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Lurk
Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.
Some secrets should stay buried...
College student Drew Brady never wanted the power to spy on his friends. But late one night, he finds a box of old Polaroids buried under his house that can change to show him whatever he desires, and Drew finds himself with the power to watch the people around him without them ever knowing.
Yet as Drew falls deeper into the rabbit hole of jealousy and despair, he begins having strange visions of the students who lived at the house twenty years ago and the gruesome fates they met after moving out. He finds evidence of a stalker who may be living on the property. The line between reality and nightmare blurs. Drew realizes there is something under the house that is manipulating him through the pictures, an eldritch, not-quite-dead thing that will drive him to do unspeakable evil if he doesn't look away...
A blistering page-turner, Lurk is horror unlike you've ever read.
Some secrets should stay buried...
College student Drew Brady never wanted the power to spy on his friends. But late one night, he finds a box of old Polaroids buried under his house that can change to show him whatever he desires, and Drew finds himself with the power to watch the people around him without them ever knowing.
Yet as Drew falls deeper into the rabbit hole of jealousy and despair, he begins having strange visions of the students who lived at the house twenty years ago and the gruesome fates they met after moving out. He finds evidence of a stalker who may be living on the property. The line between reality and nightmare blurs. Drew realizes there is something under the house that is manipulating him through the pictures, an eldritch, not-quite-dead thing that will drive him to do unspeakable evil if he doesn't look away...
A blistering page-turner, Lurk is horror unlike you've ever read.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2016
325 people are currently reading
1212 people want to read
About the author
Adam Vine
22 books96 followersAdam Vine was born in Northern California. He has lived in five countries and visited almost forty. A narrative designer for video games by trade, he is also the author of two novels and many short stories. When he is not writing, he is traveling, reading something icky, or playing his guitar.
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August 25, 2017Update: 25/08/17. The Kindle edition is currently gratis in the States and the UK!
August 23, 2017
Every so often things just work out like this. I was in a mood for something scary and this book showed up in my email as a kindle freebie for the day. Never heard of the author, didn't think I'd be all that into a story featuring a bunch of college students partying themselves out of their minds, but lo and behold...this was kinda awesome. Classy cover, well edited with the minor exception of the fact that despite what most Americans erroneously believe Columbia is only the acceptable spelling for the university or a clothing company. And I think this is a debut too, in which case someone get this guy to write more books, immediately, preferably featuring older characters, but really either way. Because Adam Vine can really write. Something quite spectacular and unusual for an unknown genre author, just like he naturally has the ear for realistic sounding dialogue, he has the knack for finding the genuinely disturbing, the bleak and frightening things that go BOO in day or night and do terrible things to one's psyche. So that it doesn't matter if you can't relate to characters, you don't even have to like them, in fact this was mentioned several times in reviews I've scanned and glad not to have listened to prior to reading Lurk, but the narrator isn't meant to be a sympathetic sort of guy or in fact he's meant to be just sympathetic (or in this case pathetic) enough to engage the reader's attention...thing is the narration does draw you in, firmly, and doesn't let go until the end (which features a bonafide moral, quaintly enough). A legitimate scary read requires not just a good interesting backstory (Lurk got that), but also a psychological plausibility (Lurk got that too)...in other words, it isn't enough to know that something or someone is after you, but the whys and hows and the fact that it can easily someone you knew and you would have never guessed or anticipated this. Because, you know, evil lurks in the minds of men/women/occasionally children (tis the genre, after all) and we don't/can't know and that might be the scariest thing of all. And Adam Vine gets it and this book is all about that. And yes, there's a bunch of obnoxious college kids doing copious amounts of partying, but don't get hung up on that, this is a story of some very restless hungry angry dead and the living are really just playthings. Great read, quick, fun and very entertaining, genuinely eerie. Enthusiastically recommended for all genre fans.
December 2, 2017
Damn. There was all kinds of crazy going on in this one. Drew and his friends have uncovered a mystery contained in some old polaroid’s. The pictures not only give Drew a peek into the personal lives of his friends, but also contain secrets from the past that are bleeding into the present.
…Or maybe it could just be the drugs and booze.
