I need help, she said, louder this time. The nurse still didn’t seem to notice. Hello! She snapped her fingers in the nurse’s face, the need for discretion morphing into a need to be noticed, no matter the scene she was about to cause. The nurse sighed and whipped around, scowling, lips tight.

Mary, do you have the file on Brian Clark? He’s the one came in with the broken foot.

Hey, bitch! I need some help here.

Still, no one acknowledged her.

Mommy, a little girl to Camilla’s right whined. Mommy, what’s wrong with that lady? The little girl, her eyes large and teary in her pudgy cheeks, her black hair hanging lank and tangled around her face, pointed a chubby finger at Camilla. She’s bleeding, Mommy. What’s wrong with her? Look.

Don’t point, Britney. That’s rude. The mother pushed her daughter’s hand down but Britney still stared at Camilla.

Someone help me! Camilla called out to anyone who would listen. As she swung around to face the waiting room, searching for the first person to acknowledge her, her shirt fell open again. She gathered the cloth around herself, picked at it with shaking hands.

Help her! Britney yelled, tears spilling down her cheeks as her chest hitched with sobs. Her mother held the little girl’s finger wrapped in gauze. Mommy, she’s scared. Someone help her. The little girl buried her face in her mother’s chest and curled her body in pushing against her breasts as if she were trying to force her way back inside, where she wouldn’t have to look at something like Camilla’s abused body anymore.

Nurses ran in to see why Britney was yelling. They tried to calm her down. She pointed in Camilla’s direction again and gibbered. The nurses turned and stared past Camilla at an old woman hunched in a chair with an oxygen mask over her face. They cooed to the little girl and told her that the old woman needed the mask to breathe.

That’s not the lady I’m talking about, she wailed. She’s right behind you. The mother licked her lips and darted wide-eyed glances around the room as she rocked the trembling ball that was her daughter. The nurses looked around the room, apparently not seeing the bloody woman frightening the little girl.

I’m right here, you fucking idiots, Camilla whispered, unable to put any force in her words. She sank to her knees. No one but the little girl looked at her. A nurse brought the child a mild sedative and she relaxed against her mother, the stained bandage on her finger now bright red. One of the nurses walked past Camilla and knocked her over, never turning to see who she’d bumped into.

Camilla allowed herself to fall back welcoming the cool tile against her cheek. She drifted. Her eyes fluttered shut and all went dark.

*  *  *

A nurse walked through the door and called a patient’s name. She looked into the lobby to see who would stand. Then she screamed. Her pale skin turned whiter as she swayed. She stared at the bloody woman sprawled on the lobby floor.

What’s going on? the head nurse bellowed. She rushed around the corner, saw the body and gasped. She stood for a moment with her hand cupped over her mouth. Someone call the doctor, she yelled, then turned and ran through double doors. Moments later, she returned with a stretcher. Two orderlies helped lift the body. The doctor arrived out of breath and checked for a pulse. Other patients shrank away, hugging their arms, cupping their mouths, clutching each other. No one understood why they hadn’t seen the body there before. They stared at the discarded heap of flesh.

She’s dead, the doctor said, his face sagging as he glared at the head nurse. How did this happen? Who is she?

I don’t know, the nurse said. No one saw her come in.

They covered her with a white sheet and rolled her to the morgue. After writing what they knew about this mysterious woman, they strung a Jane Doe tag over her big toe and placed her in one of the coolers.

What happened to her? I can’t believe those bruises. And those are bite marks on her shoulders and stomach, the pathologist said to her assistant as they left.

Chapter

Two

The counters around the room’s perimeter held iodine and other bottles exhibiting exotic, sterile sounding names, like bleach and formaldehyde. The tiled floor reflected the fluorescent lights.

Reviews for Women Scorned

[tguinther_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I received this book for free from library thing.I'm gonna have to DNF this book. The violence against the women was too much for me. And that is saying a lot because I'm the queen of gore. I felt this book drug on and on and on, not really going anywhere and could have been cut in half and still get the message out there.

[iira_24 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I seldom come across a book that makes my stomach turn; I read a lot of horror and I'd say I tolerate violence pretty well. This one was a true stomach-turner, I read a lot on the bus and I really had to work on keeping a straight face while reading. All and all I liked the story, the characters were well written and the plot was fine. However, at times I just lost interest in the story and just kept on reading waiting to get to the end. I can't really tell what made me lose interest but I think that (and I'd never thought I'd say this) too much violence makes it lose it's power and meaning. I don't regret reading the book but it didn't leave me much. After a week I hardly remembered the story, I just remembered that it was very graphic. And I really hate the cover.

[cwaldrum_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Some people should not be allowed to write books. This author is one of those people. The book made no sense, was in some places overtly graphic for the shock value, not to contribute to the plot, the characters confusing and the whole plot itself was one vast pit of despair. I normally try to find positive and value to every writers work but I just can't with this one. I did not like this book at all, yet to give it a fair try I read the whole thing with the hopes that it would all make sense in the end. It didn't. This author needs to scrap this idea and start fresh - this time taking time to think out the plot and offer the background necessary to grasp the story. Once that's done then make sure to have someone review, edit and critique the work prior to publishing.

[dwatson2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Women Scorned by Angela Alsaleem from Journalstone books is for hard core horror fans. The story follows a woman named Camilla who was just murdered, now an ancient spirit possesses her, using her as a tool of vengeance. Tortured by visions of murdered women, she is thrust into a world of terror as she seeks a way to rid herself of the nightmare she has become.Camilla is still trapped in her body but has no control. In order to live she feeds off of a substance that is on the breath of criminals. This is the least of Camilla’s problems though, because there is a cult stalking the spirit that inhabits Camilla and they plan on using it to release a horde of demons on earth.I have to warn you on this book you shouldn’t read it if you have a weak stomach because there is a lot of gore here but there is some great characters and its a well written story. Mainly Women Scorned is a tale about revenge and asks the question can you really move on after you punish your enemies. This is a hard core bloody horror novel that will make you squirm in your chair, if you like a lot of violence then pick this one up.

[pixiedark · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Women Scorned by Angela Alsaleem is a quick, furious and frightful read.I Woman Scorned is about a murdered woman named Camilla. After she is murdered an ancient spirit named Rory possesses her. The spirit uses Camilla as tool of vengeance for murdered women. Camilla's dead flesh hungers for a substance that only exists on the breath of criminals. A secret cult in need of the Rory spirit sends their chosen to capture Camilla. The spirit inside Camilla's body is their key to unlocking the secrets of hell. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Camilla and everyone her path crosses learns this first hand.This book contains extreme violence torture and graphic murder scenes, so it is not intended for people who don't enjoy horror! I love horror and I thoroughly enjoyed this book! This book is full of scary moments and will give you nightmares! This book is packed with extreme gory details. Some of the murder scenes and torture scenes shocked and scared me, and I don't shock and scare easily! (I have not been shocked and scared by a book in a very long time. That is why I gave Women Scorned 5 stars)

[kevinbw309 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Camilla Benedict, an aspiring art student, is brutally raped and murdered. After her death, Camilla's now mutilated body is possessed by an ancient spirit. Camilla is haunted by visions. Visions of women's last last few moments before their life is snuffed out. She experiences their death over and over again. She becomes determined to find a way to end this nightmare and die once more.However she longs for something in the breath of criminals. An intangible substance that fill her with more energy than she ever had when she was alive. She becomes addicted to stealing the breath of these criminals, stealing their souls. And like an addict, she wants to end her suffering, but at the same time wants one more fix, one more jolt to make her feel complete. Even if only for a little while.Camilla meets Libitina Flesher, a woman who, although deeply disturbed, is somehow able to see her when when no one else can. Libitina agrees to help Camilla find a way to end her unnatural existence. Although the circumstances through which Camilla and Libinita meet are less than ideal, Camilla is glad to have some company.although Libitina may regret joining Canillas quest.Aludra Erebus, the Chosen One, is a dark virgin who enjoys inflicting pain upon innocent people. She has bent sent by the Order of Merlin, a Satanic cult, to capture the spirit inhabiting Camilla's body in order for the cult to perform an ancient ritual that will unleash the demons of hell upon Earth. Camilla can sense that this evil is tracking her and knows that if she is captured, the Order will have the unlocking the gates of Hell and giving Satan free rule over the human realm.This book is extremely dark and extremely graphic story containing sexual mutilations, rape, and torture in descriptive detail. Although the level of detail is fantastic, if you are even in the least troubled with blood and gore type of books or are not a fan of the horror genre, then I highly recommend you skip this book and pick up another. However, if you like gross-out details or enjoy books of the genre, then you may want to consider reading this book. But I cannot stress enough, the details of torture and rape leave very little to imagination and although I usually applaud the level of detail provided, I recommend keeping this book far away from children and people with weak stomachs.

