Reviews from

Conflict in Connecticut.

A true story that happened to me.

36 total reviews 
Comment from royowen
Excellent
Not yet exceptional. When the exceptional rating is reached this is highlighted

It sounds like you were pretty fortunate to be alive in this extreme situation Harry, but I must admit it I might have done the same, perhaps they might thik twice about trying to rob someone again, it would mean that their robbing lives were too dangerous an occupation, well done, blessings Roy

 Comment Written 31-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 31-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Roy. That is the way I thought about it too!
reply by royowen on 31-Aug-2024
    Well done
reply by the author on 31-Aug-2024
    Thank you Roy!
reply by royowen on 31-Aug-2024
    Well done
reply by the author on 01-Sep-2024
reply by royowen on 01-Sep-2024
    Bless you
Comment from Wayne Fowler
Excellent
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Quite the excitement! Nicely written, even if there are a couple places of what seemed like repetition.
Was there no sick bay on base?
Good luck in the contest.

 Comment Written 30-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 30-Aug-2024
    Yes, there was but I was too mad to see anybody at that time. Thank you for the review. I really appreciate that!
Comment from Teri7
Excellent
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Harry, This is a very well written and down right scary story you have told us about. My husband was in the U.S. Coast Guard many years ago. I am so sorry that happened to you, but I am so thankful you are here today to tell your story. Maybe it will help someone else going through the same things in life. I worked for our local police department, many years ago. I was an executive secretary for a Police Dept. I got to type up reports and wait on the officers who needed supplies. Thank you for sharing. It made my heartbeat really fast as I was reading that! Blessings, Teri

 Comment Written 28-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 29-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Teri7. I really appreciate your review!
reply by Teri7 on 29-Aug-2024
    You are so welcome Harry. Blessings, Teri
reply by the author on 29-Aug-2024
    Thank you!
Comment from pome lover
Excellent
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well, that is a horrible story, doubly bad because the police did nothing about it. One thing I wish you had put in there was that your truck had a running board that the two men must have been standing on, because there was no way they could've stayed there just holding on to your throat, especially going 35 and more miles an hour. Another thing that logistically, I couldn't figure out was how the one guy scratched you all down your stomach from outside the truck.
I am not belittling your experience, these were just things that puzzled me while reading about it. It must have been a horrible experience.
Katharine

 Comment Written 28-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 28-Aug-2024
    Yes, Katharine that is the way it happened. I did not have a running board and you are the second person to question that. But I can tell you the next day I could hardly move my head around. My neck hurt so bad. They hung on to me and while doing it were scratching and hitting me. It was a hell of a night!
reply by pome lover on 28-Aug-2024
    sounds like it. Glad you survived.
reply by the author on 29-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you.
Comment from Sandra Stoner-Mitchell
Excellent
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I'm afraid you can't walk out alone in any country these days. You were very lucky to get away with a minced up face, you could very easily been killed. It's a frightening world. You did a great job not giving in, I'm thinking that those two men will not be attempting that again! Well done and good luck in the contest. :)) Sandra

takes to win and safe ( save) your life.

 Comment Written 28-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 28-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Sandra. I always looked at it like - I need to fight for the guy who can't. I wondered how many people they had done this to? Hopefully, they won't try it again.
Comment from SimianSavant
Good
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This is an exciting story which, to be exciting to the reader as it possibly could be, needs a bit of grammar cleanup and condensing. I would try reducing your work count by a quarter or so if you can. Stay focused on the action (instead of thoughts), watch out for any redundancy, and shorten the aftermath to keep the reader engaged. Run-on sentences are you biggest issue (two or more sentences that could function independently, separated incorrectly by a comma). Here are some specific notes:

Dan Quale <= Quayle

I had good leaders that taught me <= WHO, not THAT

Both men had me around the neck and were squeezing very hard, my breathing became labored. <= run-on sentence. Separate with a period or semicolon, or add an "and" after the comma

I thought this is it. <= this is a little awkward as written. Maybe try something like: This is it, I thought. Etc

shoved the stick shift in first gear, pushed on the accelerator, the truck lunged forward, the two men grabbed me tighter around the neck and started yelling at me to stop the truck! <= awkward because some of the verbs are referring to your actions and some refer to other actions. I'd either break each action into its own sentence (this would also help speed up the pacing), or try something like the following: I shoved the stick shift into first gear and floored the accelerator, lunging the truck forward, as the two men grabbed me tighter

Shifting into third gear, climbing to 45 miles per hour, both men tightened their grip around my neck, it started to hurt. <= run-on sentence. See previous notes for tips how to fix this

I could barely breathe! <= breathe

He drew blood from me, <= "from me" is redundant and can be removed

Eliminate the exclamation points. The story is more exciting without them.

and hit him in the nose and blood flew again, I heard him groan and saw his eyes water because I busted his nose <= run-on sentence

My adrenaline was sky high at this point <= sky-high. (The word "sky" is a noun unless you attach it to the adjective with a hyphen, to use as an idiom, which you intend)

the other guy who had me around the neck and hit him in the eye, he groaned very loud because it was a direct hit in his eye <= run-on

There was an eerie silence in the air and there were no people around and I thought this was very strange. <= run-on

p--sed off <= you already have disclaimers on your story so no need to blank out the letters here, haha

and their faces were starting to swell up around their eyes, their nose and mouth was bleeding too. <= run on; also, since it is plural write "their noses and mouths were bleeding too"

I poured peroxide down the outside of my throat and stomach, it started to fizzle and turned white. <= run-on sentence

"What happened to you he exclaimed?" <= fix quote placement

he will fire in that direction to scare the people that they are trying to rob." "They call it the "Clevelander," he said. <= needs cleanup with quotes. ".. people WHO they are trying to rob. They call it 'The Clevelander'," he said.

If you fix all this stuff, message me back and I'll re-review. Thanks for the read! Sounds like you had one hell of a night, and got a great story out of it.

🦍

 Comment Written 26-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 26-Aug-2024
    Wow! You must be a novelist Simian. I did not realize I had botched this story so bad! Thank you for your great review. I really appreciate that!
reply by SimianSavant on 26-Aug-2024
    You're welcome. I wouldn't say your story is "botched" -- just that these edits could help make it more approachable and exciting. 🦍
reply by the author on 26-Aug-2024
    Well, still the same. I really appreciate that Simian!
Comment from Thesis
Excellent
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Wow, that was one hell of a bad experience. It's a shame you had to go through that. These kinds of crimes are a national scourge that people encounter too regularly. How disappointing to get the reaction you did from the police. It's a sad commentary on our society.

 Comment Written 26-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 26-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Thesis. And yes, it is a sad society we live in today. And when you can't get the police to help. Its' time we all started carrying guns again. I really do believe it would be like nuclear bombs. If we all had a gun - it would be a good deterent.
Comment from Ulla
Excellent
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Wow, that was a close call. No, you don't have to go abroad to be targeted. No wonder you wanted to kill. They wanted to kill you.
half way into the story, safe should be save. All best, Ulla :)))

 Comment Written 23-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 23-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Ulla. I really appreciate your review!
Comment from davisr (Rhonda)
Excellent
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Oh wow, what a scary story!! It's amazing that you survived it, but I'm glad you fought back. They have to realize not everyone just lets people have what they want. Thank you for sharing it with us. You did so in a very exciting manner with lots of suspense.

Take care and best of luck in the contest,
Rhonda

 Comment Written 22-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 22-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Rhonda. Yes, it was scary and I was not going to let them get by with it. Thank you for your review. I really appreciate that!
reply by davisr (Rhonda) on 23-Aug-2024
    And I'm proud to know a real action figure!! Too few fight back, or are able to! I have a black belt in Taekwondo, but wonder what I would really do in a real fight, plus, I'm much older now...
reply by the author on 23-Aug-2024
    LOL! Well, It's a little different when you don't know if they have a gun or not too. I had to make a split decision quickly. I decided to fight. I was not going to be their victim, but many are.
reply by davisr (Rhonda) on 23-Aug-2024
    Again, good for you!!
reply by the author on 23-Aug-2024
    Well, thanks again Rhonda. I really appreciate it! And you really can hear a bullet whizzing by your face. I know just what Donald Trump went through too.
reply by davisr (Rhonda) on 23-Aug-2024
    Oh wow!!! And you just hung in there and kept fighting through. I'm amazed at your survival skills and attitude, Trump's too, lol.
reply by the author on 26-Aug-2024
    Yes ma'am. I did.
Comment from Katherine M. (k-11)
Good
Not yet exceptional. When the exceptional rating is reached this is highlighted

This is a riveting series of events that you were the victim of, but there is a saying in writing non-fiction "all is less than the best". I think your story would actually be stronger if you removed some of the repetitions and just wrote something like "they continued to squeeze my throat and even scratched me deep, but I refused to stop fighting back, causing serious damage through direct punches to the faces of the thugs whilst driving." kay
> good leaders that taught me a lot > good leaders who taught me a lot

 Comment Written 22-Aug-2024


reply by the author on 22-Aug-2024
    Well, thank you Katherine. I think you are right! I might try that. Thank you for the review and the insight. I really appreciate that!