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The Devil's Ark
'Creepy, classy ... full of dread and lust and echoing with the sorrows of war. We need more stories like this' Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Snowblind
'The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist' Baudelaire
Sometimes the past is best left buried
Twelve years after fighting in Mesopotamia in the Great War, Harry Ward returns to the land where he lost his faith, his mind and almost his life.
Haunted by bloody visions of bayonets, shrapnel and shells, he takes up the offer of a simple job, working as a photographer on an archaeological dig outside of Mosul.
As the dig progresses, Ward begins to realise that what they have uncovered is no ordinary temple; it holds a terrible secret. Now flashbacks are the least of his problems ... and he must face a new kind of terror.
(P)2014 Headline Digital
'The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist' Baudelaire
Sometimes the past is best left buried
Twelve years after fighting in Mesopotamia in the Great War, Harry Ward returns to the land where he lost his faith, his mind and almost his life.
Haunted by bloody visions of bayonets, shrapnel and shells, he takes up the offer of a simple job, working as a photographer on an archaeological dig outside of Mosul.
As the dig progresses, Ward begins to realise that what they have uncovered is no ordinary temple; it holds a terrible secret. Now flashbacks are the least of his problems ... and he must face a new kind of terror.
(P)2014 Headline Digital
- GenresHorror
Audio
First published April 10, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 21, 2016
21/9 - Great premise, flawed execution. A man scarred by what he saw while fighting in 'Mesopotamia' (did they really call it Mesopotamia in the 1930s?) during WWI finds his way to an archaeological dig. He is given the last minute position of photographer for the dig after the previous guy disappeared without a word, but he doesn't know the turmoil he's walking into. The group is mired in jealousies, sexual tensions and professional arguments. Add to the mix our narrator's belief that there's something very wrong with the object they're digging up and you get a great big mess that could have been a five star horror tale. Unfortunately, all the tension that Bywater builds up as Ward (the narrator) tries to work out what's going on is allowed to release over and over again, like a kettle. If the near-purple descriptions of the succubi had been less weird and flowery the last 50 - 100 pages could have been tense and scary enough to cause a heart attack in the healthiest of people.
August 1, 2014
Excellent-especially the end of the book. Many authors ramp up readers expectations regarding the nature of the impending doom and then fail to deliver. Mr. Bywater delivers. This novel has a spooky feel and a haunting, original ending. Can't wait to read more from this author! Fans of James Rollins, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child
and Dan Brown should love The Devil's Ark.
and Dan Brown should love The Devil's Ark.
April 14, 2015
Out of the last 10 books I've read from new writers this year, this one rises straight to the top. While most had an interesting storyline they unfortunately lacked cohesive structure. Bad grammar, poor sentence structure, incorrect spelling...those things make me crazy! But this one is solid. This is by a writer who knows his stuff!
While the first person narrative is not my favorite storyteller, Bywater's Harry Ward makes you believe it. And you're still believing it after the lights go out.
Stephen Bywater has a tale to tell here. You may think you've heard it before. Archeological dig, ancient superstitions, ancient legends, Succubus at sundown...not so fast. This one slowly pulls you in. The buildup is like a foam rubber steam roller. This is definitely not the Ark sought by Professor Jones. This Ark belongs to the Devil.
Definitely a book to add to your reading list. This new author turns a nice phrase. You won't be disappointed. You might not want to read it though as ..."the light...slowly collapses in on itself." - Stephen Bywater
While the first person narrative is not my favorite storyteller, Bywater's Harry Ward makes you believe it. And you're still believing it after the lights go out.
Stephen Bywater has a tale to tell here. You may think you've heard it before. Archeological dig, ancient superstitions, ancient legends, Succubus at sundown...not so fast. This one slowly pulls you in. The buildup is like a foam rubber steam roller. This is definitely not the Ark sought by Professor Jones. This Ark belongs to the Devil.
Definitely a book to add to your reading list. This new author turns a nice phrase. You won't be disappointed. You might not want to read it though as ..."the light...slowly collapses in on itself." - Stephen Bywater
July 31, 2014
Harry was injured fighting in the Middle East during the First World War. He returns to face his demons in the late 1920s and, whilst helping out at an archaeological dig, becomes embroiled with actual demons. Biblical references abound all tied up with Hebrew and Assyrian mythology. This was an easy read and most enjoyable.
January 3, 2018
Atmospheric and chilly tale. The Devil's Ark combines historical thriller with horror very well. The novel feels, in more ways than one, that it is from a different time. Not easy to put down.
January 12, 2016
A haunting novel. Hard to put down.
January 8, 2020
A magnificant book, couldn't put it down for a moment
June 6, 2014
The Devil's Ark by Stephen Bywater is a Lovecraftian decent into madness, as Harry Ward is faced with a primordial evil. Bywater creates a mythos that is so terrifying because it is steeped in historical lore and superstitions.
