This was the first novel by Adam Nevill I have read, but it won't be the last. It was bloody brilliant horror and other than a slightly below par chapter about 2/3 of the way through it kept the tension high throughout. A supernatural horror in a style similar to Ramsay Cambell. Very dark and very compelling. The characters were well drawn and the monsters were terrifying. It's the story of an indie film maker, Kyle, who is hired by Max, a wealthy producer, to make a movie about a murderous cult (with similarities to Manson's Thrill Kill Cult). The duplicitous producer withholds information from the start. Information that might have dissuaded our hero from embarking on this dangerous project. The motives for this are unclear until the climactic finale. And a climactic finale it is. Often horror is let down by the end, but this one is not. The end is as strong as the beginning. In fact the whole story is expertly handled with a fast yet graceful pace. We can feel Kyle's growing desperation and madness acutely. We want him to prevail yet we fear for him from one moment to the next. If you haven't encountered any of Adam Nevill's books before then you are missing out. Grab a copy of Last Days and correct that oversight immediately. You won't regret it.
5/5 stars.
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