-Caveat Lector-
I quite literally could not put this one down--stayed up reading well past
midnight last night to finish it. It is chilling and engrossing, and leaves
you wondering just what the hell really is going on under our feet... I
STRONGLY recommend this book...but don't plan on anything except reading for
about 48 hours after you buy it!
=====================================================
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609602934/o/qid=933791130/sr=8-1/002-4924342-9976246
The Descent
by Jeff Long
List Price: $24.00
Our Price: $16.80
You Save: $7.20 (30%)
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.
Hardcover - 448 pages (July 1999)
Crown Pub; ISBN: 0609602934 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.58 x 9.45 x 6.56
Other Editions: Audio Cassette (Abridged)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 457
Avg. Customer Review: [5 stars]
Number of Reviews: 19
Reviews
Amazon.com
In a high Himalayan cave, among the death pits of Bosnia, in a newly excavated
Java temple, Long's characters find out to their terror that
humanity is not alone--that, as we have always really known, horned and
vicious humanoids lurk in vast caverns beneath our feet. This
audacious remaking of the old hollow-earth plot takes us, in no short order,
to the new world regime that follows the genocidal harrowing
of Hell by heavily armed, high-tech American forces. An ambitious tycoon sends
an expedition of scientists, including a beautiful nun
linguist and a hideously tattooed commando former prisoner of Hell, ever
deeper into the unknown, among surviving, savage, horned tribes
and the vast citadels of the civilizations that fell beneath the earth before
ours arose. A conspiracy of scholars pursues the identity of the
being known as Satan, coming up with unpalatable truths about the origins of
human culture and the identity of the Turin Shroud, and are
picked off one by bloody one. Long rehabilitates, madly, the novel of
adventures among lost peoples--occasional clumsiness and promises
of paranoid revelations on which he cannot entirely deliver fail to diminish
the real achievement here; this feels like a story we have always
known and dreaded. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk
Publishers Weekly, 5/24/99
...a dizzying synthesis of supernatural horror, lost-race fantasy and military
SF...Long's novel brims with energy, ideas and excitement.
Library Journal, 5/1/99
...invites comparison to Dante -- but his style is more reminiscent of early
Stephen King, when characters still mattered...one of those
compelling books that is difficult to finish but even more difficult to put
down.
Booklist, 3/15/99
It's been a long time since an adventure novel this original, this
well-developed, this genuinely exciting, came along ... Recommend it
wholeheartedly to adventure-novel fans as well as anyone who likes something
different...this one could become a well-deserved best-seller.
Customer Comments
Average Customer Review: [5 stars] Number of Reviews: 19
A reader from USA , August 2, 1999
Engrossing and Original!
This book was so engrossing that I could literally not put it down. It was
similar to Stephen King's the Stand in that it began by randomly
focusing on different characters who all come into contact with the
underground beings, but eventually their lives all become connected. It
had romantic moments, really scary moments and really chilling moments. And
the scientists' search for the existence and identity of Satan
also make it a great thriller.
bookman([EMAIL PROTECTED] from usa , August 2, 1999
Gave me nightmares!
Where is all the reviews? This is one of the best ever! Gave me nightmares and
I NEVER have nightmares.GET THIS BOOK! YOU WILL THANK ME!
A reader from Portland, Maine , August 1, 1999
It's not what you think
In Jeff Long's book you think you're going down an oft-traveled path until you
suddenly realize the book has taken a scary turn and plunged
you into a universe that could only exist in a fertile imagination. Eerie,
creepy, and utimately very fulfilling.
A reader from Arizona, USA , July 31, 1999
Intriguing!
I'm only through the first few chapters, but I can't tell you enough how great
this book is. Read this one and you won't regret it. Well
written and researched, interesting, and creepy.
Bookman([EMAIL PROTECTED]) from Cincinnati Ohio , July 31, 1999
OH MY GOD GET THIS BOOK! UNBELIEVABLE!
Jeff Long where have you been? Your book should revive the soft horror and
fantasy market of the '90's! Just Great! I urge ANYONE TO
GET AHOLD OF THIS ONE! You WON't Be Disappointed! Trust me! GET IT AND SHIVER
THROUGH THE SUMMER!
A reader from Everett, WA , July 31, 1999
Wow! Hooked from page one!
Sprinkle bits of The Exorcist with Jules Verne's Journey To The Center of the
Earth and you have The Descent. Couldn't put it down! If
Hollywood doesn't make this into a movie, there is no hope for Hollywood!
[EMAIL PROTECTED] from Seattle, WA , July 30, 1999
Interesting conception, good plot, terrible writing
The basic premise of the novel is quite entertaining, and the plot itself is
pretty good. Unfortunately, the writing is pure schlock (within the
first 10 pages, he manages to describe one of his main characters as a "lone
wolf"), and there is absolutely zero character development.
Major, life-altering events are passed over in a single sentence (as when, for
example, a primary character recovers from devastating burns
and injuries, covered in less than a paragraph, with no mention of any
psychological impact that the trauma may have had on him).
If a first-rate writer had been given the assignment of writing this book, and
had been handed the same plot outline, he would have written
2,000 pages or more; Long manages to wrap the book up in around 400 pages,
because he simply isn't interested in developing characters
or setting up scenes-- he spends all of his effort simply advancing the plot
in a simple, linear fashion.
If you're looking for a quick read on an airplane, The Descent is fine;
however, there's no way it deserves the 5 star rating it currently has
on amazon.com. It's pure horror/adventure schlock.
A reader from LA, CA , July 27, 1999
Great underground adventure :-)
I loved the roller-coster feel of this book and the eerie, almost alien
landscapes. Along the same lines I also loved Subterranean by James
Rollins. Both these books blended a 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' with
a modern thriller twist. Check them both out!
Click here for all 19 customer comments...
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