[amschroe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read a ton of "horror" books. If I do read books from this genre, they are usually classics. So I am not very schooled in this type of novel, and therefore this review is coming from a totally unmediated place.I can't say I enjoyed this book, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It's a dark book about bad things happening to not-so-bad people. That being said, this is one of the most imaginative and creative books I have ever read. I am familiar with the horror genre in terms of film (extremely familiar), and I have not seen anything quite like this before. The author introduces new generic tropes and situations into the genre which are familiar in some loose sense. I think this can be difficult to do, and kudos to her for achieving this.If you like horror novels, then maybe you will like this one. It's worth a try if you are searching for something new. Also, there are some graphic descriptions in this book. If you are really repelled/repulsed by graphic sexual violence, this is not for you. It's not constant, but it's there enough times for it to be a problem for someone who really can't stand it.

[pamkaye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the Librarything Early Reveiwers Program. Starting with the rape/murder of a young woman by a cop, this story never loses it's pacing or fails to keep the reader engrossed and turning the pages. After the cop leaves her, Camilla comes back to life and goes looking for help......(Or does she really?) Why can nobody see her all bloody and hurt?... Why won't they help her?When Libitina Flesher steals a body from a morgue to study, she finds the body is the undead. Thinking she will be the first to document a real zombie, she follows Camilla out into the forest.Then comes Aludra - sent from The Dark One to bring back a spirit who will bring the spirit world into the living world. She is a very sick minded women who is hunting or luring Camilla.I am a huge horror fan and just loved this book. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time reading it. If it was a movie, I definitely would have covered my eyes at a few point. But since the images were in my head, I couldn't hide from them. Every gory scene was described in perfect gross-me-out detail.I can't wait to read something else from this author.

[omsorensen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Received book via Early Reviewer Contest - I do not normally read horror(I guess that's what it would fall into). The book started well enough but soon got quite confusing. Too many spirits and unexplained goings on for me to follow. This may be normal for stories in this genre. Not my cup of tea.

[sweetreaderma · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was a weird book. I liked the story line in the beginning but then once it got into the ancient spirits and all that I became confused and couldn't keep what was going on straight.

[debbieaheaton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Camilla is possessed after being brutally murdered, awaking with a taste for revenge—for herself and all mistreated, abused, and murdered women. Tormented by visions, she seeks out her victim’s one at a time. But a dark cult bent on intertwining the living world with the evil, is seeking out the spirit that has possessed her. Stuck in the middle is Libitina, a struggling pathology student who is the only thing standing in the way of the cult and the demon horde waiting on the other side.Women Scorned is a disturbing, creepy, character riddled horror novel. I can guarantee that the reader will cringe until the last page is turned.

[lizamichelle1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I finally finished this book. It was a slower than usual read for me. I am particularly new to this type of story. Gore, gore and more gore. I had a hard time figuring out the purpose of the characters plight until the last 20-30 pages. I think mostly because I saw the end in sight; the story drags on too long.There was murder, evil/bad spirit worshipping, blood, things you wouldn't want to visualize or actually see while eating or drinking. A bit to gorey for my tastes (and I've seen all the Saw and Hostel movies lol).If you like gruesome books with a little paranormal, give it a try. I will not be reading this a second time.

[aingalls_4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It was gory and violent .... I could deal with that, but I felt like the story needed more. I couldn't identify with any of the characters (nor do I suppose I would want to with the main character having been raped and her vagina slit open, but still ...) and everyone seemed to be walking around aimlessly. Definitely more information regarding the characters, the plot, etc. needs to be given to the reader and I felt like the author was grasping at straws not knowing how the story should play out. I was also really disappointed in the ending; it was pretty anti-climatic and I honestly thought Camilla should have given the "Rory" to Libitina.

[kdaviselford · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have read some horror novels, or at least what I consider horror. This was horror with a lot of gore and evil. (little out of my comfort zone) However, i did not feel it was a bad read. I was interested enough to stay til the end. The story line had great imagination. I felt the two main characters Camilla and Libitina could have been developed more. Giving the readers a better insight into who they were. I wanted to know more about them, and who Rory was. Rory was hard for me to relate with. I actually thought I may have miss understood something when Rory was introduced. I did try looking back through the book to find something and was not successful. The ending left me feeling I needed more. I do believe the author has potential and a great imagination. Angela keep writing!

