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Veil
“The voice in Veil is as present, strong, charming, singular, and desperate as any I’ve read. The story of a family man who will stop at nothing to protect those he loves. Even if those threats are beyond sanity, reason, and a once agreed upon reality. Janz has written another absolute gem of the genre.” —Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
From beloved horror author Jonathan Janz, Veil is a heart-stopping story of one father who will stop at nothing to save his family.
It begins at night. People vanish from parks and city streets. Then in broad daylight, they’re dragged screaming into the woods, into the water, into the sky. People take refuge in their homes, but still the invisible creatures come, ripping people away from their horrorstruck loved ones. Spouses. Parents. Children. Nowhere is safe and no defense can stop them. Because nothing can save you from what you can’t see.
High school teacher John Calhoun loses his son the first night. A day later, they take his wife. For two months, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter manage to survive, but in the end, she is abducted too. In John’s darkest moment, he meets a motley group of survivors who have a a near-fatal car accident has given one of them the ability to detect what normal human eyesight cannot.
The survivors believe they can replicate the brain injury that will enable them to see the creatures. To discover how they’re invading our world. To fight them. Desperate to save his family, John volunteers. And after the veil of invisibility is lifted, he and his new friends will risk everything to achieve the enter an alien world and bring their loved ones back.
From beloved horror author Jonathan Janz, Veil is a heart-stopping story of one father who will stop at nothing to save his family.
It begins at night. People vanish from parks and city streets. Then in broad daylight, they’re dragged screaming into the woods, into the water, into the sky. People take refuge in their homes, but still the invisible creatures come, ripping people away from their horrorstruck loved ones. Spouses. Parents. Children. Nowhere is safe and no defense can stop them. Because nothing can save you from what you can’t see.
High school teacher John Calhoun loses his son the first night. A day later, they take his wife. For two months, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter manage to survive, but in the end, she is abducted too. In John’s darkest moment, he meets a motley group of survivors who have a a near-fatal car accident has given one of them the ability to detect what normal human eyesight cannot.
The survivors believe they can replicate the brain injury that will enable them to see the creatures. To discover how they’re invading our world. To fight them. Desperate to save his family, John volunteers. And after the veil of invisibility is lifted, he and his new friends will risk everything to achieve the enter an alien world and bring their loved ones back.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2025
88 people are currently reading
5085 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Janz
60 books2,080 followersJonathan Janz is an author and public schoolteacher. His sci-fi horror novel VEIL is now available, and you can find his story "Lenora" in THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING'S THE STAND. He’s represented for Film & TV by Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment, and his literary agent is Lane Heymont. His ghost story The Siren and the Specter was selected as a Goodreads Choice nominee for Best Horror. Additionally, his novels Children of the Dark and The Dark Game were chosen by Booklist and Library Journal as Top Ten Horror Books of the Year. Jonathan’s main interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children. You can sign up for his newsletter (http://jonathanjanz.us12.list-manage....), and you can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Threads, Bluesky, TikTok, and Goodreads.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
June 2, 2025
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I vibe with having an invisible force pull me in undesired directions. In this book, that’s called an alien invasion. I call that Tuesday.
This was a wild, non-stop, action-packed ride. A remarkably vivid world is depicted and described with astonishing detail, particularly once they’ve moved through the gate. I could see the vibrancy and peculiarity of the alien world on the inside of my eyelids.
Miranda is badass. John is fine, but frustrating. Maybe listen to your wife sometimes; and your kids too. Stop being such a knucklehead. The creatures were unique and horrific. Their unrelenting, unflinching pursuit is the stuff of nightmares. I like the cloaking and the minion goggles they rocked.
Is an ending without an ending really and ending? Or does it just end up leaving me mad? I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I have to assume this is part of a broader universe, or is being set up for a sequel. Because I left the book feeling very unresolved.
All in all, this is one of the best alien books I’ve read, and you all should push away your invisible forces and go read it.
I vibe with having an invisible force pull me in undesired directions. In this book, that’s called an alien invasion. I call that Tuesday.
This was a wild, non-stop, action-packed ride. A remarkably vivid world is depicted and described with astonishing detail, particularly once they’ve moved through the gate. I could see the vibrancy and peculiarity of the alien world on the inside of my eyelids.
Miranda is badass. John is fine, but frustrating. Maybe listen to your wife sometimes; and your kids too. Stop being such a knucklehead. The creatures were unique and horrific. Their unrelenting, unflinching pursuit is the stuff of nightmares. I like the cloaking and the minion goggles they rocked.
Is an ending without an ending really and ending? Or does it just end up leaving me mad? I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I have to assume this is part of a broader universe, or is being set up for a sequel. Because I left the book feeling very unresolved.
All in all, this is one of the best alien books I’ve read, and you all should push away your invisible forces and go read it.
November 9, 2025
3.5 stars
John Calhoun, a bookstore owner and high school biology teacher, lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. At the moment, John's wife Iris has moved out....
.....which is hard on their children, Sam (15) and Emma (13), who have to go back and forth between homes.
To add to the unsettled atmosphere, three residents of West Lafayette have disappeared, and John won't allow Sam to meet his friends at The Hollow after dark.
John and Sam are arguing about this as they walk to 'Insomnia Cookies' one evening.....
.....and Sam angrily stalks around a corner, and vanishes.
John looks for Sam everywhere, and when he can't find him, John reports Sam's disappearance to the police.
The police, though, are inundated with reports of people vanishing, and the station is crowded with worried citizens.
John, his wife Iris, and their daughter Emma stay together, frantic about Sam and worried about the bizarre occurrences, which are spreading across the country.
Television commentators and Internet conspiracists offer numerous theories, and soon enough videos are uploaded of people vanishing in every possible circumstance, outdoors and indoors.
In fact, when John and Emma make a supermarket run, they see a shopper pulled across their windshield, yanked into the air, and disappear into the sky. And on television, a video shows a man slammed to the deck of a pontoon, jerked off the side, and swallowed up by the water.
Whatever is doing this, they can ambulate on land; fly; and swim under water. It's widely believed that 'invisible' aliens are taking the people.
As often happens in desperate situations, someone thinks they should take charge. In John's neighborhood this is a pushy lawyer named Dean Dawson, who insists everyone in the area bring their food, medicine, and other necessities to an outbuilding on his property, which he calls 'The Boiler Barn.' John refuses, and all kinds of trouble ensues.
After a while, John loses his entire family and finds himself in the local university's Physics Building with a group of survivors: Tracey, Beatrice, Jae, Melinda, Richard, Tommy, and Eric.
Tracey is an astrophysicist, and she and her assistant Beatrice realize a particular brain injury allows people to see the aliens. Since Richard is a surgeon, the survivors allow him to diddle with their heads so they can observe the aliens, who are VERY SCARY and shimmer with phosphorescence.
The survivors figure out a way to enter the aliens' dimension, where the abductees are being taken. John, who teaches biology, thinks he knows why humans are being kidnapped, and it's very frightening. So a group of survivors risk everything to try to rescue their loved ones.
The story is action packed as the humans battle aliens in West Lafayette AND in the aliens' own world. There are guns, machetes, vicious enemies, wheeled drones, winged drones, exotic plants, weird animals, and an ending that leaves room for sequels, if the author is so inclined.
In an interview, author Jonathan Janz notes the character John is based partly on himself. The protagonist John has a fierce love for his family and will go to any lengths to try and save them. John refuses to quit, blames himself for the trouble within his household, and is determined to make amends.
Author Jonathan Janz
I think the writing in this book leans toward a YA audience, though any sci-fi fan can appreciate and enjoy the novel.
Thanks to Netgalley, Jonathan Janz, and Blackstone Publishing for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
May 11, 2025
call Hollywood 📞
we need a movie ASAP
review pending
spoiler: 5 BILLION STARS
we need a movie ASAP
review pending
spoiler: 5 BILLION STARS
October 4, 2025
NOPE.
Super generic, cardboard characters and nothing driving the plot.
Super generic, cardboard characters and nothing driving the plot.
July 30, 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Veil reminded me a lot of Bird Box and since that’s one of my top horror books, I was immediately hooked. Where Bird Box leans more into supernatural horror, Veil takes a sharp turn into sci-fi territory. As someone who doesn’t usually read sci-fi, I thought Janz made it feel surprisingly grounded and believable.
This book was nonstop action and tension, and I could easily see it being adapted into a TV show or movie. I’d definitely watch it. You've got invisible creatures snatching people out of thin air, bloody fight scenes, and the kind of post-apocalyptic chaos that brings out both the best and worst in people. It’s brutal and wild, but still has moments of real emotion.
It’s also a parent’s absolute nightmare. Losing your children, your partner, and having no idea what happened or how to fight back? Heartbreaking. But the story doesn’t wallow in that grief. It keeps moving, with just enough heart to keep you rooting for the characters.
My only issue (and it’s more of a personal thing) was the vocabulary. Janz loves his fancy words, and I found myself looking up a definition way more than I wanted to. Not a dealbreaker, but it did pull me out of the story a few times.
Overall, this was fast-paced, intense, and emotionally grounded. And I really hope there’s a book two coming... because I need more.
Veil reminded me a lot of Bird Box and since that’s one of my top horror books, I was immediately hooked. Where Bird Box leans more into supernatural horror, Veil takes a sharp turn into sci-fi territory. As someone who doesn’t usually read sci-fi, I thought Janz made it feel surprisingly grounded and believable.
This book was nonstop action and tension, and I could easily see it being adapted into a TV show or movie. I’d definitely watch it. You've got invisible creatures snatching people out of thin air, bloody fight scenes, and the kind of post-apocalyptic chaos that brings out both the best and worst in people. It’s brutal and wild, but still has moments of real emotion.
It’s also a parent’s absolute nightmare. Losing your children, your partner, and having no idea what happened or how to fight back? Heartbreaking. But the story doesn’t wallow in that grief. It keeps moving, with just enough heart to keep you rooting for the characters.
My only issue (and it’s more of a personal thing) was the vocabulary. Janz loves his fancy words, and I found myself looking up a definition way more than I wanted to. Not a dealbreaker, but it did pull me out of the story a few times.
Overall, this was fast-paced, intense, and emotionally grounded. And I really hope there’s a book two coming... because I need more.
September 20, 2025
I'll post more of my thoughts in the morning, but I'll go ahead and say I had such a great time with this one. Jonathan always does SUCH an impeccable job of taking what is already this immensely fucked up, terrifying situation, and then making it emotionally charged in a way that causes every little blow to land that much harder!
October 5, 2025
Jonathan Janz knows how to tell a story!! Loved this read! Aliens…Action…Terror…but also a book filled with families, friendships, heart, and a whole lot of love.
Hated finishing this one up. But the reader is given a very strong suspicion there will be a sequel. And I’d be super surprised if this isn’t already being turned into a screenplay.
5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!!
Hated finishing this one up. But the reader is given a very strong suspicion there will be a sequel. And I’d be super surprised if this isn’t already being turned into a screenplay.
5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!!
October 28, 2025
VEIL by Jonathan Janz (Children of the Dark, The Siren and the Specter) is a sci-fi/horror novel that reminds me why we enjoy his work so much. VEIL features a strong but sensitive father (John) taking on an unstoppable evil, with lots of soft, caring moments between wild, action movie type scenes that make you feel like you're watching a summertime blockbuster film starring pre-"the slap" Will Smith. It's a recipe that keeps readers coming back for more.
Having read most of Janz's previous works, it's comforting to return to many of his familiar beats. I felt like the "aliens" here could be space cousins of the "creatures" from his Children of the Dark/Savage Species series. The gory deaths and attacks at the hands of these monsters are classic Janz. The altered world vibes and rebellious/smart and very likable gang of survivors coming together to help one another reminded me of his recent Raven series. Afterall, no one can do it alone! The action scenes brought me back to Exorcist Falls and bits of The Sorrows, where Janz's pure excitement and flair for crafting these types of moments shines through effortlessly.
Mix in loss of family, a dash of paranoia, insecurities, and a constant sense of helplessness at war with an inner strength and determination to make things right from our protagonist, and you have an edge of your seat adventure of David vs. Goliath with family and companionship taking precedence over saving the world. I always appreciate that about Janz's heroes. They aren't here to put the weight of the world on their shoulders—they aim to protect their world, their nucleus, their family. It adds a sense of realism to Janz's storytelling and grounds some of the more fantastic challenges characters face in the fiction realm.
My favorite characters were Emma (John's daughter and the family member we got to know the best), Miranda (the leader of the survivors John joins up with—she was just confident and took no BS), and for the baddies, I loved to hate Dean (John's dickhead neighbor). These three really added depth and intrigue and solidified my investment in the story. I also have to give shout-outs to the cover (my pick for Book Cover of the Year!) and the bookstore name (The Constant Reader Cafe).
If you're a fan of Janz, you're going to love this. If you've never read him, welcome to the party, pal!
I give VEIL four winged-alien invader stars!!!
Hell yes, go grab a copy!
Having read most of Janz's previous works, it's comforting to return to many of his familiar beats. I felt like the "aliens" here could be space cousins of the "creatures" from his Children of the Dark/Savage Species series. The gory deaths and attacks at the hands of these monsters are classic Janz. The altered world vibes and rebellious/smart and very likable gang of survivors coming together to help one another reminded me of his recent Raven series. Afterall, no one can do it alone! The action scenes brought me back to Exorcist Falls and bits of The Sorrows, where Janz's pure excitement and flair for crafting these types of moments shines through effortlessly.
Mix in loss of family, a dash of paranoia, insecurities, and a constant sense of helplessness at war with an inner strength and determination to make things right from our protagonist, and you have an edge of your seat adventure of David vs. Goliath with family and companionship taking precedence over saving the world. I always appreciate that about Janz's heroes. They aren't here to put the weight of the world on their shoulders—they aim to protect their world, their nucleus, their family. It adds a sense of realism to Janz's storytelling and grounds some of the more fantastic challenges characters face in the fiction realm.
My favorite characters were Emma (John's daughter and the family member we got to know the best), Miranda (the leader of the survivors John joins up with—she was just confident and took no BS), and for the baddies, I loved to hate Dean (John's dickhead neighbor). These three really added depth and intrigue and solidified my investment in the story. I also have to give shout-outs to the cover (my pick for Book Cover of the Year!) and the bookstore name (The Constant Reader Cafe).
If you're a fan of Janz, you're going to love this. If you've never read him, welcome to the party, pal!
I give VEIL four winged-alien invader stars!!!
Hell yes, go grab a copy!
July 19, 2025
I finally got my hands on this book. When I found out what it was about, I had to read it. Janz did not disappoint. The concept was brilliant, and the amount of potential it had left tons of room for you to be let down. I wasn't let down once. Mark my words: This will be a movie soon.
📖 People are literally getting snatched and vanishing in thin air. All over the world. John loses his entire family. He meets a group of survivors, and one of them can see the creatures because of a brain injury from a car accident.
Suspenseful, entertaining, terrifying, and satisfying. Literally destroyed this book. Janz got a new fan 🤙🏼.
Thank you, netgalley, Black Stone Publishing, and the man himself, for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review. (Made a Netgalley account for this book.)
📖 People are literally getting snatched and vanishing in thin air. All over the world. John loses his entire family. He meets a group of survivors, and one of them can see the creatures because of a brain injury from a car accident.
Suspenseful, entertaining, terrifying, and satisfying. Literally destroyed this book. Janz got a new fan 🤙🏼.
Thank you, netgalley, Black Stone Publishing, and the man himself, for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review. (Made a Netgalley account for this book.)
October 12, 2025
I DEVOURED this book ya’ll! Jonathan Janz is not a regular dude. Smh…
And it surprised me! I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi horror, but Veil is not just that. It's everything. Heart, horror, and hellfire. Oh, and weird-ass… Nah. Never mind. You won't get your spoilers here.
Anyway, for me, it was the main character, John Calhoun, who made this book so good. John is a bookstore owner (mmhm, bookish like us) and a devoted dad. Kinda confused, kinda lost, but also brave af bookworm, so ultimately, as relatable as it gets.
When John said, “Stephen King saved my life when I was fourteen”, I literally awkwardly hopped and yelled, “SAME! “. Same, buddy. Same…
Janz blends family, friendship, and fiends (yes, I won't tell you what they are, go read) in a way that made me both laugh and sob. Oh. And freak out once when my fridge started buzzing while I was deep inside the book.
In conclusion, if you love horror with heart (and I know you do), grab this ish! Grab it, and read it, and dm Janz on IG in the end and ask him, “There will be a sequel right? RIGHT?! “, cuz I didn't want to bother him. But you go bother him, and lemme know what he said. 👀
And it surprised me! I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi horror, but Veil is not just that. It's everything. Heart, horror, and hellfire. Oh, and weird-ass… Nah. Never mind. You won't get your spoilers here.
Anyway, for me, it was the main character, John Calhoun, who made this book so good. John is a bookstore owner (mmhm, bookish like us) and a devoted dad. Kinda confused, kinda lost, but also brave af bookworm, so ultimately, as relatable as it gets.
When John said, “Stephen King saved my life when I was fourteen”, I literally awkwardly hopped and yelled, “SAME! “. Same, buddy. Same…
Janz blends family, friendship, and fiends (yes, I won't tell you what they are, go read) in a way that made me both laugh and sob. Oh. And freak out once when my fridge started buzzing while I was deep inside the book.
In conclusion, if you love horror with heart (and I know you do), grab this ish! Grab it, and read it, and dm Janz on IG in the end and ask him, “There will be a sequel right? RIGHT?! “, cuz I didn't want to bother him. But you go bother him, and lemme know what he said. 👀
November 19, 2025
Sorry just can’t get along with his writing style, read some of his others but struggled with those. Did enjoy The Dark Game, that was really good though. Haven’t reviewed that one for a while, preferred it on second read because first time life was very hard for me, unlike now where my mood is higher again. I disliked his characters and was let down by the characterization, was expecting to be spellbound as the plot promised so much but delivered so much less. I hope you enjoy it. This review is just my personal opinion so give it a try from your library if you can.
November 19, 2025
An alien invasion will wipe out humanity; the aliens are invisible to the human eye and we really don’t stand a chance. This catastrophic nightmare is told through the eyes of an American dad who is fighting for the survival of his family—it’s not looking good.
Right, it seemed like 2 books here. The first half was spent creating a post-apocalyptic world where humans can be just as terrible as the aliens, and the second half turned into a fast paced action-packed thriller. I thought the aliens were great; the introduction and first half were well done too.
August 26, 2025
Some books feel like they’re written to keep you up late, flipping pages with that mix of dread and wonder you get from peak Stephen King; Veil is one of them. Jonathan Janz has crafted a story that’s as intimate as it is apocalyptic, fusing alien horror with the kind of raw human desperation that makes every page wonderful.
The premise is terrifyingly simple: people vanish. First, people vanish at night; then, they disappear in broad daylight, being dragged into the sky, into water, or into nowhere. Nowhere is safe, and nothing can stop it. At the heart of the chaos is John, a father who loses his family and still refuses to give up. That fierce, relentless love drives the novel, and that’s what keeps you rooted.
Janz excels at atmosphere and pacing. He builds a world that feels lived in, immediate, and terrifyingly plausible. The invisible creatures stalking humanity aren’t just monsters; they’re metaphors for every unseen dread that can shatter ordinary life. Like King at his best, Janz knows how to weave together the personal and the cosmic: he captures the small details of a family torn apart against the backdrop of an alien invasion that no one fully understands.
We’ve all lived through the eeriness of empty streets, government uncertainty, and the fear of an invisible threat during COVID, and Veil taps into that memory. The way people vanish without explanation feels terrifyingly plausible because we’ve seen how quickly life can change overnight. The panic, the isolation, and the desperate clinging to family all mirror something we’ve already survived, making the horror too real.
June 7, 2025
I’ll admit, Sci-Fi isn’t my preferred genre and I haven’t read much of it, but dammit if Jonathan Janz didn’t just rip my heart into a million little pieces with this book.
He writes character so extremely well, and from the start I was so invested in John and his family. The story never once got slow or boring and was action packed until the very end. It felt a little like watching a movie.
This insane and brutal journey John and the others go on to save their loved ones from the aliens took turns that I did not see coming.
The love that John feels for Iris, Sam and Emma was so strong that I could literally feel it seeping off of the pages. Knowing that Jonathan Janz is himself a father, made the parts of John reflecting and talking about his love for his children that much more heart wrenching and put tears in my eyes thinking of my own adult son.
There are no words, but there are also all the words to describe this book. Phenomenal, amazing, incredible, yes, but so much fucking heart. Parts of this felt so personal and like Janz tore out his own heart and bled it all over the page. It’s just insane how well written this is.
The Sci-Fi elements were so cool and epic and had my pulse racing. For someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the genre, I found this so easy to read and would a hundred percent recommend it to others.
I also love how it ended. It felt right, even though it destroyed me. I can’t imagine it ending any other way. I so look forward to the next adventure in the Veil Universe and can’t wait to visit it again soon.
He writes character so extremely well, and from the start I was so invested in John and his family. The story never once got slow or boring and was action packed until the very end. It felt a little like watching a movie.
This insane and brutal journey John and the others go on to save their loved ones from the aliens took turns that I did not see coming.
The love that John feels for Iris, Sam and Emma was so strong that I could literally feel it seeping off of the pages. Knowing that Jonathan Janz is himself a father, made the parts of John reflecting and talking about his love for his children that much more heart wrenching and put tears in my eyes thinking of my own adult son.
There are no words, but there are also all the words to describe this book. Phenomenal, amazing, incredible, yes, but so much fucking heart. Parts of this felt so personal and like Janz tore out his own heart and bled it all over the page. It’s just insane how well written this is.
The Sci-Fi elements were so cool and epic and had my pulse racing. For someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the genre, I found this so easy to read and would a hundred percent recommend it to others.
I also love how it ended. It felt right, even though it destroyed me. I can’t imagine it ending any other way. I so look forward to the next adventure in the Veil Universe and can’t wait to visit it again soon.
September 10, 2025
I really wanted to love this. An alien invasion book from one of my favorite horror authors had me bursting with anticipation for months. And this was a 5 star read in the first half, but the book loses its way big time for me in the last quarter. Most of this book was an intense, emotional rollercoaster, reminiscent of a summer movie blockbuster, with fantastic characters and nail biting action. Not going to spoil anything, but later in the second half, solutions come way too easily for the characters and I found some of the resolutions to be a bit too convenient. Would love to elaborate more, but the ease of some of these resolutions made me roll my eyes more than once, and I found my suspension of disbelief to be severely taxed. And finally, just when I started wondering how the hell Janz was going to wrap things up in so few pages, the book just stops. Will there be a sequel? Is this a series? 🤷🏻♂️ I’ll still read the sequel if it’s released, but my excitement is dampened for sure.
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June 24, 2025*Huge thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a digital ARC of this one!*
I’ve been reading and reviewing long enough to remember the YEAR OF JONATHAN JANZ. If you’ve not heard that, well you missed out on getting a couple new Janz releases plus I think almost a dozen re-releases, all within the same year. This was maybe 2017 or 2018 and it was a gloriously amazing time to be a Janz fan! Throughout Janz’s literary career, one thing has become absolutely paramount in every single story he writes. The man cares about his characters. What I mean about that, is it’s very very veeeerrry rare to find a one-dimensional character in his story. There’s not a lot of folks just there to be there and not move the story along and you’ll learn what makes them tick.
That was what had me so excited when ‘Veil’ was announced. Janz hasn’t been afraid to subgenre hop in the horror world – he’s done everything from werewolves to vampire’s to spooks and specters and ghosts and everything in between. But he’s not done anything truly in the alien/sci-fi world, and fresh off the alien desecration that Adam Nevill unleashed with ‘All the Fiends of Hell,’ I couldn’t wait to see what Janz had up his sci-fi sleeve.
What I liked: The story follows high school teacher John, who is dealing with a heavy life. He’s separated from his wife Iris, constantly fighting with his older son and trying to stay connected to his younger daughter. And on top of that, he feels like a lesser person, dealing with a significant limp from a leg length discrepancy from an accident when he was younger. But that all pales in comparison to what’s begun to happen around the world. Without any sort of rhyme or reason, people are going missing, plucked from the sky by something… never to be seen again.
We’re thrown into the deep end immediately. John and his son go for a walk to the store, discussing father and son issues, and what’s happening in the world, when his son rounds a corner and is just… gone.
That moment, quite early on, is the launching point for the world to turn upside down as the sky opens and hundreds of thousands begin to be plucked and disappear. Video footage emerges, curfews are enacted and after John’s wife also gets taken, him and his daughter hunker down and do their best to survive. Of course, there’s a nut job vigilante in the neighborhood, wanting to make sure all the dwindling supplies are stored in one place – for safe keeping naturally – and its those moments were we see how the novel also alludes to real life events – Covid and political upheaval and even presciently to what’s happening with ICE in the US right now. Janz does a phenomenal job of twisting this from first being an abduction novel and turning into a story about a father doing everything and anything it takes to try and find those he loves the most.
As it progresses, we learn what has arrived and what they’re doing and there’s a hard line that gets drawn between here and there and Janz plays those cards perfectly, showing us what just may await those who pierce the veil.
The final quarter of the novel is a full sprint. It’s tough to really describe everything without having spoilers, but I will say it worked really well to have this earth and non-earth juxtaposition where we feel grounded and then frantic.
The ending is a mix of heartwarming and heart wrenching and honestly that’s exactly what this book needed.
What I didn’t like: Two things stuck out to me. The first was that I found the son disappearing felt almost like it happened too soon. It was the rare moment in the book where I felt like we didn’t get enough of the father-son dynamic to really grab a strong grasp of their relationship before the son was gone.
The second was that the aspect of here versus there seemed like it was too easy to traverse across. Again, I don’t want to be a Spoiler McSpoilface, so I’ll leave it there.
Why you should buy this: Horror and sci-fi have been pals for ever since books began to be written and movies filmed. So, it should be noted that while this is ‘sci-fi’ it’s grounded in the horror genre and shows Janz’s horror sensibilities time and time again. This was frantic. Chaos infused claustrophobia. It was a father desperately trying to find his family and things from elsewhere arriving and wrecking havoc.
Janz is an elite writer, one who has honed his writing voice and mastery of prose over decades now, and once you begin a Janz book, you know you’re in sure and steady hands.
This book was achingly perfect and is sure to connect with long-time fans and bring in plenty of new fans and I expect to see this book – especially with that cover – become a mainstay on social media for many years to come.
I’ve been reading and reviewing long enough to remember the YEAR OF JONATHAN JANZ. If you’ve not heard that, well you missed out on getting a couple new Janz releases plus I think almost a dozen re-releases, all within the same year. This was maybe 2017 or 2018 and it was a gloriously amazing time to be a Janz fan! Throughout Janz’s literary career, one thing has become absolutely paramount in every single story he writes. The man cares about his characters. What I mean about that, is it’s very very veeeerrry rare to find a one-dimensional character in his story. There’s not a lot of folks just there to be there and not move the story along and you’ll learn what makes them tick.
That was what had me so excited when ‘Veil’ was announced. Janz hasn’t been afraid to subgenre hop in the horror world – he’s done everything from werewolves to vampire’s to spooks and specters and ghosts and everything in between. But he’s not done anything truly in the alien/sci-fi world, and fresh off the alien desecration that Adam Nevill unleashed with ‘All the Fiends of Hell,’ I couldn’t wait to see what Janz had up his sci-fi sleeve.
What I liked: The story follows high school teacher John, who is dealing with a heavy life. He’s separated from his wife Iris, constantly fighting with his older son and trying to stay connected to his younger daughter. And on top of that, he feels like a lesser person, dealing with a significant limp from a leg length discrepancy from an accident when he was younger. But that all pales in comparison to what’s begun to happen around the world. Without any sort of rhyme or reason, people are going missing, plucked from the sky by something… never to be seen again.
We’re thrown into the deep end immediately. John and his son go for a walk to the store, discussing father and son issues, and what’s happening in the world, when his son rounds a corner and is just… gone.
That moment, quite early on, is the launching point for the world to turn upside down as the sky opens and hundreds of thousands begin to be plucked and disappear. Video footage emerges, curfews are enacted and after John’s wife also gets taken, him and his daughter hunker down and do their best to survive. Of course, there’s a nut job vigilante in the neighborhood, wanting to make sure all the dwindling supplies are stored in one place – for safe keeping naturally – and its those moments were we see how the novel also alludes to real life events – Covid and political upheaval and even presciently to what’s happening with ICE in the US right now. Janz does a phenomenal job of twisting this from first being an abduction novel and turning into a story about a father doing everything and anything it takes to try and find those he loves the most.
As it progresses, we learn what has arrived and what they’re doing and there’s a hard line that gets drawn between here and there and Janz plays those cards perfectly, showing us what just may await those who pierce the veil.
The final quarter of the novel is a full sprint. It’s tough to really describe everything without having spoilers, but I will say it worked really well to have this earth and non-earth juxtaposition where we feel grounded and then frantic.
The ending is a mix of heartwarming and heart wrenching and honestly that’s exactly what this book needed.
What I didn’t like: Two things stuck out to me. The first was that I found the son disappearing felt almost like it happened too soon. It was the rare moment in the book where I felt like we didn’t get enough of the father-son dynamic to really grab a strong grasp of their relationship before the son was gone.
The second was that the aspect of here versus there seemed like it was too easy to traverse across. Again, I don’t want to be a Spoiler McSpoilface, so I’ll leave it there.
Why you should buy this: Horror and sci-fi have been pals for ever since books began to be written and movies filmed. So, it should be noted that while this is ‘sci-fi’ it’s grounded in the horror genre and shows Janz’s horror sensibilities time and time again. This was frantic. Chaos infused claustrophobia. It was a father desperately trying to find his family and things from elsewhere arriving and wrecking havoc.
Janz is an elite writer, one who has honed his writing voice and mastery of prose over decades now, and once you begin a Janz book, you know you’re in sure and steady hands.
This book was achingly perfect and is sure to connect with long-time fans and bring in plenty of new fans and I expect to see this book – especially with that cover – become a mainstay on social media for many years to come.
August 9, 2025
My thanks to the publisher/author for providing me with an e-arc from NetGalley.
Jonathan Janz’s Veil starts off strong with John Calhoun and his son, Sam, having an argument while walking. They turn a corner and Sam is gone, just like that.
Gone
He shouldn’t be. Sure, there is the corner of the building, some bushes, but there’s plenty of open spaces and no reason for Sam to have gone missing. But he’s not the only one. Worldwide, it starts off as a small epidemic of people going missing. Just like Sam. This sets off a situation that’s reminiscent to COVID-19. In this situation, however, people don’t have to quarantine. Instead, they’re told to stay inside. Stay together.
Of course, some people don’t agree with this, and this is one part of the novel I thought was masterfully done. Because Jonathan Jans chose to display a side of humanity that a lot of other authors might not have even thought about, or may have avoided altogether
I’ll stop there to avoid any further political discussion, and also avoid mentioning more plot points to avoid spoiling anything. It’s good going as blind as possible.
Veil is a high contender to be one of Jonathan Janz’s best books to date. Janz is known for his character work. In Veil, he goes above and beyond exploring the protagonists’s mind and emotions as he worries over and fights for his son, his family, and society. The novel also feels very personal to the author, which gives it even more of an authentic feel.
I loved this book from beginning to end. I could relate to the protagonist nearly every step of the way. What it comes down to is Veil is a human story for modern times. Our hero faces spectacular circumstances, and while staring deep into the abyss of hopelessness, hope is found. The story is about unconditional love, grief, and never giving up. But it’s also a top-notch horror-action thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Five solid stars!
Jonathan Janz’s Veil starts off strong with John Calhoun and his son, Sam, having an argument while walking. They turn a corner and Sam is gone, just like that.
Gone
He shouldn’t be. Sure, there is the corner of the building, some bushes, but there’s plenty of open spaces and no reason for Sam to have gone missing. But he’s not the only one. Worldwide, it starts off as a small epidemic of people going missing. Just like Sam. This sets off a situation that’s reminiscent to COVID-19. In this situation, however, people don’t have to quarantine. Instead, they’re told to stay inside. Stay together.
Of course, some people don’t agree with this, and this is one part of the novel I thought was masterfully done. Because Jonathan Jans chose to display a side of humanity that a lot of other authors might not have even thought about, or may have avoided altogether
I’ll stop there to avoid any further political discussion, and also avoid mentioning more plot points to avoid spoiling anything. It’s good going as blind as possible.
Veil is a high contender to be one of Jonathan Janz’s best books to date. Janz is known for his character work. In Veil, he goes above and beyond exploring the protagonists’s mind and emotions as he worries over and fights for his son, his family, and society. The novel also feels very personal to the author, which gives it even more of an authentic feel.
I loved this book from beginning to end. I could relate to the protagonist nearly every step of the way. What it comes down to is Veil is a human story for modern times. Our hero faces spectacular circumstances, and while staring deep into the abyss of hopelessness, hope is found. The story is about unconditional love, grief, and never giving up. But it’s also a top-notch horror-action thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Five solid stars!
August 27, 2025
Stories like this always hit me something fierce. Could it be my complicated relationship with grief? Perhaps. Aside from this entire premise of an alien invasion, Janz can write the shit out of emotion. We grow to care about these characters, who face the absolutely horrific fact that they or their loved ones can be torn away from them at any second. And, boy, if I don't have first hand experience with that. But what if you could get those people back somehow? What if, no matter the cost or risk, you could go after them into the dangerous unknown and hold them again. This novel also tackles the topic of parenting and its own trials and tribulations. What if we want to hold onto something so badly we end up fracturing it? Can we ever do enough? What would we do for another chance to do things right? This book is perfect. I have no notes. 10/10, Jonathan you ate. Do yourself a favor and pick this up when it publishes September 16, 2025 wherever you buy your books. If you can, pre-order because that means the world to authors. Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This is one for the history books.
December 8, 2025
I swear Jonathan Janz is in my brain and knows my thoughts. Everything in this book, all of the emotionally raw passages are literally taken from my brain. It almost hurts to read it. It’s so amazing and beautiful. You go from an action movie to these incredibly deep, painful passages that all of us as parents have felt at least once in our lives, and the ones about divorce? Jesus, I can’t even!! This book is about a family who becomes one of many families that lose a family member in a strange string of abductions that can’t be explained. The main character John is so real, and so unabashedly human I was immediately pulled into his nightmare. The story felt like two books in one the beginning was like a waiting game, knowing something worse was coming but not knowing when. The next part of the book was so cinematic I felt like I was in the middle of an action movie. It was unrelentless and you felt like you could never stop and take a breath, but juxtaposed in that you would get these utterly raw passages coming from John’s brain that just broke me. I can’t recommend this book enough. It was sci-fi at its scariest but more than that, it was so deep and so beautiful it reminded me of the way I felt reading Whalefall by Daniel Kraus. Just brilliant!! Thank you so much to Blackstone publishing for the arc.
September 30, 2025
Jonathan wrote a very emotional and action packed sci fi that confronts a parents worst fears in such a deeply loving way. So many part of this felt like heart on the sleeve writing and honestly that's my favorite thing.
September 28, 2025
4.5 stars!
VEIL, by Jonathan Janz, had my attention from the start. Full of emotion, we begin with a father and his teenaged son walking (and arguing) while finding out that people have been randomly abducted recently. It's only moments before they find this out first hand.
While I wasn't sure what to expect with the "other" element, the author really took it to a different--fresh--level. The pacing in the last quarter was non-stop action, and really pulled me emotionally into the book. The characters all felt realistic (even the ones you'll hate), and there were quite a few things that I didn't anticipate.
Overall, a very well written book, with plenty of horror, emotion, and unexpected twists.
Highly recommended.
VEIL, by Jonathan Janz, had my attention from the start. Full of emotion, we begin with a father and his teenaged son walking (and arguing) while finding out that people have been randomly abducted recently. It's only moments before they find this out first hand.
While I wasn't sure what to expect with the "other" element, the author really took it to a different--fresh--level. The pacing in the last quarter was non-stop action, and really pulled me emotionally into the book. The characters all felt realistic (even the ones you'll hate), and there were quite a few things that I didn't anticipate.
Overall, a very well written book, with plenty of horror, emotion, and unexpected twists.
Highly recommended.
December 1, 2025
People are disappearing into thin air in rapidly increasing numbers. Dragged away and poof...gone...with no trace. A high school teacher joins up with a small group of like- minded strangers to solve the mystery; locate their friends and families while facing great danger of being snatched away themselves.
I liked many parts of this book. At times it was downright exciting and for a long book it was a pretty fast read (if formulaic).
The writing was a little stilted and the characters were one dimentional, but it was an interesting story.
3 stars
I liked many parts of this book. At times it was downright exciting and for a long book it was a pretty fast read (if formulaic).
The writing was a little stilted and the characters were one dimentional, but it was an interesting story.
3 stars
October 28, 2025
2.5
Let me lift the veil on this book: a Hollywood summer blockbuster type novel with a smidge of characterization.
Most of the time I felt like I was reading a script from one of those summer blockbuster movies. A lot of malevolent aliens and battle scenes. Became a bit tiresome towards the end. There were decent moments interspersed throughout the book when the main character dealt with his "neighbours turned militia" and moments he had with his daughter. This was unfortunately not enough to save it from some of the plot holes and the decision not to provide more details on (1) the methodology behind how the aliens were able to appear in our world and (2) what they were attempting to do with the abduction of humans. Janz does provide context for both but it is so limited, it made it difficult for me to invest more in his story. Settling for high octane action was not what I had hoped from this novel.
The odd moments of intrigue don't make up for how easily forgettable this book will be.
Let me lift the veil on this book: a Hollywood summer blockbuster type novel with a smidge of characterization.
Most of the time I felt like I was reading a script from one of those summer blockbuster movies. A lot of malevolent aliens and battle scenes. Became a bit tiresome towards the end. There were decent moments interspersed throughout the book when the main character dealt with his "neighbours turned militia" and moments he had with his daughter. This was unfortunately not enough to save it from some of the plot holes and the decision not to provide more details on (1) the methodology behind how the aliens were able to appear in our world and (2) what they were attempting to do with the abduction of humans. Janz does provide context for both but it is so limited, it made it difficult for me to invest more in his story. Settling for high octane action was not what I had hoped from this novel.
The odd moments of intrigue don't make up for how easily forgettable this book will be.
October 17, 2025
ALIENS? SAY LESS
This is everything I wanted in an alien horror read. I was so emotional reading this. I was absolutely gripped, on the edge of my seat with anxiety with the abductions. When the people were being literally torn from where they stood, I was filled with dread and despair. When the neighborhood gang came around to start 'working as a team' I was full of rage. BUT, I was also filled with so much hope when we started to find solutions to combat the aliens.
What I loved most about this was how readable it was. It didn't veer so far into sci-fi territory that had me scratching my head wondering what was going on. This is an excellent intro to the sci-fi horror genre for anyone to pick up. I thought the pacing was excellent and the numerous characters were incredibly easy to keep track of. If you're looking for a sci-fi horror that's heartfelt, look no further.
Veil is an incredibly immersive read that will tickle you sci-fi geeks pink. I am so thankful to have received an arc of this book and a finished copy! Thank you Blackstone and Janz for this awesome read!
This is everything I wanted in an alien horror read. I was so emotional reading this. I was absolutely gripped, on the edge of my seat with anxiety with the abductions. When the people were being literally torn from where they stood, I was filled with dread and despair. When the neighborhood gang came around to start 'working as a team' I was full of rage. BUT, I was also filled with so much hope when we started to find solutions to combat the aliens.
What I loved most about this was how readable it was. It didn't veer so far into sci-fi territory that had me scratching my head wondering what was going on. This is an excellent intro to the sci-fi horror genre for anyone to pick up. I thought the pacing was excellent and the numerous characters were incredibly easy to keep track of. If you're looking for a sci-fi horror that's heartfelt, look no further.
Veil is an incredibly immersive read that will tickle you sci-fi geeks pink. I am so thankful to have received an arc of this book and a finished copy! Thank you Blackstone and Janz for this awesome read!
September 2, 2025
If you all listen to anything I say here, mark my words- THIS WILL BE A MOVIE! Call @netflix because…hello?! I am a HUGE Janz fan. If you haven’t read a novel by Jonathan yet, you are missing out big time.
The concept, world building, character development and overall descriptive nature of this novel had me sat. I read it in basically one sitting and it isn’t a short novel. It is so cinematic I was taken out of this world and placed SMACK DAB into the middle of Johns life. Aliens scare the $h*t out of me and this novel was terrifying. I loved every second of it.
Janz always puts pieces of himself in his work. Parts of his real life are present in this one which made it even more beautiful. Sci-Fi is not really my thing and I will say this is one of the best books I have read all year. I will not forget it and Janz BETTER be writing a Part 2 as we speak because… I need it and I need it now! Thank you @blackstonepublishing for my beautiful copy! The cover is perfection!
** I would leave more stars if I could!
The concept, world building, character development and overall descriptive nature of this novel had me sat. I read it in basically one sitting and it isn’t a short novel. It is so cinematic I was taken out of this world and placed SMACK DAB into the middle of Johns life. Aliens scare the $h*t out of me and this novel was terrifying. I loved every second of it.
Janz always puts pieces of himself in his work. Parts of his real life are present in this one which made it even more beautiful. Sci-Fi is not really my thing and I will say this is one of the best books I have read all year. I will not forget it and Janz BETTER be writing a Part 2 as we speak because… I need it and I need it now! Thank you @blackstonepublishing for my beautiful copy! The cover is perfection!
** I would leave more stars if I could!
October 4, 2025
Dark, urgent, and surprisingly human, in this story Janz blends horror and sci-fi with sharp pacing and a focus on humanity that keeps the story gripping throughout.
What makes it hit harder is how much it mirrors the Covid years. Society fractures under fear and misinformation, communities turn on each other, and isolation becomes its own kind of threat. It’s not just reminiscent of that time, it’s a reflection of it, stripped of the safety of hindsight.
When the real action kicks in about halfway through, the story is flying from fight to fight leaving no room to relax in-between. I liked the action, but everything that happens in between felt a little rushed.
The ending lands nicely with a mix of emotions from hurt to hope to pain to joy, but it left me with unanswered questions. The kind of questions that you wouldn't think a writer would leave ambiguous.
All in all a really great story that has a good mix of action, horror, and science fiction. Should be a good fit for most readers of dark fiction
What makes it hit harder is how much it mirrors the Covid years. Society fractures under fear and misinformation, communities turn on each other, and isolation becomes its own kind of threat. It’s not just reminiscent of that time, it’s a reflection of it, stripped of the safety of hindsight.
When the real action kicks in about halfway through, the story is flying from fight to fight leaving no room to relax in-between. I liked the action, but everything that happens in between felt a little rushed.
The ending lands nicely with a mix of emotions from hurt to hope to pain to joy, but it left me with unanswered questions. The kind of questions that you wouldn't think a writer would leave ambiguous.
All in all a really great story that has a good mix of action, horror, and science fiction. Should be a good fit for most readers of dark fiction
December 17, 2025
People begun disappearing around the world, literally there one minute and then gone, assailants and destination unknown. John loses his son first, then his wife and finally his daughter but during his daughter’s kidnap he sees the marks the creature makes. Desperate to rescue his family he joins a group of other survivors who agree to undergo a procedure that will help them see who they are fighting and how they are entering our world.
A scifi cosmic horror that reads like a fast paced thriller. Fantastic characterisation, you really care who survives. At essence this is a story of family, what would you do and how far would you go to save the ones you love. Both stunningly beautiful and horrifically gruesome imagery, the body horror is juicy!
This is such an imaginative story, the sense of urgency, desperation and paranoia is excellent. It is a standalone but I’d love a sequel!
A scifi cosmic horror that reads like a fast paced thriller. Fantastic characterisation, you really care who survives. At essence this is a story of family, what would you do and how far would you go to save the ones you love. Both stunningly beautiful and horrifically gruesome imagery, the body horror is juicy!
This is such an imaginative story, the sense of urgency, desperation and paranoia is excellent. It is a standalone but I’d love a sequel!
September 18, 2025
4/5 Veil by Jonathan Janz is a fun science fiction horror novel for fans of A Quiet Place, Bird Box, or Tim Lebbon’s “The Silence”. So you know mysterious entities snatching people in broad day light by the thousands.
John is a science teacher and book store owner with a family that’s disappointed in him. Then one night while walking his son walks ahead and out of sight for a few seconds and by the time John catches up he’s just gone. Around this time mass disappearances begin happening all over the world. People being dragged away and vanishing before people’s eyes by entities that cannot be seen.
I had a lot of fun with this one. I always enjoy a good creepy mystery and creature feature and this one hits all the notes.
On a side note maybe don’t read the entire synopsis on the back of the book as I feel it gives a little too much away.
Also warning this is pretty open ended so a sequel is likely in the works. I did not know this going in and I think that really can matter when picking what to read.
John is a science teacher and book store owner with a family that’s disappointed in him. Then one night while walking his son walks ahead and out of sight for a few seconds and by the time John catches up he’s just gone. Around this time mass disappearances begin happening all over the world. People being dragged away and vanishing before people’s eyes by entities that cannot be seen.
I had a lot of fun with this one. I always enjoy a good creepy mystery and creature feature and this one hits all the notes.
On a side note maybe don’t read the entire synopsis on the back of the book as I feel it gives a little too much away.
Also warning this is pretty open ended so a sequel is likely in the works. I did not know this going in and I think that really can matter when picking what to read.
November 30, 2025
that was a gooder...
June 3, 2025
This review was originally published at FanFiAddict.
Let me get this out of the way up front: I am, unabashedly, a Jonathan Janz hipster. I’ve been reading and reviewing his stuff for damn near a decade now, going back to his days as a new small-press horror author with Samhain Publishing, onto Sinister Grin Press, Flame Tress Press, and Cemetery Dance. I can count the number of his books I haven’t (yet) read on one hand, and they consist only of Marla — published as a limited edition by Earthling Publications with a print run of only 500 copies, plus 15 lettered, traycased hardcovers — and Tales From the Shadow Side, another limited release published by Thunderstorm Books, first as a hardcover limited to only 60 copies, and then as a limited, exclusive paperback edition. I have hardcover copies of both books, and of the stories collected in Tales From the Shadow Side I’ve read most of them elsewhere. I will get around to Marla one of these days, I promise.
Make no bones about it, I am a loud and proud Jonathan Janz fan. I tell you all of this so that you’ll know where I’m coming from when I tell you that Veil is immediately noticeable as a step-up in an already strong career of a gifted horror author. Children of the Dark still holds top-spot as my favorite of Janz’s works, but Veil is an immediate top-five contender at the very least.
I don’t know if it’s a culmination of Janz’s experiences as a writer, teacher, father, and husband, or possibly a boost in editorial and developmental support from his new team at Blackstone Publishing, but Veil has a definite next-level feel to it. There’s a pathos and empathy to it that, while certainly not absent from Janz’s previous works, feels more honed, not to mention a stronger sense of authorial confidence. Janz knew what he wanted this story to be, and if it wasn’t easy to write he certainly makes it look that way in the end.
Movie critic Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it,” meaning that the execution of a story can be more important than the plot itself. It’s a sentiment I believe applies to books, as well. Janz’s execution in Veil is assured, presenting a story of an apocalyptic alien invasion through first-person narration of an everyman archetype. It’s easy to slip into John’s shoes and feel the chaos, the unknowing, the uncertainty of it all. At times it’s scarily familiar, echoing recent concerns from the covid pandemic, like grocery stores becoming hotbeds of both political and societal unrest, as nationwide lockdowns are instituted in an effort to keep people safe from an unseen killer while humanity engages in dick-waving contests to see who can be the bigger threat and/or the bigger moron, often at the same time.
Furthermore, Janz’s approach to the alien invasion itself is high-concept horror done right. Rather than going the route of the tried and true invading space force wreaking havoc with massive ships and laser beams, Janz finds a far more interesting way to truly personalize the effects these marauders have on society. The aliens themselves are an unseen threat, ripping holes in our dimension to abduct people seemingly at random. It starts off small and then escalates, pushing humanity to a breaking point, and is frighteningly effective the whole way through. They way John’s fellow Americans respond to this latest threat is not only spot-on accurate and realistic, but actually lived through, because we all saw these reactions first-hand as plenty of our fellow countrymen let their masks slip, metaphorically or otherwise. There’s plenty of large-scale disasters, like a chaotic evacuation from the city by panicked motorists on a highway turned abduction site, and plenty of room for more personal ones, such as John and his daughter coming under threat from a neighbor turned tyrant, like some homeowners association’s president from hell. But when John joins forces with a small band of survivors, the plan they come up with to be able to see the aliens is not only intriguing but flat-out dangerous. It’s also the one element I wish were mined a bit more deeply, particularly in terms of side-effects and unintended consequences, which never feel quite as significant or hair-raising as they potentially could be.
Veil functions well as a standalone, but by book’s end I found myself hungry for a sequel. Janz has opened up a unique world here that offers terrific series potential with plenty of room for growth, not to mention long-term repercussions from certain choices made. Maybe it’s just my love for films like Aliens and Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger books, but I couldn’t help but wonder what a military horror book would look like in the world of Veil with Janz’s imagination and knack for crafting frenetic, action-packed set pieces leading the charge. We get a taste it on the civilian front, and I certainly wouldn’t mind getting more. Veil is great on its own, but the potential for more is even greater.
Let me get this out of the way up front: I am, unabashedly, a Jonathan Janz hipster. I’ve been reading and reviewing his stuff for damn near a decade now, going back to his days as a new small-press horror author with Samhain Publishing, onto Sinister Grin Press, Flame Tress Press, and Cemetery Dance. I can count the number of his books I haven’t (yet) read on one hand, and they consist only of Marla — published as a limited edition by Earthling Publications with a print run of only 500 copies, plus 15 lettered, traycased hardcovers — and Tales From the Shadow Side, another limited release published by Thunderstorm Books, first as a hardcover limited to only 60 copies, and then as a limited, exclusive paperback edition. I have hardcover copies of both books, and of the stories collected in Tales From the Shadow Side I’ve read most of them elsewhere. I will get around to Marla one of these days, I promise.
Make no bones about it, I am a loud and proud Jonathan Janz fan. I tell you all of this so that you’ll know where I’m coming from when I tell you that Veil is immediately noticeable as a step-up in an already strong career of a gifted horror author. Children of the Dark still holds top-spot as my favorite of Janz’s works, but Veil is an immediate top-five contender at the very least.
I don’t know if it’s a culmination of Janz’s experiences as a writer, teacher, father, and husband, or possibly a boost in editorial and developmental support from his new team at Blackstone Publishing, but Veil has a definite next-level feel to it. There’s a pathos and empathy to it that, while certainly not absent from Janz’s previous works, feels more honed, not to mention a stronger sense of authorial confidence. Janz knew what he wanted this story to be, and if it wasn’t easy to write he certainly makes it look that way in the end.
Movie critic Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it,” meaning that the execution of a story can be more important than the plot itself. It’s a sentiment I believe applies to books, as well. Janz’s execution in Veil is assured, presenting a story of an apocalyptic alien invasion through first-person narration of an everyman archetype. It’s easy to slip into John’s shoes and feel the chaos, the unknowing, the uncertainty of it all. At times it’s scarily familiar, echoing recent concerns from the covid pandemic, like grocery stores becoming hotbeds of both political and societal unrest, as nationwide lockdowns are instituted in an effort to keep people safe from an unseen killer while humanity engages in dick-waving contests to see who can be the bigger threat and/or the bigger moron, often at the same time.
Furthermore, Janz’s approach to the alien invasion itself is high-concept horror done right. Rather than going the route of the tried and true invading space force wreaking havoc with massive ships and laser beams, Janz finds a far more interesting way to truly personalize the effects these marauders have on society. The aliens themselves are an unseen threat, ripping holes in our dimension to abduct people seemingly at random. It starts off small and then escalates, pushing humanity to a breaking point, and is frighteningly effective the whole way through. They way John’s fellow Americans respond to this latest threat is not only spot-on accurate and realistic, but actually lived through, because we all saw these reactions first-hand as plenty of our fellow countrymen let their masks slip, metaphorically or otherwise. There’s plenty of large-scale disasters, like a chaotic evacuation from the city by panicked motorists on a highway turned abduction site, and plenty of room for more personal ones, such as John and his daughter coming under threat from a neighbor turned tyrant, like some homeowners association’s president from hell. But when John joins forces with a small band of survivors, the plan they come up with to be able to see the aliens is not only intriguing but flat-out dangerous. It’s also the one element I wish were mined a bit more deeply, particularly in terms of side-effects and unintended consequences, which never feel quite as significant or hair-raising as they potentially could be.
Veil functions well as a standalone, but by book’s end I found myself hungry for a sequel. Janz has opened up a unique world here that offers terrific series potential with plenty of room for growth, not to mention long-term repercussions from certain choices made. Maybe it’s just my love for films like Aliens and Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger books, but I couldn’t help but wonder what a military horror book would look like in the world of Veil with Janz’s imagination and knack for crafting frenetic, action-packed set pieces leading the charge. We get a taste it on the civilian front, and I certainly wouldn’t mind getting more. Veil is great on its own, but the potential for more is even greater.
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