Khost: Some Caves Are Best Left Unexplored

by Vincent Hobbes, A.K. Waters

A bitter war rages in Afghanistan during the 80’s. Growing desperate, the Soviet Union creates an exotic chemical weapon. They test their creation in a massive cave complex, in Khost, Afghanistan. Unknown to the Soviets, the chemical works in unimaginable ways.

Genres: Horror, Military Fiction, War, Science Fiction, Monsters

428 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2012

About the author

Website/Blog
http://www.VincentHobbes.com

Facebook
http://www.Facebook.com/vincenthobbes

The Endlands
http://www.TheEndlands.com

Legends in Time
http://www.LegendsInTimeBook.com

Publisher
http://www.HobbesEndPublishing.com

Reviews

[Jairus Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Disclaimer* I'm the publisher, so my review might not count in some people's minds. My thoughts are as follows:

This book if fast paced, filled with action and adventure. If you like war, if you like monsters, this is a fun read. Nothing earth-shattering, not Gone with the Wind, but it's a fun read.

The interesting part about this story is it's based on actual events. Sure it's fiction, but there are real-life events to this story. I find that quite disturbing considering the content.

My rank is five stars. Not because I'm the publisher, but because I love a good 'shoot em up' story. Fun read.

Jairus Reddy

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this Special Forces (Delta)/monster thriller very much. The book lured me in and I just had to keep going until the end. I liked the way Vincent took his time setting up the story, with the background story in 1984 and then moving the story up to 2010. The 1984/Russian portion of the story is what got me hooked and kept me going on. The novel is pretty long and Vincent took his time with the story.

While at first I did not mind this and even enjoyed it, after a while I realized we were running out of space in the book. When the Delta team members were introduced Vincent went on and on about how GOOD they were compared to normal troops. But that is all it was, TALK. Vincent never actually showed the Delta team do anything that would hightlight how good they were UNTIL the very end (the last 15% or less). At one point in the story the Delta team went out on a patrol and Vincent skipped right over that part. One of the characters was a Navy SEAL who was a specialist in gadgets, but again we did not see him use any of these gadgets until the 95% mark.

Kudos to the author for mentioning Bob Lee Swagger, the sniper from Time to Hunt (and several other books) by Stephen Hunter. Nice touch.

So, while I did enjoy the story I would have liked to have read more about the Delta members and had a chance to "see" how good they were instead of hearing them say how good they were (Tier-1 was only mentioned about a hundred times). Another "gripe" would be it took way too long to get the Delta team into the cave to fight the monsters. Just past the 85% mark. A little less time spent on talking about how good the Delta Operators were and MORE time spent actually SHOWING us readers how good they were would have been much appreciated.

For an excellent example of a story dealing with Special Forces and monsters (in this case zombies) check out a couple of novellas by Michael Fuchs and Glynn James: Arisen, Book One - Fortress Britain & Arisen, Book Two - Mogadishu of the Dead.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I think of this book? Hhmmm...I was a bit disappointed in it to be honest. I read this authors other work and LOVED it, so maybe I was expecting too much, but I did not come to love this book. I did finish it though, so that is something to say I suppose. I continued reading it for the simple facts of: I do love this author's other work, the characters in this book were intriguing and well developed, there was some action that kept me wanting to read on, and I did enjoy the plot line. What made me not sure about this book and come to not really love it was a few things; first, I found it to be a very slow moving book as far as action with the monsters; second, the book was a lot of build up to the "good part" and to the action, but then it made you wait and wait and wait to get to the action/good part and repeated things to the point of me thinking "again with this". I just feel there was a lot of writing on a lot of pages to say what could have been put into half the book it was. Like I said though, I did like the characters and how they developed over the course of the pages. Also, the ending really picked up and made me think "here it is, here is what I was waiting for from this author". All in all I can't give this book a horrible rating, because it did have good content, it just wasn't what I was expecting from the author is all. Also, maybe if you are more into the war type of reads, perhaps the book would have your attention all the way through.

Will I continue to try out this author's books? YOU BET! Why? Because I really do love the way he wrote the other book I read of his. I can't toss aside a talented author just because he wrote one book I didn't care for.

4/5 Stars (just couldn't do 3 stars, the ending bumped up my rating at least a star if not more because it was the author's work I was expecting)

Received free for honest review

[Marika Charalambous · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read such an engaging book in a long time. It was so gripping that I couldn't put it down until I finished it. And it's not like there was too much real action either, the battle started at only about the last 100 pages or so, but something really kept me glued to the book biting my nails all the time.

The theme is nothing new and it's been done over and over again with solders being given something to alter their DNA and make them superhuman/the perfect weapon. At some point I remembered the latest Beauty and the Beast series that is going on the TV right now since there Vincent was just as a victim of such experiments as some people in this very book. Suffice to say this story is popular, so I guess it's used over and over again - with success this time.

This was my first book by this author and definitely not my last.

[Bryan Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through this book in two days. An action-packed adventure about a group of special forces guys (and gals) who enter a valley in Afghanistan to take on what was once a group of humans. Zombie-like, I enjoyed how the author went away from the zombie mold and created something different. The characters were likeable, and the action intense. My only complaint is it took some time to get to the actual fight, but the pace of the novel kept me turning the pages. I'm curious as to whether the author served in special forces as he seems to know his material well. I'd suggest this to any casual reader who likes war/military books.

[Geoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried. Very little action and very little proofreading.
Combined, it made for a boring and confusing read.

[Kevis Hendrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Mr. Hobbes ever since I was introduced to his work a few years back. He always tells fascinating stories that stay with you long after you read them. The hallmark of a good read by any measure. Khost is the latest of his books that I've had the pleasure of reading. In fact, I've read it twice. A self-styled men's military/horror adventure, it's obvious that a lot of work and research went into this book. From references to geography, history, philosophy, military campaigns and hierarchical structure, weapon systems, vehicles, and operational terminology, I found the book to be a treasure trove of military nomenclature and very effective in immersing the reader into military culture.

The story begins in the years leading up to the end of the Cold War to bring the reader up to speed with the events that has created the current crisis. After that, the timeline leaps forward to the present to introduce the main characters. I thought this was a very effective way to show and not tell the reader what's going on. Thumbs up.

I did have some issues with the book and that largely has to do with it being repetitious at times. Early on I noticed this problem during the introduction of the Soviet forces in the beginning of the story. The same point about how skilled or great a soldier the characters were would be repeated ad nauseam. This, unfortunately, infected the rest of the book when various plot points would be revisited over and over again.

It was a little wearisome to read repeatedly how skilled and deadly the Delta Force team is. It would have been better to simply show them in action during a battle or training exercise instead of having to hammer the same point repeatedly through description. This slows down the book's pacing unnecessarily and made me want to skim past needless information and on to the next plot point.

There are also some editing issues present. Misspelled words like quiet/quite and affect/effect occur often in the book. This sometimes led to confusion and caused me to reread sentences to figure out the meaning. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it did impair the reading process.

Last, but not least. I can see how some readers might be disappointed with the lack of action in the book. Although I enjoyed the banter of the characters, I do feel the pacing was affected because of the lengthy dialogue in the book. There were times when I felt the story got bogged down in needless exposition because the characters dragged out scenes longer than they needed to be. This could have been offset through more action. But the story is primarily build-up for the last few chapters of the book. Since I love drama, I didn't have a big problem with it. But I imagine that based on the book cover and blurb, some readers might be disappointed that there isn't more action. With that said, the frantically intense final chapters certainly make up for any lack of action during the earlier parts of the book.

Other than the repetition, sometimes excessively lengthy dialogue, and editing errors, Khost is a well-written and interesting book. It's intriguing to see the inter-agency conflict that arises throughout the book. The banter between the characters is also quite hilarious. That was a highlight of the book that left me cheering for the good guys and fearing for their lives during the final pages of the book.

All in all, this is a fun read with some horrifically scary scenes. I would recommend this book to fans of both horror and military fiction. I enjoyed it very much and certainly hope there's a sequel in the works.

4 Stars.

[Mayra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was doubtful when I picked up Khost for review. I’d never read a military horror novel before, though I’ve always been a big fan of the first two Alien movies. The Alien movies are military science fiction, so I thought that perhaps the two genres would be similar. They were.

