HuckleBuck411
Dark mystery surrounds London's Barrington House, an exclusive residential building where tenants pay up to a million dollars to reside in one of the building's apartments. American Apryl has arrived in London to take possession of and liquidate the contents of one of the apartments left to her family as part of her deceased great aunt Lillian's estate. Lillian and her sister had separated when they were young and there had been no communication with Lillian for almost 50 years. For the same amount of time Apartment 16 has been unoccupied and barred from anyone entering. Night porter Seth on his rounds hears strange noises coming from the apartment and unfortunately is exposed to something malevolent when opening the mail flap to peer into the dark apartment. Soon reality will begin to bend into a macabre nightmare world for Seth both asleep and awake and he is soon stalked by a sinister young boy in a hooded coat; a boy no one else sees. And the boy begins making dark demands of Seth in connection with apartment 16. Apryl will find Lillian's apartment in a rundown condition, learning that Lillian had never gone farther from the building by more than a few blocks since her husband died many years before. She finds it curious that no artwork or mirrors are found anywhere in the apartment, although there are signs on the walls that these items had been there at one time. When Apryl finds and reads Lillian's journals telling a story of fear and entrapment her curiosity is piqued and she begins to investigate. Her investigations soon connect to an artist, Felix Hessen, who after WWII had moved into apartment 16. A loner who had been ostracized for his pro fascist beliefs before the war and his following of the dark arts of Aleister Crowley, the subject matter of his paintings of tortured grotesque figures trapped within a dark limitless void called the Vortex were lost and never found; only some of his grotesque preliminary sketches remain. Danger escalates for Apryl as she becomes obsessed to learn the fate of Felix Hessen and his connection to macabre events that occurred long ago and still may be manifesting within Barrington House and apartment 16.
Nevill has for the most part portrayed a grim London where often buildings or rooms are dark, dirty and garbage filled. Most of the characters are grotesque in some way, grimy and smelly. As Seth spirals into insanity, everything and everyone he sees is rotting, deformed and monstrous. Apryl is the exception as she is always described as beautiful and sexually desirable. An appropriate canvas on which this story of horror is painted.
Dark mystery surrounds London's Barrington House, an exclusive residential building where tenants pay up to a million dollars to reside in one of the building's apartments. American Apryl has arrived in London to take possession of and liquidate the contents of one of the apartments left to her family as part of her deceased great aunt Lillian's estate. Lillian and her sister had separated when they were young and there had been no communication with Lillian for almost 50 years. For the same amount of time Apartment 16 has been unoccupied and barred from anyone entering. Night porter Seth on his rounds hears strange noises coming from the apartment and unfortunately is exposed to something malevolent when opening the mail flap to peer into the dark apartment. Soon reality will begin to bend into a macabre nightmare world for Seth both asleep and awake and he is soon stalked by a sinister young boy in a hooded coat; a boy no one else sees. And the boy begins making dark demands of Seth in connection with apartment 16. Apryl will find Lillian's apartment in a rundown condition, learning that Lillian had never gone farther from the building by more than a few blocks since her husband died many years before. She finds it curious that no artwork or mirrors are found anywhere in the apartment, although there are signs on the walls that these items had been there at one time. When Apryl finds and reads Lillian's journals telling a story of fear and entrapment her curiosity is piqued and she begins to investigate. Her investigations soon connect to an artist, Felix Hessen, who after WWII had moved into apartment 16. A loner who had been ostracized for his pro fascist beliefs before the war and his following of the dark arts of Aleister Crowley, the subject matter of his paintings of tortured grotesque figures trapped within a dark limitless void called the Vortex were lost and never found; only some of his grotesque preliminary sketches remain. Danger escalates for Apryl as she becomes obsessed to learn the fate of Felix Hessen and his connection to macabre events that occurred long ago and still may be manifesting within Barrington House and apartment 16.
Nevill has for the most part portrayed a grim London where often buildings or rooms are dark, dirty and garbage filled. Most of the characters are grotesque in some way, grimy and smelly. As Seth spirals into insanity, everything and everyone he sees is rotting, deformed and monstrous. Apryl is the exception as she is always described as beautiful and sexually desirable. An appropriate canvas on which this story of horror is painted.
