Catalysts

by Charles E. Yallowitz

When trapped in an elevator together, Jeffrey and Darla learn that misery doesn’t always love company. With the screams of death and chaos echoing from outside, they find themselves slowly slipping into a world of fear and darkness they may never recover from. All the while, something is terrorizing the convention outside and turning the guests and celebrities into psychotic monsters.

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2013

About the author

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.

Reviews

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well worth reading.

Having read (and reviewed) every book of the author’s fantasy Windemere and Nytefall series’ so far, I couldn’t resist seeing what he did with an apocalyptic story.
I wasn’t disappointed.
A well written cross between mass possession and extremely active zombies is my take.

[Katie Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catalysts is perfect for a quick afternoon read. Even better if it is a drizzly and/or dark afternoon, because then the particular spell of this book can work its full – horrific – magic on your soul.

The book presents readers with a true monster, one that is fascinating to watch, even as my stomach twisted a little bit at the carnage it wrecks. As much as I wanted to slap them, the characters are very real. It was easy to see a little bit of myself not only in the two main characters, but also in the ensemble cast. These men and women were the readers’ entry into the terror going on within the celebrity convention and each one was a well-drawn personality to either hope for, or revile.

I particularly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the scenes in the elevator with the chaos and slaughter outside. And as a warning to those faint of heart, it is slaughter. Personally, I enjoyed it – the descriptions were delightfully gross, and at one point, I swore I could feel the squelching of blood under my toes. The elevator scenes themselves were harrowing in their own way. It is never an easy thing to watch two people help each other spiral deeper into a personal darkness.

The story was tight and the culprits. . . I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was clever. Not only that, the book itself was a slow-burn creepy that hit me the next day. I enjoyed it and I recommend it – Catalysts is perfect for this time of year, or any time you want to peer into the darkness.