The Sea Below by William Meikle


The Sea Below by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Horror, Action/Adventure
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The adventurers from THE LAND BELOW return to the cavern under the Austrian Alps.

At first it is a rescue mission, but soon Danny, Stefan, Ed and Elsa find themselves in a fight for survival.

A perilous journey across an underground sea brings them to a lost island and fresh adventures, but their attempts to return to the surface only serve to make their situation worse.

Now they must flee for their lives, with all the denizens of that strange island at their heels.

When Danny received Stefan’s missive – that their mutual friend Ed had gone back underground to the caverns and other world they had recently discovered in an old caving site – Danny doesn’t hesitate. With little money to his name and even less reason to stay in London, Danny decides to go and offer whatever help his friends could use from an old soldier. Even though his dreams were still shadowed from his previous experience, Danny has no real idea of what’s in store for them all.

I really enjoyed this short story and feel it’s an excellent, quick read for those looking for an old school action/adventure with a bit of mystery and horror thrown in for good measure. While this is a sequel to The Land Below, readers should be reassured that they absolutely don’t have to have read that first installment to really enjoy this story. Even better, half the first few chapters aren’t spent re-hashing the previous book. While there isn’t much time spent describing Danny’s journey to the cave site, nor their descent down into the underground world the story is set in, I feel this time the story really reaps the rewards of having all it’s action centered fully on the caves, monsters and adventure the men have below ground. While the book is a self-contained adventure, there is not a traditional style of “happily ever after” ending. I don’t particularly mind this with mystery and adventure books, and I certainly don’t feel like the ending is a cliff-hanger or without suitable resolution, but I do feel readers should be aware the ending isn’t a traditional tying up of all the loose ends.

William Meikle – in my opinion – is an exemplary storyteller when it comes to short, action-paced and spooky stories. His writing style really flourishes in this sense and I feel he manages with true skill to straddle a number of genres. While not horror in a traditional sense, his story has monsters and things going bump in the dark. The action is there from virtually the first page and the pace is fast and I feel it really draws the reader along at a breakneck pace. I also really enjoy how he skillfully weaves the story so it’s impossible to tell what sort of period/year these two stories are set in. There are lamps, boats, trains and pulleys, engineering feats so it doesn’t feel “really” old – but the lack of computers and phones also indicates it’s not necessarily the modern world as we know it. Then again, phones and computers won’t work so deeply underground, so given the story’s setting this lack of modern technology indicating an older time period is seriously debatable. Underground caves in the middle of the isolated countryside don’t lend the story to the internet, wifi reception or satellite coverage. While I can’t quite figure this is a truly contemporary time period, I feel this story really can’t be slotted into a historical setting either – but more a vague, hazy “in between” type of time of not right now but neither in the distant past. And oddly, I enjoy the fact this story doesn’t give answers to every question that the reader will come up with. Some things are left to the readers own imagination – and isn’t that the point of reading, really?

Readers looking for an intense, fun and slightly scary monster/adventure/treasure hunt style of story should not find themselves disappointed with this. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word and I know there will be a number of happy re-reads of this to come. Recommended.

Operation: Loch Ness by William Meikle


Operation: Loch Ness by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Action/Adventure, Paranormal
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

S-Squad are relieved to be home, and even an order to investigate animal mutilations at a local wildlife park does not seem like an onerous detail.

But things take a turn to the twilight zone all too quickly around the S-Squad, and even their homeland is not immune.

Something is feeding, ravenously, on animals, wildlife, and now people in the Scottish Highlands, and the trail leads to only one place, a place of legends, and the dark waters of Loch Ness.

The S-Squad gents are back for another rollicking adventure, this time in their own back yard. Called in to sort out a rogue, unknown animal that decimated a local wildlife reserve the four squaddies are soon embroiled in another adventure with an enormous beastie and more weirdness that defies logical explanation.

I’m a huge fan of these short stories. They’re exactly like reading a B-grade movie and just as deliciously (albeit guiltily) satisfying. This time I was interested that Meikle seemed to mesh a number of his various series together in this one book. A fair bit of his magical world crossed over into his paranormal/big beastie world and I found the results highly interesting and really well handled. To a degree it felt odd that the magical elements were scattered amongst the paranormal and military setting – but I have to be honest, if any of Meikle’s S-Squad stories (so far) could have carried it off – Loch Ness in the wilds of Scotland was the only setting I feel have the magical elements appearing to make sense.

I particularly adore this series because each book can very happily be read on its own – but we also get more character growth and insight into each squad member as the stories progress. There’s also something just really appealing for me, personally, about how quick the pace of these stories are and how over the top each situation becomes. These stories are the ultimate guilty pleasure and I am always excited for the next to appear.

Readers looking for a deeply complex plot or very heavy style of story won’t find that here. While there is indeed a good adventure – and an interesting and slightly complex magical/supernatural component to this particular story – at heart this is a fun rollick of a story that is meant to be enjoyed and not dissected and intellectually examined. Relax, have a drink and roll along with the squaddies – it’s a trip well worth taking.

Seed Of Evil by Greig Beck


Seed Of Evil by Greig Beck
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Contemporary, Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

There’s something growing deep in the old Angel Mine – Something the Native Americans warned us about – And now it’s rising again.

Mitch Taylor, ex-Special Forces medic, is seeking a quiet life in the town of Eldon. Tragedy has dogged his life, and he sees the small friendly place as a second chance. But buried deep below the friendly smiles and quaint painted houses is an old abandoned mine that holds a legend of an ancient and terrible god.

In the mine’s labyrinthine depths, something has been growing, something from a time of myth when ancient gods strode the Earth and mankind hadn’t even stood on two legs.

But when the earth shakes and the groundwater rises, it reaches out and those it touches begin to deform and reshape into the image of their god. Their one goal—to feed their ancient master deep below the ground.
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Mitch Taylor soon finds himself fighting again, this time for the town, the ones he loves, and for his life.

The Seed of Evil is a horrifying legend of an ancient god that turned out to be real.

After a heavy mortar round literally blew Captain Mitch Taylor’s world apart he struggled to come to grips with civilian life. With almost everyone on his last mission dead – or practically so – he knew he had to keep moving forwards. Trying for a second chance in a small, sleepy country town in Missouri, Mitch comes to love the little place – until an earthquake re-awakens something deep underground and Mitch once more realizes he needs to fight for his new life if any of them are going to have a chance.

I admit I am a huge fan of Grieg Beck’s work – both his Alex Hunter series and his Matt Kearns stories as well as numerous stand-alone books and trilogies. This book lives up to the high expectations I now have of his work in general. Part spooky fable, part military/action thriller, part action adventure this is a crazy and excitingly wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. Something about Beck’s writing style just tends to grab me and drag me along, addicted like crack and turning the pages. I now know well enough not to start one of his stories late in the afternoon unless I want to be up until crazy hours of the morning or pull and all-night reading binge. I held off starting this book until a Public holiday when I started it shortly after breakfast and stayed at it until I finished the last page early in the evening. I was in no way disappointed and felt the d ay well used.

I was really pleased that Mitch’s character was realistic and engaging. The opening few scenes were graphic and strongly written to explain the devastation of his life being torn apart with his military action going badly pear shaped, but the scene wasn’t overly gory or written for the blood and deaths to be titillating. The scene also wasn’t dwelled upon, even though those shadows and the weight of it clearly carried through with Mitch. I felt the author struck a really good balance here of realistic writing, and consequences for Mitch’s actions and the grief and weight he carried with him without bogging up the story or being maudlin. I also thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere the book held, part action/adventure but also part spooky fable or horror story. Beck in particular is an exemplary author for this sort of balance and I am rarely left disappointed in his story telling abilities or writing style.

Without giving too much plot away readers will find this story full of small-town secrets, an abandoned and quirky mine, varied and interesting characters and a few really believable and surprising plot twists (the bottled-water angle was amazing and a stroke of genius to my mind). Added together, these are all the necessary ingredients needed for a fantastic story. Throw in some military know-how, a deeply buried history of the towns previous disasters and just a dash of adventure and one word could easily sum up exactly how I found this story. Brilliant. I found the ending to be quite satisfying – but feel readers looking for a traditional or romantic “happy ever after” might not enjoy the ending as much as I did. I found it well resolved, strongly plotted and satisfying, but not a traditional sort of ending.

Readers looking for an intense, action filled and slightly spooky story should definitely check this out – as well as other stories written by this author. I enjoyed every minute of this and am looking forward to a re-read in the very near future.

The Land Below by William Meikle


The Land Below by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A treasure hunt into the deepest cave system in Europe takes a turn for the worst.

Now rather than treasure it is survival that is at the forefront of the spelunkers’ thoughts. But their attempt to escape out of the dark deep places is thwarted.

Men are not at home in the depths. But there are things that are, pale terrifying things.

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Things red in tooth and claw.

