Pivot

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Pub Date 14 Oct 2019 | Archive Date 31 Oct 2019

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Description

"Beyond good and evil, PIVOT juggles archetypes until you're not sure which ball is airborne and which is still in the author's hand. A story about cracking free of your intended role in life, as plot and depth travel at the same exceptional speed."
—Josh Malerman author of BIRD BOX


From the age of seven, Jack Harper is raised by the leader of a mystical cult, Cyrus Harper. Through Cyrus, Jack receives a full education in all usual subjects—economics, literature, mathematics, history—as well as one unique skill useful to a person in Cyrus's position: assassination. With the help of Roland James, a man incapable of dying, Cyrus hones Jack into the perfect weapon to use against all who oppose him.

It is not long, however, before Jack discovers that Cyrus and Roland are not the only ones living in Cyrus’s mansion. There, too, exists a mysterious creature in the depths of the house with supposed immortal magic. According to Roland, this creature is responsible for all the miraculous things Jack has witnessed throughout her childhood, including Roland’s resurrection. The creature, potent and powerful, only weakens in the presence of Cyrus’s red velvet box—a dark, enchanted tool that grants Cyrus his invincibility and ensures his reign.

Lonely and terrified by her life in the cult, under Cyrus's neverending watch, Jack desperately pursues the mysterious being. When they finally meet, her world is turned upside down, as he offers her more than she could have ever expected—the possibility of escape and her own secret, magical power.

"Beyond good and evil, PIVOT juggles archetypes until you're not sure which ball is airborne and which is still in the author's hand. A story about cracking free of your intended role in life, as...


Advance Praise

"Beyond good and evil, PIVOT juggles archetypes until you're not sure which ball is airborne and which is still in the author's hand. A story about cracking free of your intended role in life, as plot and depth travel at the same exceptional speed." —Josh Malerman author of BIRD BOX

"Beyond good and evil, PIVOT juggles archetypes until you're not sure which ball is airborne and which is still in the author's hand. A story about cracking free of your intended role in life, as...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781644280539
PRICE US$17.00 (USD)
PAGES 288

Average rating from 42 members


Featured Reviews

I found this book riveting. It flowed well, keeping me in a state of mystery and anxiety, building a dark world full of detail along the way. I would highly recommend it.

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Written with the alacrity of the cultist’s own beliefs within the story, the author spins a frightfully metaphoric tale that could easily reflect aspects of today’s spiritually hungry. Forging ahead with the blurred lines of no absolutes between “good” and “evil”,the reader is taken for a thrill ride that will haunt their dreams. Splendid, enjoyable and one that will keep the midnight oil burning..

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From a young age Jack Harper is part of a mystical cult led by Cyrus Harper. Jack has a full education including the skill of assassination. Ronald James is incapable of dying and he helps Cyrus to turn Jack into the perfect weapon to be used at their will.
I was hooked from the start I haven’t read this genre before. The writing style held my interest together with the plot which was gripping. I would recommend this one and would pick up another book by this author.

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I enjoyed this book. I will warn that it starts very graphically with a scene involving a minor and murder. The themes continue through the book.
The writing is absorbing. I couldn't put the book down! The plot is well told and the story has a good place to end but more story to tell. The main character, Jack, doesn't have inner thoughts or a personality that is really defined. However, that could be due to her circumstances in upbringing and it's completely understandable. I will be on the lookout for the next book.

This book was provided for an honest review.

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How do you train the perfect assassin? From childhood of course. I love love love the undertones of this story. Cyrus is the devil thinking he can make Jack the perfect conduit to train to take over when he ascends and becomes something “more”. However, Jack knows what she is becoming and refuses to let her entire humanity go. She is brutal and honest, but also loves and refuses to let the world be taken over by evil. Jack is the best. I want more of this story

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Strange. Horrifying. Fascinating. Macabre. Some random thoughts that come to mind with reference to LC Barlow’s Pivot. It is a supernatural fantasy, narrated by a seven-, ten- and seventeen-year-old Jack, who has been trained since childhood to become an assassin, and a deadly weapon belonging to the enigmatic Cyrus. Is Cyrus the leader of a fanatical cult or an actual, kindly father-figure? Is Jack being psychologically manipulated or does her child’s view of the world compromise what she sees?

I’ve never been in a cult, but I imagine what Barlow describes through the eyes of George is a pretty accurate representation: the absolute obedience demanded from followers, the image of the leader as someone almost superhuman, the disassociation from the outside world. The only aspects that disappointed me were the ferrics and the red box. They felt rather simplistic compared to the brilliant setup and narration.

(Review copy from NetGalley.)

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Oh my. Just amazing! Absolutely not what I was expecting and I loved it. Less than a day to read as I’ve barely put it down. Recommended!!

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Wow. This was NOT what I expected AT ALL! I almost put it down when the first pages offered up a six year old girl being taught to murder... Thankfully I gave it a longer look than that (I am usually turned off pretty quickly by children and violence, particularly since I HAVE a six year old girl), because this turned out to be a unique, bizarre, cool story that thoroughly engaged me (even when I occasionally felt like I was reading through half-closed eyes). It's NOT for the faint of heart. In addition to the opening scene I mentioned, there are numerous other instances of what seem to be gratuitous violence involving death, torture, children and animals, and they are brutal to read. But fairly quickly you come to realize there IS a point to all of the violence, and it couldn't be farther from gratuitous. It's still tough to swallow, but easier once you realize that - or at least was for me.

Jack's story is unbelievable and wild and horrifying and touching and weird and utterly original. I was thoroughly engaged by her development and relationships, and the magical/supernatural underpinning was painted in with just enough detail provided - and deliberately withheld - to keep me guessing where things were going from the early pages through to the end.

This has been billed as a trilogy; I for one cannot wait to see where things go next. I think this one felt like a full story in itself. There are clearly loose ends that will be fun to watch unravel in future installments, but there is a definite story arc that comes to completion in this book also, which I enjoyed. I hate when an author stops a story abruptly, emotionally blackmailing readers into buying the next book just to know how the one they already have ends. This book doesn't do that to you at all, and I appreciated that.

If you like your tales dark - VERY dark - and twisty and have a good stomach for violence and bizarre goings on that defy logic, this would be a great choice. The writing is strong and held my attention throughout and the pace kept things moving along at a solid speed, with occasional bursts of sharp zig-zagging that hit at just the right moments. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip into Jack's world and am looking forward to visiting (with every light on in the room at the time) again!

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I absolutely loved this book! It flows quickly, keeping you on your toes the whole time trying to figure out what forces of good and evil have aligned themselves around young Jack Harper, who can be trusted, and whether she is good or evil itself, or whether that can even be determined. The book follws Jack, a young girl living as the adopted daughter of a cult leader that seems to preach something similar to Satanism, from the age of seven to seventeen. The girl is raised as an assassin, and becomes quite good at it, but she questions how her father, Cyrus, can seem to bring people back from the dead and always knows before someone will betray him. She spends the book gradually figuring that out: who Cyrus really is, where his power comes from, and eventually how to stop him without being caught herself.

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This is a work of extraordinary imagination. The setting is mostly within a great house where magic reality creates situations and rules both complex and grotesque. The characters, though strange are believable and beautifully crafted. Despite being drawn into a complex and novel world you understand and care about its characters. The story plays out in such a compelling way that I read it in one long session.

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Jack is a killer but that's okay because Cyrus can always bring Roland back so he's not really dead. Eventually Jack is sent out to kill others and Cyrus does not bring them back. But as Jack starts to realize that Cyrus is not the one bringing people back. and that there is a mysterious being in the basement that can resurrect things, she starts to question everything Cyrus has taught her as she grew up. Cyrus has a mysterious box that warns him when someone turns against him so how can she possibly escape as long as Cyrus has that box?


This book was so good and I had trouble putting it down. I love the concept, it was one that I hadn't read before. So many books that I read are basically the same premise restated and retold and are so predictable. This story was fresh and new and kept me guessing throughout the book. For the first half of the book , I didn't even realize that Jack was a girl, so when I finally figured that part out, I had to go back and read the line again to make sure I hadn't missed something and then I thought perhaps the author had made a mistake calling Jack, Cyrus's "daughter" and maybe they really meant "son". But no, Jack is a girl and then the story took on a whole different meaning in my mind. Then I realized how brilliant it was, because just as the reader awakens to the fact that Jack is a girl that is when Jack awakens to what Cyrus really is and it works brilliantly. I love this book, I have already told some of my students that they need to read it when it is published. I would love to see a sequel, now that Jack has this power to resurrect, can she turn from being a murderer to a savior?

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Okay, how do I explain how much I loved and hated this book?

Because I hate books that touch on Christian-based mythology (I grew up as a non-practicing Catholic and they generally give me the heebie-jeebies.) I hate reading 1st person. And I hate it when characters use drugs. This book has all three. And I couldn’t freaking put it down.

Jack begins training as a seven year old child. Training for what? To kill. Her victim comes back to life every night, though, so she’s easily transformed from innocent child to deadly killer.

The insidious evil of the main antagonist drips from the page, and I found myself sick a few times at the thought of a child raised by this level of foulness.

But I couldn’t stop reading.

Jack’s voice, vulnerability, strength, and perseverance kept pulling me back. I honestly didn’t want it to. I wanted to throw this book into the corner of the room and listen to some happy pop tunes, but it kept pulling me back to find out what happened next.

The drug usage was a huge personal turn-off. That said, it didn’t feel gratuitous. Jack was running from herself and the evils she had done. I didn’t want to read about it, but it made sense.

My only real beef (besides the fact that if I wanted to feel this horrified I’d actually venture back to the church) was the ending, which I felt wrapped up too neatly/easily and then kind of left us hanging.

If you like literary horror or horror based on the Christian good vs evil, God vs The Devil mythos, this book will hit all the buttons for you. It will also appeal to you if you’re a fan of grimdark, as the main protagonist does some pretty nefarious things herself.

I was allowed to read this book free from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

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Thank you Net Galley, L.C Barlow and the publishers for the advanced reading copy. I love horror and psychological drama, this book was both! Definitely an original. Jack is being raised in a cult, or following of very evil people. However being only 7 Jack does not really realize the implications, rather just goes along and learns well. This book is dark, sometimes horrifying, sometimes truly enlightened. Beautifully written this is not just gore and horror. Its a good reflection on how children are raised and what it means to be good or evil. I must say I was originally confused at Jack's gender. With the name and all I assumed Jack was male. There were a few comments and descriptions that confused me. (but I was too intrigued with the story to go back and really ponder.) Eagerly awaiting the following books. This was advertised as the first book in a trilogy. Sometimes that means there is really no completion to the story line. Not here! The finale was wonderful and only made me excited to hear more.

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Raised by cult leader Cyrus Harper, Jack Harper is taught how to kill her first victim at age seven. Terrified by her actions, Cyrus calms her by revealing that he has the power of reincarnation and the man she killed, Roland James, will be alive again soon. Filled with the knowledge that Cyrus can bring him back she kills Roland again and again, honing her skills as an assassin in order to protect Cyrus from his enemies. Jack soon discovers a secret...the power to revive is not really held by Cyrus but instead by the "creature" he keeps locked in the basement. At seventeen, Jack has become the perfect weapon but her solitude and realization that not everything is as it seems draws her back to the basement...a decision that could aide in her escape and give her powers of her own.

The premise for Pivot complexly drew me in but I wasn't expecting to love it quite as much as I did. This novel does have some violent moments and well young children learning how to murder may not be everyone's cup of tea. That being said I really enjoyed Jack's character and her conflicted emotions about her life in the cult. I also enjoyed the relationship between Jack and Roland James, the man who allows her to kill him over and over. Like Jack, Roland's character is complex and although he is indebted to Cyrus, Jack's "father", his role becomes that of caretaker, father, and confidant to Jack. Cyrus is a Satanist who believes he will ascend only by committing the most horrific acts and thus "feeding" a mysterious box which assists him in his rise to power. Cyrus's biological son is a real piece of work and I am sure we will be seeing more of him as the series continues. I really enjoyed this first book in the series and definitely recommend checking it out if you are a fan of horror novels where good vs evil...even though that line might be pretty thin.

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