Lippy Kids Volume 1. Aden Baker: Notoriety and Anonymity by Marc Cage

Title: Lippy Kids Volume 1. Aden Baker: Notoriety and Anonymity

Author: Marc Cage

Publisher: Unknown

Date of publication: December 7th, 2016

Genre: General Fiction

Number of pages: 89

POV: 3rd person, 2nd person 1st person (during the narration part of the YouTube video)

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Lippy Kids podcast host, Oscar Zurano, lays out in his YouTube ‘documentary’ the short life and violent death of Aden Oliver Baker: his murderous rampage in Manchester, New Hampshire that left 12 dead-ending by his own hand, and the manifesto he left behind detailing his thoughts and beliefs on just why he did it.

There’s no such thing as bad publicity. We’ve all heard this refrain before. The future mass murderer Aden Baker lived it from his earliest years in grade school when he coined the saying: “Notoriety is better than complete anonymity.”

Aden was born to an affluent life, with successful parents in the film industry who –he was to learn– accidentally conceived him. This unwelcome start would later aid his notion of alienation from the rest of humanity, setting him upon a fateful course. With a particular grudge against females, Baker was to overlay all his feelings of frustration and rage like a veneer upon his fellow human beings–scapegoating women for failing to recognize his self-styled ‘fabulous’ qualities. And claim his virginity.

Taking this journey into Aden Baker’s past is to witness a seemingly paradisiacal childhood mutate into a monstrous young adulthood that resulted in an actual horror story. Oscar explores, in this admonitory biography, such notions as: was Aden Baker the product of indoctrination into an American popular culture rich with guns and violence? Could the cause have been race-fated angst? Sexual denial? Or was he paupered morally…by something else?

My review:

This book scared me but intrigued me at the same time. It scared me because you know there are walking time bombs like Aden Oliver Baker walking around and you don’t know when they will go off. But, at the same time, it intrigued me because you could see the progression of his issues throughout the narration.

I really liked that the author was able to successfully blend telling Aden’s story in 1st and 2nd person. I have read a few books and I have found only one other book that was able to meld 1st and 2nd person as successfully as the author did. It gives me hope for future books!!

I am torn between thinking that Aden Oliver Baker was a product of his environment, thinking that he had something chemically wrong with him or both. I want to say both. Why both? He was beyond spoiled and beyond coddled by his parents….well his mother, his father was largely absent. I mean, he would cry, literally cry tears, and Mommy would swoop him up and fix things. But, at the same time, he was in therapy and had medication (that he refused to take). So, you can see where I am torn on it.

I also thought, along with Oscar and Navarro, that Aden was a little turd and grew into a bigger one. He blamed everyone but himself for his lack of not being able to get laid. It drove me nuts reading that. Maybe if he wasn’t such a little turd and so focused on belittling people who were supposedly popular and getting “his” girls, then maybe the magic would have happened for him.

I did think that the gaming and pornography aspects of this story were pretty valid also. Seeing that I play World of Warcraft, I can see where Aden’s stepmother put limits on it when he was over their house. That game is addicting….lol. I can easily lose 2 hours questing or running dungeons/raids. But, I know when to log off and don’t spend all of my time on there. Which is a huge difference from Aden.

What I also thought were valid points were the extremist/hate groups that Oscar named in the video. While I didn’t google (I was barely allowed to read this book by my 3-year-old….lol), I can definitely see extremist/hate groups coming out of the woodwork to comment on the video. I mean, they all do in real life so why not in a fictional story? And the reactions that Oscar describes are pretty much on par. So much hate in this world…..sigh.

I did like that the author told the story of Aden Oliver Baker as a video on Youtube….with the story being told to the reader as a narration. Very different and made it so easy to read!!

I liked Oscar and Navarro too. I do hope that there will be a second book written in this series because I am really fascinated with where the author is going to go with it.

How many stars will I give Lippy Kids: 4

Why: A very well written account of how a serial killer is made. I enjoyed reading this book because it explores all angles and doesn’t leave anything unturned. Aden was truly an unlikable character too. He gave me the heebee jeebies as I was reading the book. Like I said above, there is always someone like Aden walking around. It is just a matter of time before they break.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sexual situations, language, and violence

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**