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The Lovecraft Trilogy
Dunwich
Dunwich is based on the themes in H. P. Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror and is the continuation of Peter Levenda's novel The Lovecraft Code.
Beginning with the harrowing experience of an alien abductee in a small New England town and continuing through a series of encounters with a renowned mathematician, mercenary geneticists, an international ring of pornographers, the human trafficking cult of the Islamic State, and practitioners of an arcane form of sexual occultism, Dunwich follows the adventures of religion professor Gregory Angell as he attempts to discover a shocking secret encoded within an ancient book of magic that, once deciphered, will cause the eruption of a force so prehistoric that its earthly temples--once submerged beneath the seas--will rise to the surface again.
Beginning with the harrowing experience of an alien abductee in a small New England town and continuing through a series of encounters with a renowned mathematician, mercenary geneticists, an international ring of pornographers, the human trafficking cult of the Islamic State, and practitioners of an arcane form of sexual occultism, Dunwich follows the adventures of religion professor Gregory Angell as he attempts to discover a shocking secret encoded within an ancient book of magic that, once deciphered, will cause the eruption of a force so prehistoric that its earthly temples--once submerged beneath the seas--will rise to the surface again.
524 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2018
10 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Peter Levenda
31 books230 followersAuthor who focuses primarily on occult history. He is best known for his book Unholy Alliance, which is about Esoteric Hitlerism and Nazi occultism, and is believed to be the author of the Simon Necronomicon, albeit without much evidence.
He was the president of the international division of Ortronics, Inc., a telecommunications company based in Asia.
He appeared in the TNT documentary Faces of Evil as an expert on Nazi history with special regard to occult and esoteric practices. He has also appeared on the History Channel special Nazi Prophecies. Levenda lives in Miami, Florida.
He was the president of the international division of Ortronics, Inc., a telecommunications company based in Asia.
He appeared in the TNT documentary Faces of Evil as an expert on Nazi history with special regard to occult and esoteric practices. He has also appeared on the History Channel special Nazi Prophecies. Levenda lives in Miami, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 23, 2019
An esoteric adventure novel written by a Master Peter Levanada
This book has everything, Adventure, Action and a Esoteric plot that grabs a hold of you from the first page to the last. Included in the esoterica are the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Buddhism and its Tibetan predecessor the Shamanistic Bon religion, The Cult of Dagon and esoteric Judaism.I have now read the first two books in the trilogy and can’t recommend it highly enough.
This book has everything, Adventure, Action and a Esoteric plot that grabs a hold of you from the first page to the last. Included in the esoterica are the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Buddhism and its Tibetan predecessor the Shamanistic Bon religion, The Cult of Dagon and esoteric Judaism.I have now read the first two books in the trilogy and can’t recommend it highly enough.
October 31, 2018
A Gruesome but Tantalising Novel
I saw Peter Levenda being interview by Linda Moulton Howe about UFOs, alien visitations, etc for the first time. That's when I learned that this book is the first of three novels he is writing in tandem with three non-fiction books regarding aliens, etc. I decided to read this book first and what a read!
Set around the world from Afganistan through China to the USA, it follows members of a cult in parallel with an American agent carrying a sacred book of spells and another American agent who is trying to stop the ritual adsault and murder of numbers of children in order to open the mystical gates of the universe to allow "the Old Ones" to take over Earth and eliminate humans for ever.
Gruesome and sick in some parts, somehow the story dragged me along until the end. I would recommend the book to anyone with a strong enough stomach for it.
Now I need to read whichever non fiction book mat hez this one.
I saw Peter Levenda being interview by Linda Moulton Howe about UFOs, alien visitations, etc for the first time. That's when I learned that this book is the first of three novels he is writing in tandem with three non-fiction books regarding aliens, etc. I decided to read this book first and what a read!
Set around the world from Afganistan through China to the USA, it follows members of a cult in parallel with an American agent carrying a sacred book of spells and another American agent who is trying to stop the ritual adsault and murder of numbers of children in order to open the mystical gates of the universe to allow "the Old Ones" to take over Earth and eliminate humans for ever.
Gruesome and sick in some parts, somehow the story dragged me along until the end. I would recommend the book to anyone with a strong enough stomach for it.
Now I need to read whichever non fiction book mat hez this one.
October 30, 2024
The second part of the "Lovecraft Trilogy" stumbles, trips, and lands face-first on the same stumbling blocks as its predecessor. Dialogue? Stilted and unconvincing. Action? Sparse as an empty graveyard at noon. Characters? Far more interested in lengthy, labyrinthine monologues than anything remotely approaching human behavior. Ever heard of "show, don't tell"? Well, Levenda has — but clearly decided he was above it. This isn't a brisk, breezy read for the airport lounge. No, this is a book that demands you wade through its pages like knee-deep sludge.
Yet, as a die-hard Levenda enthusiast, I can’t help but chuckle at his audacity. Only Levenda would have the gall to insert Simon himself into the narrative as a character. What a cheeky bastard! (If you know, you know.) Levenda clearly has a PhD in Occult Lore and Conspiracy Theory and can make even the most esoteric trivia feel like it might combust under its own arcane weight. And yes, some of his ideas are downright fascinating — it's just that they're buried under prose that has the pace of a séance in slow-motion. The whole thing feels less like Dan Brown's "page-turning drivel" and more like esoteric homework.
"Starry Wisdom" sits on my shelf, gathering dust. I’ll get to it eventually, but let’s just say I won’t be rushing.
Yet, as a die-hard Levenda enthusiast, I can’t help but chuckle at his audacity. Only Levenda would have the gall to insert Simon himself into the narrative as a character. What a cheeky bastard! (If you know, you know.) Levenda clearly has a PhD in Occult Lore and Conspiracy Theory and can make even the most esoteric trivia feel like it might combust under its own arcane weight. And yes, some of his ideas are downright fascinating — it's just that they're buried under prose that has the pace of a séance in slow-motion. The whole thing feels less like Dan Brown's "page-turning drivel" and more like esoteric homework.
"Starry Wisdom" sits on my shelf, gathering dust. I’ll get to it eventually, but let’s just say I won’t be rushing.
June 20, 2020
As with the installment of this trilogy (Lovecraft Code), this book requires the reader to do a bit of homework prior to embarking on this one. Elements of H.P. Lovecraft's 1928 short story "The Dunwich Horror" are interwoven with a tale that incorporates events reflecting current events. There is a lot going on in this book and, as in the first book, I had a difficult time separating fact from from fiction and had to do a great deal of on-line research to help me understand the story. Much information about ancient religions, cults, and languages and their histories is discussed. The book also deals with some disturbing topics such as human trafficking, incest and pedophilia.
A number of events that take place somewhat simultaneously are dealt with and there is a lot of jumping from one to another that made following the plot line a bit difficult at times, at least for me. A few are left hanging which are, I assume, a set up for the final book in the trilogy.
I found both this and the previous book to be interesting and enjoyable. However I would not recommend starting them without reading the Lovecraft short stories upon which they are loosely based (The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror).
A number of events that take place somewhat simultaneously are dealt with and there is a lot of jumping from one to another that made following the plot line a bit difficult at times, at least for me. A few are left hanging which are, I assume, a set up for the final book in the trilogy.
I found both this and the previous book to be interesting and enjoyable. However I would not recommend starting them without reading the Lovecraft short stories upon which they are loosely based (The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror).
July 17, 2019
Quite good if...
i really loved seeing many of H.P. Lovecraft's ideas of cosmic horror put into modern clothes and context. If you have difficulty with a book with a lot of narration, you may have a problem with it.
The many social additions are what really draws me in. The context of Yezidi, esoteric, and gnostic christianity, make it a nice chewy read for me.
i really loved seeing many of H.P. Lovecraft's ideas of cosmic horror put into modern clothes and context. If you have difficulty with a book with a lot of narration, you may have a problem with it.
The many social additions are what really draws me in. The context of Yezidi, esoteric, and gnostic christianity, make it a nice chewy read for me.
April 10, 2020
The writing style is much better than the first one. This book is more of about 6 story arcs than one large story. Each story arc is gripping, though Levenda probably needed another book to adequately wrap them up.
May 13, 2022
Dunwich is even better than the first entry in Peter Levenda's trilogy, The Lovecraft Code, and both are very solid offerings in the field of modern day Lovecraftian fiction. Dunwich sees a sinister cult follow up its failed attempt at apocalyptic world-ending in the first book, and chronicles the efforts of a niche unit of the U.S. government's intelligence community, as well as The Lovecraft Code's rogue religious studies professor Gregory Angell, to stop them.
This book held my interest throughout, but there are elements some readers will consider "weak storytelling." Angell gets carted around as an observer, somewhat like Tyrion Lannister in A Dance with Dragons , and almost the entire novel sees the protagonists simply learning about what's going on. I honestly only felt compassion for one character, a young Yezidi woman on the run in strange (to her) environs. In spite of this, I felt Levenda told an engrossing story. As in the first book, there were several times I found myself googling characters and events to see if the author was using someone or something from the real world; in most cases, he is.
Content warning: The antagonists here are, to use the vernacular, some sick fucks. There are strong themes of child molestation here that are going to be a dealbreaker for some. I have a strong stomach for it, but some readers are going to find it more than bit much.
In contrast to the above sick fuckery, there are occasional comedic moments. I'm thinking primarily of a wannabee occultist in New England, and the deadpan way Levenda describes him not showering, wringing his hands over whether his Latin incantations constitute "cultural appropriation," with unseen demons salivating over him and thinking an idiot will have to suffice.
Levenda usually writes with one point-of-view character at a time, but his narration is omniscient. One can write any which way, and at least one editor or English teacher will say they're wrong for it. I'm of the position that it's the author's story to tell, and outside of a very basic rules set, they should do it their way. As in The Lovecraft Code, however, Levenda violates one of those basic rules and twice suddenly switches from past tense narration to present tense, then back again. Less than five hundred dollars should get you a proofreader, Mr. Levenda; just saying... I just used "less" rather than "fewer" to describe a noun that can be counted (dollars), again using the vernacular rather than the Queen's English, but come on; be consistent.
Despite the above shortcomings, I'm giving Dunwich a solid four stars. Levenda takes the existing milieu created by H.P. Lovecraft, throws it into a concrete mixer with the real-world events of 2014, and pours a foundation on which he undertakes his own amazing worldbuilding. On that note, I'd like to see Peter Levenda write science fiction and fantasy. In any case, I'll be jumping into the third book, Starry Wisdom, soon.
This book held my interest throughout, but there are elements some readers will consider "weak storytelling." Angell gets carted around as an observer, somewhat like Tyrion Lannister in A Dance with Dragons , and almost the entire novel sees the protagonists simply learning about what's going on. I honestly only felt compassion for one character, a young Yezidi woman on the run in strange (to her) environs. In spite of this, I felt Levenda told an engrossing story. As in the first book, there were several times I found myself googling characters and events to see if the author was using someone or something from the real world; in most cases, he is.
Content warning: The antagonists here are, to use the vernacular, some sick fucks. There are strong themes of child molestation here that are going to be a dealbreaker for some. I have a strong stomach for it, but some readers are going to find it more than bit much.
In contrast to the above sick fuckery, there are occasional comedic moments. I'm thinking primarily of a wannabee occultist in New England, and the deadpan way Levenda describes him not showering, wringing his hands over whether his Latin incantations constitute "cultural appropriation," with unseen demons salivating over him and thinking an idiot will have to suffice.
Levenda usually writes with one point-of-view character at a time, but his narration is omniscient. One can write any which way, and at least one editor or English teacher will say they're wrong for it. I'm of the position that it's the author's story to tell, and outside of a very basic rules set, they should do it their way. As in The Lovecraft Code, however, Levenda violates one of those basic rules and twice suddenly switches from past tense narration to present tense, then back again. Less than five hundred dollars should get you a proofreader, Mr. Levenda; just saying... I just used "less" rather than "fewer" to describe a noun that can be counted (dollars), again using the vernacular rather than the Queen's English, but come on; be consistent.
Despite the above shortcomings, I'm giving Dunwich a solid four stars. Levenda takes the existing milieu created by H.P. Lovecraft, throws it into a concrete mixer with the real-world events of 2014, and pours a foundation on which he undertakes his own amazing worldbuilding. On that note, I'd like to see Peter Levenda write science fiction and fantasy. In any case, I'll be jumping into the third book, Starry Wisdom, soon.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews