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Gone
A group of employees trying to have a weekend of bonding in the woods. What they get, however, is a weekend of unrelenting terror. What is making them disappear one at a time? Why can't they leave? Will any of them make it back or will all of them end up "Gone?"
- GenresScience FictionHorror
435 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2009
8 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Bryan W. Alaspa
91 books173 followersI was born in the fine year of 1971 in Park Ridge, IL. I am a life long Chicago resident and I love the city. I spent a few years in St. Louis, as well. I knew I wanted to write from the time I sat down at my mom's electric typewriter in the 3rd grade. Now I do write. I write freelance and articles for online news sources. I write horror, thrillers and detective novels. I also write non-fiction in true crime and history genres. I publish my fiction myself as an indie publisher and write and have found an audience for my work among ebook fans. I publish for Kindle, Nook and other tablets and devices at Smashwords.com. My non-fiction is usually published in print, but that may soon change as ebooks become more and more of the norm.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 12, 2020
I originally gave up on this book for style reasons, but I took a second crack at it and made it through, so here's my attempt at a constructive critique.
We start with short bitty sentences. Redundant words. Lack of adjectives. Short sentences. No metaphor or simile. The sentences are often very short. Redundant repetition. And the narrator darts from topic to topic at random; suddenly from nowhere there are paragraphs about the pet dog he misses, a dog that has no bearing on the plot, wasn't mentioned before, and isn't mentioned again.
Initial attempts at character building are handled crudely — OK that was the character building hook sentence, here are a couple of sentences of random backstory facts, back to the plot. The author also fails badly to write believable three-dimensional female characters, not that that's rare for a male author. (The two archetypes featured in the story are the slut, and the nonentity wife.)
There are typos and misspellings throughout. When there's description at all, it's generally matter-of-fact. (The trees were very big.) The genre is horror, but you need to do more to make rural Wisconsin scary than talk repeatedly at the start about how many trees there are. Sometimes it was almost comical, for example: "I couldn't shake the feeling that the trees and everything around us was alive." Yes, the trees WERE alive, that's how trees work.
I ended up with the feeling that the book was written by someone who has never actually gone camping or walked through woods, but has seen people do it in horror movies. There are mundane details that stretch credibility. Can you fit four people, each with a backpack and tent and other supplies, into a single a canoe, and have them paddle it across a lake without any trouble? Even when none of them are experienced? They collect wood and build a campfire and set it alight just like that, with no trouble? A cell phone is mentioned towards the end of the book, so why does nobody try to use theirs to call for help? Do none of the phones have GPS? (Yes, the book was published in the smartphone era.)
At one point one of the protagonists' names changes for a sentence. Reference is made to maybe trying something, when actually the story already described what happened when it was attempted.
Still, there are elements that ring true. When two men realize they can't escape the situation, they start aimlessly arguing with each other and finally beating the crap out of each other — that rings true. Also, when two of the protagonists realize there is no escape, they decide to spend all their remaining time having sex until whatever-it-is kills them. I can believe that too, but sadly four sex scenes in quick succession doesn't make for entertaining reading. There are worse sex scenes, true — Stephen King's "It" springs to mind — but still, four in a row? Think of something else they can do, please.
The writing does slowly get better as the book goes on, and it makes a sudden jump in quality around two thirds of the way through. By around the 70% mark it's pretty serviceable, apart from the typos, right in time for some padding to delay the plot.
I kept stubbornly reading to the end, hoping that there would be some amazing plot twist or some fantastic payoff to make it all worth it. I regret to say that there wasn't. Ultimately what we have here is a serviceable horror/suspense plot, in a book that desperately, DESPERATELY needs an editor and a rewrite or two.
We start with short bitty sentences. Redundant words. Lack of adjectives. Short sentences. No metaphor or simile. The sentences are often very short. Redundant repetition. And the narrator darts from topic to topic at random; suddenly from nowhere there are paragraphs about the pet dog he misses, a dog that has no bearing on the plot, wasn't mentioned before, and isn't mentioned again.
Initial attempts at character building are handled crudely — OK that was the character building hook sentence, here are a couple of sentences of random backstory facts, back to the plot. The author also fails badly to write believable three-dimensional female characters, not that that's rare for a male author. (The two archetypes featured in the story are the slut, and the nonentity wife.)
There are typos and misspellings throughout. When there's description at all, it's generally matter-of-fact. (The trees were very big.) The genre is horror, but you need to do more to make rural Wisconsin scary than talk repeatedly at the start about how many trees there are. Sometimes it was almost comical, for example: "I couldn't shake the feeling that the trees and everything around us was alive." Yes, the trees WERE alive, that's how trees work.
I ended up with the feeling that the book was written by someone who has never actually gone camping or walked through woods, but has seen people do it in horror movies. There are mundane details that stretch credibility. Can you fit four people, each with a backpack and tent and other supplies, into a single a canoe, and have them paddle it across a lake without any trouble? Even when none of them are experienced? They collect wood and build a campfire and set it alight just like that, with no trouble? A cell phone is mentioned towards the end of the book, so why does nobody try to use theirs to call for help? Do none of the phones have GPS? (Yes, the book was published in the smartphone era.)
At one point one of the protagonists' names changes for a sentence. Reference is made to maybe trying something, when actually the story already described what happened when it was attempted.
Still, there are elements that ring true. When two men realize they can't escape the situation, they start aimlessly arguing with each other and finally beating the crap out of each other — that rings true. Also, when two of the protagonists realize there is no escape, they decide to spend all their remaining time having sex until whatever-it-is kills them. I can believe that too, but sadly four sex scenes in quick succession doesn't make for entertaining reading. There are worse sex scenes, true — Stephen King's "It" springs to mind — but still, four in a row? Think of something else they can do, please.
The writing does slowly get better as the book goes on, and it makes a sudden jump in quality around two thirds of the way through. By around the 70% mark it's pretty serviceable, apart from the typos, right in time for some padding to delay the plot.
I kept stubbornly reading to the end, hoping that there would be some amazing plot twist or some fantastic payoff to make it all worth it. I regret to say that there wasn't. Ultimately what we have here is a serviceable horror/suspense plot, in a book that desperately, DESPERATELY needs an editor and a rewrite or two.
November 21, 2015
This had great potential but fell completely flat for me. The author started with a great premise (though certainly not an original one), then seemed to have no idea how to develop it. I found there to be no suspense, and little plot.
I started skimmming through this one at about the 30% mark, because all I was reading was filler, mundane activities, and internal angst of the main character.
On top of the poor story development, the editing was nonexistent.
Unless you can pick it up free and have nothing else to read, give this one a pass.
I started skimmming through this one at about the 30% mark, because all I was reading was filler, mundane activities, and internal angst of the main character.
On top of the poor story development, the editing was nonexistent.
Unless you can pick it up free and have nothing else to read, give this one a pass.
January 9, 2011
This book was well written. It started out with some friends going on a camping trip, and the trip turned into a vacation none of them expected. I have to admit I was very curious to see how the book would end. I personally would have preferred a different ending, but I have to admit I enjoyed the book. It was very different compared to what I usually read, but it was good. I would read another book by this author, definately.
October 30, 2015
3.7 Stars.
I thought of reading this book after seeing the title to spook myself chilly ( because it's the Halloween week).So I downloaded it immediately on Aldiko. But it turned out to be sci-fi(lol).Nevertheless, it was a pretty good one.
Seven friends,Dave,Joe,Jay,Karmen,Christian,Nancy and Carlos go on a camping trip to an unknown place in Wisconsin. The trip meant for bonding and having fun,turned out to be a nightmare instead.One by one the friends start disappearing in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. And they could do nothing to prevent it.Nothing AT ALL.
The story remains incomplete in some places. For one we never get to know who 'THEY' are(whether they are really aliens or what type it is, or why are they using humans,for what kind of experiments.)Also,the ending was sad and disappointing.I kept reading eagerly till the last sentence hoping for a change,but...
I definitely would have preferred a different ending. After I read this,my heart felt heavy.
Would recommend only for those who love sci-fi and adventure.
I thought of reading this book after seeing the title to spook myself chilly ( because it's the Halloween week).So I downloaded it immediately on Aldiko. But it turned out to be sci-fi(lol).Nevertheless, it was a pretty good one.
Seven friends,Dave,Joe,Jay,Karmen,Christian,Nancy and Carlos go on a camping trip to an unknown place in Wisconsin. The trip meant for bonding and having fun,turned out to be a nightmare instead.One by one the friends start disappearing in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. And they could do nothing to prevent it.Nothing AT ALL.
The story remains incomplete in some places. For one we never get to know who 'THEY' are(whether they are really aliens or what type it is, or why are they using humans,for what kind of experiments.)Also,the ending was sad and disappointing.I kept reading eagerly till the last sentence hoping for a change,but...
I definitely would have preferred a different ending. After I read this,my heart felt heavy.
Would recommend only for those who love sci-fi and adventure.
August 15, 2011
A very good story.
A group of friends go camping at a place that they have never been before and one by one they disappear.
The authors keeps the pace moving on and on with interesting happenings throughout this short novella.
I am already a chicken when it comes to sleeping in the woods and this story just solidifies my apprehension of sleeping outdoors.
The ending could have given us some more answers but I liked what he did.He left it open to interpretation which I think is a good thing when it comes to this story.
It's only 99 cents also on Smashwords so you can't go wrong.
A group of friends go camping at a place that they have never been before and one by one they disappear.
The authors keeps the pace moving on and on with interesting happenings throughout this short novella.
I am already a chicken when it comes to sleeping in the woods and this story just solidifies my apprehension of sleeping outdoors.
The ending could have given us some more answers but I liked what he did.He left it open to interpretation which I think is a good thing when it comes to this story.
It's only 99 cents also on Smashwords so you can't go wrong.
August 3, 2012
I found the premise of the book potentially interesting and the story moved along quickly and (mostly) kept my interest. I only put it down a few times because I was curious to discover exactly what was going on and why. However, the ending was weak and inconclusive. I also found the many, many typos and grammatical errors really detracted from the story. With some rigorous editing, and a stronger ending, this book could be much more enjoyable.
Read the full review at: http://indiepicks.wordpress.com/2012/...
Read the full review at: http://indiepicks.wordpress.com/2012/...
April 12, 2011
It was definitely different from everything else I've read & it was a good read but I'm wasn't pleased at all with the ending. It was very abrupt & it seemed like the author ran out of time. To be honest, I skimmed the last 5 or so pages because it was all just words to fill the space. If you read it, you'll see what I mean.
June 23, 2011
A supernatural/horror novella. Not a genre I read often, but this was a well told story of a small group of people who go for a camping weekend in the middle of nowhere (well, Wisconsin). Unfortunately the many typing errors did detract somewhat from the reading experience.
January 16, 2013
Editing was better in this but still not a clean copy. Interesting read. Really liked the premise and the story. The writing was a little stilted and could have been tightened up. The temporal beats were too staccato in too many places which threw me off.
April 10, 2014
Had the editing been a little tighter this would have easily garnered four stars from me. It is a short, tense read that keeps the reader wondering throughout. A camping trip turns into a terror filled experience where one by one the campers are taken out of the equation.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews