Infernale. Пекельний сеанс

by Jonathan Skariton, Джонатан Скарітон, Дар’я Петрушенко (translator)

Найважливіше сховано на видноті… Маленька донечка Алекса Вітмена, шукача рідкісних кінострічок, зникла в Единбурзі десять років тому. І ось тепер йому необхідно повернутися сюди, щоб відшукати унікальний фільм Оґюстена Секюлера, винахідника «рухомих картин». Алекс прагне розгадати таємницю Секюлера, який загадково зник майже 100 років тому. Тим часом детектив Джорджина Макбрайд розслідує серію вбивств дітей наприкінці 1980-х. Відеозапис, що вбивця надіслав до поліції, дивним чином пов’язаний із загубленим фільмом Секюлера. Шляхи Джорджини й Алекса перетинаються, і тепер на них чекає містична та небезпечна пригода, пошуки ключа до заплутаної головоломки, у якій химерно сплелися таємниці минулого й теперішнього. Оповідь, що не поступається сюжетам Дена Брауна!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Horror, Cultural

286 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2017

Reviews

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you, fellow reader, are picking up this book with the expectation that you are about to be treated to a creepy atmospheric ghost story set in Edinburgh, boy do I have some disappointing news for you. While trying to decide how to describe this hot mess of a book I decided to go with "dumpster fire" because of the role fire plays in the plot. It was all over the place, literally. I didn't quite hate it, as it was at least compelling enough to get me to the last page (though it was a HUGE disappointment), but it wasn't quite enjoyable either. It was a real mixed bag.

The Good: The concept of this story could have been so unbelievably cool. Private investigator specializing in rare movie memorabilia finds the first motion picture ever made and discovers a terrifying, supernatural film. Sounds good, right? Yeah, I thought so, too. The problem is that the author didn't commit to this format. The writing was decent in places but it definitely needed a firm, seasoned editor to rein in all of the author's winding tangents. Which brings me to...

The Bad: The plot quickly went from PI hunts down creepy first film to also there's a serial murderer-rapist on the loose. The PI becomes involved in the police investigation due to an unbelievable personal connection, and from there you are reading two different books that are loosely connected. If the author had focused completely on the film, and cut out the side plot of the murderer-rapist, this would have been a very different book, likely a more enjoyable one. It seemed like the side plot was created in order to give our hero a troubled past but the author could have created the same tragic background without filling in the detail. However, his inability to choose a path created a jumbled mess of a plot, with a lot of holes, a lot of flat characters, and a lot of improbable leaps of faith. There were numerous passages in the novel that were inexplicably detailed, such as any time the forensic examiner is talking and when the film expert is explaining how his machinery works. It was as if the author learned these details during the course of his research and wanted to put them in the book even if it was forced. And boring. Like reading a lecture. That is boring. The murder side plot was completely unnecessary, and the two plots lead to a ridiculous ending that made no sense in any way, shape, or form. And then there's....

The Ugly: The narrative layout of this book was, at times, so terrible as to make the book unreadable. The focus shifts between the PI, the detective, and the rapist-murderer (RM). The sections featuring the RM were laughably terrible. Those sections were cliche-ridden, and used imagery that was meant to shock but was really pretty tame. The RM's motivation was never clear, he had a silly connection to the film, and his entire narrative was honestly just stupid. For most of the book the prose is normal but two chapters are, for whatever reason, given gimmicky layouts (one chapter is set to music, for some reason, and the other is scattered across the page, Danielewski-style). Why? I don't know, and the author probably doesn't either.

Overall the book was just okay. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, though. The author may have a promising future if he can partner with a more experienced editor who can help him focus his ideas.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first: This book was FANTASTIC.

But be warned: this book is not for everybody. You will encounter obsession, bizarre sexual acts of various kinds, death, rape, murder, profanity and blasphemy, sometimes in bizarre descriptions and in gritty writing. It was definitely different...actually over-the-top in a pulp fiction way. I enjoyed the originality of it and I respect the author's creativity. I enjoyed this book despite its sometimes really graphic language and what have you. I was kept on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was happening.

The premise is absolutely marvelous and one of the reasons why I was hooked from page one. I always thought of Thomas Edison and the Lumieres brothers as the inventors of film. But it turns out others may have got there first, without ever taking credit for their work. What if the movies were the invention of French man Augustin Sekuler who got on a train ready to unveil his invention but mysteriously vanished forever? The author has taken the real life story of inventor Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince and crafted a dark and sophisticated suspense mystery thriller around the inventor’s disappearance on a train in 1890.

