The Ninth Circle
Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / General
3.4
Alex Bell
This is The Bourne Identity . . . as if Neil Gaiman had written it . . .A man comes round on the floor of a shabby flat in the middle of Budapest. His head is glued to the floorboards with his own blood. There's a fortune in cash on the kitchen table. And he has no idea where, or who, he is.He can do extraordinary things - speak any number of languages fluently, go three days without food or sleep, and fight with extraordinary prowess. But without a name, without a past, he's isolated from the rest of the world; a stranger to everyone, including himself - until a chance encounter with a young scholar leads to his first friendship, and his first hint that someone out there knows more about him than he does.Someone is sending him clues about his past. Photographs hidden in books and crates of wine. Cryptic clues pointing towards a murdered woman. And clear warnings against Stephomi, his only friend. But that's not all; Gabriel Antaeus is seeing strange, impossible things: a burning man is stalking his dreams and haunting his mirrors, his dreams are filled with violence from the past, and his pregnant young neighbour is surrounded by an extraordinary golden aura.Something dark and violent in Gabriel's past is trying to resurface. And as he pieces the clues together, everything points towards an astounding war between angels and demons . . . and a battle not just for the future of the world, but for the minds and souls of everyone in it.
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Author
Alex Bell
Pages
304
Publisher
Orion
Published Date
2008-09-18
ISBN
0575086041 9780575086043
Community ReviewsSee all
"I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really sure how a nuclear attack would tie in any supernatural themes. Even after finishing the book, I still can’t answer that. I mean the horror aspect was spot on- there was a lot of bloody scenes, and the sheer descriptiveness throughout the entire book gave me reader’s anxiety till then end. But I can’t even start to explain the “others”. It may be part of the appeal of the story, similar to Bird Box where we never get a complete understanding of the monsters. But honestly it frustrates me more than anything else. It’s clear from early on that the detonating of the bomb is the catalyst of their rising up, but I’m truly lost on everything else. The ending was especially frustrating for me, as I felt even more lost at how everything came to a finish.<br/>I really appreciated the raw emotions that were consistently portrayed. It not only differentiated everyone’s own personality, but it felt truly authentic and gave a glimpse into how people act when they are pushed in times of insanity. Many choices made sense, and some didn’t. It only begs the question of how truly can you be prepared for disaster? Something that I was not expecting to find much less appreciate was the bond between Sam and Rachel. It was a welcome surprise, and I think it was such a positive spot in such a heavy plot. I think I highlighted way more of their interactions/conversations more than is appropriate.<br/>I felt like the writing was particularly disjointed, especially between Sam’s dialogue, visions and then reality. It makes me wonder if this was done on purpose, to help the reader fully submerge in the environment and feel as lost as the characters were. I will admit that I had to go back quite a few times to the previous paragraph or even the last chapter just so I could understand what I was reading in the moment. I can see the vision, but it just made me even more confused.<br/>All in all, I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with the story. The idea was definitely a unique twist on apocalyptic horror. The execution of the storyline unfortunately had just one too many flaws that prevented me from fully appreciating it."
Rachel