I was surprised how much I liked this one. It was a fast and enjoyable read with a cast of largely unlikable characters, especially the main protagonist Drew who was a major douchebag. There were a few genuinely creepy moments in here as well. Well done. 3.5+ Stars.
…Or maybe it could just be the drugs and booze.
I was surprised how much I liked this one. It was a fast and enjoyable read with a cast of largely unlikable characters, especially the main protagonist Drew who was a major douchebag. There were a few genuinely creepy moments in here as well. Well done. 3.5+ Stars.
November 30, 2021
That cover! Neon pink with a figure hanging over the house. That title! LLuuuuuuurrrrrkkkkk.
ALERT - Quotes from book in review.
The main character is a student Drew Brady who lives in a shared house with his fellow students and gets up to what students are associated with. Drink, drugs, slang and partying.
One night Drew is in the basement under the house and finds some Polaroids of the previous students in the house.
Quote “Pictures are nothing but memories, frozen in time. They have no power but the power you give them”
Very true, and in this case totally and utterly beyond true.
The Polaroids are not all they seem and are the start of a creepy, eerie, and chilling story with twists and turns. Well written atmospheric horror.
It’s about the characters, mainly Drew. How they interact. Their relationships. Their friendships. How they deal with the horror. The thoughts in Drew’s mind. Is the horror only in Drew’s mind?
Quote “Everyone’s gonna die, someday. We all gotta go sometime. You gotta experience the peace and the light while you can, together. We’re all we have, man. We’re all we have”
ALERT - Quotes from book in review.
The main character is a student Drew Brady who lives in a shared house with his fellow students and gets up to what students are associated with. Drink, drugs, slang and partying.
One night Drew is in the basement under the house and finds some Polaroids of the previous students in the house.
Quote “Pictures are nothing but memories, frozen in time. They have no power but the power you give them”
Very true, and in this case totally and utterly beyond true.
The Polaroids are not all they seem and are the start of a creepy, eerie, and chilling story with twists and turns. Well written atmospheric horror.
It’s about the characters, mainly Drew. How they interact. Their relationships. Their friendships. How they deal with the horror. The thoughts in Drew’s mind. Is the horror only in Drew’s mind?
Quote “Everyone’s gonna die, someday. We all gotta go sometime. You gotta experience the peace and the light while you can, together. We’re all we have, man. We’re all we have”
January 31, 2016
Lurk is a book that frightens you as you read, not only because of the author's expertise with the English language, but because you see yourself in every character. In Drew, the socially awkward stalker who cannot separate his own failure to relate to people his own age with his self-hatred and depression. With Bea, the beautiful and confident woman who cannot see outside her own small world. With Jay, who just wants to be a good friend and have a good time.
Adam Vine's book gives you an insight into a very dark universe, but one that exists. One that we are a part of. Although the book has many supernatural elements, it is the natural ones, the ones we can see existing within ourselves, that makes this a must read horror novel of the year.
Adam Vine's book gives you an insight into a very dark universe, but one that exists. One that we are a part of. Although the book has many supernatural elements, it is the natural ones, the ones we can see existing within ourselves, that makes this a must read horror novel of the year.
March 1, 2018
This is a wonderfully strange book that slowly unfolds as you progress, there’s a lot going on here and Adam Vine manages to bring it all together with some impressive writing.
I really enjoyed this; it’s contemporary and inventive with a plot which keeps you guessing throughout and a good mix of characters. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of Adam’s work in the future.
I really enjoyed this; it’s contemporary and inventive with a plot which keeps you guessing throughout and a good mix of characters. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of Adam’s work in the future.
January 20, 2020
The only thing worse than a comedy that isn’t funny ... is a horror story that isn't scary. At least that's what I used to think before Adam Vine proved me wrong in his novel Lurk. Thanks to Mr. Vine, there is one thing even worse than a horror story that isn't scary, and that's to write a boring, incoherent horror story that isn't scary. Mr. Vine has mastered that feat to perfection.
August 30, 2017
Hated how it was written, the slang, the characters and how manic depressively it was written. The only reason for 2 instead of 1 star is that the idea behind it was different.
September 16, 2017
This book was a pleasant surprise. An enjoyable horror romp with some twists and turns that made it a fun read.