The cult of Lillith can be seen all over the world, but whatever had been written about it was surely destroyed over the years. What remains is whispers and oral stories that have come down the generations and turned into urban legends; and that is what Stephen Bywater tackles with his incredible research.
The oppressive heat and sand offers an eerie atmosphere and a sense of isolation. Harry Ward is very much on his own to face what is called “the shambling horror”. Apathy is all Harry receives from his colleagues and every one is quick to dismiss him as insane, rather than face that thing they see in the corner of their eye.
The Devil's Ark was a slow build up of the macabre and it feels like Bywater only scratched the surface on this subject. I would love to see what Stephen Bywater writes next.
The cult of Lillith can be seen all over the world, but whatever had been written about it was surely destroyed over the years. What remains is whispers and oral stories that have come down the generations and turned into urban legends; and that is what Stephen Bywater tackles with his incredible research.
The oppressive heat and sand offers an eerie atmosphere and a sense of isolation. Harry Ward is very much on his own to face what is called “the shambling horror”. Apathy is all Harry receives from his colleagues and every one is quick to dismiss him as insane, rather than face that thing they see in the corner of their eye.
The Devil's Ark was a slow build up of the macabre and it feels like Bywater only scratched the surface on this subject. I would love to see what Stephen Bywater writes next.
January 5, 2022
I’d rate this 3.5 but Goodreads doesn’t allow you to do half stars. There were parts of this book that I liked and others that I didn’t. It was slow until about the last 80-90 pages, and there wasn’t much motivation to read this book.
I liked the flashbacks of the main characters time spent serving in the war. It was written well and knowing about that helped you understand more about him. The last bit of the book was very interesting to read and you got a sense of the fear the characters were feeling. I liked the epilogue, I thought it tied everything off nicely, but also with the element of mystery, what happened to Clara?
I didn’t like how they ‘banished’ Lilith and her daughters, I thought it was done really hastily and the fact they just chucked the guy in, sealed it and called it a day. It could of been written better. But when her daughters ‘attack’ the house I liked how well you got a sense of fear, panic and mania.
Overall I do think it’s worth the read because it does have a good plot but I just found it a bit slow, but the ending redeemed the book.
I liked the flashbacks of the main characters time spent serving in the war. It was written well and knowing about that helped you understand more about him. The last bit of the book was very interesting to read and you got a sense of the fear the characters were feeling. I liked the epilogue, I thought it tied everything off nicely, but also with the element of mystery, what happened to Clara?
I didn’t like how they ‘banished’ Lilith and her daughters, I thought it was done really hastily and the fact they just chucked the guy in, sealed it and called it a day. It could of been written better. But when her daughters ‘attack’ the house I liked how well you got a sense of fear, panic and mania.
Overall I do think it’s worth the read because it does have a good plot but I just found it a bit slow, but the ending redeemed the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2016
A fantastic novel, amazing plot
September 11, 2018
A gripping supernatural horror thriller.
June 25, 2023
Great premise, flawed execution. Struggled to finish
June 19, 2014
In The Devil’s Ark, Stephen Bywater’s debut novel, we have a novel that is about ancient horrors resurfacing to frighten the living.
Set mainly in the 1920’s, the story tells of Harry Ward, a photographer working in Iraq/Mesopotamia. Still affected by his fighting and his injuries there in The Great War, he takes on what should be a relatively simple job – to take photographs of an archaeological dig just outside Mosul.
Whilst Harry originally returns to the country to gain some kind of redemptive closure, what he finds there actually achieves the opposite. As the dig progresses, it becomes clear that what is being uncovered is Nineveh, an ancient Sumerian temple, one buried on purpose and which should have been left hidden. And when previously-entombed horrors are unleashed, Harry finds himself in fear of his life.
Whilst the plot may not be particularly new, The Devil’s Ark is a great fun read. Sometimes you can be happy knowing what sort of thing to expect in a read and here in The Devil’s Ark the reader is not disappointed. Like a good Hammer Horror movie or a Weird Tales magazine story, the fun here is not in the actual events as they happen but in the telling.
This is a good debut. Stephen manages to set up the tale well, evoking images of an ancient Empire, lying redolent in desert heat, whilst an even older evil is awakened. Along the way there’s some nice details of the history of the Sumerians, the Assyrians and the Babylonians, an idea of the difficulties in setting up archaeological digs and a smidgeon of biblical foretelling that set the scene nicely and give the situation a pleasing semblance of reality. Like the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, there’s a real feeling of ancient history here to look at, and Stephen does well to use these as a provocative setting.
The expedition though is a rather strange mixed bunch, it must be said. There’s a jovial Russian named Stanislav who can decipher the ancient Sumerian writing who becomes an ally for Harry whilst their group leader, Tilden, is rather cantankerous. Such a situation does not bode well. Tilden’s wife as the novel progresses has a nervous breakdown. Harry has an affair with one of the wives, which doesn’t help, especially when the woman then goes missing. As the reader will rather expect, by the end of the novel there’s quite a high body count.