This book is another angle on the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" theme. Greg Garrett is the newly promoted regional director of a Midwest hotel chain. A job that has caused friction with his wife Janie, since it involves major travel and takes him away from his wife, his eight-year-old daughter Becky and six-month-old son Matthew for long periods of time. The story kicks off as Greg returns from his latest business trip to find his house empty. What is strange is that the family car is still in the garage and his wife's purse is still in the house. The local sheriff is not much help when Greg attempts to obtain help finding his missing family, passing it off as a domestic dispute issue. Soon more people in the town of Engles, IN start to go missing and Greg seems to be the only one noticing strange events around the disappearances until he joins up with Susan whose brother has also gone missing and eventually Zeke an overweight independent investigator who makes a hobby out of looking into fringe events for his blog. Their investigations turn up strange environmental phenomenon associated with the disappearances and soon the three will be in more danger than they ever could have imagined when the missing begin to return. The story is a well-written fast paced read, comparable to something written by Dean Koontz and with an ending the reader might not expect.
This book is another angle on the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" theme. Greg Garrett is the newly promoted regional director of a Midwest hotel chain. A job that has caused friction with his wife Janie, since it involves major travel and takes him away from his wife, his eight-year-old daughter Becky and six-month-old son Matthew for long periods of time. The story kicks off as Greg returns from his latest business trip to find his house empty. What is strange is that the family car is still in the garage and his wife's purse is still in the house. The local sheriff is not much help when Greg attempts to obtain help finding his missing family, passing it off as a domestic dispute issue. Soon more people in the town of Engles, IN start to go missing and Greg seems to be the only one noticing strange events around the disappearances until he joins up with Susan whose brother has also gone missing and eventually Zeke an overweight independent investigator who makes a hobby out of looking into fringe events for his blog. Their investigations turn up strange environmental phenomenon associated with the disappearances and soon the three will be in more danger than they ever could have imagined when the missing begin to return. The story is a well-written fast paced read, comparable to something written by Dean Koontz and with an ending the reader might not expect.
The story revolves around a thirteen-story residential building, Banyan Court, built in one of the poorest areas of central London, Tower Hamlets, and thirteen people either residents of the building or in some way connected to it. The building itself, built upon the remains of a dark past, is a central character in the tale having been commissioned by Tobias Fell, a shady, reclusive billionaire found horribly murdered in his penthouse on the top floor of the building. Even though twelve specific characters to the story, along with some other miscellaneous characters were present in the penthouse when Tobias was murdered, five years later no evidence has ever been found to connect any of them with the murder and likewise evidence of who actually committed the murder was never found, leading to much speculation about the unsolved mystery. The reader will learn the answer to this mystery as one by one the "Twilight Zone-like" horror experiences within Banyan Court for each of the other twelve characters is revealed in a specific chapter of the book. Each tale is creepy and unique and yet the author subtly weaves them together as the story reaches its horrific inevitable conclusion.
The story revolves around a thirteen-story residential building, Banyan Court, built in one of the poorest areas of central London, Tower Hamlets, and thirteen people either residents of the building or in some way connected to it. The building itself, built upon the remains of a dark past, is a central character in the tale having been commissioned by Tobias Fell, a shady, reclusive billionaire found horribly murdered in his penthouse on the top floor of the building. Even though twelve specific characters to the story, along with some other miscellaneous characters were present in the penthouse when Tobias was murdered, five years later no evidence has ever been found to connect any of them with the murder and likewise evidence of who actually committed the murder was never found, leading to much speculation about the unsolved mystery. The reader will learn the answer to this mystery as one by one the "Twilight Zone-like" horror experiences within Banyan Court for each of the other twelve characters is revealed in a specific chapter of the book. Each tale is creepy and unique and yet the author subtly weaves them together as the story reaches its horrific inevitable conclusion.