OK, now on to the details.

The book follows Alex Whitman, an expert movie memorabilia dealer as he is hired by a shady movie collector to find Seance Infernale, the first film in history, a film alleged to have been made by the french Sekuler before he vanished on the train bound for Paris in 1890. This proves to be a difficult quest for Whitman as his pursuit leads him to the darkness and mystery of the Scottish city of Edinburgh, the same place where his missing daughter, Ellie, vanished never to be heard from again in a string of disappeared and probably murdered young girls. In the beginning of the story, we realize that the disappearances are still on-going as a dark figure targets further young victims. But what's the link between the current deaths, & events from a century ago?

The search for the film is broken by a parallel investigation into the disappearances by determined young Scottish police detective, DS Georgina McBridge, until her search finally meets with Whitman’s.

The answers lie deep in history, from the fateful train journey and the horrors of the inventor’s life to the unsettling Swiss countryside and the dark and dingy mysteries of Edinburgh, all leading to the present day.

The book combines pulp fiction, dark history, a Gothic atmosphere, creepy subplots and some unsettling descriptions that made me want to sleep with the light on.

This is also the kind of book that is intricately designed and forces you to half-smile while reading it; very well written, full of witty film references - I liked the nods to the Maltese Falcon, Apocalypse Now, and also the reference to the killer from Fritz Lang’s M.

The edge of your seat scavenger hunt revolves a lot around locations in the city of Edinburgh, which really comes alive in this book. I quickly obsessed with the story and the location alike, ever since I started reading the Edinburgh chapters I felt that I was walking around there and the descriptions of the architecture, the old buildings were beautiful. It really gives you this feeling of being there with the characters. There are a lot of references to places and trivia (as well as an extensive reference section) and I kept googling as I was reading to make my experience even better, I even found a wonderful blog that has pictures of the city and that was just brilliant, after reading this book I can’t wait for us to visit.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book, I was very impressed. It is one of my top reads so far this year.

Highly recommended.


Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

[Cat Jenkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed and had to quit a little over 50 pages in.

The idea and some of the foreshadowing of things to come interested me, but (and I'm really sorry to say this) the writing was just plain bad. So very, very bad. It was like a first-time student of creative writing who tries really REALLY hard to find fresh, new ways to describe things and actions, and completely forgets that without effective communication, there is no story. For instance, here is a passage describing a man walking from his seat into the dining car on a train:

"He traversed into the carriage where the restaurant was located, feeling the cracking barrage blaring from underneath his feet. He ordered a sandwich and sat at a nearby table, jolted by the train's undulations."

That's just one example. The book is rife with these attempts to be more poetic or to jog the reader into seeing things anew. For me, it was just clumsy and weak and detracted from enjoying the journey of reading. And the inclusion of too much detail regarding cameras and film, etc. was another obstacle. It felt like a case of someone with too much expertise, or someone who's done too much research and wants to use it ALL, no matter the detrimental effect.

Maybe my soul's not poetic enough... But DNF. A shame, because I liked the concept.

[Adam L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a crazy read. What a ride. Overall I enjoyed this novel. (What does that say about me?) I could have done without some of the more graphic and unsettling descriptions in the story which is really about a man looking for the first film made in history. But all in all this book is oddly entertaining and a good, quick read. It is influenced from Palahniuk, Easton Ellis, Danielewski and Dan Brown.

[Deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did this book have even a passing acquaintance with an editor?

1. The timeline is wonky. Augustin Sekuler (a spoof on secular? I'll never know) married his wife in 1885; good. They had two children, great. In 1889, he "convinced [his wife] and the children to secure a suitable New York venue..." Why would children no more than 3 years old have to help with a venue? Furthermore, Augustin disappeared in 1890, and two years before that, in Edinburgh, his daughter Zoe disappeared and was never seen again -- except to help book a venue across the pond a year later, I guess. And the daughter's disappearance happened while her brother, who could have been no older than 2, was left watching her while the mother ran an errand.

2. One historical character is Aleister Crowley, disguised only with the anagrammed name of Carlyle Eistrowe. A historical piece of evidence is a letter from Not-Crowley written in 1889 and far too mature and full of life experience given that Crowley would have been only 14. I'm not sure why Crowley is being at all disguised even if he does turn out to be a villain, as it's widely known he was, to put it bluntly, an evil douche poser. Thomas Edison appears as himself and is clearly depicted as a snaky patent thief.

