Added by 1 member
Publisher's Weekly
This first novel is a lurid supernatural thriller. Set in England, it concerns a locked box containing a mysterious object that seems to incite murders, hallucinations and ghosts. Journalist Jon Hammond, his lover Tanya and his psychic friend Stevenson face grisly horrors and almost certain death in their attempt to track down the box before the town of Batforth is engulfed in tragedy. The basic premise is interesting, but the story isn't told particularly well. Stylistic problems are numerous, though minor; the sketchy characterizations and promising situations left undeveloped are more serious faults. Nevertheless, readers will probably keep turning the pages just to find out what's in the box. Anderson is a competent writer who may yet become a good storyteller.
Library Journal
In this first novel, a mysterious train derailment in a small English village sets off a series of gruesome murders, which local police attribute to a maniac. Newspaper editor Jon Hammond begins to examine the nightmares and visions that he and others are experiencing, and finds himself battling a vicious supernatural force unleashed in the wreck. The somewhat familiar-sounding plot may seem to have been lifted from a lurid grade B movie thriller, especially when the source of evil is traced to the grisly contents of a metal box thrown from the train. But in Anderson's capable hands the reader is swept into a fast-paced and suspenseful horror novel with frequent chills and shudders. Suspend your disbelief willingly, and you'll have a good time. For popular fiction collections. Eric W. Johnson, Univ. of Bridgeport Lib., Conn.
This first novel is a lurid supernatural thriller. Set in England, it concerns a locked box containing a mysterious object that seems to incite murders, hallucinations and ghosts. Journalist Jon Hammond, his lover Tanya and his psychic friend Stevenson face grisly horrors and almost certain death in their attempt to track down the box before the town of Batforth is engulfed in tragedy. The basic premise is interesting, but the story isn't told particularly well. Stylistic problems are numerous, though minor; the sketchy characterizations and promising situations left undeveloped are more serious faults. Nevertheless, readers will probably keep turning the pages just to find out what's in the box. Anderson is a competent writer who may yet become a good storyteller.
Library Journal
In this first novel, a mysterious train derailment in a small English village sets off a series of gruesome murders, which local police attribute to a maniac. Newspaper editor Jon Hammond begins to examine the nightmares and visions that he and others are experiencing, and finds himself battling a vicious supernatural force unleashed in the wreck. The somewhat familiar-sounding plot may seem to have been lifted from a lurid grade B movie thriller, especially when the source of evil is traced to the grisly contents of a metal box thrown from the train. But in Anderson's capable hands the reader is swept into a fast-paced and suspenseful horror novel with frequent chills and shudders. Suspend your disbelief willingly, and you'll have a good time. For popular fiction collections. Eric W. Johnson, Univ. of Bridgeport Lib., Conn.
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Michael Falconer Anderson's The Unholy