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The Hole
The world as Elliot Bishop and Evajean Rhodes know it is gone. Destroyed. In just two weeks, a horrific plague raged across the planet—driving its victims insane before killing them.
The two survivors set out on an unimaginable journey, driven by a cryptic message from Evajean’s If anything terrible happens, you must get to Salt Lake City. But the pair soon discover they are not alone, and that the plague has done more than kill. The countryside between Virginia and Utah now crawls with victims who have been driven mad—violent lunatics fueled with definite yet unknown purpose.
To survive, Elliot and Evajean must fight for their lives—against the crazies, against sinister forces who would stop their quest, against long-ago hidden menaces—and uncover the deeply guarded secret of those driven mad and the plague that spawned them. The secret of a destructive force unleashed on the world by one of America's most powerful religious sects...
“A unique take on the apocalypse. Powell draws on modern supernatural belief to craft an intriguing vision of Man’s last stand.”
—David Dunwoody,
author of Empire and Empire’s End
“Seamlessly combines apocalyptic horror, religious elements, and grotesque monsters into one undeniably original read.”
—Eloise J. Knapp,
author of The Undead Situation
"Powell kicks the door in, loads his shotgun full of fresh religious conspiracy, cult creepiness, bloodthirsty monsters, and apocalyptic savagery, and shoots the whole damned thing in your face. Because you deserve it."
—Ryan C. Thomas, author of Hissers
“[Powell] will soon be well known in the horror genre.”
—Barbara Mulcahy, Withersin
The two survivors set out on an unimaginable journey, driven by a cryptic message from Evajean’s If anything terrible happens, you must get to Salt Lake City. But the pair soon discover they are not alone, and that the plague has done more than kill. The countryside between Virginia and Utah now crawls with victims who have been driven mad—violent lunatics fueled with definite yet unknown purpose.
To survive, Elliot and Evajean must fight for their lives—against the crazies, against sinister forces who would stop their quest, against long-ago hidden menaces—and uncover the deeply guarded secret of those driven mad and the plague that spawned them. The secret of a destructive force unleashed on the world by one of America's most powerful religious sects...
“A unique take on the apocalypse. Powell draws on modern supernatural belief to craft an intriguing vision of Man’s last stand.”
—David Dunwoody,
author of Empire and Empire’s End
“Seamlessly combines apocalyptic horror, religious elements, and grotesque monsters into one undeniably original read.”
—Eloise J. Knapp,
author of The Undead Situation
"Powell kicks the door in, loads his shotgun full of fresh religious conspiracy, cult creepiness, bloodthirsty monsters, and apocalyptic savagery, and shoots the whole damned thing in your face. Because you deserve it."
—Ryan C. Thomas, author of Hissers
“[Powell] will soon be well known in the horror genre.”
—Barbara Mulcahy, Withersin
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2008
8 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 27, 2012
After I downloaded this for free via Bookbub, I perused a few pages to get a feel for it. Then (as per the norm) I hit up the Amazon reviews to see where it fell for the average reader. The ratings were so-so, so I didn't get my hopes up, but I liked the straightforward prose style and basic premise, so I kept reading.
I'm glad that I did. I zipped through this book and enjoyed it very much. While I initially expected a zombie apocalypse, what I got was far creepier and more intriguing. The questions I had about what was going on kept me reading to the end, and I felt 95% satisfied by the answers to those questions. Also, as another reviewer noted, Mr Powell's simple prose style gave just enough to paint the picture and tell the story with nothing extraneous. Other readers may prefer more pontificating, but I personally enjoy this style--it seems to remove the sometimes obtrusive writer from the story, if that makes sense.
Some of the negative reviews on Amazon commented that this was insulting and offensive to Mormonism. I am not a Mormon, but I still disagree with that characterization. Mr Powell has engaged in a 'what if' experiment, which is something that speculative fiction by definition does. The creation of this experiment in a fictional story does not necessarily reflect on an author's views--I suspect Mr Powell, while a self-professed atheist--finds most or all religions fascinating (based on his commentary in the epilogue). He did nothing here other than let his 'what if' experiment run out to the natural conclusions that he envisioned.
