All Comments on 'Spontaneous Combustion!'

Couldn't rate it because after good writing, the revenge part became silly and over the top.

I was worried for a minute there: it wouldn't be a Gumbo25 story if someone isn't murdered in cold blood.

Good story. Was hoping for a little more retribution, oh well. 5 BIG FAT BLAZING STARS!

You do not ever tear down a historical 10-acre estate just to get even with a fuckin whore.

You seem to use the same story line in most of your stories. He marries a beautiful architect who know his story. Pledges her ❤️. Yet she winds up in bed with his so called best friend . It hust seems unreal.no kids ever brought up in these marriages. He should have been kill by Ameche . Yet he beats up the ex girlfriends husband and he broke his leg on the football field . Makes a strange tale.

No suspense here at all, more translucent than a "Peter-and-Jane" reading-primer for five year-olds, and hardly a pheromone-inspiring bodice-ripping, lust-filled, tense, cliff-hanger of an erotic masterpiece!

Nothing especially wrong with the writing itself at all, nor even the basic plot (but it did NEED a helluva lot more development than this to be included in with the "grown-up" section of the library)! It's just that the storyline was "kindergarten-level" in it's target audience, -and that concerns me, -why was it?

Please don't ever let any sense of consideration for those of us who don't celebrate Christian holidays keep you from calling a spade a spade. We know that school social events occurring toward the end of December are Christmas celebrations and we know as well that you don't give a damn whether or not we feel included, regardless of whether our kids go to those schools or that our taxes pay the costs of those schools.

not very good is the best I can say

Revenge is a dish best served cold

Also, thsnk you for the node for Christmas. I am sick of a minority being offended by those of who still celebrate the birth of our savior. WHAT gived you the right to bully us, and entire culture, just to appease you. Your right. I don't give a damn about your discomfort and I am outeaged at your efforts, at every level, to dismantal this countrys social historical fabric to create a fsdcist state on the Calif// Chicago and NY model. You, and your kind, want absolute power to control all who oppose you. You are the early models of another dictator, Hitler. You need to be opposed at every opportunity. Yes, it's time to make you uncomfortable and if this offends you I couldn't care less.

Second read, still great!

Enjoyed the read… very much more revenge that other stories on this site. Was it over the top… o’ heck YES it was. But a very enjoyable read. You could of wrote a little more about Max’s emotional state in the end. That would of been balanced with the earlier parts of this story. And, a little more written about Anna would have made me happier. I know she just didn’t drop off this earth… but the final thoughts about her just seemed incomplete to me. Still I really did enjoy this read. Thank-you!

While I enjoy this author’s stories I am beginning to think he has so issues in his life he needs to resolve. I so no forgiveness anywhere in his psyche and he definitely has anger issues. These are all well demonstrated in his stories.

All of his MCs are losers, have empathy and forgiveness issues, and have extreme anger issues which need help.

This story is a prime example. He was way too angry and actually cut his own nose off to spite his face. Just stupid. Sure he needed to take some revenge out on his “best” friend for what he did but what he did was very revealing. His texts would have also pointed back to him that he was supposed to pick up the check. Fail on his part.

His wife did nothing that deserved the punishment she got. She made a mistake. He should have at least tried to forgive her and see if it would work. She didn’t plan the cheating it just happened. The only thing I can really criticize her for is continuing for the week under the assumption he wouldn’t find out. Again, he would have been much better off with his wife than without her. Especially with the extra attention he would have received for doing so. He lived a lonely life after dumping her. Stupid man.

He was also stupid to tear down his house and the gardens to get back at her. Let’s again cut our nose off to spite our face. If he had thought about it he should have just arrived with her as the gardens were being destroyed. Make her see it happen. That would have been revenge but his anger blinded him. Anger problems.

He also had major trust and love issues. If he picked up on the Hawaiian music in the background and so quickly jumped to the conclusion he did he had no love or trust in his marriage. To d7mo herb the way he did as fast as he did with the anger he had shows he never loved her in the first place.

He was also stupid to let Weingrass kill Tanner. He could have been an actual business man and made tanner live with what he did. Killing him was too easy. He should have suggested to Weingrass to set up a payment plan with Tanner and sold him an life insurance policy on Tanner with Weingrass as the beneficiary to protect the note. If he didn’t follow through Weingrass could have killed Tanner and gotten his money and he would have gotten a healthy commission.

All around this authors MCs are stupid, weak, anger ridden, not capable of loving, not and not able to trust, with the inability to forgive. This indicates that his MCs all have mental issues that need counseling. Because all his stories are like this it just makes me wonder if this is a direct reflection on the author.

Not a nice tale at all, but nicely composed.