CATACLYSM
The author's bio states that Scott Conditt writes science fiction and tactical thrillers combining authenticity with cinematic storytelling. That describes the essence of Cataclysm, a science fiction horror story with plenty of action and gore (if you are sensitive to animal abuse, you might pass on this one). The story involves an 'Arbiter' or 'Ref' working for an agency called the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) housed deep under the Pentagon. An Arbiter's job is to observe, report and advise with a high degree of outcome probability accuracy for the "controllers" of the world. The subject matter observed involves strange, shocking and anomalous events that take place around the world, and SCIF for the most part, provides mundane explanations for the public or covers up the events completely. The story unwinds as the Arbiter views video footage from many sources what took place within and outside the Advanced Research and Development Site DD1525 built deep within an abandoned copper mine 15 miles outside the town of Springerville, AZ. The town itself is a long-forgotten mining town, almost turned ghost town after the collapse of the local copper mine in the 1980s. Only a few hundred residents still reside in the town, surviving on government handouts due to the cover the town provides the nearby secret facility. Through the video footage the horror of a top-secret DOD project gone wrong is told. This tale could definitely be turned into a movie.
The author's bio states that Scott Conditt writes science fiction and tactical thrillers combining authenticity with cinematic storytelling. That describes the essence of Cataclysm, a science fiction horror story with plenty of action and gore (if you are sensitive to animal abuse, you might pass on this one). The story involves an 'Arbiter' or 'Ref' working for an agency called the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) housed deep under the Pentagon. An Arbiter's job is to observe, report and advise with a high degree of outcome probability accuracy for the "controllers" of the world. The subject matter observed involves strange, shocking and anomalous events that take place around the world, and SCIF for the most part, provides mundane explanations for the public or covers up the events completely. The story unwinds as the Arbiter views video footage from many sources what took place within and outside the Advanced Research and Development Site DD1525 built deep within an abandoned copper mine 15 miles outside the town of Springerville, AZ. The town itself is a long-forgotten mining town, almost turned ghost town after the collapse of the local copper mine in the 1980s. Only a few hundred residents still reside in the town, surviving on government handouts due to the cover the town provides the nearby secret facility. Through the video footage the horror of a top-secret DOD project gone wrong is told. This tale could definitely be turned into a movie.
CATACLYSM
The author's bio states that Scott Conditt writes science fiction and tactical thrillers combining authenticity with cinematic storytelling. That describes the essence of Cataclysm, a science fiction horror story with plenty of action and gore (if you are sensitive to animal abuse, you might pass on this one). The story involves an 'Arbiter' or 'Ref' working for an agency called the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) housed deep under the Pentagon. An Arbiter's job is to observe, report and advise with a high degree of outcome probability accuracy for the "controllers" of the world. The subject matter observed involves strange, shocking and anomalous events that take place around the world, and, for the most part, provide mundane explanations for the public or cover up the events completely. The story unwinds as the Arbiter views video footage from many sources what took place within and outside the Advanced Research and Development Site DD1525 built deep within an abandoned copper mine 15 miles outside the town of Springerville, AZ. The town itself is a long-forgotten mining town, almost turned ghost town after the collapse of the local copper mine in the 1980s. Only a few hundred residents still reside in the town, surviving on government handouts due to the cover the town provides the nearby secret facility. Through the video footage the horror of a top-secret DOD project gone wrong is told. This tale could definitely be turned into a movie.
The author's bio states that Scott Conditt writes science fiction and tactical thrillers combining authenticity with cinematic storytelling. That describes the essence of Cataclysm, a science fiction horror story with plenty of action and gore (if you are sensitive to animal abuse, you might pass on this one). The story involves an 'Arbiter' or 'Ref' working for an agency called the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) housed deep under the Pentagon. An Arbiter's job is to observe, report and advise with a high degree of outcome probability accuracy for the "controllers" of the world. The subject matter observed involves strange, shocking and anomalous events that take place around the world, and, for the most part, provide mundane explanations for the public or cover up the events completely. The story unwinds as the Arbiter views video footage from many sources what took place within and outside the Advanced Research and Development Site DD1525 built deep within an abandoned copper mine 15 miles outside the town of Springerville, AZ. The town itself is a long-forgotten mining town, almost turned ghost town after the collapse of the local copper mine in the 1980s. Only a few hundred residents still reside in the town, surviving on government handouts due to the cover the town provides the nearby secret facility. Through the video footage the horror of a top-secret DOD project gone wrong is told. This tale could definitely be turned into a movie.
The two stories, written in the 1930s by William Sloane, are more subtle cosmic horror as compared to stories by H. P. Lovecraft. The stories unwind slowly and the reader must be patient as they build toward the reveal at the end. However, both stories leave the reader to ponder outcomes and the mysteries that lie within the realities created by Sloane. In the first story "To Walk the Night" the idea of invasion by outside forces takes a different tack than the usual "aliens from outer space" idea and hits upon questions that many of today's indie researchers are asking about unusual behaviors exhibited by those within "elite communities." Perhaps the better of the two stories, "The Edge of Running Water," is more within the realm of cosmic horror. When a scientist's obsession to regain contact with his dead wife leads to the construction of a device to do just that, the outcome cannot be good. Sloane's prose and character development in both tales are always top-notch, and he even adds romance to the second story. Though several differences, "The Edge of Running Water" reminds me of an Outer Limits episode from the 60s, "The Borderland." But, if you haven't already seen it, don't watch it until you've read Sloane's tale.
The two stories, written in the 1930s by William Sloane, are more subtle cosmic horror as compared to stories by H. P. Lovecraft. The stories unwind slowly and the reader must be patient as they build toward the reveal at the end. However, both stories leave the reader to ponder outcomes and the mysteries that lie within the realities created by Sloane. In the first story "To Walk the Night" the idea of invasion by outside forces takes a different tack than the usual "aliens from outer space" idea and hits upon questions that many of today's indie researchers are asking about unusual behaviors exhibited by those within "elite communities." Perhaps the better of the two stories, "The Edge of Running Water," is more within the realm of cosmic horror. When a scientist's obsession to regain contact with his dead wife leads to the construction of a device to do just that, the outcome cannot be good. Sloane's prose and character development in both tales are always top-notch, and he even adds romance to the second story. Though several differences, "The Edge of Running Water" reminds me of an Outer Limits episode from the 60s, "The Borderland." But, if you haven't already seen it, don't watch it until you've read Sloane's tale.
Added to listOwnedwith 3 books.
I read this science fiction/horror book made up of the novels Blindsight and Echopraxia based on all the high ratings and praise it received. It turned out to be quite a slog. I won't go into a synopsis of the overall story, since it would be very difficult to attempt and there are many four and five-star rating reviewers that have done this already. My main problems with the story are its choppiness, its overuse of scientific jargon and its underdeveloped characters. What makes a story worth reading is the pleasure it gives the reader. Whatever the fictional genre, whether it be science fiction, horror, classical, mystery, thriller, etc. a good story draws the reader in and keeps them wanting to turn pages. It should not read like a textbook covering several areas of scientific theory with some action thrown in here and there; action that comes out of nowhere and leaves the reader perplexed over what just happened. The author has created a dystopian future where genetic manipulation has gone far beyond reason, and so the main characters in the story are every bit as alien as the entity they encounter in deep space. There are no stakes for the reader to care about any of them. Finally, I found this YouTube video of someone giving a much better deeper critique of Blindsight than I can. https://youtu.be/m1TL0xO9AkM?si=45xhzx-dc38QqKY0
I read this science fiction/horror book made up of the novels Blindsight and Echopraxia based on all the high ratings and praise it received. It turned out to be quite a slog. I won't go into a synopsis of the overall story, since it would be very difficult to attempt and there are many four and five-star rating reviewers that have done this already. My main problems with the story are its choppiness, its overuse of scientific jargon and its underdeveloped characters. What makes a story worth reading is the pleasure it gives the reader. Whatever the fictional genre, whether it be science fiction, horror, classical, mystery, thriller, etc. a good story draws the reader in and keeps them wanting to turn pages. It should not read like a textbook covering several areas of scientific theory with some action thrown in here and there; action that comes out of nowhere and leaves the reader perplexed over what just happened. The author has created a dystopian future where genetic manipulation has gone far beyond reason, and so the main characters in the story are every bit as alien as the entity they encounter in deep space. There are no stakes for the reader to care about any of them. Finally, I found this YouTube video of someone giving a much better deeper critique of Blindsight than I can. https://youtu.be/m1TL0xO9AkM?si=45xhzx-dc38QqKY0