The ending and much of the plot was a little deus ex machina, but it didn't detract from the story for me. Or not much, anyway. Some scenes weren't as tense as they should have been, I think, but the novel worked well nonetheless.
And Mr Powell, if you're reading this, you should check out my book, "Loki: Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster". I think it might be up your alley.
Mike Vasich
I'm glad that I did. I zipped through this book and enjoyed it very much. While I initially expected a zombie apocalypse, what I got was far creepier and more intriguing. The questions I had about what was going on kept me reading to the end, and I felt 95% satisfied by the answers to those questions. Also, as another reviewer noted, Mr Powell's simple prose style gave just enough to paint the picture and tell the story with nothing extraneous. Other readers may prefer more pontificating, but I personally enjoy this style--it seems to remove the sometimes obtrusive writer from the story, if that makes sense.
Some of the negative reviews on Amazon commented that this was insulting and offensive to Mormonism. I am not a Mormon, but I still disagree with that characterization. Mr Powell has engaged in a 'what if' experiment, which is something that speculative fiction by definition does. The creation of this experiment in a fictional story does not necessarily reflect on an author's views--I suspect Mr Powell, while a self-professed atheist--finds most or all religions fascinating (based on his commentary in the epilogue). He did nothing here other than let his 'what if' experiment run out to the natural conclusions that he envisioned.
The ending and much of the plot was a little deus ex machina, but it didn't detract from the story for me. Or not much, anyway. Some scenes weren't as tense as they should have been, I think, but the novel worked well nonetheless.
And Mr Powell, if you're reading this, you should check out my book, "Loki: Nine Naughty Tales of the Trickster". I think it might be up your alley.
Mike Vasich
December 27, 2012
Not bad, but it seemed to be a cross between The Stand and those Magic Tree House books I read to my 6-year-old son.
May 3, 2013
Really good book. The story itself was not what I expected and it turned out to be one of my favorite apocalypse books I have read.
October 6, 2017
Interesting concept, lively action scenes, and a decent pace. Unfortunately let down imo by the characters insisting that fate is guiding them and therefore they don't have to question any of the decisions they make (going into that monster-filled basement, alone? I don't care what fate reckons, that's a bad idea.) but other than that it's a fun read.
November 9, 2015
The characters were believable and the story was intriguing enough at the beginning that I wanted to know more, however it all started to fall apart for me when the main characters got in a car accident about a third of way in. Elliot comes to after blacking out, and specifically makes note of a lot of blood being in the vehicle. His companion is gone, and he treks off into the woods to find her, deals with some crazies along the way, and finally is led to Nahom without that blood ever being explained or any injuries being referenced through all this vigorous adventuring. Perhaps that sounds a bit nit-picky, but The Hole has many of these small moments that pulled me out of the reading to question if I was missing something.
As their journey continued, it made less and less sense to me, with Elliot and Evajean failing to make use of the supplies and weapons they brought with them out of Nahom, yet still being successful in their mission thanks to a string of stranger and stranger lucky coincidences that just didn't come across as believable. The last fifth of the book felt like it gave up altogether. The main characters were given exactly the information they needed right when they needed it, and there was no conflict, no tension, and no climax to the story. The book was less than 250 pages, but I still felt it dragged on far longer than it needed to, and it took me quite a while to finish because I lost interest.
I gave this book two stars for a few reasons but they all come down to the same thing: I would rate this one star if it came from a major publisher, but I am more forgiving of indie publishers, new authors, and books that I acquired for free. I don't think that it is a bad read for its current e-book cost either, if one has more disposable income for books than I do, but I would have been disappointed personally had I paid for it.
As their journey continued, it made less and less sense to me, with Elliot and Evajean failing to make use of the supplies and weapons they brought with them out of Nahom, yet still being successful in their mission thanks to a string of stranger and stranger lucky coincidences that just didn't come across as believable. The last fifth of the book felt like it gave up altogether. The main characters were given exactly the information they needed right when they needed it, and there was no conflict, no tension, and no climax to the story. The book was less than 250 pages, but I still felt it dragged on far longer than it needed to, and it took me quite a while to finish because I lost interest.
I gave this book two stars for a few reasons but they all come down to the same thing: I would rate this one star if it came from a major publisher, but I am more forgiving of indie publishers, new authors, and books that I acquired for free. I don't think that it is a bad read for its current e-book cost either, if one has more disposable income for books than I do, but I would have been disappointed personally had I paid for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2012
This is not your typical end of the world story nor is it a zombie tale that you have become accustom to. I found the writing structure very pleasing and the characters very easy to like and understand. The story was a very imaginative one that kept me wondering until the end. I did not get bored or have a moment when I wanted to stop reading.
Elliot and Evajean are normal Americans put into an abnormal world situation.As they struggle to find the reason behind what has happened to them and the world they knew they are draw toward Salt Lake city Utah. Crazies of the many types will cross their paths and try to stop them.
Enjoy the read, it's a good one.
Elliot and Evajean are normal Americans put into an abnormal world situation.As they struggle to find the reason behind what has happened to them and the world they knew they are draw toward Salt Lake city Utah. Crazies of the many types will cross their paths and try to stop them.
Enjoy the read, it's a good one.
May 24, 2012
An okay read, The Hole fails to deliver what the opening half of the book promises. The characters, Elliot and Evajean -- and even their dog, Hope -- are believable and had me routing for them during the extent of their journey. But when it came down to the big reveal and the final confrontation, the novel faded away instead of bowing out in glory.
A shame, because the writing is good and the premise of the story equally matched. There was some confusion along the way, but nothing too distracting.
A shame, because the writing is good and the premise of the story equally matched. There was some confusion along the way, but nothing too distracting.
August 5, 2012
Very engaging from the beginning till almost the end of to the book, however the ending could have been more satisfying. The novel keeps the reader guessing about what is going on in the world, what happened to the people, what happened to the animals, and so on. A few grammatical oddities here and there but not too much.
This is a satirical religious themed horror, you will enjoy this novel even more if you are into religions and spiritualities.
This is a satirical religious themed horror, you will enjoy this novel even more if you are into religions and spiritualities.
December 13, 2012
I skipped over portions as I got to the point I just wanted to be done. Poorly edited. Lots of spots where you have to edit passages yourself to figure out what was meant.
If I'd had a true and correct idea where this was going I would never have started it. A person of most any religious conviction could be offended. I wasn't particularly but certainly felt the author had taken a really wrong turn with this.
If I'd had a true and correct idea where this was going I would never have started it. A person of most any religious conviction could be offended. I wasn't particularly but certainly felt the author had taken a really wrong turn with this.
February 12, 2013
Alternate dimension aliens vying for control of earth using religion as their control. One alien started Mormonism the other Christianity in order to build their armies for a battle between themselves. Humans who become possessed by the minions of these entities speak gibberish and are called to The Great Salt Lake in Utah to begin the battle. Two people are each half of a third entity which is able to stop this after bringing these two together and forming one entity from them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2013
It's hard to write a good post-apocalyptic story...and though this book pissed me off some with things like the main characters keeping their old clunker rather than grabbing a better car, or not keeping their guns with them after the first incident with crazies, overall it was storyline that kept me intrigued and a really enjoyable read!
December 29, 2012
The book started out interesting. A zombie apocalypse book. But the ending really ruined it for me. It turned into a mash of religions all fighting over the world. Too much for me, wasn't very interested in that part of it.
November 13, 2011
I've read 12 chapters thus far, and if you've ever wished you would one day wake up in a post apocalyptic festering zombie shit hole, I recommend you do the same.
January 19, 2013
Book was so-so. I liked the beginning, but the 'battle' at the end was a let down. The book just fizzled out at the end.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews