The Phage

by George Bachman

Instead of the house party she expected, Alicia Ramble finds only a twisted dwarf that attacks her. When she barely manages to kill it and escape, everyone outside has vanished too, save for schoolmate Chelsea. No one answers the girls' frantic phone calls or appears online, and TV and radio broadcast only static...

Genres: Horror

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2024

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the people around them vanishing and the world itself not far behind, two girls partner up for a journey seeking answers to save the world against a nothingness that consumes everything in its wake in The Phage by George Bachman.

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From what remains of a house party Alicia comes across Chelsea clinging to her dead friend as they’re attacked by a creature; managing to escape, the pair quickly find that everyone else seems to have disappeared as they conduct their search of nearby police stations, schools, and hospitals while scanning the radio and trying to make phone calls with no success. As they travel toward New York City Alicia and Chelsea encounter strange creatures, ancient and creeping flora and fauna that seems to be taking over the landscape, and a young man their age in deerskin attire wielding a bow who seems as if he might have more knowledge of what’s going on than they do. Joining forces, the trio venture further and face various unthinkable dangers and the threat the phage, the nothingness devouring everything in its wake, in the hope that they might be able to save the world from a fate of oblivion before it all disappears.

Presenting an intriguing concept and a haunting, desolate emptiness with the depicted image of a world reverting from the familiar of buildings and machines to one filled with unfamiliar flora and creatures, inspired from Native American myths, the narrative follows a journey of immense proportions for the characters involved, and one which has been undertaken by others at different times as well, pointing toward a story of a cyclic and nebulous nature. While the characters have some detailed elements about them that make them distinct, such as Chelsea’s notable turns of phrase, which through heavy repetition become a bit tedious, and Alicia’s familiarity with cars and weapons, which is hinted at periodically but the origin is not expounded upon in great detail, neither character is explored in depth, leaving them feeling strangely incomplete. The setting of events for physical locations was clear if constantly shifting through bouts of intense action and travel in various cars, often overly described, from place to place, but temporally pinning the time down was a bit less distinct with cell phones described as massive, inconvenient devices, but getting online on computers a seemingly common practice; however, the realization of a repeated kind of test that Alicia raised toward the end would lend this haziness some credence as an echo of what had come before and/or what could come in the future.

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[John Roddick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenagers Alicia Ramble and Chelsea Diop separately enter a friend's house, only to be attacked by a creature that drives them back outside to a world that is suddenly empty of all human and most animal life. Though houses, cars, commercial buildings, and everything else appear to remain the same, everyone on Earth has seemingly vanished.

In search of help, the girls take a series of cars and make their way south to New York City; surely help awaits them there. The roads they are forced on run a gauntlet of mythical and ancient creatures and flora. Through creepy small towns to the even more dangerous streets of the city, they are pursued by a seemingly living darkness, which they gradually learn is named the Phage and is consuming everything in its path, including the fabric of reality itself, scrambling time in the process.

Blending cosmic horror with native American mythology and lore, Bachman's novel already creates a rich tapestry of danger and intrigue. When native youth Mateakim appears from ancient times, as confused as the girls, the trio discovers they have all been deliberately caught in the middle of a battle between Gluskabe and Malsumis, timeless cosmic beings of immense power, one determined to help humanity, the other to destroy it. The three must band together to figure out how and where to confront Malsumis and the challenges he poses, constantly kept on edge while striving to survive each encounter.

Only by mining the depths of their bravery and resourcefulness together can Alicia, Chelsea, and Mateakim succeed. Struggling with the language barrier, the trio battles serpents, shapeshifters, and even more indescribable horrors across woodlands, rivers, and hills, bonding ever closer together. The novel deals with heroism, morality, and destiny (there's a reason why the trio comes together), as the heroes are forced to confront their deepest fears. The straightforward plot delivers numerous and varied fantastic incidents, funny dialogue, and action into an adventure for readers who enjoy supernatural horror and heroic journeys.

[Tracey Lampley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins with a character looking for a party, but something goes horrifically wrong in the first chapter. Due to murderous circumstances, Alicia and Chelsea are thrown together. What if the world’s survival depended on these young adults? Totally dependent on each other, the duo navigate treachery and evil while dodging overgrown insects and prehistoric animals brought back to life.

The goose-bump-inducing novel, The Phage by George Bachman, will have readers grasping and sometimes clawing at their seats and slamming their eyes shut while turning the pages. The Phage draws readers into its vortex of terrifying action, fully developed characters—including a seemingly unbeatable villain—against a backdrop of a frightening setting. George Bachman brilliantly has the main characters displaying courage under fire while the characters ooze enthusiasm and sarcasm to defeat their enemy. From start to finish, The Phage is an exciting read!

[Riley Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating: 3.5

Alicia goes to a party and gets attacked by a troll, and after that it kind of goes down hill for her.
And it seems everyone else at the party has disappeared after she barely managed to escape the troll.
Now she and the other girls (who didn't disappear) go on a quest to NY where she learns of a whole new world of creatures.

[Katinka · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems like almost everyone on the planet has simply disappeared, with no explanation as to how or why. They are simply gone. There are only a few people left behind, who don’t understand what happened or where everyone else had vanished to. And to make matters worse, something seems to be hunting the two girls who appear to be the only ones left behind.

I received a review copy of this book, and to be honest, this book was just not for me. It seemed to start in the middle of the story, with no explanation as to how these events began or they were happening. I spent a large part of the beginning of this book feeling very confused as I tried to piece things together to try and understand it. And while I believe I have a decent vocabulary, I kept being pulled out of the story because I needed to look up the meanings of a number of words throughout the book.

This book also could have used another round with an editor. I believe that would have solved some of the issues I ran across as I read. Some of the actions of the characters didn’t seem possible to me. One of which involved the speed with which one of the two girls seemed to learn to speak an ancient Native American language after picking up a book in a library because the two of them had been joined by an ancient Native American who did not speak English. And unfortunately there were other issue I had with the plausibility of the actions taking place within the story.

Now, this isn’t to say that I found the book without value, for even as confused and distracted as I was by much of what was happening, there were parts of the story that I did enjoy reading, especially closer to the end of the story. While I still felt like I was missing something important, once I reached a point where I was beginning to understand what was happening, the story felt less problematic and made much more sense to me. Though I do wish the author had found a way to allow at least some of that information to begin to be or at least hinted at in the beginning of the book. It would have made it easier for me to get past what left me feeling very lost and confused for much of the book.

If I am honest, the beginning of the book was, for me at least, problematic and difficult enough to get through that it almost made me decide to quit reading. I am glad that I did keep reading to the end though, as had I stopped earlier, I would have always wondered what the book was actually about and never learned the answer. And yes, it does mostly get explained at the end of the story, though I do wish that there had been a bit more of an explanation earlier than we were given.

So while I still feel that this book was not for me, it was not entirely without merit. Anyone who enjoys Native American mythos and languages, combined with a sense of horror and the ancient past blending with the present might enjoy this book more than I did.

[allbythebook]

The Phage by George Bachman was an ARC given to me by the author. I was excited the read this but it was immediately not for me. This was a DNF.

The premise for this was really cool - I really enjoy scifi and this sort of dystopian stuff is cool. So I was really looking forward to getting my teeth into this. Unfortunately, the author's style is very much not up my street.

This books starts by throwing you right into the action, which is great - except that I still have no idea what is happening by 3% of the way through. The book is dialogue-heavy, but the dialogue is very stilted, very one-sided, and the characters have incredibly irritating vocal tics and repeated phrases that read as quite excessive. The MC, Alicia, clearly has some thoughts and plans, but we don't see inside her head so have no idea what they are. And I honestly wanted her to leave Chelsea to get eaten by a monster, she was so annoying. I just couldn't persist - I wasn't drawn in enough on the action to overcome the irritating characters. However, this sort of abrupt style is just really not me - this might suit other readers who enjoy this more.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 (rounded up to 4)

This was an interesting horror story, with great characters, a dark setting, and a sense of urgency. Sometimes, I like getting thrown right into the action, but with this, I felt like I was missing key information, and that I was expected to know more before I dove in. That made it very hard to follow everything until I was more familiar with the characters. The characters appear to be decently developed, and the story moves along at a smooth clip. There’s a sense of urgency to everything, starting with the murders, and continuing with the realization they’re being actively hunted. The disappearance of almost all the humans and disappearance of a lot of working technology adds to the eerie atmosphere. Overall, a creepy read that will give you chills.

[Jan Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I love a good horror read. The Phage has pace and horrific scenarios a plenty and boded well. The execution of this story hasn’t hit the mark for me though. Inconsistent, unbelievable characters, little explanation for what they go through, repetitive dialogue and the over use of a thesaurus made it a tricky read. I finished it in the hope that I’d at least get some kind of plausible explanation for what happened but, alas, disappointed again.
Two stars for pace and imagination- a little bit Stranger Things, a lot Sweet Tooth and a clever attempt to bring some folklore into it.

[Drew Costard · Rating 4 out of 5]

After escaping a monster attack at a party, Alicia finds that everyone on Earth seems to have vanished except for fellow schoolmate Chelsea. Together, the pair criscrosses a New York state filled with otherworldly dangers, seeking help. Eventually they find a third party, a youth from ancient America, and appear to be buffeted by two forces, an evil force called the phage and a good force guiding them through signs and visions to defeat it. An immersive adventure/horror read reminiscent of The Stand and The Ceremonies.

[Georgia Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun adventure story in which two girls and young man they eventually meet are suddenly alone in the world when literally everyone else has disappeared and a phage -- a cloudlike entity that apparently consumes everything in its path -- begins to pursue them. They encounter monsters and other entities, all from Native American mythology, as they cross empty cities and towns looking for help.

[John Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

After everyone else in the world seemingly disappears, Alicia, Chelsea, and Mateakim venture across a New York state filled with creatures from Native American myth and other dangers, convinced that they can reach help if they make it to New York City. Action-packed, beautifully written, and haunting.

[Michael McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds a little of Lovecraft's At the Mountain of Madness and Blackwood's The Willows; a journey through a horror-blasted landscape where the worst terrors are kept just off page, full of mounting atmospheric dread that grows and grows until the shattering climax.

[Paul Biden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminded me of Blackwood's The Centaur and certain parts of Wendigo and Bierce's Carcosa, in terms of tone and how it incorporates Native American myth into a subtle tale of horror. Long on mood, very creepy.

[Charles Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moody action horror, small cast of characters, mostly hints at the inconceivable terrors, madness beyond every nook and corner, and yet beautiful landscapes, where monsters often remained JUST out of sight, which is a good thing, because the very sight of them can drive one insane.