3. Unfinessed writing. Telling without showing, to the point of presenting parts of the investigation as exposition. Overwritten passages: "...crossing the parking lot of a gas station bathed in the veraman phosphorescence of mercury vapor, he froze in front of the beige-colored Toyota Celica."

4. I was (trying to) read an e-book, and one part said, "On his way to the airport, he made a stop at the xxx(illegible)xxx, and two streets down..." PROOFREAD THE GODDAMN ELECTRONIC SCANS. I will NEVER stop bitching about errors in e-books because nobody can be bothered to double-check and fix things. NEVER. And just in case it reads that way on purpose...

...there are also parts in the Notes that are gibberish, and footnotes that look like Chinese hanzi and Wingdings drank too much ouzo and had a love child. I'm not sure if these are scanning errors or a secret code or if they're just something artsy-fartsy that I don't get, and don't want to, because I'm kinda lowbrow that way. But I suspect this is trying to pull off something like Marisha Pessl's Night Film (which I read all the way through against my will and which annoyed the shit out of me) or Danielewski's House of Leaves (which I found too pretentious to get more than 75 pages into). Not for me.

Final verdict: It seems like it could be an interesting story, but life is too short and my TBR pile is too high for purple prose and various confusions.

[Geoff. Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story, filled with lore (mostly true) about who made the first film. That story is set in tandem with the story of a serial killer, the latter of which, for one reader, detracts from the first story line. What one reader would like to see come from this debut novel is a novel that focuses on DS McBride. The rating is 4 stars because, again, for one reader, the end of the novel (Part VII) was really rather a let down.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit too violent for my tastes - but that's just my own tastes. It was, without a doubt, thrilling, mysterious and, for those who like their mysteries tempered with psychology - you'll love this book. One of the best parts of it is that he certainly has done his homework. I knew what a ruthless, amoral businessman Edison was, for example, but that information rarely comes out in common cultural references. I'm not saying he actually was involved in this wholly fictional work, but the portrayal is accurate. So were the references to so many of the film industry pioneers.

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

“All those things you fear will reach from into the shadows and pull you down there with them.”

Seance Infernale is an intense thriller following Alex Whitman on his journey to find a piece of film, only rumored to exist. In America, Thomas Edison is credited with building the first camera known to capture motion pictures. In France, the Lumber brothers. But one year before Edison filed his patent, a man named Augustin Sekular is rumored to have built and filmed the world’s first motion picture camera. Conveniently, or rather inconveniently, one year before Edison files for his patent, Sekular vanished from a train, never to be seen or heard from again, taking all signs of the camera with him.

However, the man hiring Whitman to find this lost piece of film isn’t interested in any of the film strips by Sekular known and catalogued. He wants one so rare, it is only whispered about: Seance Infernale. A film only referred to in a letter by a man known in history to be a conman of sorts.

This book is more than a hunt for rare art. More than a historical mystery yearning to be solved. We learn that Whitman lost his daughter ten years prior. Abducted in a park in Edinburgh and never heard from again, she haunts Whitman. His acceptance of this job, and this hunt for Sekular’s film takes him back to the city filled with ghosts. Whitman will have to face his own ghosts, while searching for Sekular’s.

“Sources failed to indicate Sekular’s exact Edinburgh address, they stated that the family lived in a perilous region, full of seedy businesses, dark alleys, and run-down tenements, a place “where wickedness loses its seductive appeal by manifesting in all its depravity.”

Whitman isn’t the only perspective we get; however. In addition to his hunt for this mythical film, a Detective Sergeant, Georgina McBride is hunting an elusive creature of a different sort. A serial killer prowling the streets of Edinburgh, kidnapping children and leaving their bodies in alleys. Georgina needs to find his latest victim while there’s still a chance they are alive.

Two different people searching for two different things, and yet their paths cross in unpredictable ways. But the more each of them discovers, the more they realize their searches are more dangerous than either one ever anticipated.

“Because a murder investigation is first and foremost a hired investigation; your client may be silent and dead, but he is still screaming out for justice.”

This book shocked me! I was expecting a hunt through time to solve a lost mystery. But, the present day twists with McBride’s serial killer hunt kept me on my toes! It was easy to lulled into the mystery of this lost film, and what happened to Sekular. As soon as you got comfortable in that story, you were slammed into the present day with the hunt for this killer. In addition, we get some narration from Elliot, the killer himself, told in such a way that you aren’t sure who he is going to end up being, or why he is important to Whitman and this film.

There is graphic violence in this book, both in what Elliot does to his victims and some flashbacks of other scenes in characters lives. One particular scene of animal cruelty was two pages I skipped, it was that grotesque. So, if that sort of violence unnerves you or makes you queasy, this may not be the book for you.

As far as dark thrillers, this book is crazy dark and crazy intense. I was climbing the walls, reading between my fingers, and definitely leaving the lights on to make it through this book! The author does a fantastic job weaving characters in and out of the plot, and just when you’ve forgotten about someone, they pop back in to play. He has a talent for making you look to the left and then hitting you from the right. Every twist and turn was like plummeting down a roller coaster blind folded. It is exhilarating but also terrifying.

My favorite parts are when we are taken below ground into ancient and forgotten parts of Edinburgh. Areas simply entombed over in the name of progress. Skariton does an insane job bringing places to life. I could taste the dust and smell the stale air as crypts and catacombs were discovered and explored. And nothing says creepy more than underground houses, forgotten tunnels and old graveyards.

“You could have walked past it every day on the way to work and you wouldn’t have noticed it, padlocked behind doors or hidden underground. It was right there, for everyone to see, yet it was unknown. But that was Edinburgh, revealing itself only in the constant vigilance of dark, steady eyes.”

I did read this as an ARC, so there were some pieces that seemed incomplete. I don’t mean the writing, it’s more the presentation of the book. This is a book that has art within the book, and with those pieces missing, it felt a little confusing. Some were there, but notes at the bottom and the notes in the back seemed to not quite be finished, so I didn’t feel that I got the entire experience.

The hardest thing, and again, this may be fixed in a final copy, is there weren’t any years in the chapter headers. The book is divided into sections with the date (month and day) listed at the beginning of each section. But, the narration jumps between the years quite a bit and it can get confusing, especially as we are reading between multiple points of view. It isn’t overwhelming, but I did have to backtrack a few times to figure out where I was supposed to be.

In all, this book was perfect for October reading and for the #spookathon. It will leave your heart racing and your stomach churning as you hold your breath waiting to read the outcome. If you like dark, if you love thrillers, and you don’t mind some intense violence, this book is definitely for you!

I won this in a giveaway from AA Knopf, and was not required or obligated to review.

[Alan Darnowsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book so you don't have to. The book is sloppily written and edited. At first I thought I was reading a bad translation. The characters are wooden speaking wooden dialogue. The plot makes no sense at all. A lot of the plot depends on the geography of Edinburgh which is confusingly described by the author. This is not the worst book I have ever read. The author does show some promise but he needs to learn how to write.

[J. Elliott]

This is more for myself to remember than a review. It got me at first with the title--I'm all for a story about a séance. Lost film mystique? Bonus. Got about halfway and found it just too dark and yicky for me. Life is too grim already, don't want to read grim and grisly when it's supposed to be pleasure.
Not going to do stars as I really don't know how to rate it. Well written, I was chooching along until I just felt like scrubbing with a wire pad. I love mysteries and thrillers, but this is beyond my comfort zone. Giving it a one star rating just because I didn't like it doesn't seem fair. It may float someone else's boat...I can't do most modern horror films either.

[A_Place_In The_Orchard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting premise, and it tries hard to be intriguing. But it is one of the most un-engaging novels I've ever tried to read. Finally gave up about a quarter of the way through when I realized I simply didn't care.

[David Grassé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some brilliant passages and ideas marred by pedestrian plot twists. The writer is probably capable of "Foucault's Pendulum" but got mired in "The DaVinci Code"

[Frank DiPrimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

great debut novel. Dark, moving psychological thrill. Alex Whitman, a top movie movie memorabilia dealer hired by Valdano. He goes on a search in Edingurgh for a copy of supposedly the first motion picture ever. there are attempts on his life, his leads disappear or are killed - who is after him and why, is he looking for te movie or his little irl who disappeared years ago

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why this book didn't get better reviews-I loved it. There were just some parts that I didn't like-that was the flashback cruelty to a cat (I can't handle that stuff) and the horrific description of burnt bodies. Anyway, this book is based on a true mystery-of the man who supposedly really invented the motion picture camera. In reality his name is Louis Le Prince, in the book it's Augustin. He vanished and Edison took credit and filed the patent for the device. People have always suspected foul play but it's an unsolved mystery. The main character's job is searching for lost films and lost film objet's d'art (which is pretty cool!). The book is also a love letter to Edinburgh. You get to go above ground, underground, and to a lot of cool spots in the book that you can google and see IRL. There is also a crime/mystery serial killer thing happening and it all winds together. And at the very end, a nod to gothic ghost stories. So to me, it had it all.

[The Cannibal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Messieurs et mesdames de chez Sonatine, vous pouvez bien envoyer des pralines à Amnezik et Stelphique, car sans leurs chroniques (admirez mes rimes), jamais je n'aurais acheté un roman qui faisait un parallèle avec "La Conspiration des ténèbres" de Theodore Roszak !!

Ce roman dont le 4ème me jurait , la main sur coeur : "Emmenez ce livre le matin sur la plage et sachez que vous n'irez pas déjeuner, certainement pas dîner non plus. La Conspiration des ténèbres est hypnotique. On a du mal à s'en relever."

Le roman ne s'est jamais relevé de son vol plané, en effet… Même pas dépassé la page 100 de cette "Conspiration des ténèbres".

Donc, avec un tel postulat de départ, fallait des chroniques en béton armé et une confiance absolue dans mes deux lascars pour acheter le livre !

J'ai eu raison de leur faire confiance car je viens de passer un excellent moment de lecture dans le monde du cinéma.

Voilà un thriller que nos amis cinéphiles peuvent lire, et même ceux qui en savent moins sur le 7ème art, ils iront se coucher moins bête et auront droit à une belle poussée d'adrénaline avec quelques courses afin de résoudre des énigmes, un peu comme dans la carte au trésor, les hélicos en mois et les tueurs aux trousses en plus.

Sans être une mordue de cinéma classiques, hormis quelques titres cités que je ne connaissais pas, pour le reste, c'était dans mes cordes. Donc, le côté ciné ne doit pas vous rebuter, en plus, l'auteur ayant étudié la chose, il nous éclaire vraiment sur le sujet, ce qui ne fait jamais de mal à nos petites cellules grises.

Comme je le disais, ce qui commence par une simple recherche d'un film disparu et dont on n'est même pas sûr qu'il ait existé, va, de pellicule en bobine, se révéler bien plus difficile et plus dangereux qu'il n'y paraissait de prime abord.

Tel un Indiana Jones devenant le professeur Langdon, en moins sexy et moins érudit, notre Alex Whitman va se retrouver aux prises avec une énigme laissée par Sekuler (à ne pas prononcer à la bruxelloise "Sukkeler" – avoir des difficultés) et quelques cadavres dans les placards.

Ajoutons à cela un tueur en série et des disparitions de petites filles, dont celle de Whitman, il y a 10 ans, et vous comprendrez que dans ce thriller, on ne se contentera pas de fouiner dans des archives à la recherche d'un film et qu'on risque plus gros que des éternuements en cascade.

Mon seul bémol sera pour le fait que dans les livres, les protagonistes arrivent toujours à résoudre les énigmes, quelles qu'elles soient, alors que de mon côté, je rame toujours sur la plupart des contrepèteries du Canard Enchaîné ! Mais bon, sans cela, le roman n'avancerait plus et s'arrêterait au milieu.

Avec une écriture qui pulse, une mise en page qui détonne à certains moments (et qui étonne) et des personnages plaisants, ce thriller se lit en même pas deux jours tant on a envie de savoir ce qui se trame derrière ce foutu film dont personne n'a jamais entendu parler, et surtout, qui sont les gars derrière eux et ce qu'ils veulent.

Non, je ne ferai pas la lumière sur l'affaire, ni ne vous mettrai au courant, z'avez qu'a le lire, tien ! Et puis, où serait le plaisir si je spoliais tout ?

En tout cas, comme quoi les chroniques des blogueurs sont importantes, parce que je le redis haut et fort, sans mes loulous cités plus haut, jamais je n'aurais acheté un livre qui se vantait d'être comme un autre que j'ai fait voler en travers du salon.

Un thriller dont on regrette le clap de fin mais qui, comme un bon film d'action, nous apaise car on sait que nos personnages peuvent dormir en paix : le mystèèère est levé.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this from an ARC, early enough that the numerous annotations were not complete, but it looks like the author intends there to be some really cool footnotes about the real-world movies involved in the story. What lent the story extra meaning to me was that I was reading it while commuting to and from a festival of classic movies, taking place just a short distance from one of the locations in the story.
The book involves two mysteries, being investigated in parallel. The odd thing is that one of the mysteries is over a century old, while the other is relatively contemporary [early 2000s?].
The older mystery surrounds one of the pioneers of motion pictures, telling a strangely fictionalized version of a real person's life, but mutating the name weirdly, and adding both realistic and mystical aspects to an already strange story of invention and disappearance.
The modern mystery is about a really creepy serial killer. The link between them is that the father of one of the victims is a collector and salvager of old film material, but one with no scruples. Thus, he has saved some things from oblivion, but only for his own purposes and/or profit.
I had a bit of a problem with how much of a jerk the main character was, which weakened some parts of the ending, and with how obvious the identity of the serial killer was. I mean, he stood out like a sore thumb to the reader by the end of chapter 3, but neither the grieving father nor the police ever seemed to investigate him. That seemed odd. Another character, "revealed" near the end of the book, wasn't much of a surprise either, so I wasn't sure what the author was thinking. I still can't figure out one of the bad guys, Valdano, because one of the scenes only made sense if he had given his thugs an instruction which they interpreted as "Kill him, and then interrogate him."
The mystical aspects of the earlier mystery were remarkably creepy. The puzzle-letter and the code-breaking didn't feel like the author had thought them through as carefully, because the person leaving the clues had absolutely no way of knowing if certain of them would survive to be discovered. Also, there was the huge supply of "flammable only when needed" nitrate film stock that ran through several scenes in the story.
So, the flaws kept me from giving the book more than three stars. It's still worth reading if you're interested in the history of movies or in the culture of collectors, but there were some correctable flaws left in, at least in this last ARC.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Séance Infernale, Jonathan Skariton does a devilish bait and switch. The author, and the dust jacket, promise readers a (possibly weird) tale of a long lost piece of film made under curious circumstances whose creator disappeared mysteriously on the train from Dijon to Paris, the victim of either Thomas Edison or dark forces (which, if you think about it, are kind of the same thing). Instead, we're presented with a straight-outta-Patterson serial killer story, which fails to even rise to the level of mystery since we spend half the book inside the killer's mind, seeing exactly who he is and what he's up to.

Alex Whitman, a movie memorabilia dealer, is hired by a collector to track down a possibly apocryphal piece of film by Augustin Sekuler. If it exists, it would be the first film ever made, but its history, and that of Sekuler himself, are shrouded in mystery. Whitman takes the job, even though - perhaps because - it will bring him back to Edinburgh, where his daughter went missing over a decade ago, causing the collapse of his marriage and career, and where her kidnapper still stalks the young girls of the city.

Whitman is basically Arturo Perez Reverte's The Club Dumas's Lucas Corso done in crayon, poorly written and provided a tortured backstory that makes almost no sense (see: the unnecessary flashback sequence where his cat is burned alive), and the other characters are equally flat. The serial killer is of the I Don't Just Kill People I Do It With a Weird and Complex Aesthetic type, and I resented every moment spent on him (about half the book) because it took me away from the one interesting feature of the novel: the twisted and fascinating history of Sekuler's lost film and his involvement with Edison and an almost-Crowley. Unfortunately, Skariton seemed much less interested in that thread, and, having blatantly ripped off Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep in passing, drops it.

It's possible that Skariton didn't deliberately set out to cheat readers and that the misdirection is the fault of his publisher's marketing team, but even that generous interpretation does nothing to explain away the stiff and unconvincing characterization, poor plotting, and needless violence toward felines (nope, not forgiving that one), and readers coming here looking for a weird tale of film history are better directed to Pessl's imperfect but vastly superior Night Film.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Whitman is haunted by his daughter Ellie's kidnapping and presumed death by a serial killer in Scotland. Since Ellie's disappearance, Whitman dulls his pain by immersing himself in the world of vintage movie memorabilia: "the loss set him on a course for his next find, whatever that might be, wherever it may take him." His obsessions collide in Séance Infernale, Jonathan Skariton's debut thriller.