Read
August 29, 2018ok
this is another one of those books that i just
don’t know how to rate it
i honestly don’t think i’ve ever hated, liked, loved, hated, liked again as much as i did with this one
this book was so fked up
i hated the characters so much, especially the main character but i know it was done on purpose
and the author did a superb job!!! these were very stereotypical characters but i understood it
it made me think a ton of cabin in the woods
same exact thing there
i also felt insidious vibes because i remember when i first saw that movie it seemed to shift gears drastically at some point through and that happens a lot in this book
it’s almost like a parody
i feel like the author had SO MANY different ideas going off and he just threw them all into this one novel and some-FKING-how it all meshed together and worked perfectly
when it was going through that part later on showing so many different perspectives back to back holy fk i loved that
that was amazing
this book honestly wasn’t bad at all if you go into it with an extremely open mind and ability to finish it and not give up when it hits major cringey parts
which it held a ton of....
do it for the vine, right?
i’m glad i read this book, maybe i’ll give it a star rating after all....
edit: i thought of more i need to say
parts of this book actually really fked with me in real life
it made me so uneasy at certain points and even repulsed
this book felt like a curse
a haunting
and by reading it i was giving it power
if i end up dead within the next 60 years it was because i read this book
this is another one of those books that i just
don’t know how to rate it
i honestly don’t think i’ve ever hated, liked, loved, hated, liked again as much as i did with this one
this book was so fked up
i hated the characters so much, especially the main character but i know it was done on purpose
and the author did a superb job!!! these were very stereotypical characters but i understood it
it made me think a ton of cabin in the woods
same exact thing there
i also felt insidious vibes because i remember when i first saw that movie it seemed to shift gears drastically at some point through and that happens a lot in this book
it’s almost like a parody
i feel like the author had SO MANY different ideas going off and he just threw them all into this one novel and some-FKING-how it all meshed together and worked perfectly
when it was going through that part later on showing so many different perspectives back to back holy fk i loved that
that was amazing
this book honestly wasn’t bad at all if you go into it with an extremely open mind and ability to finish it and not give up when it hits major cringey parts
which it held a ton of....
do it for the vine, right?
i’m glad i read this book, maybe i’ll give it a star rating after all....
edit: i thought of more i need to say
parts of this book actually really fked with me in real life
it made me so uneasy at certain points and even repulsed
this book felt like a curse
a haunting
and by reading it i was giving it power
if i end up dead within the next 60 years it was because i read this book
February 5, 2018
I read this one based on a recommendation from a GR friend (thanks Bandit!) and would not likely have picked it up otherwise. I was not disappointed. It was surprisingly well-written, telling the story of a bunch of college kids living and partying in a off-campus house that has a secret spooky history which gets slowly revealed through the discovery of some old photographs in the basement. The characters were more developed than you would normally expect from a book like this and the story moves at a rapid pace, leading to a satisfyingly creepy ending that brought the story full circle. One of those books you go into not expecting a whole lot and end up being pleasantly surprised. Well worth the read.
March 16, 2017
What a pleasant suprise!
I picked this up with absolutely zero expectations, and was treated to a nice little thriller/horror-story.
The picture this story paints of the millenium-generation-teens is very bleak, and perhaps too much so, but nevertheless the action of the characters are believeable and the inner struggles of the narrator are described in a way the reader can relate to (even though the narrator is a giant douchebag).
I will look after Adam Vine's future releases :)
I picked this up with absolutely zero expectations, and was treated to a nice little thriller/horror-story.
The picture this story paints of the millenium-generation-teens is very bleak, and perhaps too much so, but nevertheless the action of the characters are believeable and the inner struggles of the narrator are described in a way the reader can relate to (even though the narrator is a giant douchebag).
I will look after Adam Vine's future releases :)
May 30, 2017
I got 45% through this and I really don't think I can read anymore. First of all, I'm not scared at all and nothing much has happened. And second, I don't like the main character. He's unlikable and kind of a creep. After the abuse against the dog, I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry but if you poke a dog's paws with darts over and over, I'm never going to like you. And I find it very hard to read a book when I don't like the main character this much. No thanks, I'm out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2020
Officially one of my favorite horror books now! You can tell by his writing that this author is a true horror fan.
September 22, 2017
This was an awesome horror story. So many times I have picked up a horror book and been disappointed with the lack of scares or weak plot or whatever. When I started reading this, I found I couldn't stop. In fact, I felt the excitement building as I went along, knowing that I'd found a well-written horror book that is truly memorable. Can't really praise this one enough. I'm not going to ramble on and retell the whole story, because that's half the fun. Go read it. It's a wild ride.
February 4, 2019
Wow, what a story! I enjoyed the twists and turns, comic relief and creepy creativity that this author weaves throughout the entire story! I especially loved that the tale was told from the first person narrative as it truly allowed you to get inside the main character’s head — although at times you will not want to be there! The ending was NOT what I had expected, but that’s the best way a horror story is told!
November 2, 2017
Alright, Adam Vine. I see you.
This was definitely interesting. The creepy parts were written well enough that I wasn't sitting there thinking "this would translate better on a screen" like with a lot of thrillers.
I think I have to think on this before I write a full review though...
For now: 2.75 stars
This was definitely interesting. The creepy parts were written well enough that I wasn't sitting there thinking "this would translate better on a screen" like with a lot of thrillers.
I think I have to think on this before I write a full review though...
For now: 2.75 stars
July 31, 2017
Nah -- for a lot of reasons.
March 10, 2018
The most unbelievable part of this story is the fantastic party house on a cliff overlooking the ocean near Santa Cruz that even a group of college kids could afford to rent. It's a great setting, and it turns out there are reasons why this is a rental house at such a great rate. This story, which starts with the rather standard plot of hard partying college students and their friends, develops into a layered, complex story well worth reading for horror fans. I've watched way too many shallow or one-dimensional horror movies (rather like the main character, Drew) but this book adds depth and complexities that a movie simply can't reach. There are many twists and turns to please the reader. Because of Drew's references to Stephen King works, I'm afraid the end of IT has been spoiled for me, but I suppose that's my own fault for not reading a book that's been around for many years. I can deal with it because I got a lot more than I expected reading this book. I rate this at 4 stars for all of these features. Although I really liked the end of this book and it offered more than just the standard 'chopping off' of the story on these types of tales, it fell short of a 5 stars for me, but it's close.
July 22, 2018
3.4/5 ⭐️
STORY 3/5 (I was really frustrated by this book. Like the beginning was great then the middle was meh and I thought the ending was going to be great but in the last couple of pages it let me down. Also I got vibes of The Shining and Amityville Horror that were more than homages.)
CHARACTERS 4/5 (They were all REALLY unlikable but that really didn’t make me dislike the book. They were supposed to be unlikable. I just thought they were meh. I did like Drew and really related to him in some aspects and so I felt bad for him when things didn’t go his way. )
WRITING 3.5/5 (It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either and the dialogue wasn’t cheesy which I appreciate.)
ENJOYMENT 3/5 (There were some parts I LOVED and others just fell flat for me. It was a shame that the majority of those moments were right at the end because it made me want to not finish it a couple times.)
STORY 3/5 (I was really frustrated by this book. Like the beginning was great then the middle was meh and I thought the ending was going to be great but in the last couple of pages it let me down. Also I got vibes of The Shining and Amityville Horror that were more than homages.)
CHARACTERS 4/5 (They were all REALLY unlikable but that really didn’t make me dislike the book. They were supposed to be unlikable. I just thought they were meh. I did like Drew and really related to him in some aspects and so I felt bad for him when things didn’t go his way. )
WRITING 3.5/5 (It wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either and the dialogue wasn’t cheesy which I appreciate.)
ENJOYMENT 3/5 (There were some parts I LOVED and others just fell flat for me. It was a shame that the majority of those moments were right at the end because it made me want to not finish it a couple times.)
February 4, 2016
It's been a while since I delved into the horror world, so this debut from Adam Vine seemed like the perfect place to start!
Film student Drew Brady lives with his friends in a college house, where all the usual shenanigans associated with student life take place. His best friend/unrequited love, Bea lives close by and spends a lot of time there too. When Drew finds some polaroids of former tenants in the house's suitably creepy basement, he soon finds that the photos reveal much more, and that a dark force is pushing the group towards something unimaginable.
