First of all,
check out that cover. This book is an object of dark beauty, as are the
other books from the Ritual Ltd range. The binding and the even the paper
used is of top quality on this hardback edition. For a book lover, this really
is the sort of quality workmanship I love to see and feel. Books like this are
the reason that kindles can never be good enough.
On to the story.
Is it as good as the cover promises?
I first became
aware of Adam Nevill a few years ago through his novel The Ritual (you may have
seen the film last year if you haven’t read the book). I immediately placed
that book in my top ten horror reads of all time. Nevill displayed he
could capture perfectly the horror of being chased by an unseen thing, and, in
the second half of the book, of being held captive. I quickly sought out
and read his back catalogue. Since then it’s a frustrating wait between books.
He doesn’t churn out three per year like Stephen King. These books are honed to perfection.
I’ve never
been less than impressed with any of his work. This one is no exception.
It starts with
something I’ve never seen in any of Adam’s books before – in the first three
chapters we have a selection of Shreddies. I’m not sure if that’s official
terminology in the publishing world or not but a Shreddie (in my world) is a
character who appears for one chapter and exists for no other reason than to be
killed horribly by the bad thing. This being an Adam Nevill book, these aren’t
your typical shreddies and their deaths do have repercussions, helping draw the
attention of the central characters to what’s going on.
The story
begins at a slow burn after the initial bouts of violence (and indeed even those
bouts of violence are set years apart). We’re introduced first to Kat and
her boyfriend Steve, a journalist at a local magazine and a photographer,
looking at a cave system recently uncovered by a rockfall where gruesome
discoveries from history have been made.
Next we’re
introduced to Helene, whose brother has also gone missing in the ominous
countryside surrounding the towns of Redstone and Divilmouth. He’d
recorded some weird noises in the caves and quarries in the area shortly before
his death.
The characters
meet and their fates become inextricably entwined as they get pulled one by one
into the conspiracy surrounding the caves and the local towns. The net closes
around the three of them, and hope is slowly but surely extinguished as the
scale of the forces around them becomes clear.
Around the
halfway mark we see one of the most nightmarish scenes yet in a Nevill book
(and that is truly an achievement) followed by a gear shift into a fast paced
and gruesome thriller. The hope so cruelly denied in the first half is
teasingly offered, but is it for real? The Red Folk have a long reach,
and what are those creatures beneath the ground?
This book is a
shining example of why I read horror fiction. Adam Nevill builds
atmosphere better than any other writer that springs to mind immediately and in
this book proves he can ladle in the gore with the best of them as well.
Easy 9/10
This book is available via Amazon or through the Ritual Ltd website.
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