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mickdsmith's review
5.0
Creepy
Another solid book in the Kathy Ryan universe. If you like creepy with strong characters, you really need to be reading this book.
Another solid book in the Kathy Ryan universe. If you like creepy with strong characters, you really need to be reading this book.
winifara's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
read_nap_repeat's review
4.0
Beyond the gate is a sci-fi/thriller by Mary SanGiovanni. The story follows Kathy Ryan, an occult investigator, hired by Paragon Corp, a theoretical research facility, to lead a team into an alternate dimension to locate lost researchers and bring them back to our world. I received this as an ARC from Netgalley not realizing it was the latest in a series. Luckily it read well as a stand alone. The build up to the teams departure to begin their rescue mission seemed slow but once they were through the gate the pace really picked up and I had trouble putting it down. I found Kathy's levelheadedness admirable considering all the weird shit that she encountered. Not many women would be able to maintain their professionalism and decorum while wearing a DIY loin cloth bikini.
Mary SanGiovanni did a great job detailing this alternate world within such a short book. I was picking up on some Ghostbuster/Alien vibes throughout the book especially towards the climax. I couldn't help but picture Sigourney Weaver as Kathy once I had that in my head. I enjoyed this book and while I would want to read the others before recommending the series as a whole I would definitely recommend this installment to anyone looking for a thrilling sci fi with a retro feel to it.
Mary SanGiovanni did a great job detailing this alternate world within such a short book. I was picking up on some Ghostbuster/Alien vibes throughout the book especially towards the climax. I couldn't help but picture Sigourney Weaver as Kathy once I had that in my head. I enjoyed this book and while I would want to read the others before recommending the series as a whole I would definitely recommend this installment to anyone looking for a thrilling sci fi with a retro feel to it.
recreationalhobbyist's review
3.0
This was my first Kathy Ryan book & it was a trip. Kathy Ryan is an occult investigator that is hired to investigate the disappearance of a team of scientists. But this team didn't disappear under mysterious circumstances here on Earth, but in another freaking dimension. This alternate dimension is discovered in a lab run by the Paragon Corporation, a super shady government research organization. When the Green Team scientists first venture into this dimension, the world appears to be abandoned & void of any sentient life. However, as the team has disappeared, the question becomes whether or not this dimension is as truly empty as they thought.
I was a little worried as this is the third book in the series that I would be missing out on a huge back story, but I think it held up pretty well as a stand alone book. It also makes me want to go back & read the first two books in the series.
*Thank you to the author, Mary SanGiovanni, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
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I was a little worried as this is the third book in the series that I would be missing out on a huge back story, but I think it held up pretty well as a stand alone book. It also makes me want to go back & read the first two books in the series.
*Thank you to the author, Mary SanGiovanni, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
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errantdreams's review
3.0
"Beyond the Gate" is disappointingly different from the other Kathy Ryan books. Those had plenty of monsters and chases and fights and all that jazz. This story is mostly telling, going over facts about Kathy and other worlds that we already know from other SanGiovanni books or just ruminating overly long about what’s going on in this book. I honestly didn’t find it all that interesting. The material set in the other universe spends most of its time on getting lost in a giant, mostly-empty city.
I also wasn’t thrilled with the climax. We’re finally introduced to some big, bad entities, but then it felt as though they were so powerful that SanGiovanni didn’t really know what to do with them. There’s a disappointingly short and relatively uninteresting climax to the book and it doesn’t do much to answer any questions. I felt like this could have been condensed and turned into the first third of a longer, more intense work.
It’s certainly possible to do this kind of low-key horror with not too much physical happening, but it’s not what we’ve come to expect from the Kathy Ryan novels. And it doesn’t mesh with what Kathy finds out about the world they’re visiting.
The other books also had a much more traditional horror approach to their bad guys, primarily relying on cultists. This time it’s a large corporation with ties to the US government. It’s a whole different feel, and I don’t think all readers will like the transition. I think it was good enough, although some of it was a bit obvious. The corporation had a weird tendency to just let obviously messed-up things leave their premises, yet at the same time tended to round up the main characters any time they found them, using standard-issue goons with guns. Only a few of the corporation folks broke the mold enough to give it some variety.
I still plan to check out another Kathy Ryan novel assuming there is one, but I hope it goes back to a more familiar style.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/12/review-beyond-the-gate-mary-sangiovanni/
I also wasn’t thrilled with the climax. We’re finally introduced to some big, bad entities, but then it felt as though they were so powerful that SanGiovanni didn’t really know what to do with them. There’s a disappointingly short and relatively uninteresting climax to the book and it doesn’t do much to answer any questions. I felt like this could have been condensed and turned into the first third of a longer, more intense work.
It’s certainly possible to do this kind of low-key horror with not too much physical happening, but it’s not what we’ve come to expect from the Kathy Ryan novels. And it doesn’t mesh with what Kathy finds out about the world they’re visiting.
The other books also had a much more traditional horror approach to their bad guys, primarily relying on cultists. This time it’s a large corporation with ties to the US government. It’s a whole different feel, and I don’t think all readers will like the transition. I think it was good enough, although some of it was a bit obvious. The corporation had a weird tendency to just let obviously messed-up things leave their premises, yet at the same time tended to round up the main characters any time they found them, using standard-issue goons with guns. Only a few of the corporation folks broke the mold enough to give it some variety.
I still plan to check out another Kathy Ryan novel assuming there is one, but I hope it goes back to a more familiar style.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/12/review-beyond-the-gate-mary-sangiovanni/
annarella's review
4.0
A good horror/sci-fi novel with the right creepiness factor and an excellent world building.
I liked the style of writing, even if the switch of the tone doesn't always work, the character development, and the gripping plot that kept me on the edge till the end.
I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I liked the style of writing, even if the switch of the tone doesn't always work, the character development, and the gripping plot that kept me on the edge till the end.
I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
lilyn_g's review
Normally, I dig Mary SanGiovanni's writing, but this is one case where the book really just did not work for me. The writing style was a bit different here. It was a deliberate choice and probably worked for the book, but it made it hard for me to read.
rovertoak's review
4.0
This newest entry in the Kathy Ryan series takes readers to a stunningly original, lush, beautiful, and terrifying setting beyond our own plane of existence. Scientists at Paragon Corp have done the impossible -- opened a doorway between dimensions. Problem is, the exploratory team that went through the gate has disappeared. Kathy, hired to investigate the disappearance is coerced by force to lead a team through the gate to search for the missing team, but, of course, this other world has other things in mind for humanity. Fans of Mary SanGiovanni will no doubt enjoy the newest entry in the series, and will be excited to explore this strange new world. Fast-paced, intensely readable, modern cosmic horror from a master and scholar in the genre!
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