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A review by ik0nik
Last Days by Adam L.G. Nevill
5.0
Another excellent novel from Adam Nevill. I know this book came well before The Reddening, but honestly this one had all of the things I liked about The Reddening without all of the slow pacing issues. Despite its 531 page run length I never found myself wishing it would hurry up and finish.
His worldbuilding in Last Days is phenomenal. Everything about the plot is believable: the brainwashing methods and details of the cult, the desperation of Kyle's career and his desire to make a name for himself, the questionable motives and meddling of Max, the intricate narrations of each interviewee, the descriptions of each filming location. My favorite portion of the book was definitely the first 1/3rd when Kyle and Dan visit Clarendon Road and Normandy. Nevill's horror talents are on full display as he details the creepy things seen and heard at both locations. It reminded me of the descriptions of the recordings, caves, and farm from The Reddening. There is a bit of an unforeseen tonal shift in the last chapter that didn't quite flow the same as the rest of the book, but it was still very good. It kind of went from creepy to action/thriller. I still liked the ending, though.
There are only two very small negatives I can mention. For one, the novel does get a bit long-winded in the section between the Arizona visit and the painting viewing. There's a lot of plot building that isn't so much entertaining as it is informative. You learn a lot about the history and background of the cult but nothing substantial happens. Second, the last chapter could have been significantly shorter if there hadn't been so many descriptive details written about the mansion. In the middle of the action I was skipping full paragraphs describing banisters and home trimmings.
Definitely a high recommendation. Of Nevill's other works, I'd rank this one just ever so slightly below The Ritual but well above The Reddening. I plan to revisit this one in the future.
His worldbuilding in Last Days is phenomenal. Everything about the plot is believable: the brainwashing methods and details of the cult, the desperation of Kyle's career and his desire to make a name for himself, the questionable motives and meddling of Max, the intricate narrations of each interviewee, the descriptions of each filming location. My favorite portion of the book was definitely the first 1/3rd when Kyle and Dan visit Clarendon Road and Normandy. Nevill's horror talents are on full display as he details the creepy things seen and heard at both locations. It reminded me of the descriptions of the recordings, caves, and farm from The Reddening. There is a bit of an unforeseen tonal shift in the last chapter that didn't quite flow the same as the rest of the book, but it was still very good. It kind of went from creepy to action/thriller. I still liked the ending, though.
There are only two very small negatives I can mention. For one, the novel does get a bit long-winded in the section between the Arizona visit and the painting viewing. There's a lot of plot building that isn't so much entertaining as it is informative. You learn a lot about the history and background of the cult but nothing substantial happens. Second, the last chapter could have been significantly shorter if there hadn't been so many descriptive details written about the mansion. In the middle of the action I was skipping full paragraphs describing banisters and home trimmings.
Definitely a high recommendation. Of Nevill's other works, I'd rank this one just ever so slightly below The Ritual but well above The Reddening. I plan to revisit this one in the future.