Scan barcode
mrsbear's review against another edition
5.0
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.
litwrite's review against another edition
1.0
This was a terrible book. I feel bad for giving it one star but it really was a chore to read because it was just so so horrible. I think that the authors just had a grand vision of what they wanted to do but lacked the talent or the forethought to actually make that vision happen.
Black Cathedral is a hodgepodge of haunted house, conspiracy, and action novels. It's like someone took [b:Relic|67035|Relic (Pendergast, #1)|Douglas Preston|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312040672s/67035.jpg|23046], mixed in some Hellboy [b:B.P.R.D.: Killing Ground|2344780|B.P.R.D., Vol. 8 Killing Ground|Mike Mignola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349038744s/2344780.jpg|2351490], [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303252999s/968.jpg|2982101], and threw in some [b:Hell House|33547|Hell House|Richard Matheson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298420659s/33547.jpg|804298] for good measure.
Don't get me wrong. I love all those 3 sources. Combined together you think they would make for one hell of a ride. But the writing and plot of Black Cathedral are so shoddy as to be painful.
There are some promising parts, sure. Love the scene when that was pretty cool.
I picked up the Black Cathedral because at first I thought it was a haunted house novel, or haunted island as the case may be. I *love* a good haunted house novel. [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House |Shirley Jackson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871336s/89717.jpg|3627] for instance, and the aforementioned Hell House. Even more recently, FG Cottam released the very atmospheric [b:The House Of Lost Souls|3153080|The House of Lost Souls|F.G. Cottam|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327546836s/3153080.jpg|3184661] that I also quite enjoyed.
Unfortunately, what Black Cathedral fails to take into consideration is that the real protagonist of a haunted house novel has to be THE HAUNTED HOUSE. And honestly we spend very little time on Kulsay island. In a 270 page novel it takes about 170 pages for them just to GET to the island.
The authors spend so much time trying to drop clues to some vast conspiracy that turns into such a lame duck at the end that I'm honestly embarassed for them. I'm going to spoil this for you, but it's just so ridiculous that when I found out what the evil entity was I actually laughed out loud and had to read it again 3 times because I was just flat out flabberghasted. If anything I'm thankful to the authors for actually giving me a reason to use the word flabberghasted - and after reading this book it's the only thing I can really thank them for.
So, are you ready to be spoiled?
Are you ready?
The big baddies of this novel are
That's right! I'm horrified because it's just so ridiculously Un-PC. Maybe they caught on to the secret of Madonna's ability to look so young and plastic. I always thought it was botox but in reality, it was a pact with the devil people. You heard it here first, not the National Enquirer.
The ending just comes out of left field and doesn't even effectively *end* anything.
I guess this is how the authors figured they would set things up to make sure the publisher buys their next novel.
Such a disappointment because it was promising for about maybe 5 pages. But when someone can say that Dan Brown actually wrote a better conspiracy novel then you know you should quit while you're ahead.
Black Cathedral is a hodgepodge of haunted house, conspiracy, and action novels. It's like someone took [b:Relic|67035|Relic (Pendergast, #1)|Douglas Preston|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312040672s/67035.jpg|23046], mixed in some Hellboy [b:B.P.R.D.: Killing Ground|2344780|B.P.R.D., Vol. 8 Killing Ground|Mike Mignola|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349038744s/2344780.jpg|2351490], [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303252999s/968.jpg|2982101], and threw in some [b:Hell House|33547|Hell House|Richard Matheson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298420659s/33547.jpg|804298] for good measure.
Don't get me wrong. I love all those 3 sources. Combined together you think they would make for one hell of a ride. But the writing and plot of Black Cathedral are so shoddy as to be painful.
