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Catacombs Of The Damned: Those Who Would Steal Living Bodies In The Quest For Eternal Life (2013)

by P.J. Cadavori(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1909304921 (ISBN13: 9781909304925)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Mereo Books

review 1: This was a fun spin on the classic 'Haunted House' tale, and I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of nature and English country living. The writing was beautiful, lush and full of life. I also enjoyed the gorey horror stuff!There was a little too much reliance, however, on stereotyping Gypsies and/or Romanians as connected to the occult. I also felt like there were more religious overtones than I expected or would have liked, and a twist that I saw coming a mile away.
review 2: First of all I would like to thank the author for giving me the chance to read this book through the Goodreads First Read Giveaway.This is an interesting an fun story that grabs you quickly and holds you tight whilst it rockets towards the end.As a fan of thrillers I was keen to read ... morethis book but I found that, whilst it was a good read, it did not live up to its promise.The downside is that I felt that the story was rather shallow. A lot happens but there is often little sense of true fear or horror. The characters tend to not have much of a reaction to what it going around them. I don't wish to spoil for anyone still to read but there were times when I expected a serious reaction, for the whole foundation of the relationships between the characters to be shaken, but instead they simply shrug and two pages later all is forgotten.As well as this the whole premise is rather shaky. There is no real reason given for them to move into the house in the first place. Once they move they appear to never work again and no longer struggle for money despite this, hiring multiple housekeepers. One in particular that I can't remember the name of (and apparently neither can the author since her name is spelt wrong on at least one ocassion) appears a total of three times and seems to serve no purpose other than to show that the family now have money. Why they suddenly have money is unclear. Surely they didn't get that much from selling the house and no one seems to ever work again upon buying the house. Also, if the house is as run down as it is described to be, why on earth over a year later have they not bothered to fix it up at all?Of course decrepit houses are creepier on the surface than done up ones but I feel that a trick was missed where the house could have been renovated to an extent but that the original cracks still persisted to show through, or damp suddenly appeared despite new insulation etc. Apart from the obvious signs of spooks; apparitions, sounds and cold spots, there was little else and these obvious signs would immediately drive out any normal family regardless of how cool they thought the place was. It would at least cause serious discussions between the adults but this is never really done. Everyone just seems to accept it and it leads the story to read more like a lighthearted romp than a creepy thriller.I still agree this this is a fun read but I feel that it missed out on a lot of potential. The characterisations were what bothered me the most. Everyone is shallow and there is little underneath what we initially see. No one develops and no one lets us see past the facade. It's very cookie cutter. Often I found that the story jarred when I realised that I did not believe the characters at all. It stopped me from being sucked in when I was painfully aware that what I was reading wasn't real, people don't act the way that they do here.Despite this I did enjoy the book. Cadavori has a good sense of pace although I think that a lot of the problems could have been ironed out if more care and time had been spent fleshing out the characters and the atmosphere. It's a fun read but I am unlikely to pick up the book again.3/5 stars less

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