Huh? Mbgdallas says the wife did nothing to deserve the punishment she got? Ok yeah MC is vindictive. "She didn't plan the cheating, it just happened?" Wtf? Ok yeah maybe the first time it was too much nostalgia, Tanner being pushy and aggressive, being in Hawaii, and being tipsy (she didn't say drunk or intoxicated). Considering she was not chemically impaired, it was still a betrayal that would take a lit to forgive. But then she decides he will never know and will just have a fling, and repeatedly screws Tanner over and over while in Hawaii. Umm thatbis premeditated and malicious. She thought she coukd get away with it and she did it. Planning yo keep it secret. She might have except her aloof manner on the phone (she was either feeling guilty but not enough to stop cheating, but enough to be a bit weird on the phone or she was impatient for hubby to get off so she coukd be with Tanner) and Tanner spilling the beans about escorting her around at night in conflict with her own statements. Look she had a repeated sexual affair compressed in a short time frame. She did it once, if she gets away with it, and she almost did, she will do it again. Her answers were clichéd. She showed little to no remorse. Yes the MC dishes out some significant revenge punishment. But at some point she is just upset that she lost her chance at gardening fame. Be real. She didn't think she did anything wrong. Was MC and asshole, yes he was. But she wounded him terribly and with his best friend, they both betrayed him and he snapped. And in th4 end she though what she did was no big deal and he was throwing thr marriage away. It made no sense her affair. They proclaimed to love each other, they hadn't drifted apart, they were compatible, they have plans for the future, and yet she falls from grace once, sure that coukd be worked out in many cases, but she KEPT doing it. That is malice. And on top of that she thought a fling was no big deal. She is a bit delusional. He had no recourse but to divorce her. He coukd never trust her again. It is all about the circumstances, the extent and depth of betrayal, and the post discovery communications. Anna failed on all of those.

⭐⭐⭐

Second reading was better 5*****

Two Hoes screw over the same man. Both are upset, that he doesn’t take it lying down. It retrospect, I know that everyone says” living a good life” is the best revenge. But I think his wife, deserved some sort of derogation to her pristine reputation, besides losing her show on free tv.

5 stars... buy still....

Nope. I will never forgive this author for what he did to that house and property.

Strangely unsatisfying and unpleasant story. Your protagonist was a thin skinned conceited prick and the rest of the players were unlovable.

Nobody that stupid deserves to become a multi millionaire. And also it's a massively overused trope.

You've written many better story than this.

Scorched earth approach to infidelity - literally and figuratively!

Always liked this story. Thanks.

Destroying the beautiful gardens they made together then selling Aunt Helen's property for a development was the act of a pathetic loser. Divorce, yes, but not that. It made me wish Weingrass had offed him along with Tanner.

I think he should of granted his wife her wish of being famous. Like anonymously publishing her having sex. She needed more payback then just losing her television job and her precious garden

I am amazed at how many comments below indicate that the MC over-responded. He was betrayed by both his best friend and his wife. They both knew his history of being betrayed and how badly it hurt him and they just didn't care. They both deserved to be burned.

Your writing is excellent as usual but your characters are lacking. Take this for example;

If you make out an MC to be tough guy then let him be a tough SOB all 90 mins of film.

No director starts out with Jason Statham at the beginning of the film and turns him into Jonah hill at the end(No pun included).

If your man is here to kick ass, let him kick ass. If he's here to cry to us, let him cry.

Good storyline though.

3 stars. I'm still understanding how Weingrass gets to dine away into the sunset much less with a buxom half his age.

The storyline bothered me. The house and the land are part of an inheritance. As such Anne has no claim. The gardens are on the property and the owner can do what he wants to them. Why destroy the house then sell the land? Just destroy the gardens. What was the point of it all?

Revenge should be aimed at the offender. Anne’s dream was being famous. The gardens were her passport. He destroyed her dream. That’s a bullseye.

Sordid characters all. Narrator at the bottom of the barrel.

Excellent, creative work. Love your stories. Keep them long :-).

So the MC has money but no real life. He is so damamgrd he only dates. What life is that. Not having a life companion whether as a life partner or a wife. What a sad tale.

Reread the. My favorite of this author. 5+ stars/

Ruined dreams, no real life, story after story of nothing but downers. Who pissed in your post toasties?

I’ve come to the conclusion that I enjoy your stories but ultimately the mc’s always sort of deserve what happens to them. I mean there are so many signs not to get married, yet they sacrifice themselves just to simp a wee bit longer. This one though, I really didn’t think Anna was going to turn out to be such a cliche. It was like she got turned into a lw terminator.

The author always seems to use the same repetitive formula, wit some variations thrown in. It gives nearly all of his stories the same setup, tone, flavor, even central themes.

I confess it took me a moment to identify them but now that I did, it’s kind of glaringly obvious. How disappointing.

As always in your stories the cheating whores walk scott-free.

Not a good story. No real revenge. Wife has no real consequences. A shitty local garden show wasn’t going to make her famous so she lost nothing. Oh well. Again, the story is well worth what I paid to read it.