Number 8 - Monumental- Adam Nevill

 

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2026 and it didn't disappoint.  I'm using the picture from the back cover here.  Everyone is posting the feathered creature pictured on the front, but I think this lovely looking guy needs some love too.

A group of kayakers in Devon make the mistake of tackling a trip up a private valley off the coast, they find themselves facing the worst day of their lives. The valley is home to creatures rising from the depths of time. Creatures that time wanted to forget. Creatures that should never have seen the daylight again.

Over the next twelve hours the six of them will face dangers that they could never have dreamed about.

As ever, Adam's prose is rich and atmospheric. The monsters he describes are truly the stuff of nightmare. This may well be his most brutal book to date. 

What sets this apart from so many similar stories is that none of the characters are even remotely capable of dealing with the situation they find themselves in. These are everymen.  They don't come ready equipped with the fighting prowess of a superhero. Whether any of them can or will survive the challenges about to befall them is not even certain with only two pages to go till the end. And if they do survive, to borrow an old move tagline, what will be left of them?

The characters are not the most likeable bunch, but they don't deserve what's happening. Likeability in a character is overrated imho.  I much prefer interesting people, and that's what Adam gives us here. They all have their flaws. This is a dysfunctional group of almost friends. The friction between them is well portrayed and mostly adds to the tension building around them. 

Apart from one "Why are you trying to do this now?" incident involving personal issues between two of the characters (which was dealt with fairly rapidly to be fair), this is an almost flawless horror novel. From the moment the scream rings out across the valley in the first chapter, the horrors barely let up. 

I think Adam Nevill is one of the few writers who has never written a bad book.  And this is one of his strongest. I especially like how he has managed to tie in several of his other folk horror novels with this book, creating a shared universe that I am so so glad I don't have to live in.

As ever, I recommend this to anyone who likes a densely atmospheric slice of pure horror.