[phantasma_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Violent and disgusting for the sake of being violent and disgusting. The author spent so much time trying to disturb that she missed any sort of interesting plot or character development. Honestly, this was nearly unreadable. And then random things happen to shock. Really, I can't remember the last time I read something so poorly written and pointless. I skimmed through the last bit because I couldn't justify this write up without checking to see if it improved. It didn't.

[kingoftheicedragons · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is mildly disturbing, with most of the gruesome details repeated over and over again, seemingly just for the shock value. It was really hard to get into, and it seemed to move along too slow, likely because of the repeating of the details.

[supera710 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I won a copy of Women Scorned from Librarything. I had a hard time getting into it, maybe because the content, maybe because I was a bit confused. The writing style is good, but I think the plot wasn't my cup of tea. It starts out with Camilla getting raped/murdered, then somehow she "wakes" back up and starts wandering around. She's being pursued by Alundra, who was born for the soul purpose of uniting the 2 halves of the Rory spirit, which in turn would allow all the angry and tormented souls to be back on earth. Maybe the zombie type corpse wandering around and being reminded about all her wounds and blood oozing is what kept turning my stomach? Either way, once it all came together, about 75% thru the book, it picked up for me and I was really curious what was going to happen with Libitina, Camilla, and Alundra, not to mention the High Priest and High Priestess. Luckily Satan's plan was thwarted, but I'm still insure if Camilla is going to be walking around as a rotting corpse for another 900 years. A 2.5 rating, but I'm not willing to round up to a 3.

[shoosty · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I got this book as part of LTER.It is the story of 3 women, Camilla, Libitina and Aludra. Camilla has been killed with violence and is walking dead. Libitina is a woman who accidentally discovers what Camilla is and sets out to observe her . Aludra is a women who grew up in a satanic temple and her goal is to bring Camilla back to the temple with her.Although in this book there is lots of gore and gruesome details, it never really drew me in. Even when reading about the horrors inflicted on the various women I never once felt horrified, I felt very detached. The characters were shallow and I never really identified with any of them. The plot was interesting but without strong characters the book fell flat.

[viennamax-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Very strange mystery plot. Spirits divide, spirits get out of bodies, spirits intermingle with one another. Its's not that the novel is bad written - some passages are really enthralling. But: Why did I read it? At the end some Libitina is saving the world from the invading (or intermingling?) of all long dead and very angry spirits. Well, I'm not sure, if Libitina was really successful...

[ktgraham-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

As a fan of horror and gore, I found myself very disappointed in Alsaleem's book Woman Scorned. From the first page I felt that the disturbing images were just that, something disturbing to fill the page and not to further the characters or plot. I had a hard time getting through this book and actually was afraid I might be the only one. I'm sure there is an audience for this novel, but it just wasn't for me. The images at times felt disjointed and forced, the character interaction confusing. Though horror for me is meant to be fun, you have to have a story that draws the reader in to back it up. I just didn't feel that with Woman Scorned. If you enjoy this genre, it may be worth checking out for you, but the number of negative reviews does not surprise me.

[ilovekittens-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Angela Alsaleem's novel, Women Scorned, is a surprisingly imaginative read. It is, at turns, gory, disturbing, twisted, and weird, but one thing it is definitely ISN'T is dull. I was hooked from the first page, and just couldn't put it down. The characters are strange (in a good way), and the plot is one of the most inventive of anything I've read in a long while. Alsaleem takes on some of the most classic horror conventions (zombies, ghosts, satanic cults) in refreshingly new ways – quite an amazing feat. Honestly, I'm surprised by the low reviews given here. You have to know going in that this book is not going to be some sort of philosophical revelation. It is fun and imaginative, which I find to be a plus in my horror reads! I'd recommend this to anyone who likes some gore and can just let go and enjoy a good story without worrying that the literati will judge them

[piggirl7 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Women Scorned was a disappointment. There is potential in the book but it was not realized. The largest hurdle in reading this book was not the violence, sadism, or gory images, instead the lack of character development made it difficult to continue to read. There are plenty of graphic violence scenes for the gore lover, unfortunately without the feeling of empathy or sympathy many characters generate the entire book became a chore to read.

[tntwhite_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I do not like giving reviews without some hint of positivity, but I was extremely disappointed with this book. While it delivers on extreme violence, it comes off as pointless gore. The story was poorly crafted and left me, as a reader, uncaring about what happened to either Libitina or Camilla. I felt like I was hearing someone describe a bad dream they'd had - the story is twisted and seemingly without direction and the only one who actually cares about the story is the one telling it.

