Subject A36

This was a reread for me in anticipation of the release of the second book The Insurgent which you can read my review for here. When I originally read this, I never shared a review for it, so I thought it was about time I did. I loved this book both times I read it. This book was action packed, had great world building and amazing characters (of course some were better than others). There's a cliffhanger which I typically don't like unless I am able to read the next book immediately. I wasn't able to read the next book immediately and I didn't hate the cliffhanger. The story for book one was wrapped up well enough that the cliffhanger just sets it up perfectly for the next book. If you haven't read this duology, I highly recommend you do. 

This is a fast-paced, quick, captivating read.

Alexander McIntyre thinks that aliens kidnapped the entire population of the mysteriously abandoned New Hope Island Colony back in 1827, and he wants to take an expedition to the island to prove it. The expedition will include a couple of reporters from his newspaper, a beautiful virologist, a famous cosmologist, a beautiful psychic, a heroic archeologist, and a hard-fighting exorcist to cover all bases. Because while McIntyre hopes it was aliens that caused the disappearance of the population of the colony on an island in the cold, rain-swept island in the Hebrides off the coast of Scottland, his investigator, Lassiter, uncovered a most unusual film clip that shows that the last inhabitant of New Hope island was scared off by a young girl who seemed to be floating off of the ground.
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This story would make a great movie. Its opening scenes concoct tension and horror with the spooky girl in the film. Then, there is an attractive female student who keeps popping up, even though she died in 1971. Characters are picked off one by one and there is a fantastic last minute climax. Good stuff all around.

One nit that I would pick is that the pace is almost too fast. After building up the expedition, we see major characters picked off almost immediately after the expedition had been on the island for less than a day. It seems like the suspense could have been allowed to build up a bit more, but the pace did provide a hook for keeping the pages turning.

It is a fairly quick read, but quite enjoyable for anyone who likes the horror genre.

Not a bad read - particularly in the early chapters, there are some really spooky elements. I feel like that mood is somewhat undermined later when events feel rather contrived to allow a neat ending that answers all questions and wraps up the story in a nice little bow.

Also, I felt like the male characters were given the great bulk of the point of view, with the female characters more often functioning as objects to drive the action of the male protagonists. That started to grate as I got into the second half of the book.

Having read two of Cottam's novels, I think I'll seek out any shorter fiction he's done. I think he could maintain a creepy mood better over a short story, and perhaps that form would also be more amenable to an ambiguous conclusion?

My first foray into the world of F.G Cottam, and it won't be my last. This book was outstanding. Paranormal fiction at it's best, heavy on atmosphere and things that go bump in the night.