The horror genre has become a little tedious of late, much of it repetitive rehashes or mass market slashfests, so Lurk was a pleasant surprise. While the premise of Lurk may seem straightforward, it is anything but. What follows is a deeply insightful look into not only the lives of young people and their most basest of emotions, but also the more complex problems associated with depression and self-image. While the others are all good-looking and popular, Drew is overweight and geeky - a trope you might think, but no. Drew's journey here is the real story, and although he uses his encyclopedic knowledge of horror films to try and figure out what's going on (a little nod to Scream), his real problems lie deep within his own mind, which makes his manipulation all the easier.
Lurk also benefits from a more subtle approach to horror. Graphic violence is used sparingly to great effect, relying much more on the intricately creepy atmosphere that is allowed to build slowly through the narrative, and the mysterious characters that Drew and his friends encounter as the story creeps towards its conclusion. It's also an interesting study of cycles, and how sometimes we can so easily become trapped in our own reality to the extent where we doomed to make the same mistakes time and time again. Vine also paints a sometimes painfully accurate picture of the behaviour and culture associated with this generation, and how in many ways they have been failed by their predecessors, raised on pop culture and mass media to the point where they've become desensitized and disenchanted, existing in their own bubble of reality.
The final chapters are executed with expert precision, drawing the reader in with unbearable tension, while at the same time delivering a game-changing revelation that sets the scene for one of the most memorable endings I've read in quite some time.
Lurk is a taut, tense, brooding tale that grows beyond its influences to create a uniquely modern landscape for new horror, without resorting to gratuitous gore or ridiculous plot devices for shocks, instead preferring to creep inside the unsuspecting reader's head and deliver its chills in all the right places.
Film student Drew Brady lives with his friends in a college house, where all the usual shenanigans associated with student life take place. His best friend/unrequited love, Bea lives close by and spends a lot of time there too. When Drew finds some polaroids of former tenants in the house's suitably creepy basement, he soon finds that the photos reveal much more, and that a dark force is pushing the group towards something unimaginable.
The horror genre has become a little tedious of late, much of it repetitive rehashes or mass market slashfests, so Lurk was a pleasant surprise. While the premise of Lurk may seem straightforward, it is anything but. What follows is a deeply insightful look into not only the lives of young people and their most basest of emotions, but also the more complex problems associated with depression and self-image. While the others are all good-looking and popular, Drew is overweight and geeky - a trope you might think, but no. Drew's journey here is the real story, and although he uses his encyclopedic knowledge of horror films to try and figure out what's going on (a little nod to Scream), his real problems lie deep within his own mind, which makes his manipulation all the easier.
Lurk also benefits from a more subtle approach to horror. Graphic violence is used sparingly to great effect, relying much more on the intricately creepy atmosphere that is allowed to build slowly through the narrative, and the mysterious characters that Drew and his friends encounter as the story creeps towards its conclusion. It's also an interesting study of cycles, and how sometimes we can so easily become trapped in our own reality to the extent where we doomed to make the same mistakes time and time again. Vine also paints a sometimes painfully accurate picture of the behaviour and culture associated with this generation, and how in many ways they have been failed by their predecessors, raised on pop culture and mass media to the point where they've become desensitized and disenchanted, existing in their own bubble of reality.
The final chapters are executed with expert precision, drawing the reader in with unbearable tension, while at the same time delivering a game-changing revelation that sets the scene for one of the most memorable endings I've read in quite some time.
Lurk is a taut, tense, brooding tale that grows beyond its influences to create a uniquely modern landscape for new horror, without resorting to gratuitous gore or ridiculous plot devices for shocks, instead preferring to creep inside the unsuspecting reader's head and deliver its chills in all the right places.
December 8, 2025
This was a good read, it didn't lose its momentum, I felt sorry for Drew at times. I didn't see that ending, very clever!
January 31, 2017
I got about 12% of the way through this one and skimmed a bit further, but found the main character and all other named characters to be way too frat-bro and cliche to continue. MC has a vicious case of "nice guy" syndrome, the main love interest is typical Smoking Hot Girl Who Is Also Very Very Smart Because These Are Complex Characters Y'All, and everyone else is just written to be "typical college students". Perhaps this changes later in the book but I didn't find the experience pleasant enough to stick around and find out.
