19 October 2019

The Ritual

Photo of the book cover of The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Horror
A 2019 Top Rated Read


By Adam Nevill

Paperback 448 pages
Publisher Pan; New Edit/Cover edition (19th Oct 2017)

'Often horror loses its power when the evil is given a face; in this case it only gets more disturbing.' The Sunday Times





📕My Review


Four old university friends get together to hike across the Scandinavian Arctic Circle. It's supposed to be a bonding experience; a chance to rekindle old friendships. But they soon discover their lives have drifted far apart and have little in common.

With tensions mounting, they take a shortcut through unknown territory. Now disoriented, cold and hungry, they become aware of something following them in the forest. They can sense it stalking... watching... waiting... they can sense its evilness.

This book was awesome! Not since Josh Malerman's Bird Box have I read a horror novel of this caliber. By the time I'd finished I was an exhausted emotional wreck but I'd been on one hell of an incredible journey. It was truly terrifying in every respect; suffocating, brutal, relentless, petrifying. I was chilled to my core.

This is horror at its very best and I'm thrilled to have discovered an author with such fantastic imagination and talent. Adam Nevill is definitely one to watch.      

Book Source: Purchased copy
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📗The Blurb


Four old university friends reunite for a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle. No longer young men, they have little left in common and tensions rise as they struggle to connect. Frustrated and tired they take a shortcut that turns their hike into a nightmare that could cost them their lives.

Lost, hungry and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, they stumble across an isolated old house. Inside, they find the macabre remains of old rites and pagan sacrifices; ancient artefacts and unidentifiable bones. A place of dark ritual and home to a bestial presence that is still present in the ancient forest, and now they’re the prey.

As the four friends struggle toward salvation they discover that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees...

📘The Author


Photo of author Adam Nevill
Adam L.G. Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is the author of the horror novels: 'Banquet for the Damned', 'Apartment 16', 'The Ritual', 'Last Days', 'House of Small Shadows', 'No One Gets Out Alive', 'Lost Girl', 'Under a Watchful Eye' and 'The Reddening'. His first short story collection, 'Some Will Not Sleep: Selected Horrors', was published on Halloween, 2016, and won the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. His second collection of short fiction, 'Hasty for the Dark: Selected Horrors' was published on Halloween 2017.

His novels, 'The Ritual', 'Last Days' and 'No One Gets Out Alive' were the winners of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. 'The Ritual' and 'Last Days' were also awarded Best in Category: Horror, by R.U.S.A. Several of his novels are currently in development for film and television, and in 2016 Imaginarium adapted 'The Ritual' into a major motion picture.

Adam also offers three free books to readers of horror: 'Cries from the Crypt' (downloadable from his website), 'Before You Sleep' and 'Before You Wake' (available from major online retailers).

Adam lives in Devon, England.

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