Seed of Evil

by Greig Beck

There’s something growing deep in the old Angel Mine – Something the Native Americans warned us about – And now it’s rising again.Mitch Taylor, ex-Special Forces medic, is seeking a quiet life in the town of Eldon. Tragedy has dogged his life, and he sees the small friendly place as a second chance. But buried deep below the friendly smiles and quaint painted houses is an old abandoned mine that holds a legend of an ancient and terrible god.In the mine’s labyrinthine depths, something has been growing, something from a time of myth when ancient gods strode the Earth and mankind hadn’t even stood on two legs.But when the earth shakes and the groundwater rises, it reaches out and those it touches begin to deform and reshape into the image of their god. Their one goal—to feed their ancient master deep below the ground.Mitch Taylor soon finds himself fighting again, this time for the town, the ones he loves, and for his life.The Seed of Evil is a horrifying legend of an ancient god that turned out to be real.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Monsters, Ebooks, Fantasy, Supernatural

176 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2021

About the author

Hi GoodReaders, I’m an Australian author residing in Sydney with my wife, son and a mad Golden Retriever named Jessie. My novels are now available globally, also in Large Print and now in full AUDIO format.

I grew up spending my days surfing at Bondi Beach before entering a career in Information technology which took me around the world. After completing an MBA, i was appointed both an Australasian director of a multinational software company, and tasked with setting up the USA arm of the organisation.

Today, I spend most of my time writing... with plenty left over for surfing.

More information about me and my works can be found at either www.greigbeck.com, or join me on FaceBook (Greig Beck Author).

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really pained me to give Greig Beck a 3/5. I regard him as a superior writer, especially after reading Fathomless. For anyone who has not read that yet, I consider it the best shark-based story that I’ve ever read. Now Seeds of Evil started out well with our protagonist Mitch, who is a combat veteran and comes home to lose his wife to cancer, and takes off to start a new life, as a doctor in a small town. Now this had sort of an Arachnophobia feel with the new doctor in town trying to figure out what was happening with the residents disappearing and dying. And Mitch is very likeable in a lot of ways. I felt that it was a very strange choice to almost ignore his war trauma and even his deceased wife after the introduction and supposed impact of both. Even as he is being courted by a single mother in this new town, there should have been references to his wife. And as he’s racing around speaking to shamans and watching people transform into servants of a tree god, there were just tons of spots where his military service could have been brought in. So those two things were huge, missed opportunities to give some further depth to Mitch. I also didn’t care for the ending at all. It felt very abrupt and incomplete. And after reading several of Beck’s other stories, which were completely fulfilling, this entire adventure felt rushed and underdeveloped. And it had some great settings, a really unique premise, and some wonderful characters to work with. It just, unfortunately, didn’t get fleshed out enough to warrant a higher rating. So, while I didn’t totally dislike this book, I found a lot of misfires throughout.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story had good bones, but it was too short...it needed to a full-length book instead of a novella. The entire book is 176 pages. This monster should have had a lot more! There wasn't enough background making what could have been what I had come to expect from a Greg Beck book...a fantastic story with a real nightmare of a monster. Instead, it just felt rushed and a bit incomplete. The hero of the story, Mitch was wishy-washy and so unwilling, or maybe unsure, to put his plans into action...questioning nearly every possible move. I kept thinking "Monsters don't come with instruction manuals...DO SOMETHING...ANYTHING!! He knew...or at least strongly suspected what was feasting on the citizens of this town, but he kept questioning everything that he came up with to stop it. I was almost convinced the monster was going to win this one. If you are a fan of Beck, the first 60% of this will be right up your alley. The last...just felt unfinished.

[Cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beck doesn’t disappoint with his fast paced, creative creatures, and refreshing entertainment in his writing skills. Native Americans would send their captives in the Angel Cave to feed their God. The God still lives in the present day and reappears to infect a town through the water. People are changing and disappearing.

[Katrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es war kurz und unterhaltsam, daher auch sehr schnell zu lesen.

Das Ende kam dann aber viel zu plötzlich.
Gefühlt fehlte da mindestens ein weiteres Kapitel zwischen.

[Wade Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Not great but not bad either. Don't a LOT of time meandering on pointless scenes and dialogue which could have been used to flesh out THE VERY RUSHED and abrupt ending. Yet still found time to put in an end stinger "ending". Rather let down by this novel. I won't give up on this author just yet though. He writes rather quickly and has an extensive bibliography.

[❀ Crystal ✿ - PEACE ☮ LOVE ♥ BOOKS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really thrilling read. It reminded me of a decent made for tv sci-fi film. There was decent buildup and background on the MC in the beginning who eventually finds himself taking a doctoral job in a small middle of nowhere town. A town with a rather sordid and secretive history. Little does he know the area is plagued by an ancient enemy and after remaining asleep for the past fifty years, it’s awake and hungering once again. The MC struggles with learning about this ailment and feeling helpless when it comes to saving the town. I really thought it was well thought out for such a short read. It also had the typical cliche horror end but it worked for the story and I fully appreciate that fact. Excellent creepy read, another score from Greig Beck.

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love Greig Beck's books, but that was just blegh. I'm not sure if this is perhaps his earlier writing, but I couldn't stand any characters nor the storyline.

[Janice Ferro · Rating 1 out of 5]

The protagonist seems like a moron. Is supposedly a doctor, yet walks off towards a contaminated area without any protection and screams off into the darkness like the perfect bait for whatever is out there. What did he expect? A unicorn?
Can't deal with characters who make stupid decisions right off the bat. It's understandable when terrible decisions are made under duress or during something catastrophic to the mental, emotional or physical state of the subject, but this? This was not it.

[Dane Bovee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75+
Quick little read that kept me entertained. The writing style was good and the suspense was well played out. The ending was not my favorite but the plot as a whole and ideas imagined in this book were worth the short read.

[BookzBookzBookz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Easter holiday hindered my completion of this book, since I had family over, cooked meals daily and so forth. But once the house cleared out, it was on! Whenever a Greig Book kicks off, all others are set aside. I was currently reading three books (one audio, one physical and one audiobook), but they’re all set aside when Greig’s books make the scene. Seed of Evil was no different.

A short story, Seed of Evil tells of an ancient evil that’s way too close for my own comfort. The story takes place in Eldon, MO... less than a three hour drive from my house. Beginning with the Otoe Missouria tribes, people are used as “servants” for an angry god. A curse better set to other tribes, it is fed and goes to sleep. But returns to the people of Eldon. After a grim death, people are disappearing. Some with strange, never-before seen rashes show up in the doctor’s office. Then... attacks by strange creatures. what’s happening to the people of Eldon and can it be stopped?

I honestly can’t say much more, without telling what takes place. The best part about Seed of Evil is Mitch, the hero of the story. Well, I also liked John Nightbird, but Mitch was a man who’d been plagued by misfortune. He’d lost a great deal but still managed to look on the bright side. He didn’t give up, not even at the end of the story. It’s an excellent characteristic and it made him amazing. I liked him; not one time did I fuss at him for making foolish decisions- Greg on the other hand... and I liked him too!

For a quick read, Seed of Evil is a good choice. Check it out- Cheers!

[Jacques Hollands · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seed of Evil was a fun read. It was creative and almost entirely believable. The book would make a great movie or tv series.

My only gripe was that the book is a bit short. I listened to it on Audible, and it was barely longer than 5 hours. I generally enjoy books in the 14 to 20-hour bracket, but Seed of Evil did not feel rushed. It set the background, developed some of the characters rather nicely and provided an ending that surprised me. I don’t want to give away spoilers, but don’t expect a typical outcome. Perhaps there will be a sequel, but I hope not. I would like the story to end where it did and leave me wondering what the consequences were.

As a novella, I wanted to rate it 4.5 stars, but rounded it up to 5 stars since the storyline was so original. Sure, there are better books, but this one surprised me. Yes, there are some clichés in the story, such as the mayor who did not want to bring in outside authorities, fearing that the town’s tourism industry would be ruined. But that is precisely what a cliché is – the expected becomes true.

I haven’t read any of Beck’s Primordia series and only the prequel of the Alex Hunter series. Still, he is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. His other books are generally outstanding and very entertaining.

[PJ Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, weak payoff

I really enjoyed this novella, but I think I might have been better drawn out as a full blown novel. I love Beck’s writing, and I could hear Sean reading the words in my head as I flipped through the pages. However, this story arc was shaped more like a rollercoaster with just one hill. A lot of build up followed by a very quick and fairly unsatisfactory ending.

If you are a fan of Beck, the first 80% of this will be right up your alley. This one was a tad more predictable than usual, but I still couldn’t wait to read the next few pages. It was that last 20% that spoiled it for me. And the epilogue just sort of feeds that disappointment. Frankly, this was a good story that just felt unfinished.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have noticed that Mr Beck's novels do seem to be getting a lot darker of late. This is a nice easy read but somewhat horrific, no happy ending, sorry bit of a spoiler and I do try to avoid them, in this case it cannot be helped. So I am on to the latest Alex Hunter next...

[Scott S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to get more Greig Beck books on my to-read list, they are always entertaining. This one was a fun little "horror" story.

Solid narration

[Laura Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really enjoyed his first several books, but this one in particular is a dud. The writing was overly repetitive, and very predictable. The ending seemed like, “I have to hurry up and end this, I have to meet my deadline.”. I will try another book or two, but if they are like this one, I’m unfollowing Mr. Beck. My advice about this book?! Don’t waste your time.

[Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book needed to be triple in length to fully flesh out some more of the details. It's good, but everything happens far too fast.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best

I wanted to like this book. Beck is very talented but this was generic and poorly written. The author seems unable to settle on descriptions so he utilizes “or” to link together various descriptive phrases. It’s disconcerting and slows down the pace. It needs better editing than it currently has.

The story wasn’t one of his better creations but every author has a hackney in the stable. I’m still looking forward to his next book.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to have spoilers...

As soon as the book started and we read the prologue I knew how the main protagonist would died.
I was not wrong and to be honest I Was not dissapointed with the ride. I enjoy hearing and it was a cool story.

True be told; it's nothing really out of the extradiorinary but it serves the purpose. With under 176 pages or 4/5 hours it's a day of work. Although I've been hearing only a bit at night; when I am puting the clothes hanging and other instances I am doing manual labor.

What we've got here is a tale of a guy who has lost a group of people in the iraq war and now after that trauma, and later losing the wife to cancer he goes to work in a small town. Right from the start stuff starts happening and the story is very fast pace. 36 chapters in 176 pages is like 3 or 4 pages per chapter.

The tale as expected, from all other thrillers, it has fast paces stuff; some history and some resolution and investigation. There is always a bit of romance and that's it. It's a sunday afternoon movie. By next sunday you will not remember much. What was the name of the guy?


It's Mitch.
6/10

[Katharina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Seed of Evil" is a typical Greig Beck novel - male protagonist with some sort of trauma, inexplicable deaths and an old legend that soon turns out to be closer to the truth than anyone would like to admit.
This is a fast-paced read for sure, one I can admit I finished in just a few hours.
The idea is interesting and once the corpses start piling up and an imminent sense of dread builds up, it’s a good read - just way too short for my tastes.
Just when things start to get truly interesting, it’s almost the end.
So, for anyone that likes a quick read about a supernatural entity terrorising the inhabitants of a small town, this should be right up your alley - just don’t get too excited or too attached.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing concept with a decent execution.

Coming from The Ruins as the only other novel that I've read that deals with invading, near-parasitic plants, I was excited to read a new concept that captures the same idea of nature vs man through the scope of horror. Seed of Evil deals with a simple premise about a town being "attacked" by mutated creatures that seem to be made out of weeds and plants. While not exactly the most brilliant, it does work in capturing the reader's imagination and makes you wonder what will happen next. Well, let's say no that much.

I enjoyed the writing and flowing narrative. It feels like a constant stream of words that are easy and enjoyable to digest, simple enough but fills the gaps where it needs to. While it does tend to fall a little into the tell-don't-show conundrum, it still entertained me and never detracted from the actual quality of the novel. The dialogue is a good highlight; it feels human and vivid, working its way through small-town mannerism and the personalities of the characters (although these are more generic) while delivering entertaining conversations.

But writing and technicalities are not my issues with this story. My problem comes from the fact that I found two things to be, well, quite disappointing: The characters are generic "insert-trope", and the events themselves are a massive setup for what in the ends feels like a whimper that ends in a few flings. Starting with the first one, is, well, I'll have to admit, not exactly the worst I've read ever, but one that made just groan and feel bored at times. I was more entertained with the effects that the weeds had in their victims, than whatever else was going on with the characters. You have the ex-military guy that tries to rebuild his life in small town in middle of nowhere; the negligent politician that ignores the warnings of the protagonist; the auxiliary, funny secondary character that helps the protagonist; the enigmatic and spiritual figure that has experience and knowledge with what the protagonist is dealing with; and the usual romantic interest. It is very basic to the core, making them feel forgettable and unoriginal.

As for the events themselves, I believe the problem comes with the fact that the novels spends about 80% of it being about this huge buildup, this massive problem that's slowly getting out of control, and yet, ends in just a few pages right at the end. It feels rushed, unsentimental, and ends up feeling quite generic, ala B movie flick. Granted, this book is, I'd say, a B novel, in the sense that is fast-paced and short, entertaining but nothing deep.

Still, while it could have been better, I don't rank it lower because I still enjoyed it despite its issues. It has some good lines, the story is entertaining, and the buildup created a lot of tension which sadly wasn't fully delivered in a good punch. Even then, I'd recommend if you are a looking for a creature-feature with a fast-paced prose. On the other hand, a similar book that I believe is much better is The Ruins, so read that one too.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is creepy. Not just a little creepy, but maybe-I-shouldn't-read-it-after all creepy. An ancient bit of plant life which seems to have some intelligence is trying to spread its seeds and the way it does it bothered me in all the right ways for a horror story. I'm always a sucker when kids are involved and when, early in the book, the reader starts to learn about the last time this happened it made all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's really hard not to think like the parents in the story watching bad things happen to their kids (although if it were my kid, I'd have had him out of the small town and in a major hospital almost immediately.)

Beck always gives a good tale. This time he delves into a plant that's been growing in a mine for more than ten thousand years—a piece of vegetation that likes a bit of protein in its diet. There are all kinds of creepy clues as to what is happening, but they aren't the sort of thing that a modern person not reading a horror story would necessarily fixate on. So, it's with that wonderful sense of dread that you watch all the wrong things happening. And then the water bottling company gets involved and well, you know it's going to get a lot worse.

The one thing in this book I went back and forth over was the Native American shaman. It sometimes felt as if Beck didn't quite know what he wanted to do with the character. On the one hand, he has both personal knowledge and received lore from hundreds of years of encounters with this plant. On the other, he occasionally does magic and it's not really clear that the magic is, well, magical.

The other thing that troubled me a little is that it was so easy to get to the plant in the bottom of the mine. This was an active mine in modern times and I found it just a tad unbelievable that no one ever followed the mine shafts down to the plant before.

All of that being said, this was a very creepy tale and that made it a lot of fun.

[BRANDON · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deep beneath the town of Eldon, Missouri, evil lies sleeping, waiting for the waters to rise and spread its seed out into the world. Mitch Taylor, M.D. is a retired army medic looking to start a new life after his young bride died from breast cancer. Landing a job in the sleepy little town of Eldon seemed like the perfect opportunity. The job came with great benefits, including a beautiful vice-mayor and her charming son. But Mitch Taylor's arrival in Eldon coincides with the return of an unspeakable horror that lurks deep within the caves and mines that honeycomb the Show Me State. As a rash of unexplainable illnesses, grizzly murders, and strange disappearances sweep across Eldon, Mitch must get to the bottom of it to protect the beautiful politician and her son.

Spoilers for Seed of Evil and the Siberian Incident below:

Well, in my last review of one of Beck's stories, I lamented that the main character's motivation needed more concretion. In Seed of Evil, Mitch's motives have plenty of concretion in the opening scene, so that was nice. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Mitch needed a double tragic backstory: wrong call kills fellow soldiers or dead wife, using both was kind of overkill. I was also a little disappointed by how Beck handled the tree god. In The Siberian Incident, the big bad was aliens, they got here on an asteroid, and they were earthlings as skin suits. In Seed of Evil, the tree god is a really old, carnivorous tree. It may or may not be extraterrestrial and we're not sure how it turns people into tree monsters. The book was shorter and with that went less exposition and less action and instead of living happily ever after with his new wife and stepson, Mitch blew himself up.

[Ness VDH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seed of Evil was a pretty good read, though I had some mixed feelings along the way. The story has an interesting premise, but there were definitely a lot of characters that felt unnecessary. I get that the author was probably trying to build suspense and add layers to the story, but sometimes it just made things feel a little crowded.

