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I’m pretty sure this is the best horror novel that I’ve read so far this year out of about 99 and counting. The ending slipped a little - It went from ALIEN to ALIENS in that last chapter, a little too action heavy. That dampened the ambience a bit. It didn’t match the cadence of the rest of the book. I think less would have been more when it comes to the details of the conclusion but that was really the only thing I didn’t like and I don’t want to be a dick about it so it still gets five stars.

Bottom line: It scared the everliving shit out of me more than once. I love it when a book can do that. Treat yourselves. Get scared.

Neville writes the way I would want to write if I could be a writer - intelligent but simple. He knows how to keep you turning the pages and he knows when to shitcan appropriate but unwieldy words in favor other words that work just as well but come streamlined, ready to serve the common man and not force us all to go running for the dictionary.. He has the wisdom to catch himself before he writes something damn near poetic and morph it into everyday dialogue, sparing us all from having to think too hard and risk aneurysms. Books like that tend to be faster reads. We still get the deeper shit he’s trying to say but he doesn’t bludgeon us with it. I respect that. I’m a fan of using small, simple words any time they can be used, particularly in this type of fiction.

Nevill’s prose is brilliant. Highly recommended to anyone who is even marginally interested in the horror genre, or in excellent writing in general. Easily one of the top genre writers out there today whom I’ve had the opportunity to read.

His entire catalogue is now on my tbr list. Between this and The Ritual, he’s cemented himself firmly in favorite author territory.

I’ll stop praising for now. Go read it. Off with you!