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A review by spookshow
Damned by the Ancients by Catherine Cavendish
4.0
I received a copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating of 3.5 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I must admit that the premise interested me, hence why I requested it, but I didn't hold high hope for its execution. Boy, was I wrong!! Thank you Catherine for your story, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ryan, Yvonne and their nine year old daughter Heidi have recently moved to Vienna for Ryan's job. They found a big beautiful house that was relatively cheap for its size, everything was going well. That is, until Heidi tells her parents about the man she saw in the basement. The basement stands behind a large solid steel door, which is firmly closed behind numerous locks, so how is there someone down there? After going against the wishes of the landlord, and against better judgement, they hire a locksmith to open the door. Big mistake. What follows are nail biting and hair raising events all centered around Heidi, and Dr. Quintillas's (basement man) obsession with his one great love, Cleopatra. He wishes to resurrect her, and this time he is certain he will succeed, where before he failed.
The story starts in Vienna following the story and happenings of the small family in present day, about a third of the way through it switches to 1900-1908 and gives a bit of background on Quintillas and his previous attempt at raising Cleopatra. I found that the story's pacing was slightly interrupted by the switch, but once I got through it and back to the family in Vienna, I feel like it was appropriate because it gave more insight into Quintillas himself. As I haven't read warth of the ancients, I believe the switch was needed to give me a look into what happened before.
The creep factor was definitely there for this story and as I said at the start, I was pleasantly surprised. This is the first horror story I've read in a while that actually gave me the creeps at times. Well done. At times I felt it was a little repetitive, with the capture of the girl, then she escapes, then the capture, but overall, it made sense in the story itself.
What drew me to this story was the involvement of Egyptian mythology, and Cleopatra herself. While there wasn't actually a lot of the mythology itself in the story, it still entertained. I especially enjoyed the part with Klimt and him painting the portrait, very creepy.
Actual rating of 3.5 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I must admit that the premise interested me, hence why I requested it, but I didn't hold high hope for its execution. Boy, was I wrong!! Thank you Catherine for your story, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ryan, Yvonne and their nine year old daughter Heidi have recently moved to Vienna for Ryan's job. They found a big beautiful house that was relatively cheap for its size, everything was going well. That is, until Heidi tells her parents about the man she saw in the basement. The basement stands behind a large solid steel door, which is firmly closed behind numerous locks, so how is there someone down there? After going against the wishes of the landlord, and against better judgement, they hire a locksmith to open the door. Big mistake. What follows are nail biting and hair raising events all centered around Heidi, and Dr. Quintillas's (basement man) obsession with his one great love, Cleopatra. He wishes to resurrect her, and this time he is certain he will succeed, where before he failed.
The story starts in Vienna following the story and happenings of the small family in present day, about a third of the way through it switches to 1900-1908 and gives a bit of background on Quintillas and his previous attempt at raising Cleopatra. I found that the story's pacing was slightly interrupted by the switch, but once I got through it and back to the family in Vienna, I feel like it was appropriate because it gave more insight into Quintillas himself. As I haven't read warth of the ancients, I believe the switch was needed to give me a look into what happened before.
The creep factor was definitely there for this story and as I said at the start, I was pleasantly surprised. This is the first horror story I've read in a while that actually gave me the creeps at times. Well done. At times I felt it was a little repetitive, with the capture of the girl, then she escapes, then the capture, but overall, it made sense in the story itself.
What drew me to this story was the involvement of Egyptian mythology, and Cleopatra herself. While there wasn't actually a lot of the mythology itself in the story, it still entertained. I especially enjoyed the part with Klimt and him painting the portrait, very creepy.