January 30, 2018
Really weird and creepy little book.
May 18, 2017
[I have received an audio version of this book for free, in exchange for a review. This has in no way altered my opinion. Rating here reffers more to the story, than to the audiobook.]
I must confess since the beginning that I am not a such a fan of horror books. Having this one in the audio format was a very good thing, as I enjoyed the story very much!
As the description says, a group of college students notice someone has been spending nights in their basement and also a bunch of Polaroids showing the old gang that used to live in the same house. All is nice and well until Drew Brady discovers that the Polaroids can show much more than that and have the power to spy on their subjects also. The story gets even creepier when he starts having visions of old people and Bea (his all-time crush) is stalked by someone.
A bit of a trigger warning: we have a main character which is fat and has a history for mental illness. There is also a suicide which is described (with a fair amount of accuracy) in the book. So if you are not comfortable with these, you have been warned.
I wouldn’t say this was a scarry, scarry book. For someone not used to reading horror books, this is a decent one. The author manages to align the words with the emotions of our main character, whose point of view we have. Narrated from his point of view, Drew feels alone, even if surrounded by his friends. All the other characters have a typical teenage behavior: drink, smoke, party, repeat. But Drew is far more complex.
This character opens up a door to some other problems that young people may face these days. With a history of mental illness and a weight complex, Drew becomes jealous of his best friend Jay when he starts dating Bea. Even if the girl of his dreams never showed an interest beyond friendship, he starts hating them for this relationship. I believe he is the best example of a person who understands he has issues, but doesn’t do anything to overcome his insecurities. He starts hating others, instead of trying to improve his own attitude towards life. The author did a great job creating this complex character, which, if analyzed in detail, can become a great study case J
The narrator did a good job wen telling this story, even if the voice acting was not that good. Sometimes I was a little confused because I did not realize who was speaking, but that was ok. I had no problems, however, to understand the message and that’s more important.
Ok, rating time. I would go with a 3.5 stars for the narration and 4.5 for the book. I loved the main character, I love having things to analyze in a book outside of the story. Somehow I would have wanted more… horror. So a total of 4 stars for the complete audio version of this book, with my congratulations to the author and narrator for a great work!
March 22, 2018
I received this book from the author (for free) for an honest review.
Let me start by saying the cover of this book alone is sort of creepy (in a good way if you like creepy books like I do) there is a figure floating above the house and the cover is dark. Whoo Hoo I'm in. This book is very well written, the characters are well defined (you can definitely see them in your mind) and they have a very real feel to them. This story will keep you turning page after page into the wee hours of the night just to see what will happen next (at least it did for me). A very new and refreshing idea of something to be afraid of this book has it! You don't know is it ghosts, a stalker, a prankster, a killer, or is the main character just losing his mind? A story about that time in college when you are away from home (partying too much) living with strangers that become friends. The insecurities of one individual set him apart from the group enough that he focus' on some photos found in the basement of the home he is sharing with his friends. There is a bit of a mystery behind these photos as well as a very real terror. Is his mind just playing games with him or do the photos actually change, move, show him what his friends are up to behind his back?
That alone is enough to make one' hair stand up on the back of their neck. However, this story then throws in unexplained windows and doors being opened, hearing strange noises, and friends being followed and assaulted plus neighbors being found dead. Is it all hallucinations from too much partying (those good old college parties where they drink too much and or smoke too much weed) or is the house haunted by the ghosts of residents past?
This book has it all laughs and chills, fear and fun, life and death. If you like a really creepy story with very new and scary idea, then I recommend this book to you. Once you get past the heavy partying and the typical college craziness, this book really has a story that is a new way of introducing us to horror. I was fully engaged from the very first page to the very last. A very good scare and a very good story! This one will not disappoint those that enjoy a good chilling read.