Well, as it turned out, I had no reason to be apprehensive. Khost was a very pleasant surprise, and I found myself caring about the characters and their predicament and engrossed in the story until the end.

The tale begins in 1984, with the Soviet Union engaged in the bloody war with Afghanistan. Afraid of losing, the Soviets develop a chemical weapon unlike any other in history, one with the power to enhance their soldiers in the battlefield. They soon put it to the test in the province of Khost, where the Mujahideen hide inside a massive cave complex.

But things go awfully wrong. Instead of enhancing the humans, the chemical mutates them into beings that are way beyond human, into something horrifying and evil.

Move forward to 2010. The USA is at war with Afghanistan. And it becomes increasingly challenging in the province of Khost, where already an elite team of Delta Force Operators has gone missing. That is, except only one survivor, who has an incredible, terrifying story to tell, and whom nobody believes—nobody except the CIA, which soon sends a top-secret team to deal with the situation…

Khost is nonstop suspense, action, and thrills. The story moves at a heart-racing pace. The dialogue and descriptions ring with authenticity, and I was especially impressed with all the military language and details. I also found compelling the dynamic between the characters and their sense of comradeship.

None of them are your regular nice guy, yet they show admirable courage, honor, and responsibility for the wellbeing of their team. The scenes inside the cave are quite graphic and violent at times, but somehow they all felt essential to the story and not gratuitous. In sum, I enjoyed reading this novel and can fully recommend it to fans of thrillers, horror and science fiction, and well as those of you who would like to try something different.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this author before and loved his work. This book is different, and I'll admit not up my alley. However, the story was intriguing. This takes place in Afghanistan and deals with a group of Navy Seals who must go into a cave filled with 'monsters'. Zombie-like I suppose. but much more. The dialogue between characters was wonderful, and with my husband being in the military, the author captured the essence of special forces. Again, not my normal read, but a wonderful one at that. If you like shoot-em up monster stories, you'll love Khost. Keep the great books coming Mr. Hobbes. Five stars.

[Bryan Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through this book in two days. An action-packed adventure about a group of special forces guys (and gals) who enter a valley in Afghanistan to take on what was once a group of humans. Zombie-like, I enjoyed how the author went away from the zombie mold and created something different. The characters were likeable, and the action intense. My only complaint is it took some time to get to the actual fight, but the pace of the novel kept me turning the pages. I'm curious as to whether the author served in special forces as he seems to know his material well. I'd suggest this to any casual reader who likes war/military books.

[Michael Flanagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khost is one cracker of a read that is relentless in its pace. I am ashamed to admit that I have had this book sitting on the shelf for quite a while before deciding to dust it off.

This book starts off during the Afghan Soviet war and sets the rest of the story up very nicely. I must admit I would have loved some more of the Russian side of the story.

Vincent Hobbes has done a very nice job on how the mechanics of this book combines. He melds all the different elements and characters together extremely well. From the Cold War experiments to the Special Forces through to the monsters once men this is a truly enthralling read.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having served as an Operator in the Army, and having served two tours in Afghanistan, this book was quite welcoming. I've heard the rumors, and the author seals that deal in my opinion. Something strange happened in Khost.

Regarless, this book is fiction, and the author does a good job setting up a great adventure. Long book, yet I flew through the pages. I'll read more of his work.

[John Kitcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
Meh. A quick read but not so interesting or fun. Characters were kind of lame and stereotypes. Was expecting more from this. Scenes that could have been good were let down by poor story telling. Avoid.

[Partuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

the book has it moments. But overall it’s not very good. Over half the book can be cut out there is so much wasted words in here.

Unfortunately there is a serious lacking in proofreading and editing this novel down that detracts a lot of the enjoyment. I spent literally 30 minutes reading the same thing. Now I don’t mean I read the same page over and over in confusion I mean the author literally stated the same things (though it slightly different ways though sometimes not) over and over and over and over and over.

This book in my kindle version comes in at 410 pages. Honestly overall it should be cut in half. It’s a book that is dragged out beyond measure and is pure padding. Like when writing and essay for a class and you need to hit a certain word count so you repeat things over and over because you don’t actually have much to say.