Ed has talked his hotheaded brother Thomas into investing some of their family fortune into looking for hidden treasure left by a Teutonic Knight deep in a cave. Ed had carefully researched the two-page map he found in an old manuscript and is sure something has been buried where they are heading, but Thomas is merely interested in the fame and glory. When Ed hires on Daniel Garland – a washed up army Captain – for protection is causes friction with Thomas who is certain they have no need for a guard. As they meet a final member who joins their small team, their adventure takes them deeper beneath the earth they find there are far more dangers and monsters than any of them expected.

I am a massive fan of William Meikle’s S-Squad series and have read a number of his other books and enjoyed them to varying levels as well. I’m also often a sucker for a “expedition goes into the cave and finds monster that eat the party” style of book and was happy to give this one a whirl. I was delighted by what I found and enjoyed the full length story immensely.

I struggled a little to discover exactly which historical time period (or perhaps some “close but alternate” style of reality) this was set in as that aspect of the story was kept rather vague. It certainly isn’t a modern in the sense there were no cell phones or GPS and I’m leaning towards somewhere Victorian-ish as their headlamps were from encased flame rather than battery powered. Still, the time-period setting is not critical to the story and I feel readers who enjoy both past and present monster and adventure style stories should equally enjoy this book.

One thing I feel William Meikle absolutely excels in is his action/adventure and “big toothy monsters” plotlines. And this story has both these in spades. While I enjoyed the tension and interactions between Ed, Stefan, Thomas and Daniel it was the way they approached the cave and the monsters they faced within it that really captured my attention and had me up late into the evening turning the pages. I feel Meikle had an exceptional pace throughout the story and as the reader I felt the rising tension as the four main characters explored deeper into the caves. There was equal parts wonder and worry as the danger became more clear but – as you’d expect – the only way out was to continue going forwards.

Thrilling and just a little bit scary this was a brilliant story and one I greatly enjoyed. If there is a subsequent story after this I am very eager for it and will absolutely be purchasing it promptly. I can also very strongly recommend that anyone who enjoys this story try out Meikle’s S-Squad series which has many of the same strong positive points (start with “Infestation” and then move right along to “Operation: Antarctica”). With excellent characters that were unique and vividly different, some scary and amazing monsters, a grand adventure under the earth and a whole bunch of tension this story was excellently written and I feel should appeal to a wide range of readers.

Ice Cave by Toby J. Nichols


Ice Cave by Toby J. Nichols
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Saxon Smith is on the research trip of a lifetime in Antarctica to explore a remote ice cave system. A previous expedition found hints that the much warmer subsurface caves could support life and Saxon wants to make that discovery and make a name for himself.

The small team descends into a cavern hollowed out of the ice by volcanic activity expecting lichen and arthropods and maybe the remains of extinct life, what they find is a lost world of dinosaurs that have adapted to the permanent twilight, cool temperature, and constrained location.

The expedition now face a terrifying fight for survival against savage theropods that have learned to herd and trap, and with their ice cave ecosystem starting to fail, they’re ravenous.

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I absolutely love “monster eats the crew” style of stories and add in a Scientific exploration and Antarctica and there was no chance I could pass up on this story. I was really pleased therefore when my whim paid off and this was a great, quick read. I enjoyed Saxon’s character and also found the other three members of their party to be interesting and different enough they didn’t feel like cardboard cut outs. There was some understandable – though slightly cliched – tension between the other characters but since this is the authors first book I was willing to give him some slack. There’s also a few typo’s that I really feel the editors should have picked up and will hopefully be fixed in future editions.

That said I found the meat of the story to be really well handled. I enjoyed the pace – while the length of the story is somewhat short there isn’t a lot of fat or waffling which really pleased me. The story starts as the expedition is beginning – already entering the ice cave in Antarctica and we can see the various elements of the team dynamic already in play. This helped me get a good feel for the other characters and I was glad I enjoyed Saxon’s perspective and character.

Some readers might find a few small sections of the story a little too close to horror or gory for their liking. Personally, I felt the author walked a good balance between a monsters/realistic style of writing and going too far into the horror/thriller dark edginess. To be fair though, there is a bit of “blood and guts” once the monsters start killing off the party. So I feel readers should be aware that while there’s no titillation or glorification of the violence, neither is this a “behind closed doors” style of story either.