Whitman, living in Los Angeles, travels to his native Edinburgh for the first time since Ellie's disappearance to acquire the earliest moving picture, "Séance Infernale." There he is stunned to learn that Ellie's abductor may be kidnapping again. In alternating voices the characters come into focus. The serial killer reveals his accelerating madness. Edinburgh Detective Georgina McBride is working against the clock, and outside department regulations, to find the killer before he chooses another child. Whitman, whose nightmares of Ellie have increased as he unravels the film's mystery, makes an alliance with McBride as she moves closer to uncovering the killer.

"Two objects can't interact without leaving traces on each other," says one detective, and indeed the slightest convergence of events are often more than they seem. As the alternating points of view let readers know what is happening outside Whitman's reality, he is still unaware, and the omniscient knowledge creates an emotional investment in the characters and a feeling of urgency as the killer moves closer to his target. When Whitman finally discovers the film's horrible secret, it leads him to the answers that bring down a monster.

- reviewed for Shelf Awareness 9/2/17

[Megan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seance infernale follows Alex Whitman as he learns about the possibility of a film by Sekuler. If this film exists it would rewrite history, as the first film ever created years before the Lumiere brothers and Edison claim to achieve motion pictures.

The main tale is interwoven with Sekuler's last days and the tale of Whitman's kidnapped and murdered daughter. The three tales mirror each other and eventually converge in modern day Edinburgh.

There are multiple POV and I did find them somewhat confusing as there was to immediately know whose POV you were following. The story is fast paced and has a very interesting concept. I don't know that much about film but it seems like the author really did their research.

It seems to me that part of the reason this book wasn't better received was due to marketing. This isn't a ghost story. While it's possible there are some paranormal elements it is such as small part of the story, it's not worth mentioning. This is a mystery thriller, with the heart of the mystery set in the late 1800s.

Overall I would recommend this book to people who enjoy mystery thrillers with a hint of the unknown.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get past page 52. The plot sounded GREAT...but the writing and plot development was lacking. This is Skariton's first book, which I normally don't factor into book selection (everyone has to start somewhere, right?) but upon further investigation into the author I discovered that "He has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology. Skariton works as a cognitive neuroscientist for the largest fragrance manufacturer in the world." (from the Penguin Random House website) This explains a lot (for me, anyway) with regards to his writing and structure, which I would describe as technically proficient - but clumsy. I got the distinct impression that Skariton has a keen interest in the historical person the main character was based on (see the Author's Note at the back of the book) and, while a fictional mystery based on him and the events surrounding his invention and disappearance is a great storyline, Skariton's writing just wasn't up to par.

[Dianne Landry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got to page 65 and brought it back to the library.

The premise is great, a private detective who specializes in movie memorabilia is hired to find the film Séance infernale by Augustin Sekular, the man who allegedly created moving picture years before Edison or the Lumieres and who mysteriously disappeared from a train bound for Paris. Sounds interesting, right? Well, if that was all there was to the story it would be. However, the author has decided to throw in things about Whitman's daughter, who was kidnapped 10 years earlier and something to do with his fear of fire.

These things are obviously tied in to the other story here about some weirdo serial killer who stalks women who have daughters and who can only have sex when he is drunk and thinks of fire. Added to that is the story of the police detective who is trying to track down this serial killer.

It all way too jumbled and not very well written. Yawn, I have too many other books on my list to be bothered.

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many unanswered questions equated this to only three stars.

The premise is great, Alex Whitman, a hunter of rare film and memorabilia, is in the tenth year of a hunt for his missing daughter and clues to a missing rare film he's been hired to find help him in his search whilst a killer resurfaces on the streets of Edinburgh after ten years.

What happened to Augustin Sekular on the train to Paris?

What was going on with the bodies of Zoe Sekular and Carlyle Eistrowe on the old film?

How were Whitman & Co followed into the Keepers of the Frame when the door was locked thoroughly behind them and nobody else was stated to have given the password?

Was Elliot always the killer? Why did he stop for ten years?

If those questions had been answered this would've been a five star book but alas they were not and although I still enjoyed it, a sense of mystery entombs the enjoyment.

Definitely worth reading, a great debut novel.

[Dan Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a touch of the supernatural, gobs of pulp tropes, plenty of narrow escapes and double-crosses, "Seance Infernale" takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear (to coin a phrase) when gothic adventures poured out of the pens of writers across the civilized world.
True, Mr. Skariton mars his debut by twice saying someone was 'surrounded on three sides' and he tells of enough hearts 'pounding' to create a cardiac ward. But we pass on such minor stumbles in order to enjoy the thrill of the hunt and the explorations of film history scattered throughout, most heavily in the first chapter. Mostly the prose feels as if it could have been minted a century ago; the setting is Edinburgh which is used to fine effect. Fans of Thomas Alva Edison might cringe at the portrait presented, but he does make a fine historical villain.
Recommended.