Honestly this is what a first draft book looks like. Anyone good at their job would have cut all the repeated babble in here out. Trimmed the fat and gave us an exciting wuick read.

This is partially on the author but this is what publishers and editors and proofreaders are for.

This is a book you show people on what not to do when telling what is a truly excellent story. Honestly I never seen a book that repeats itself so much. Honestly a complete failure in terms of proper editing and drafting.

In all that though I do recommend this book but only if you read certain parts you do not need to read every page. But it’s not worth the time honestly. The kore I read the worse this book got.

[Nathan Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khost by Vincent Hobbes

1984. The Soviet Union is locked in a bitter war in Afghanistan against the Mujahideen. To make matters worse, they are losing. With little hope left, and all odds against them, the Soviet Union grows desperate. In response, they create an exotic chemical weapon with a single purpose: To enhance their soldiers on the battlefield.

To test their creation, a secret mission is underway, and they test it on a Mujahideen hold-out, a massive cave complex on the far eastern border of Afghanistan.

Khost.

2010. The United States is now at war in Afghanistan. To make matters worse, an elite team of Delta Force Operators have gone missing. There remains a lone survivor: Sergeant C. York.

Sergeant York describes a horrifying tale, a nightmare that has been awakened after two decades.

In response, a top-secret CIA team is brought in. These are members of the elite Special Activities Division, the best of the best. Made up of Delta Force, DEVGRU and a famous Marine sharpshooter, they face sheer terror as they are sent in to do one thing:
Kill everything inside the cave. . .
The blurb of this soldiers vs monsters novel reads like something I would love. The idea is terrific, which should read like ‘Aliens’ but in Afghanistan with some truly remarkable creatures, but somewhere along the way the story takes a diversion in the middle, quickly becoming bogged down with introducing a set of meat head characters we don’t care about and we know are going to get torn apart. Other irks including reiterating that Delta members can grow beards when other soldiers can’t, and the build up the lead female character as a bitch when she really isn’t.
But, the first 100 pages roll past like a bullet strewn blood storm, and it’s a shame that the pace couldn’t hold, as such bravado shown by the Russians deserves a grisly death. I so wanted to love this, and it’s not a bad story, nor is it badly written. Hobbes has gone to great extent with his research, and it shows. The story of lone survivor Sergeant York is another plus for this, and if more time was spent on his story instead the midway preparations than maybe another star could have been earned here. Also the character of Rivers must be noted as he brings some welcome warmth and humour to the suicide mission.
The way I read the blurb was expecting claustrophobic caves, blood, bullets and three hundred pages of close-knit battle. But Hobbes reveals his monsters too early and only the last ten pages deal with the Delta teams fight with the monsters. Imagine being served a McDonalds but with a few tasty morsels that you really like. But then you get more McDonalds and it drowns out the taste of the good stuff. They know that they can’t win, they know they’ll be outnumbered and that they’ll all die in the process and that the mission will ultimately fail. But they go regardless of these dooming facts.
Military fans might get off on the preparations of the mission, but I wanted more of shooty, less talky. And the fact they solve the problem of the monsters with the far easier, less messy Plan B, instead of Plan A- let’s get suicidal on these monsters for no good reason what-so-ever, got my goat at the end as it stitched the story up a little too easy for this hungry reader.

[Jason Fryer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the more entertaining books I've read in some time. Not sure what it was, the plot, the pacing, the characters, but it grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. There were some occasional typos and things but it was still a great story with great characters. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes action/horror fiction.

[Noah Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book after hearing an interview with Mr Hobbes about the real life events that this book was based on. That was some spooky stuff, so reading this book was even creepier. It’s well worth your time to look into it before reading as it enhances the fear factor of this book.

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it, didn't enjoy and deleted.

[Tobia Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We call this a “Boy’s Book.” A military horror action adventure and no romance book. It hits all the right spots. I would recommend it to anyone that wants any of the above mentioned topics.

[Ken Weinert]

False

[Islam Sultanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

fine

[Vincent Hobbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites of my own work, though I'm excited to expand upon the 'world' of Khost.