While the trope of “hidden ecosystem in Antarctica” is not new I felt the author brought enough novelty and his own imagination to the table that it felt fresh and kept my attention from the start. I admit I’m a sucker for these sorts of stories but I feel this book was really well written – particularly considering it’s the author’s first. I felt the monsters were extremely creepy and realistic – I got a few good frights while reading and the tension and thriller aspects of the story were really well handled.

I really enjoyed this story and will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author. Recommended.

Infestation by William Meikle


Infestation by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Paranormal, Suspense/Mystery/Thriller, Horror
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

It was supposed to be a simple mission. A suspected Russian spy boat is in trouble in Canadian waters. Investigate and report are the orders.

But when Captain John Banks and his squad arrive, it is to find an empty vessel, and a scene of bloody mayhem.

Soon they are in a fight for their lives, for there are things in the icy seas off Baffin Island, scuttling, hungry things with a taste for human flesh.

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And they are growing.

Captain John Banks and his small, elite group are tasks with what appears to be a simple mission. A Russian spy boat has called for help while illegally in Canadian waters and Captain Banks and his men are meant to investigate, gather any intelligence or weaponry they can and assist the Russians off on their way. But things immediately go downhill and the icy water hold untold monsters – and they are hungry for human flesh.

I’ve read a number of William Meikle’s stories and he is an excellent story teller. While he has some great folk and true horror stories out there, I feel what he really excels best at is the cheesy style of “big monster” tales. Think a 1950s cheesy horror movie or a bad B grade “Return of the Walking Mummy” type of story. You might need to totally suspend your disbelief for the plot – but the characters are always amazing, the mechanics of the plot and monsters are always excellent and the tale itself is usually short, sharp and a thrill to read. This story is no exception.

While totally a stand alone novel, it is here we are introduced to Captain Banks and his crew. After this story Captain Banks and some of his men (they revolve around enough to mean you don’t have to read any of these in order really) become The S-Squad which has it’s own series along the same lines of this one – ie “big scary hungry monster tries to eat everyone”. I’ve enjoyed enough of them I am now trying to collect them all and keep on top of the series, so clearly Mr. Meikle is doing a fantastic job.

Readers looking for a quick read and enjoy cheesy, old-fashioned monster flicks with a lot of atmosphere, a large monster with lots of teeth and a few scares should find this story right up their alley. This isn’t a plot-heavy story and the characters are well-drawn but not as deep as you’d find in a longer story. The camaraderie between them was something I personally really enjoyed reading and more importantly once the monsters start coming out and eating everything the characters are excellent and a lot more focused. While I wouldn’t call this horror in the strictest sense (this isn’t gory or overly descriptive of the killing) it’s a little harder/scarier than a traditional mystery/thriller and so I feel it needs a “light” horror label to it.

Refreshingly different and an excellent story – this book kept me up and made me glad I don’t live too close to an icy cold ocean/river! Recommended.

Billy and the Cloneasaurus by Stephen Kozeniewski

BILLY
Billy and the Cloneasaurus by Stephen Kozeniewski
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (165 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Six billion identical clones make up the entire population of Earth, and William 790-6 (57th Iteration) is exactly like everybody else. In his one year of life he will toil in suburban mediocrity and spend as much cash as possible in order to please his corporate masters. When 790’s first birthday (and scheduled execution) finally rolls around, a freak accident spares his life.

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Sometimes it takes something monstrously large to jolt you out of your daily routine. Say, for example, cheating death through a random twist of fate.

The unusual title and quirky premise caught my attention right away. As an avid science fiction reader, I was fairly certain I knew how this plot was unfold. I couldn’t have been more wrong. One of the things I appreciate the most about this author’s writing style is how skilled he is at keeping me on my toes. Mr. Kozeniewski always seems to have one more trick up his sleeve that that doesn’t reveal itself until the last possible moment.

It would have been helpful if the plot had spent more time explaining how the cloning process works in this universe and why the clones are only allowed to live a year. The explanations that were given for these things were interesting, but they stirred up far more questions in my mind than they answered. Some of the things certain characters said about this process seemed contradictory. It was never quite clear to me if this needed to be discussed in greater detail or if those passages were intentionally written that way.

I was expecting to be incredibly confused by a book filled with guys who look identical and all have the same name, but the plot did a great job differentiating among them. The author’s clever use of nicknames and telltale quirks made it easy for me to always tell exactly which William I was dealing with even when there were several of them in the same scene.The character development was subtle at first. It soon picked up speed, though, and surprised me with how much it changed 790 in particular over time.

Billy and the Cloneasaurus was a wild ride. This is a good choice for hardcore fans of this genre who are in the mood for something incredibly unique.