BOOK REVIEW | THE UNIVITED | JOHNATHAN DANIEL

 

Today I join Zooloo’s book tours to have a look at the horrors book The Uninvited by Jonathan Daniel.

ABOUT THE BOOK

There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. They’re coming. And they’re hungry.

Still struggling with the tragic death of his wife, Owen Decker is determined to battle the debilitating fear that continues to haunt him. Traveling to a tropical island to fully face the crippling terror he harbors appears to be his only option. However, Owen is unaware of the unforgiving evil awaiting him.

On the island, Owen awakes to a horror unlike any he's ever witnessed before. Survival seems impossible as the mutilated and the dead surround him. Teaming up with the only two other survivors of the massacre, the three search for an escape.

But something ravenous and incomprehensible refuses to let them off the island alive.

There's nowhere left to hide.

With time running out and the sinister beings close behind, will Owen's chance at a new beginning be the end he feared all along?

REVIEW

If an island in the middle of the Caribbean is renowned by the locals as being cursed, the best advice is to stay away and completely forget that the rock in the sea is even there. However, if you are a billionaire with limitless fund, ignore this and let’s see if you can build a resort for other billionaire types and corporate venture capital babies. 

The book starts innocuously enough at a construction site of a billionaire landowner who has purchased said cursed island to build a resort for other posh corporate types. As the crew set about their daily jobs suddenly a sinkhole appears and one the crew and their machinery fall into the hole. 

A rescue mission is quickly undertaken. As the construction crew mount a desperate attempt rescue their fallen colleague, they notice something strange coming from under the earth. It doesn’t take long for the crew to be overwhelmed by a group of crazed, flesh eating monsters.

Cut to Owen and his mate Michelle coming onto the island. Owen has  begrudgingly been dragged along to a corporate event organised by the owner as a tester for his swanky new resort island. Both Michelle and his psychiatrist think that the time away will do Owen good, who is traumatised by the death of his wife in the 2004 tsunami that devastated Thailand. 

As the party gets underway, they are swamped by the uninvited guests on the island that have swarmed over the construction site and propels Owen and Michelle in a horrific fight for survival.

The Uninvited is a propulsive survival horror that is perfect for fans of films like 28 Days Later, or books by Richard Laymon.  

It’s a throwback to 80’s horror books that just told a story and was ultimately quite fun, and The Uninvited was a very fun novel. Yes there is loads of hokum, we never really get any explanation of how the monsters are created,and to be honest the book doesn’t break any new boundaries. However, ultimately, who the hell cares. Just strap in and enjoy the ride

The story starts immediately and never lets up the whole way through the book. There’s one disaster after another, each one leading the cast of the book into one perilous situation after another. At times, as a reader you may need to put the book down to have a bit of a break from all the edge of the seat action, but stick with it until the end and you will be rewarded with a high energy story that keeps you biting your nails to the end of the book. 

The characters are typical characters. There is a bit of a back story, but don’t expect too much exposition in the way of background information as the story is set in the ‘now’ and the current situation rather than fleshing out characters. Which to be honest was fine by me. Owen is the only one who gets fleshed out a bit which usually came in the form of PTSD flashbacks, but the rest of the cast tend to get snippets of back story.

TheUninvited is a fun, bloody horror book that grabs you by the throat and never lets go until the end. There are plenty of thrills and spills (usually of the bloody variety) to keep your breath firmly bated, and is as entertaining as it is gore filled. 

Who is Jonathan Daniel?

 

Jonathan Daniel lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and hyper Boston Terrier, Buster (the Hellhound). When not writing about nightmarish things, he enjoys cooking, reading, brewing beer and trying to watch every horror movie made in the 80’s. You can learn more about him and his other works as well as contact him at his website: www.byjonathandaniel.com, as well as Facebook and Instagram

 

 

 

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