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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
'This is not some ghost story for the masses, my boy. Some haunted house you can film and then speculate about on cable television. Some paranormal fantasy you can go and film with your friends. For the festivals and fans. The freaks.' Max smirked. 'It's more, much more. This is real. It always has been. Which is why you couldn't walk away from it.'
100,000 pounds is a lot of money and is the catalyst that Kyle Freeman, guerrilla filmmaker, needs to get himself out of debt and his life back on track. Squashing his concerns about his benefactor Max and his honesty about the project he takes on the history of Sister Katherine and her morbid demise in the Temple of the Last Days cult massacre of 1975. Starting with their roots in London, moving to France and then winding up in Arizona, Kyle and his filming partner Dan experience things they cannot explain. Uncovering more than they dreamed possible Kyle and Dan find themselves fighting for their sanity and lives.
Fantastic imagery, sympathetic characters and a fast-pace will take you on a visceral, emotional and terrifying ride from beginning to almost the end. The ending almost blew it for me but I still couldn't sleep after I finished. You've been warned.
100,000 pounds is a lot of money and is the catalyst that Kyle Freeman, guerrilla filmmaker, needs to get himself out of debt and his life back on track. Squashing his concerns about his benefactor Max and his honesty about the project he takes on the history of Sister Katherine and her morbid demise in the Temple of the Last Days cult massacre of 1975. Starting with their roots in London, moving to France and then winding up in Arizona, Kyle and his filming partner Dan experience things they cannot explain. Uncovering more than they dreamed possible Kyle and Dan find themselves fighting for their sanity and lives.
Fantastic imagery, sympathetic characters and a fast-pace will take you on a visceral, emotional and terrifying ride from beginning to almost the end. The ending almost blew it for me but I still couldn't sleep after I finished. You've been warned.
3.5 rounded up.
I'm not sure if I think this sticks the landing, but as someone who has done a ton of research into "new religious movements," the research Nevill did was so apparent, and it was so interesting to see the way he referenced and worked in aspects of other cults and occult movements. I really did enjoy this book.
I'm not sure if I think this sticks the landing, but as someone who has done a ton of research into "new religious movements," the research Nevill did was so apparent, and it was so interesting to see the way he referenced and worked in aspects of other cults and occult movements. I really did enjoy this book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A very good horror novel, well up to Nevill’s high standards. The plot follows a small documentary film crew exploring what exactly happened to a 1970s cult that burned itself out in an American desert under mysterious circumstances.. Even on this level alone the book is a success. The cult is unique enough to be interesting and familiar enough to be plausible. There are deliberate echoes to Jonestown and the Manson family among others as the investigators dig deeper. Nevill adds an impressive amount of detail about the documentary process and, as the filmmakers begin to interview survivors of the cult, I was reminded of recent binge-worthy true crime podcasts and documentaries. To this Nevill adds a dark supernatural element which gradually builds throughout the book. . I loved the slow ratcheting up of tension, the gradual reveal of details, and the way in which the shadows began to build around the main character. The atmospheric sense of place was terrific. There is some genuinely disturbing stuff here and a bleak view of the afterlife was particularly unsettling. The novel does become something of a different, more action-orientated, beast, during the climactic finale, and I personally could have done with a little less explanation about the nature of the threat, but ideas and images from the book have certainly lingered in my mind. I may never be able to look as water stains in the same way again.
challenging
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No