[Allison Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yup. Def getting softer as I age. Went from the last book of real deaths, to this book about more deaths. Trigger warning: torture of children and animals.

A memorabilia dealer gets hired to find the first film ever made (which was unknown to most people and not credited for it). That inventor had gone missing so this fella is looking for that, coupled with this dudes personal trauma and loss of his daughter and both stories kind of tie in together.

The reading felt clunky and it was written in a way where your could tell a man wrote it. There’s a scene where he checks out a woman whose house he essentially broke into and after checking her out they make out. 😒 Not saying it’s not possible but like, common.

I started to like it more past the halfway point but this was an “eh” read for me

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Головний герой Алан Вітмен, щось типу Індіана Джонс тільки по фільмах, ну типу шукає якісь раритетні копії, постери і тому подібне.
- В новій справі йому потрібно знайти оригінал першого в історії фільму, який зник за загадкових обставин. Наш герой прямує до Единбурга, де тригериться його стара травма - зникнення доньки. Паралельно поліція розслідує зникнення та вбивства дівчат.
- Потім головний герой бігає туда сюда, знайомиться з пр��внучкою автора першого фільму, обєднується з поліцейською, згодом на нього полює замовник, потім десь бігають чи то під землею чи то в місті.
- До половини книги було цікаво читати. Далі в голові такий мем: "wait, what?". Мотиви вбивці шаблонні і невмотивовані. Звязок кінострічки із вбивством витягнутий за вуха. Дуже багато нестиковок у датах та подіях.

[Kim McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts out strong with a movie memorabilia detective hired to find a rare bit of film that could prove to be the first moving picture ever made. The problem is that the inventor, Augustin Sekuler, and his invention disappeared off a train never to be seen again and the film lost forever.
There is a sub-plot with Alex, the movie detective, being obsessed with the disappearance of his daughter. As Alex gets closer to the film secrets he and those around him are thrown deeper in danger. Part ghost story, part historical mystery and part crime noir this debut draws you in until you don't know if what you are reading is real or part of the Alice down the rabbit hole madness. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Kelly Elizatv · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book on audible, so it was a listen for me.

I enjoyed the narration. He was quit good. He had accents, and voices for each character. He was a great narrator.

I only got about half or so way though before I had to stop. I enjoyed the book a lot up until I got to the chapter I believe titled ‘Pluto’ this chapter has a quit detailed description of animal abuse. As an animal lover it made me sick and nauseous. I cried for the animal and couldn’t get it out of my head. This chapter ruined the book for me and I couldn’t read on. If ur an animal lover read this with caution.

Like I said I enjoyed the book up until that chapter. Its very creative and was taken in by it. My 3 stars is of my over all experience with the book. Narration and everything.

- thankx for reading

[Sarah Furger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect Halloween read! I am not a film buff by any means and had to google more than once, which is great! Skariton is incredibly good at creating atmosphere and a gloomy air of foreboding lingers over the entire novel. I loved that the spookiness was both paranormal (ghosts, visions, etc.) and very real - the creepiest serial killer I’ve read about in a long time, child abduction, and the worst cat death ever. (It’s not really central to the plot but it was graphic. Seriously sickened me a little. Warning to animal lovers and those who can’t handle children in deadly situations!!) I loved this novel and can’t wait for more from Skariton.

[Ann Otto · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fan of history and early films, this novel about the possible true inventor of moving pictures was intriguing. Did Augustin Sekuler actually invent motion pictures before Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers? Skariton imagines how this may have happened through describing an investigator's attempt to find a film, Seance Infernale, which could prove it. In the process, he discovers that someone else is obsessed with the film and is using it for horrific purposes. The author weaves several plots together well for a good read.

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed in what sounded like an intriguing book. The idea of following a character as he searches for what may be the first motion picture, lost since the 1880's, was promising; and the parts about that search were interesting (despite the fact that the searcher was kind of a jerk.) But a parallel plot about a serial killer who abducts small girls was unpleasant and although I'm sure the two plots come together at some point, I won't know since I stopped reading about a third of the way through after more unpleasantness.