The nature of the ancient Sumerian succubae, means that, yes, there’s an element of sex involved as they prey upon the men of the expedition. The physical embodiment of the evil spirits are remarkably well done in they are clearly other-worldly and defiantly evil. Harry himself finds coming to terms with the supernatural difficult, at a time when much of the world generally is trying to come to terms with the real horrors of WW1 trench warfare.
The effects of this traumatic time in history means that, at times, Harry is unclear whether the events are real or as a result of his unsettled mind, and the author does well to maintain this idea with the reader that it could all be just happening in Harry’s head as he experiences some kind of mental post-traumatic breakdown. It is clear that the site and its guardians have an effect on the others in the party as well.
Where these stories normally fall down is in their ending: once ‘the thing’ has been unleashed, how do you contain it/kill it/dispose of it? That part of the tale is a little bit deflected, but the ending has a nice little twist I wasn’t expecting, which gave a pleasing degree of enigmatic ambiguity to the proceedings.
In summary, The Devil’s Ark delivers what the reader hopes it will do when they start. It is a nicely written and surprisingly scary tale that might just get you looking in those dark corners of the room whilst you’re reading.
Set mainly in the 1920’s, the story tells of Harry Ward, a photographer working in Iraq/Mesopotamia. Still affected by his fighting and his injuries there in The Great War, he takes on what should be a relatively simple job – to take photographs of an archaeological dig just outside Mosul.
Whilst Harry originally returns to the country to gain some kind of redemptive closure, what he finds there actually achieves the opposite. As the dig progresses, it becomes clear that what is being uncovered is Nineveh, an ancient Sumerian temple, one buried on purpose and which should have been left hidden. And when previously-entombed horrors are unleashed, Harry finds himself in fear of his life.
Whilst the plot may not be particularly new, The Devil’s Ark is a great fun read. Sometimes you can be happy knowing what sort of thing to expect in a read and here in The Devil’s Ark the reader is not disappointed. Like a good Hammer Horror movie or a Weird Tales magazine story, the fun here is not in the actual events as they happen but in the telling.
This is a good debut. Stephen manages to set up the tale well, evoking images of an ancient Empire, lying redolent in desert heat, whilst an even older evil is awakened. Along the way there’s some nice details of the history of the Sumerians, the Assyrians and the Babylonians, an idea of the difficulties in setting up archaeological digs and a smidgeon of biblical foretelling that set the scene nicely and give the situation a pleasing semblance of reality. Like the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, there’s a real feeling of ancient history here to look at, and Stephen does well to use these as a provocative setting.
The expedition though is a rather strange mixed bunch, it must be said. There’s a jovial Russian named Stanislav who can decipher the ancient Sumerian writing who becomes an ally for Harry whilst their group leader, Tilden, is rather cantankerous. Such a situation does not bode well. Tilden’s wife as the novel progresses has a nervous breakdown. Harry has an affair with one of the wives, which doesn’t help, especially when the woman then goes missing. As the reader will rather expect, by the end of the novel there’s quite a high body count.
The nature of the ancient Sumerian succubae, means that, yes, there’s an element of sex involved as they prey upon the men of the expedition. The physical embodiment of the evil spirits are remarkably well done in they are clearly other-worldly and defiantly evil. Harry himself finds coming to terms with the supernatural difficult, at a time when much of the world generally is trying to come to terms with the real horrors of WW1 trench warfare.
The effects of this traumatic time in history means that, at times, Harry is unclear whether the events are real or as a result of his unsettled mind, and the author does well to maintain this idea with the reader that it could all be just happening in Harry’s head as he experiences some kind of mental post-traumatic breakdown. It is clear that the site and its guardians have an effect on the others in the party as well.
Where these stories normally fall down is in their ending: once ‘the thing’ has been unleashed, how do you contain it/kill it/dispose of it? That part of the tale is a little bit deflected, but the ending has a nice little twist I wasn’t expecting, which gave a pleasing degree of enigmatic ambiguity to the proceedings.
In summary, The Devil’s Ark delivers what the reader hopes it will do when they start. It is a nicely written and surprisingly scary tale that might just get you looking in those dark corners of the room whilst you’re reading.
July 11, 2014
Damaged veteran of the great war Harry Ward accepts a job as a photographer on an illegal archeological dig outside of the Iraq city of Mosul.Harry gets caught up in the lives of the archeologists and helps them unwittingly release the demon goddess Lillith.The devils ark is a decent debut novel and worth a read.
February 10, 2015
Abandoned this one when even skimming couldn't get me into it.
September 17, 2015
Set aside at page 229. Was decent. Basic Succubus horror. Perhaps works better for a straight male reader.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews