The Agent

by Jonathan Mitchell

Nightmares push David Turner, a drifting loner, to the brink of madness...and toward a confrontation with a brutal killer from another age. As his journey progresses, Turner begins to realize that he is not just avenging a series of horrifying, cult-connected murders: he is wrestling with the nature of evil itself. "The Agent" is an uncompromisingly grim story about the seductive power of darkness in the face of dwindling options. (This book contains violence and adult situations, and is not appropriate for children.)

Genres: Horror

Unknown Binding

First published October 14, 2012

About the author

Author of one novel and three stories; former musician.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author shows promise, but this book left me a little confused.

I read this with my horror group and the opinions on it were quite varied; the following is what I thought-without getting too much into the plot.

I thought the quality of the writing was quite good. The editing was also excellent. The problem I had with this story was the ending, or perhaps the last 20% or so. I felt like I was left with too many unanswered questions-mainly WHY? Why the main character and not some other guy? Why did the protagonist do what he did at the end, just when he was getting his shit together? The author did provide some slight reasoning for this, but it was not a full explanation and what was there was not clear to me.

The plot itself was a good one, and I especially enjoyed the portions about the cult/religion. There was a lot left on the table to explore there and I hope that the author will revisit it at some point in the future.

Overall, I thought this short novel or novella (?) was good and showed imagination, creativity and some writing chops. However, a little less confusion and a clearer ending would have put this story into the "above average" range and would have resulted in a higher recommendation from me. As I said, I think the author does have promise and I would be interested in reading more from him in the future.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan Mitchell's town of Moorestown, and the mall in which some of this story takes place, reminded me of Tim Waggoner's town of Ptolemy in his novel Darkness Wakes. Both towns are dreary and solemn, with hidden secrets. While plot of this novel takes some concentration to follow, the secrets are slowly unfolded by the troubled main character. The ending was a surprise, but was, to this reader, an apt conclusion.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started out good, using quite a lot of the storytelling technique that is short and disjointed sequences in which you are not aware who is the narrator or when in time the events happens. Preferably, this should be followed by explanations and bringing together of the storylines and this does not happen all the way in this story but instead we are left more than a bit confused. There were also a few ifs and buts that I would love to have clarified.

I had hopes that the end would redeem the whole thing, but I should have taken the hint when the last part was titled (Anti)climax. Much to my chagrin, I disliked it a lot and was left with a story with a good start, loads of atmosphere and some good ideas that became too complicated for its own good and fizzled out into nothing...

I did like the author's narrative (but not choice of storytelling techniques) and I would go for a future offering if it came with a recommendation.

[Rob Twinem · Rating 1 out of 5]

A confused mess of a story...yes it's dark...yes it has a certain noir atmosphere...and yes there is some good dialogue...."against the slugggish drops of rain that had been falling all evening. One of them struck the top of his head and rested there for a moment like a large, cold pearl"....but that is not enough to create a good or sustainable read. David Turner depressed, on the point of madness and having a connection to a crime committed in the past and we the reader are taken on a confused and disjointed journey as the author attempts to unravel and bring to life the dark and grim mind of a manic depressive....terrible!

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this novel had a lot of great ideas, but it failed to execute all of them to perfection. The author obviously painstakingly world-builded the details of the cult, the murders, and the nightmares, but the plot itself lacked depth and imagination to me. The ending seemed rushed and unrewarding, and it was hard to get to. I'm glad I finished, but I don't know I would put someone else through this book. My final word is that, with a few more drafts, "The Agent" could be a pretty decent book; it's just not quite there yet.

[Melody McGinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best supernatural stories I've read in recent years.. I really love the way the author describes the settings.. They felt very personal to my own experiences, and that is rare to find! I love how the drudgery of the main characters life is threatened/blessed with supernatural occurrences that tie to his past AND future.. Investigating and figuring out what its all about give him direction.. Its the sort of thing that I think a lot of people would like to have... something happen. It speaks to that sense of meandering through life without purpose, and the goal of finding something transcendent to that...
The only thing I can say negative, is that I would have liked to gotten to know the characters a little better.. Maybe that just reflects how life really is sometimes.. or maybe we will get lucky and there will be a sequel at some point!