Entry tags:

books/authors, person: neo_prodigy, reviews

What's worse than getting a negative review on Amazon?
Getting caught leaving a positive review under a sockpuppet, of course!

Author Dennis R. Upkin Jr. reviews his own book under a sock account and is outed by Amazon.com's credit card verification system. ETA: Review's been removed, but here's a screencap from the sf_drama post.

Copy and pasted text of the four star review, left by "Roz Torres":

I heard about this novel on an online podcast and after constantly forgetting to pick up the book, I finally got a copy and read it.

The story is intense. It's got a lot going on. With the paranormal elements and the real world commentary. Upkins pulls no punches tackling racism and homophobia, but really surprised me was the interesting cast of women. I loved Ruby and Cassidy and it was nice to see women of color be shown in a light you rarely see. But my favorite character hands down was Neely. I wish there were more characters like her in the media. And I say this as a fellow bisexual woman. The little representation we have, most of it isn't good. Good story. And I'll definitely re-read again to see what I missed the first time.

ETA 2: Dennis R. Upkins, Jr. is also known as neo_prodigy on livejournal, and is known for wankiness already. (Link goes to unfunny_fandom.)

ETA 3: Someone on fail_fandomanon has pointed out that it is possible to get an Amazon-verified account with a phony name, although a "Rosalyn Torres" also left a positive rating on goodreads earlier this month (thanks for the link, sakanagi). Also, while the Amazon review is gone, but the account that posted it is still up, so you can see the real name verification for yourself.

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	ridureyu 2011-08-31 05:44 am UTC (link)
	It's like inventing a teleportation device, and only using it to rob banks. So basically, he's a comic book super-villain. Worse, a Silver Age supervillain. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

zellieh
2011-08-31 04:27 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, it was his evil twin! Who was also called Dennis! But he was kidnapped at birth and raised by an Evil Cabal of Racist Homophobic White Women for the sole purpose of destroying the real Dennis!

In a insanely complex plot involving ~~Giant Robot Spiders form Mars!~~...leaving fake positive Amazon reviews on his book?

....uh. ::scratches head::

I think even Silver Age supervillains could do better than that, to be honest. And that's including the ones who tripped over and fell onto their own big red self-destruct buttons.

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ridureyu
2011-08-31 07:16 pm UTC (link)

I once visited a friend of mine. His window was boarded up. When I asked, he said:

"Uhhh... uhhhh... there was... uhhh... pumpkin... hammer throw... uhhh... failed..."

He wasn't very smart.

I ended up training him to say, "I was walking along like a good person, whistling a do-gooder tune, when suddenly this HOOLIGAN who looked JUST LIKE ME jumped over the fence! He laughed and said, 'Ha ha ha! I'm going to throw a pumpkin through the window!' And then he did! And since he wasn't me, he jumped over the fence and was never seen again!"

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	librarianmouse 2011-08-31 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	No, I'd say it's more like inventing a teleportation device and only using it to get into your arch-nemesis's home to leave gift baskets. "This basket of mini muffins will show the depth of my hatred!" (insert evil laugh here) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cmdr_zoom
2011-08-31 05:57 pm UTC (link)

There was an issue of Superman where the Man of Steel had a trippy near-death experience, in which he imagined himself in a hospital bed while all his friends and enemies stopped by to wish him (fare)well. One of these was the giant mind-controlling starfish Starro (I could not make this Silver Age stuff up), who handed him a basket of cupcakes and said "THANK YOU" in an alien font that looked close enough to "FUCK YOU" for most readers of scans_daily. "Fuck You Cupcakes" was a meme there for a while.

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	rosehiptea 2011-09-01 12:11 am UTC (link)
	the giant mind-controlling starfish Starro OK... I know what my nightmares will feature tonight. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bcaluroso 2011-09-07 06:55 am UTC (link)
	. . . I must have a link to this. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ridureyu 2011-08-31 07:13 pm UTC (link)
	Me: "But I hate oatmeal! OTMEAL MUFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ickle_snowflake 2011-08-31 10:40 pm UTC (link)
	I would totally do this. The mind-fuck possibilities are endless. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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