Right from the start, Mitch dives into what’s going on at the mine instead of reaching out to the CDC. That stood out to me because he was new in town and didn’t want to stir up too much trouble, yet he still jumped straight into danger. It makes sense for the story, but I kept wondering—what if he had reported it? Would the CDC’s involvement have made for an even better book, especially since there’s that whole contaminant angle similar to 1977?

Even with those questions, I still found myself pulled along. It kept me curious about what would happen next, and the suspense worked well enough to keep me reading. I just think it would’ve been stronger if some of the extra characters were cut back—the core mystery was good enough to carry the book on its own.

[Johann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

Mitch needs a change living in a big city with memories of being with a wife that has passed on from cancer. During those moments as a doctor who is supposed to heal people, he's never felt so helpless.
Ben is a doctor living in a small town of Eldon and is ready to retire. Mitch seems like the perfect doctor to replace him.
Mitch is now the new practitioner of Eldon but this little town has secrets.
When strange ailments begin to show up on the children, Mitch wants some answers of what's going on. Ben would have probably had those answers if he was available and Mitch is working desperately to fight something that seems to go beyond the realm of science. Will Mitch figure it out or will the little town of Eldon become a ghost town?

Great story that kept me reading all through the night.
Will definitely be reading more of this guy's stuff!!

[Fred Rayworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seed Of Evil was another outstanding icky bug from Grieg Beck. This one was a relatively short, more in the vein of a B-movie type icky bug. It had the monster that eats half the victims, there was plenty of f-bombs and it, of course, had the mayor that didn’t want to upset the apple cart and bring in any authorities. While there were some of what one would consider cliches, it was all in good fun, and it was full of outstanding writing with solid third-person limited and past tense prose. The narrative was brisk with short chapters and scenes. The characters were interesting and the plot full of plenty of twists and turns. My only slight issue was the ending, which while okay, could’ve been a bit better. It was still an great read and I highly recommend it.

[Rhin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Mr. Beck's better works for sure. The ending felt rushed and seems to end prematurely, maybe to set things up for a possible sequel.
Loose ends were not tied up (what the hell happened to Greg, did he survive?).
Main character Mitch, while likeable, falls short with questionable judgements (leaving a mutated rat in his office while his receptionist was blissfully unaware) and somehow having a lighter conveniently even though he didn't smoke.
Still a fan, but looking forward to better stories from Mr. Beck in the future.

Verdict: A good read for a boring afternoon but don't take it too seriously.

[Cooper Rayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best.

I didn't dislike it, but it's certainly not one of his better stories. I found myself shaking my head a fair bit, with... What? That makes no sense, you already knew that... or where a couple of times they state they don't have a flashlight, but have been using mobile phones all story, often just before saying they don't have a light.. like... use your phone light? I generally enjoy a fast moving story, but this one just felt a bit rushed and not in a fast-paced action way. Not sure if there is a sequel planned, but very open ended. I guess tho, as it's fairly short, it was still worth a read.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book well enough, but not 5 stars enough. It was good, but that's just it. Good. It read like a sci-fi movie, down to the PTSD inflicted war veteran hero and everything, and I'm definitely down for that genre of film/novel. There were a few grammatical errors in the Kindle version I read, but that didn't really deter me. The plot was complete, though predictable. I would've liked to see more of the creatures and more of the transformation; more of Mitch actually dealing with them and examining them and seeing what all they could do. The description of the transformation was great, I wanted more!

[Tom Goss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attack of the tree zombies

Seed of Evil is a well written variation of the contagion horror story. A long abandoned mine contains the seeds of a horrible curse, and it is up to a plucky outsider to stop the evil.
Stories of this nature are almost always very plot-driven, and this one is no exception. Very few characters are more than basically sketched in, and I'm afraid author Beck flirts with cliche in several of them. The narration and pacing are quite good, nonetheless, and the final, horrendous scene is well presented. Mr. Beck, to his credit, is no believer in happy endings and that only amplifies the horror of what came before.

[Carisa Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do amazing

I loved this! Every Beck book I read is so good. Each one is just as good or better than the last. This one lends itself to a sequel. A new doctor comes to small town Eldon to take over for the old Dr. That is retiring. But he was keeping a nasty little secret about what happened to patients of his years at the mine. The tree statues were such a creative idea. I loved the description and imagery. I was able to really picture the grotesque imaginings of these creatures. Anyone who loves sci to and mystery with great characters will love this book.