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| oh yes - hello 2009 http://horrorworld.org/msgboards/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=5741 |
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| Author: | maysims [ Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:44 am ] |
| Post subject: | oh yes - hello 2009 |
Amazon comments: ***** Fantastic fast paced thriller, December 26, 2008 by Sally Brown "Black Cathedral is the third supernatural Leisure fiction from these British authors and the best so far. It has three vital elements that make a book interesting and inspire you to read page after page. A detailed and fascinating plot, characters, most of whom you learn a lot about and learn to care about them, and lots of creepy atmosphere that transports you into their world and makes it seem as if you've been there, though I have never been to Scotland let alone an isolated island. The book begins in such a fast fashion that I was a third in before I could draw breath. Robert Carter is a psychic investigator who works for a department of the British Government that investigates paranormal and supernatural occurrences. Robert is a main character and what happens to his assistant in the opening of the novel sets the scene for his point of view through the story. These opening scenes are really well written with horror and atmosphere dripping from the pages. Having set up that hanging thread we then meet a group of management people on an outward bound session on a deserted island. There is plenty of reasons not to visit this island, it has a tragic past, and gradually these petulant and spoiled corporate beings meet up with what's haunting the island. What happens to the six draws Department 18 in, and Carter, to find out what's go on. epartment 18 is badged on the front of the book and is clearly being set up as a series. It has it's own website (http://www.dept18.com) which is really interesting with background and details of previous investigations. It's been done really well with fake passwords and all sorts of fun stuff. I am betting the next novel from Maynard & Sims will be a Department 18 book. There are layers of plot between the management group disappearing and Carter and his group arriving on the island. A mysterious American woman and her father are involved in the ownership of the island, she is part of a group called the Sorority. What are they getting out of it all? What are their intentions? Once on the island a reporter who has been tracking past events of the island, Kulsay Island makes an appearance. Bayliss is another main character who has a good line in sarcasm. He and Carter compete for who knows the most about the history of the island. These scenes in the house they stay in on Kulsay could be slow as they are each character telling the group what has gone on in the past. I didn't find them too slow. They provided a welcome calm after the frantic horrors of the previous chapters. Books like this where the pace starts on page 1 and continues often burn themselves out when sense has to come in so we know what it's all about. Here the way the explanations are set out it is natural and forms part of the story telling. The climax with the below the ground action is breath taking. There is so much going on you don't know where to look next. It reads like a huge action movie scene with a cast of hundreds if not thousands. I was mindful of one of those old Bible epics because it all takes place in a church, cathedral, and without giving too much away it features as many religious 'characters' as you could ask for. A book that features Kaballah, Jesuits, Ley Lines, psychics and has Satan and God in it has to be considered ambitious. In the most part the authors bring it off with grace and style. Some of the explanations possibly seem a bit convenient but the whole storyline is very convincing. The characters are three dimensional and sympathetic with real lives and issues beyond the current. The atmosphere created is wonderful. What I liked most about the book is that it is not gory and violent for its own sake. The horror is built fast and furiously but with class and with real writing creativity. My only criticism would be that the story is complex. This is a must read book and one I found hard to put down. It reads fast but satisfying. It is horror but with real people in it. I think Department 18 is going to do really well, and would make a great network series on TV." “This book opens well; the first scene with Robert in the house is almost wonderful. The bugs were a chilling touch... and the way it wrapped up... a fun scene.” “Black Cathedral owes a lot to a couple classics of haunted house stories, namely Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Richard Matheson's Hell House, both of which dealt with investigations of the haunted house.” Comments on Good Reads: “Great, scary read. I would love to see this book made into a movie. I was seeing it in my head as I read it. Very creepy.” “I've enjoyed the books I've read by Maynard and Sims. They have such an elegant approach to horror that makes the horror much more frightening and, at times, visceral.” Internet Reviews: “Tapping into some of our deepest primal fears, Maynard and Sims have created a dark horror story that will keep the pages turning long into the night.” http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books ... s/article_ 1450427.php/Book_Review_Black_Cathedral “Once again Maynard & Sims has contrived to create a powerful work of fiction, which reminds me of one of those nightmares that make you glad to wake up and find out it was just a dream.” http://www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm Black Cathedral reviewed by Mario Guslandi "A house infested by alien beetles, but, more importantly, by unknown, powerful, alien forces....A desolate island three miles off the east coast of Scotland becoming the location of a survival course for a group of people who get lost to the world within a couple of days... Soon death and terror take hold of the men and women now staying on the island but helping them is a very difficult task even for a veteran like Robert Carter, used to the fight against human and inhuman enemies. Yet Carter has his own very good reason to get to the heart of the puzzle... The Minister of Defense is interested, a rescue team, including also a couple of psychic, is sent to the island to discover what’s happening and to straighten things up. As it turns out, behind the island’s mysteries hid a wealthy women outfit called The Sorority, ancient depravities involving the Jesuits, Satanism and evil forces now at loose. I’m purposely avoiding trying to describe the plot in a straight manner, in order not to spoil for the reader the pleasure of fully enjoying the book. The novel is a breathtaking chain of horror, a frightening reading experience that will reveal to the reader the malignant forces lying behind the smooth surface of everyday’s reality. Once again Maynard & Sims has contrived to create a powerful work of fiction, which reminds me of one of those nightmares that make you glad to wake up and find out it was just a dream. As a long-time reader of horror fiction I promise I’m not squeamish but, believe me, this book is terrifying, the avalanche of emotions and the flow of adrenaline will carry you on. So I’m warning you: if you have important engagements ahead don’t even think of starting this novel because you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve reached the last page." Mario Guslandi was born and raised in Milan, Italy, where he’s currently living. He became addicted to horror and supernatural fiction more than twenty years ago, after accidentally reading a reprint anthology of stories by MR James, JS Le Fanu, HP Lovecraft and A Machen. Since then his collection of horror books has expanded to the point of requiring continuous addictions of new shelves to his library, in order to avoid the collapse of the whole structure. Most likely the only Italian who regularly reads (and reviews) dark fiction in English, he’s always tempted to hide his true identity under feigned English or American pen-names, just for the fun of it, but then he keeps forgetting to do that. “The atmosphere is excellent, the fear is palatable, the remoteness and eerie quality of the island depicted just perfectly.” http://hellnotes.com/black-cathedral-book-review/ "Black Cathedral is a masterful haunted house tale that reminded me of the old film, 'The Legend of Hell House'." http://www.mania.com/weekly-book-buzz-b ... 11353.html "Some creepy scenes in this one" http://www.dondammassa.com/r3b_2008.htm "Black Cathedral - Horror of the first water." "Meticulous in its historical detail and infinitely more frightening than the most bloody, gruesome nightmare, Black Cathedral seductively twists the world with surprising and deceptive ease. Maynard and Sims are erudite horror stylists whose stories leave a lingering shiver of delicious terror that leave the reader wanting more." http://www.authorlink.com/bookreviews/detail/352 "L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims have themselves a winner here and I think that they have themselves a franchise in the works with the characters that make up Department 18. This is a book to watch out for, and one that really grabs you from the first chapter on. L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims are a horror duo that knows how to scare the reader and suck them down into their horrific stories. Pick this one up when it hits book shelves in January and get ready for a whole new paranormal experience with Department 18." Review by Horror Bob http://www.horrorreview.com/2008/blackc ... k2008.html “L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims once again write a scary horror story that will frighten the audience into leaving all lights on.” Genre Go Round “An ending where events have been built up into a soaring crescendo of fear and terror.” Graeme's Fantasy Book Review http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com ... -sims.html Alternate Worlds Review by Harriet Klausner http://www.alternative-worlds.com/2008/ ... -mpn-sims/ "Dept. 18 by L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims (horror) - BLACK CATHEDRAL launches this series about a paranormal investigative unit of the British government. One of their first missions is a haunted castle in Scotland. Read more about this mysterious agency and download the first 50 pages of the book. If you liked X-Files, you'll definitely want to check this one out." Romantic Reads |
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