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Shelter
When she buys a dilapidated old house, determined to restore it to its original beauty, Laura Craig unwittingly unleashes an ancient evil, bent on revenge and hungry for death, that has been trapped beneath the cellar for years. Original.
- GenresHorror
321 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2006
About the author
L.H. Maynard
30 books15 followersL.H. (Len) Maynard writes supernatural horror with M.P.N. (Mick) Sims.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 17, 2024
Maynard and Sims' first novel Shelter does a nice job building the suspense, even if the creep factor takes some time to get going. Our lead, Laura Craig, used to be in a partnership where they bought and renovated older houses to either rent to sell. Her partner, Bob Tanner, did not take well to her ending the partnership and their relationship and the authors fill in the back story bit by bit. Laura, using the last of her cash and with a loan from her parents, decides to buy an old house that will take a lot of work, but seems worth it.
At first, I thought this would be a haunted house story, but it quickly morphed into something else. The brief prologue takes place in North Africa just after WWII, with a captain and his batsman being lead by some Arabs to some cave in the desert. There, they show the captain the girl he impregnated, well along, and proceed to give her a C-section and then kill her. The infant they dunk in a pool of water for several minutes. Aghast, the two Brits watch in horror; then they see that the baby is breathing just fine underwater...
Well, the captain turns out to be a Lord, and his estate borders the house Laura purchased for rehab. Turns out the house belonged to the captain's batsman, and in the process of demolishing some decrepit outbuildings, they find a cellar flooded with water, and this is when the story starts to get creepy. The workman who fell in the water claimed something tried to drown him, and indeed, has a festering odd rash around his lower leg. After draining the cellar, the main general contractor finds a room adjoining it, one that had been bricked up and its contents still pristine (albeit dusty). Who lived down here in the 50s? I will stop here on the plot to avoid spoilers.
I have read a few other Maynard and Sims novels, and while this was their first effort, it stands out as one of their better works, perhaps because it does not go into OTT land. The authors make good use of back story interludes to flesh the tale out, and the pacing is first rate. Yet this, while tamer than some of their later novels, still made it hard for me to keep my sense of disbelief suspended, especially as the story progressed. Also, we have characters making several dubious decisions seemingly only to move the plot. Good, but not great. 3.5 stars, rounding down.
At first, I thought this would be a haunted house story, but it quickly morphed into something else. The brief prologue takes place in North Africa just after WWII, with a captain and his batsman being lead by some Arabs to some cave in the desert. There, they show the captain the girl he impregnated, well along, and proceed to give her a C-section and then kill her. The infant they dunk in a pool of water for several minutes. Aghast, the two Brits watch in horror; then they see that the baby is breathing just fine underwater...
Well, the captain turns out to be a Lord, and his estate borders the house Laura purchased for rehab. Turns out the house belonged to the captain's batsman, and in the process of demolishing some decrepit outbuildings, they find a cellar flooded with water, and this is when the story starts to get creepy. The workman who fell in the water claimed something tried to drown him, and indeed, has a festering odd rash around his lower leg. After draining the cellar, the main general contractor finds a room adjoining it, one that had been bricked up and its contents still pristine (albeit dusty). Who lived down here in the 50s? I will stop here on the plot to avoid spoilers.
I have read a few other Maynard and Sims novels, and while this was their first effort, it stands out as one of their better works, perhaps because it does not go into OTT land. The authors make good use of back story interludes to flesh the tale out, and the pacing is first rate. Yet this, while tamer than some of their later novels, still made it hard for me to keep my sense of disbelief suspended, especially as the story progressed. Also, we have characters making several dubious decisions seemingly only to move the plot. Good, but not great. 3.5 stars, rounding down.
May 9, 2012
This was a really fun read. Classic set up, old money rich family terrible secret...sort of a creture feature, but well done in every aspect from characters to gore and action. Nicely paced, very quick read. Recommended.
June 28, 2011
2 and 1/2 STARS
This was my first outing with these authors and although I won't judge them by this book and completely write them off, I wasn't that impressed with Shelter. The British translation for certain words interfered with the flow of the book, and although I knew what the definition was, it was annoying to read. Small tweaks for American readers would have been nice. In addition, my other problems with this book were the clunky plot devices, inconsistent character decisions that were made near the end of the book, and the rushed and simplistic climax. That said, there were some genuinely creepy moments along with solid suspense, but with all the books on the market today, I probably wouldn't recommend this to horror fans. You'd think with two writers putting their heads together, they would have come up with a better book than this.
This was my first outing with these authors and although I won't judge them by this book and completely write them off, I wasn't that impressed with Shelter. The British translation for certain words interfered with the flow of the book, and although I knew what the definition was, it was annoying to read. Small tweaks for American readers would have been nice. In addition, my other problems with this book were the clunky plot devices, inconsistent character decisions that were made near the end of the book, and the rushed and simplistic climax. That said, there were some genuinely creepy moments along with solid suspense, but with all the books on the market today, I probably wouldn't recommend this to horror fans. You'd think with two writers putting their heads together, they would have come up with a better book than this.
January 23, 2016
I will start by saying the one positive thing I found about the book. The monster was inventive and interesting. I especially enjoyed the flashback chapters dispersed throughout the book. Now for the overall opinion of the book. A fairly typical horror story... a man of a rich family knocks up a woman and then takes the child back home. Of course his indiscretion is revealed. Later his bad handling of the situation leads the monster to seek revenge on the family. Decent story, but nothing really new here. As predictable, the book sets itself up for Shelter 2.
May 22, 2010
I hated how this book started.The first 2 scenes were brutality and murder of women.I refuse to read a book that starts out this way.I find it very distasteful and I won't be reading any more books by these authors.I read a part of another book by them and it was about sexual perversity against women.I don't find this horrifying in the way some men might-men who enjoy hurting women.It is not OK to treat women this way.So stay away from these authors as I will be doing in the future.
February 7, 2014
The book was alright. It was very predictable ,but not as gory as I usually read. The ending was terrible and too simple in how the creature was destroyed.For such a fearsome creature it went out unformitable creature like.
Worth a read and pass it on to a friend you do not like.
Worth a read and pass it on to a friend you do not like.
May 24, 2017
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the unusual monster. Ordinarily I hate flashbacks, but for half of the book I enjoyed them more than the current story unfolding. The only complaint I have is that the ending is too easy. I think it should have been a lot harder to reach a resolution. But the journey is pretty cool.
July 7, 2020
Good
Good horror story. A bit choppy with the story progression. Maynard & Sims provide unusual monsters that defy typical horror. This one has roots in human life and proprogation.
Good horror story. A bit choppy with the story progression. Maynard & Sims provide unusual monsters that defy typical horror. This one has roots in human life and proprogation.
January 17, 2023
Good story line, but as a leisure horror novel, I'd expect less story and more gore. Needed more supernatural and not as much fall-in-love-with-rich-bachelor.
June 24, 2019
Right from the first chapter you know who the monster is. But learning his backstory and seeing exactly what he is capable of is the crux of the story. I loved the flashback chapters. It was a really interesting story.
The lesson here is don’t renovate old houses. You never know what is buried beneath them.
The lesson here is don’t renovate old houses. You never know what is buried beneath them.
November 13, 2007
It's pretty standard horror fare. I did really like the way the authors built the story around flashbacks- it was an effective way of telling the story while filling readers in on background. For however slick they were at that technique though, they were just really hamfisted with the present day backstories.
For example, there's this whole section where they go on and on about the familial strife between one of the monster's victims and his mother... and it goes nowhere. While I guess you could argue that the relationship could be seen to feed back into the other relationships between the main characters... it really doesn't.
At any rate, this one was kind of a miss for me, but I enjoyed the authors' writing style and I wouldn't hesitate to give another of their books ago. I just won't make that read the inevitable sequel set up at the end of this book.
For example, there's this whole section where they go on and on about the familial strife between one of the monster's victims and his mother... and it goes nowhere. While I guess you could argue that the relationship could be seen to feed back into the other relationships between the main characters... it really doesn't.
At any rate, this one was kind of a miss for me, but I enjoyed the authors' writing style and I wouldn't hesitate to give another of their books ago. I just won't make that read the inevitable sequel set up at the end of this book.
October 1, 2007
Not a bad book. I'd call it average. The story was a tad predictable, the monster interesting. The characters are what kept my interest.
The authors did have an interesting culture/species set up for the monster, but in the end.. the ending, what happened.. I could see coming down Broadway.
Over all, a decent light horror read.
The authors did have an interesting culture/species set up for the monster, but in the end.. the ending, what happened.. I could see coming down Broadway.
Over all, a decent light horror read.
June 6, 2009
Though I enjoyed the story, this book left me a little empty. I feel there there was unrealized potental in the story line. The whole Verani wasn't as developed as I would like and I didn't connect with any of the characters. It wasn't torture to get through but it wasn't so good that I couldn't put it down.
July 29, 2009
Literary Lovelies Book Club selection
November 26, 2010
Odd little book. I liked the pace, the originality. Somewhat farfetched. Decent characters.
November 17, 2012
This probably would have gotten one more star from me (or at least a half-star) if the author hadn't felt the need to kill a dog unnecessarily :(
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October 1, 2013a real fast page turner! awesome!
December 3, 2013
Nothing surprising here. A fast, but rather boring, read.
March 9, 2016
After some of the reviews on this book, I didn't think I was going to like it, but I did. It had a pretty good story line and kept you wanting to read more.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews