 |
Nightfall - Stephen Leather (Audio CD)
by Neo420
Nightfall by Stephen Leather
This is the first book in the Jack Nightingale series and was published in 2010.
Jack Nightingale is a private detective working in London. Out of the blue, he inherits a mansion from a man who claimed he was his biological father.
He also finds out via a DVD his father ... made before he committed suicide, that he sold Nightingale's soul to the devil, and he will come to claim it on his 33rd birthday which is only a few days away.
(In this novel, the word devil is used to describe demons as well as 'the devil'). There are various types of devils with their own personalities.
Nightingale doesn't take it seriously but when random people start to tell him, "You're going to hell, Jack Nightingale", and people close to him start dying horribly, he has to find a way to save his soul before his 33rd birthday . . .
The author Stephen Leather, usually writes basic thriller novels featuring spys, terrorists and soldiers, but this is a slight departure from the norm for him. This is a mixture of a thriller novel combined with paranormal fiction. I wouldn't say it was horror. I didn't find any of the scenes in this disturbing. This may be due to the easy-going writing style the author has and also the voice of the narrator.
I initially picked this audio book up as I thought the novel would have more private detective elements like maybe the main character would be given a case to solve which would have paranormal elements in it. This didn't feel like a detective novel though. The main character goes about doing his research, as if he's a normal guy, and even though he owns his own private detective agency, he doesn't seem to be getting many cases.
Overall, I liked reading this novel. I normally don't read paranormal fiction, but the twists and turns in this kept me gripped. I wasn't too sure what would happen right till the end.
All the characters lead normal lives, going about doing their everyday activities. Nightingale is a character I could empathise with. His past in the police as a negotiator is revealed to us as the book goes along, so I won't say too much. I did find it weird that Nightingale didn't show any real anger towards the demon that had killed people close to him during the novel. In that regards, he came across as being selfish and interested in saving his own soul.
I was able to do the suspension of disbelief thing as the author managed to describe the demons / devils and the magic in a way that was plausible. I don't know much about the occult and he manages to explain it in a way that anyone can grasp what is happening. The main protagonist doesn't know much either at the start of the novel, so we learn with him as he goes about investigating what kind of devils there are out there, and how to summon them.
I have to say this did remind me somewhat of the Charlie Parker series of books written by John Connolly, but whereas that series is darker, I felt this was a book you could pick up anytime and read for a bit of light entertainment.
== Audio narration ==
This is unabridged and was read by Paul Thornley. It is 12 hours and 5 mins in length. He does a good job of reading the book. He doesn't have too deep a voice which may have helped to give it a lighter tone.
== Summary and recommendation ==
I give this 4 stars. I thought this was a different and intriguing novel that kept me hooked all the way through. Paranormal fiction is not something I read normally, but the author manages to make it intrusting and believable in the way he describes it. He also has an excellent easy-going writing style that makes you want to read / listen to this. I'm thinking this is due to his time spent as a journalist.
This novel is much better than the next one in this series 'Midnight', as by the next novel, you know all about the demons, the rituals to summon them and what the likely twists are going to be.
Read the complete review |
 |
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas (Audio Download)
by Jake Speed
"Maple Street, USA. Late summer. A tree-lined little road of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice-cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and flash of light, it will be precisely 6:43 P.M. on Maple Street... This is the Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon, in the last calm and ... reflective moment - before the monsters came." The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is a 2009 radio adaption of a 1960 Twilight Zone episode written by Rod Serling and features Stacy Keach and Frank John Hughes. After what is presumed to be a meteor speeds overhead Maple Street casting a shadow and provoking a flash of light, the residents experience a puzzling power cut that affects telephones, appliances, even the cars. A boy in the street who always has his head stuck in a comic or science fiction book says he knows exactly what has happened. He believes the meteor was a UFO and that Maple Street has been infiltrated by aliens disguised as humans. This sparks a increasing panic in the town with neighbour turning against neighbour and suspicion falling on everyone. Where will it all end and what really was the source of the inexplicable power cut?
The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is Serling's commentary on how easily people can turn on each other when faced with frightening and unexplainable situations. Do you really know your neighbour? Could you trust them in a crisis? The story is about the brute group entity. It is a violent chaotic force, powered by fear and nurtured by irrationality. The subtext is about our distrust of outsiders. Prejudice exists in or out of the Twilight Zone. I don't think this is one of the very top tier Twilight Zone stories but it's solid enough and works relatively well as an audio drama. The strange otherworldly noises from the sky at the start are nicely atmospheric and set the scene in spooky fashion. The residents of Maple Street wandering outside chattering to see what all the commotion was and being bemused by the power failure. Frank John Hughes is fine here as central character Steve Brand. Hughes was in Band of Brothers and The Sopranos so I actually know who the guest star is for a change in one of these. He's a decent everyman centre to the story. The street plunging into electrical failure is suitably eerie as they try to make sense of it all and slowly begin to look at one another with suspicion. Serling's point is that thoughts, attitudes and prejudices are weapons that can kill and destroy. A thoughtless search for a scapegoat can have dangerous consequences.
Brand wants to go into town but is warned that the power shortage is meant to isolate and contain the neighbourhood. It might be dangerous to leave. He isn't convinced though and not impressed by the increasing paranoia. "Stop telling me who's dangerous and who isn't and who's safe and who's a menace. And you with him too, all of you! You're all standing out here all set to crucify somebody! You're all set to find a scapegoat! You are all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor! Well, believe me friends, the only thing that's gonna happen is that we're gonna eat each other up alive!" The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is rather similar to another Twilight Zone story called The Shelter where a group of middle classs friends hear that the bomb might be about to drop and soon turn on each other as they squabble and fight over access to the one small nuclear shelter in the street. The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is a bit more sophisticated than The Shelter though and less dramatically obvious. It also has a nice Twilight Zone style twist at the end which emphasises the message of the story. The twist works quite well in the audio drama although it was of course more fun in the visual medium of television.