[moniqueleigh · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sadly, this book is all promise, no delivery. Unless you're a huge fan of gore flicks (take your pick of any movies that are gory just for the sake of putting as much fake blood on screen as possible), you probably won't care too much for this one. It's got all of the usual cliches: raped women (*yawn* Really, we're going there? The most common "my female character needs an interesting back-story" trope?), mysterious cult with robes & vague Satanic trappings, serial killers upon whom we can take retribution for all of the other "women scorned," a teenaged cutter/pain fetishist, and so on. Ad nauseum.Characterization is flat throughout with none of the characters having more than two dimensions, and some not even that. The violence is so graphic that it completely bypasses "graphic" and goes all the way to torture-porn. Bad torture-porn at that. We're talking the equivalent of a bored romance novelist's "love-muscle" here.If the author were to re-work the story, winnowing out a few of the over-tired cliches and giving us more reason to identify with any of the characters, this might end up being a good story. But it honestly felt like a short story that just had everything, including the kitchen sink, tossed in to bring it to novel word-count.

[bella55075 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I won this book through a LibraryThing giveaway. Take the disclaimer seriously with this book. It was gory and very detail orientated with its torture scenes. I had to skip over some of the scenes. Camilla is a woman who is raped and killed but move on. She turns into a vengeful spirit who wanders looking for men who have hurt women. She takes her revenge on them by stealing their spirit. The story doesn't end there. There are many twists to this book with each more gory than the last.

[kstonya · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story was interesting as the two main characters started out on a journey one to learn about the dead and the other to escape from the dead. As these two characters joined and learned to interact the settings were interesting. The mingling of the afterworld to join the living and the dead began a journey that met with the two main characters in their need to save themselves and others from the destruction of the world. I was left wondering what was the final end of both the main characters of the story. Thank you for letting me read this book and will look at others in the future.

[cecilturtle · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

With torture, incest, satanic rituals and succubus, I can't say that this book was my cup of tea. I'm willing to stretch my comfort zone in genres, but the story needs to be gripping and palatable. This book was at least, for the most part, gripping. The slow start leading to a frantic end with the various story lines cutting into each other for added suspense is an effective literary device.I found, however, that there wasn't much substance to the story. I still haven't figured out what Rory's role is (I'm not well versed in satanism and the name Rory conjured more pictures of the neighbourhood kid than a demon); I wasn't sure whether Camilla was destined to roam the earth forever, Satan trapped in a human body and Alura avenged of her destiny. I admit I read the end quickly - the fireworks in the end being too scattered to sustain my attention. Of course, I had to withhold queasiness throughout - it made me nauseous not scared.Overall, not a book I would recommend. I'll be more careful in reading the dust jacket when choosing a book next time.

[chowchow_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I received this book free through the Early Review on Librarything.This book started out well, so much so I couldn't put it down, The characters seemed very real with just a touch to much gore instead of horror. Unfortunately the pace, characters and story line became bogged down in clichés and somewhat voyeuristic tendencies. I did read the book from cover to cover, so all being said I did enjoy it. I was just not sure if I should be laughing, crying or aghast throughout the book. I would recommend this book only to a few limited people and then with a warning.

[the_hag · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was really excited when I found out I won Women Scored...I LOVE horror. Then I started reading it and I was less than thrilled because the print was TINY...making it hard to read. Once I got a few chapters in, I was even less thrilled. What started out as an interesting idea quickly became the book equivalent of a 'B' horror movie with a mash-up of pretty much EVERY bad horror movie plot...spirits, a satanic cult, serial killers, revenge, along with cutting/pain fetiches and is written in the vein of slasher movie plot. The characters are shallow, barely developed and have names that are difficult, at best. The plot lumbers along, taking the most obvious (and painful) course. The ending was trite and unsatisfying. The “gore” was overly graphic and instead of instilling terror or a sense of dread, they were almost comedic. The author had the opportunity to present a supernatural revenge story but allowed to many ideas to pervade the story line. I honestly think that the core plot, the idea thrown out in the initial scene was really good and had the author stuck to that, I think this would have been a much better and more focused work. In the end, I gave it two stars because I felt the core idea was good while the execution left much to be desired. I would not recommend this book though I might be willing to give a future book by this author a try, provided it was more focused and on track with it's story line.

[shaiha_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy a good horror story. And this one started out well with the young women being brutally murdered by a police officer. But it went downhill from there with absurd names for the characters and sentances that just flat don't make sense. Rather then feeling a sense of horror, I had a hard time not laughing.This is not a book that I would recommend any but readers who enjoy paradies.