Let me start by saying the cover of this book alone is sort of creepy (in a good way if you like creepy books like I do) there is a figure floating above the house and the cover is dark. Whoo Hoo I'm in. This book is very well written, the characters are well defined (you can definitely see them in your mind) and they have a very real feel to them. This story will keep you turning page after page into the wee hours of the night just to see what will happen next (at least it did for me). A very new and refreshing idea of something to be afraid of this book has it! You don't know is it ghosts, a stalker, a prankster, a killer, or is the main character just losing his mind? A story about that time in college when you are away from home (partying too much) living with strangers that become friends. The insecurities of one individual set him apart from the group enough that he focus' on some photos found in the basement of the home he is sharing with his friends. There is a bit of a mystery behind these photos as well as a very real terror. Is his mind just playing games with him or do the photos actually change, move, show him what his friends are up to behind his back?
That alone is enough to make one' hair stand up on the back of their neck. However, this story then throws in unexplained windows and doors being opened, hearing strange noises, and friends being followed and assaulted plus neighbors being found dead. Is it all hallucinations from too much partying (those good old college parties where they drink too much and or smoke too much weed) or is the house haunted by the ghosts of residents past?
This book has it all laughs and chills, fear and fun, life and death. If you like a really creepy story with very new and scary idea, then I recommend this book to you. Once you get past the heavy partying and the typical college craziness, this book really has a story that is a new way of introducing us to horror. I was fully engaged from the very first page to the very last. A very good scare and a very good story! This one will not disappoint those that enjoy a good chilling read.
May 20, 2017
I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
Drew Brady lives in a typical college party house with other students. Drew is overweight and has low self-esteem because of his weight and his inability to attract girls like his friends do. He also has a history of depression probably for the same reasons. Of course, no one realizes this because he always presents himself as Mr. Nice Guy. In reality, he's not even close to a nice guy. He is a complex and troubled person. The other characters in Lurk aren't as well developed as Drew's character and are typical college kids trying new things and "finding themselves."
After Drew and his friend Bea find a box of polaroids under the house, strange things start to happen to Drew. It becomes more and more difficult for him to know what the difference is between fantasy and reality. It was also difficult for me, as the reader, to know the difference at times. How much is in his mind and how much is real?
As I listened to Lurk, there were times when my mind started to wander when it got slow or wordy. The narrator, Kevin Meyer, did a good job at telling the story and had good rhythm and timing. For the most part, he didn't try to distinguish between the different voices which was fine. Once in a while, he changed his voice a little though, especially with the landlord's voice, but since others weren't changed it seemed unnecessary.
There are some interesting twists in Lurk and even though it did get slow here and there, anyone who likes horror or the supernatural should like this book.
3.5 stars out of 5.
Drew Brady lives in a typical college party house with other students. Drew is overweight and has low self-esteem because of his weight and his inability to attract girls like his friends do. He also has a history of depression probably for the same reasons. Of course, no one realizes this because he always presents himself as Mr. Nice Guy. In reality, he's not even close to a nice guy. He is a complex and troubled person. The other characters in Lurk aren't as well developed as Drew's character and are typical college kids trying new things and "finding themselves."
After Drew and his friend Bea find a box of polaroids under the house, strange things start to happen to Drew. It becomes more and more difficult for him to know what the difference is between fantasy and reality. It was also difficult for me, as the reader, to know the difference at times. How much is in his mind and how much is real?
As I listened to Lurk, there were times when my mind started to wander when it got slow or wordy. The narrator, Kevin Meyer, did a good job at telling the story and had good rhythm and timing. For the most part, he didn't try to distinguish between the different voices which was fine. Once in a while, he changed his voice a little though, especially with the landlord's voice, but since others weren't changed it seemed unnecessary.
There are some interesting twists in Lurk and even though it did get slow here and there, anyone who likes horror or the supernatural should like this book.
3.5 stars out of 5.
August 27, 2017
I'm not sure it's the right word to say that I "enjoyed" this book, because it was intense and brutal and a total mind-warp. Maybe it would be better to say I appreciated this book, because it really was brilliant in a lot of ways. There is a double-twist at the end that I completely did not see coming--I didn't see either twist coming, actually, and I had to read the last part a couple of times to make sure I was actually understanding it.