There are some promising parts, sure. Love the scene when
Spoiler
the first outbound adventure group gets to Kulsay island and they sink into the ground, one by one. Especially the head butler dude,I picked up the Black Cathedral because at first I thought it was a haunted house novel, or haunted island as the case may be. I *love* a good haunted house novel. [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House |Shirley Jackson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871336s/89717.jpg|3627] for instance, and the aforementioned Hell House. Even more recently, FG Cottam released the very atmospheric [b:The House Of Lost Souls|3153080|The House of Lost Souls|F.G. Cottam|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327546836s/3153080.jpg|3184661] that I also quite enjoyed.
Unfortunately, what Black Cathedral fails to take into consideration is that the real protagonist of a haunted house novel has to be THE HAUNTED HOUSE. And honestly we spend very little time on Kulsay island. In a 270 page novel it takes about 170 pages for them just to GET to the island.
The authors spend so much time trying to drop clues to some vast conspiracy that turns into such a lame duck at the end that I'm honestly embarassed for them. I'm going to spoil this for you, but it's just so ridiculous that when I found out what the evil entity was I actually laughed out loud and had to read it again 3 times because I was just flat out flabberghasted. If anything I'm thankful to the authors for actually giving me a reason to use the word flabberghasted - and after reading this book it's the only thing I can really thank them for.
So, are you ready to be spoiled?
Are you ready?
The big baddies of this novel are
Spoiler
Evil Satanic Kabbalistic Jews.That's right! I'm horrified because it's just so ridiculously Un-PC. Maybe they caught on to the secret of Madonna's ability to look so young and plastic. I always thought it was botox but in reality, it was a pact with the devil people. You heard it here first, not the National Enquirer.
Spoiler
Do Jewish people even believe in Satan? It's my understanding that they don't have the same belief of how Satan works as Christians and Catholics. And yet here is this evil Jewish Kaballah dude who is trying to open a passageway so that Satan can come through. Whut? Did the authors even do any research before they decided that Evil Jews wanted to take over the earth? It's so ridiculous. Not only that but Evil Jewish Dude's main foil is Uber Christian Dude who apparently is a big believer in 'muscular christianity'. Everytime the authors mention 'muscular christianity', it is always in quotations, just like I'm doing now. A cursory search of 'muscular christianity' on the internet says that it's basically a Christian male who like to work out and be Christian at the same time. Basically, the main good guy here is an immortal Tim Tebow.The ending just comes out of left field and doesn't even effectively *end* anything.
Spoiler
Mr. Evil Jew man just runs away, and then all the good guys go, "Let's go catch him!"I guess this is how the authors figured they would set things up to make sure the publisher buys their next novel.
Such a disappointment because it was promising for about maybe 5 pages. But when someone can say that Dan Brown actually wrote a better conspiracy novel then you know you should quit while you're ahead.
gundechelsea's review against another edition
3.0
These guys are definitely no Stephen King, but at least the book was entertaining enough to read through quickly. Now, here's my criticism: the words didn't always flow, some parts were choppy and unpleasant to read. Other parts, especially the ending, seemed rushed and not nearly descriptive enough. It's hard to feel terror when there's no buildup. The ending was so abrupt, I honestly thought there were some pages missing. Not a bad book, I just feel like they could have spent more time on it.
beckylej's review against another edition
4.0
When corporate employees on a “survival week” trip to remote Kulsay Island all go missing without a trace, the Ministry of Defense decides that it is time to call in Department 18. This group of paranormal investigators is trained to deal with the strangest occurrences out there, but in Kulsay Island, they may have met their match. The Ministry stipulates that Department 18’s Robert Carter must be involved. This is a bit of an issue considering Carter just recently lost his partner on a case; lost in the literal sense considering she vanished without a trace as well. Carter draws the connection to Kulsay Island, however, and agrees to go. When the team arrives, all seems normal except for the palpable air of menace that surrounds the place. As with the other group, the Department 18 folks find themselves cut off from the rest of the world and forced to defend themselves against an evil that has existed for hundreds of years. A fun sort of haunted house tale that brings to mind the old Poltergeist TV show.
More...