One person in the street even comes under suspicion because he's been seen looking up at the sky at night! Maybe he might be waiting for something suggest the more paranoid residents of the street. He protests his complete innocence and explains he merely suffers from insomnia and likes to get some air when he can't sleep. "You know, really, this is for laughs. You know what I'm guilty of? I'm guilty of insomnia. Now what's the penalty for that? Well, you heard what I said. I said it was insomnia! I said it was insomnia! You scared frightened rabbits, you. You're sick people, do you know that? You're sick people, all of you. And you don't even know what you're starting here because let me tell you, let me tell you, you're starting something here that, that's what you should be frightened of. As God as my witness, you're letting something begin here that's a nightmare!" The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is 35 minutes in this format and another solid addition to this radio series. The Twilight Zone atmosphere is present through the famous theme and Stacey Keach reading the famous introduction and opening and closing monologues that were so memorably done by Serling in the original sixties series. I don't think this is one of the very best I've listened to so far but I did enjoy it. These are not straight 100% transcripts of the television series scripts so there are a few modifications around the edges (they are updated to be in the present day) but nothing too jarring that detracts from the spirit of the source material. At the time of writing The Monsters are Due On Maple Street can be purchased as part a collection of these or downloaded individually for £1.19. If you look up the website for this series you can listen to free sample clips to give you a taster and idea of what to expect.
Read the complete review |
|
|
The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas - It's a Good Life (Audio Download)
by Jake Speed
It's a Good Life is a 2009 Twilight Zone radio adaption based on a classic episode of the original sixties television series. In the small American town of Peaksville, something very strange and spooky has happened. The rest of the world has disappeared and Peaksville appears to be alone. Cars, electricity and machines have been taken ... away and anyone who tries to sing or play a record is in very big trouble indeed. Everyone in Peaksville must think only pleasant happy thoughts and obey every whim of the terrible controlling monster in their midst. The "monster" and perpetrator of all this misery? An innocent cute looking six year old boy named Anthony Fremont. Anthony is no ordinary boy though. He's a conscienceless child with truly terrifying and uncanny psychic abilities. Anthony can make anything he wants happen just by thinking about it. Don't ever displease him in any way because he just might turn you into a giant jack-in-the-box and wish you away to the cornfield!
This was originally adapted by Rod Serling from a 1953 short story by Jerome Bixby. Even though there isn't a monster or an alien in sight it's one of the scariest and weird of all the Twilight Zone stories I think and nicely adapted here with Stacy Keach and Mike Starr. It's a very creepy premise and works relatively well in this audio format as we learn about this lonely forgotten small town where the residents are all terrified of a little boy and have to do absolutely anything he says. Because Anthony can read minds they must ALWAYS think happy neutral thoughts, especially about him of course. Anyone who irritates this scamp is made to disappear and he does it to the animals to. Anthony is prone is turning things into grotesque horrors and then sending them away to the cornfield and he makes it snow too whenever he feels like it - even though it is destroying the crops they all rely on to feed themselves. Everyone must congratulate him though whatever he does, however detrimental to the town or awful to an individual. "That's a good thing you did Anthony! A good thing!" This frequent refrain, underlaced with a palpable element of fear and hysteria, is very spooky. Everyone must act in a bland constrictive narrow manner just to stay alive.
The key difference here of course on radio is that Anthony is much less of a presence because he can't be seen by us. In the television version the somewhat unnerving and stroppy stare of child actor Bill Mumy could be deployed ("You're a very bad man! And you keep thinking bad thoughts about me!") but this radio version is enjoyable too because we hear about Anthony from the adult characters and build up a strong sense of this bizarre town where everyone has to walk a constant tightrope and try and get into Anthony's good books. Serling's intro for this was one of his longest ever and enjoyably strange - stressing the fact that this is a slightly different type of Twilight Zone story. Stacey Keach reads out this monologue here and it makes a great start to the drama. The main tension in the story comes from one of the adults (a character named Dan Hollis) celebrating his birthday and not being allowed to play a record he has been given because Anthony forbids it. Hollis starts to get drunk and becomes increasingly angry, eventually declaring that Anthony is a horror and they should kill him when they have the chance. The other adults of course are mortified and desperate for Hollis to shut his big cakehole. But will at least one of them be roused by his plea and make a move on this spooky telekinetic rascal?
Mike Starr (I think he was the baddie in Dumb and Dumber if memory serves) is fine here as the main guest star and the music is pleasantly eerie and restrained too. Not too overbearing to the point where it ever drowns out the actors. These radio adaptions are not straight transcripts of the original versions and do 'update' them too with mentions of modern things like computers and mobile telephones. It doesn't tremendously detract from the series and really makes sense in a way to do something slightly different. It's still The Twilight Zone - just dressed up in modern fashions. This one is 41 minutes long in total and a decent listen if you like this sort of stuff or are interested in the series. The central story here is just very effective and chilling. An entire town of grown adults under the complete control of a cute six year old boy who can do anything he wants just by thinking about it. Yikes!
It's a Good Life is another solid addition to this audio series and good late night fun. At the time of writing this is available as part of a Twilight Zone audio compilation CD or to download individually for £1.19.
Read the complete review |