Being in first person narration with a truly unlikable main character is a gutsy choice, because the narrator (I will use every word but "protagonist") really was awful. Even he acknowledges being a monster at one point. Because he clearly has mental illness and only a loose connection to reality, it is hard to know if what he's experiencing is real or not, or to what extent. Even at the end, I think there's an argument to be made both that what he went through was completely real, or that he hallucinated the whole thing. Or maybe it was a combination of both, because the narrator was lying even to himself at times, so his perception is so skewed that as a reader, I don't know what to trust. That is a difficult feat to pull of successfully; most people who go with the unreliable narrator mechanism fail utterly. Although this is a very modern and very gruesome horror story, it echoes the strengths of The Haunting of Hill House and The Turn of the Screw, in the sense that how much of the supernatural is real and how much is in the main characters fevered mind is very much open to interpretation.
At the end of day, do I recommend this? Erm...yes and no. For the plot structure alone I would say yes, as long as you have a strong stomach and aren't easily triggered. But if you couldn't get through Event Horizon, then I would say, just move on.
Being in first person narration with a truly unlikable main character is a gutsy choice, because the narrator (I will use every word but "protagonist") really was awful. Even he acknowledges being a monster at one point. Because he clearly has mental illness and only a loose connection to reality, it is hard to know if what he's experiencing is real or not, or to what extent. Even at the end, I think there's an argument to be made both that what he went through was completely real, or that he hallucinated the whole thing. Or maybe it was a combination of both, because the narrator was lying even to himself at times, so his perception is so skewed that as a reader, I don't know what to trust. That is a difficult feat to pull of successfully; most people who go with the unreliable narrator mechanism fail utterly. Although this is a very modern and very gruesome horror story, it echoes the strengths of The Haunting of Hill House and The Turn of the Screw, in the sense that how much of the supernatural is real and how much is in the main characters fevered mind is very much open to interpretation.
At the end of day, do I recommend this? Erm...yes and no. For the plot structure alone I would say yes, as long as you have a strong stomach and aren't easily triggered. But if you couldn't get through Event Horizon, then I would say, just move on.
August 10, 2018
Adam Vine’s Lurk is a great little horror/suspense novel about one of the most terrifying things you could ever imagine: Friends. Obviously, there’s more to Lurk than just that; the book follows narrator Drew Brady, college student extraordinaire, as he and his housemates and friends are dragged into a dangerous mystery with the discovery of an old box of polaroid photos underneath the earthen basement floor. There is a supernatural element to the horror, of course, but two other specters that loom forebodingly in the background are the destructive ravages of time and the complexity of the human psyche. There are several times throughout the novel that I felt it was treading into mundane young adult novel morality lesson territory, but each time it was just Vine’s masterful manipulation of the common tropes waiting to pull the rug our from under me. While some of the characters may appear cliché or stereotypical on occasion, they eventually reveal themselves to be complicated – and more importantly, believable – individuals, providing a greater weight to the sense of dread and impending horrors promised throughout the tale. I personally feel that the supernatural elements of the novel could have been diminished or discarded altogether to leave a great psychological thriller, but that is based more on personal preference than the author’s final product. Lurk might not exactly break new ground, but there is enough lurking within it to remain an unforgotten memory buried beneath the earthen floor of your subconscious.
December 29, 2017
This was a really great read that read like a really long short story. In true horror fashion we have a sympathetic main character who seems to be the only sane person, who eventually succumbs to the evil powers that underlie the whole story line, but Mr. Vine handles it with aplomb.
I feel a personal vibe with Vine simply because he is involved with the video gaming world outside of writing. Being a gamer myself, I can definitely feel the attraction. His references to Mario Kart and Mass Effect 3 in the book definitely captivated me.
Vine's ability to transcribe a sense of setting is commendable. I could smell the salt air and hear the beer tabs being pulled with his writing. He described Bea's athletic legs so well I could envision this feminine piece of poetry in motion as if she were the girl next door.
Mr. Vine, thank you for contributing such a good work to the literary world. I definitely look forward to reading your next work.
I feel a personal vibe with Vine simply because he is involved with the video gaming world outside of writing. Being a gamer myself, I can definitely feel the attraction. His references to Mario Kart and Mass Effect 3 in the book definitely captivated me.
Vine's ability to transcribe a sense of setting is commendable. I could smell the salt air and hear the beer tabs being pulled with his writing. He described Bea's athletic legs so well I could envision this feminine piece of poetry in motion as if she were the girl next door.
Mr. Vine, thank you for contributing such a good work to the literary world. I definitely look forward to reading your next work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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