The Song of the Cadaver

by Caesar Ruell

Jacob and Mari’s prospecting trip in the Australian outback leads to an incredible find - a pristine instrument, a lute - dating back to the 17th century.
After bringing it home, Mari departs on a work trip, leaving Jacob alone in their apartment. Strange occurrences start to take place - haunting string music plays in the dead of night, a shadowy figure appears within their living room.
Jacob soon learns the horrific reality of the instrument’s history and its connection to The Great Fire of London. It becomes apparent that whoever hears its song, seemingly meets a grisly death shortly after...and worse, now it wants an audience.
With time running out, Jacob must find a way to free himself of the demonic lute, to save his own life, and to prevent further carnage…but it won’t let him go…

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 24, 2022

About the author

Caesar Ruell is the author of The Circus of Hungry Clowns, and its sequel The Revenge of the Clowns, along with several other written works of horror. When not writing, he is usually working his day job, hiking, playing tennis, learning guitar, or spending time with his partner, who is not a fan of horror whatsoever.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcaesar...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caesar.ruel...

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caesar Ruell is just one helluva writer. And this demonstrates his skills throughout. He develops this fantastic lore of the mysterious lute here, even spending a good chunk of the story in the past, focusing on its origins. Now history isn't my particular forte, but I did still very much appreciate the efforts of the author. The story took some time to pick up, and the real entertainment didn't start until just before the halfway point. After that, things took off and the remainder of the book was very entertaining. Lots of spooky moments and frightening situations, all written very well. The creature interacting with Jacob reminded me a lot of Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote from Spider-man, which I am a mark for. All of their friendly chats (Sarcasm noted) were really enjoyable. Just a solid story, expertly written. I am very excited to see more works from Caesar Ruell, as should any other fan of horror.

[Vicki Herbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Play...

No spoilers. 3 stars. THE SONG OF THE CADAVER was a friend's recommendation that I just couldn't connect with, so I gave up at 44%...

The story is about an amateur prospector who, using his metal detector, locates an ancient lute...

Bringing the lute home...

Bizarre things start happening: the lute plays music in the wee hours of the morning...

Cryptic messages are left for the protagonist like "PLAY" is left on a notepad and carved into his sheet rock wall...

If the MC doesn't play, the entity inhabiting the lute causes such severe migrane headaches that he acquiesces...

Any attempts to get rid of the lute are met with failure and more headaches and anyone who attempts to help the MC...

Well, let's just say they fail...

I find most Australian novels to be very interesting, but this one was very rudimentary. Things leading up to the acts of the lute were left to the imagination, and conclusions by the MC happen immediately, without even the most basic lead-up as to why he deduces his facts.

The fear factor, which takes time and atmosphere to lead up to, is woefully missing, so the story reads like: this happens, then that happens, then this happens again... and yes, many parts are repetitive.

Nice try, but the story needs work.

[Sevda Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book from an author I hadn't seen before. It's surprisingly well written, with enough variety to keep me interested throughout. Some, I found, genuinely scary moments and good descriptions of action taking place, as well as the settings, environments. It's primarily based in Australia, which is a country I have stayed in before and have fond memories of, so I could relate to some of the desert scenery depictions etc. The artwork on the cover piqued my curiosity, and the blurb seemed well written. I can definitely recommend this as something different (haunted instrument), and well worth your time to read.

[BreeGoodwinReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The idea of a haunted instrument is always an interesting concept, here it's handled well I'm happy to say. This one blends the modern with the historical, taking place in a city in Australia and then London respectively. I appreciated the writing a lot, felt that it moved along at a good pace, and always kept my attention with the multiple points of views of characters. Especially so later in the book as it goes into the primary villain's backstory a lot more. I felt I was at times in the scenes with the characters, and there were certainly some scary moments as a result of this setup. I really enjoyed this one from Caesar Ruell and look forward to reading more of his work in future.

[Sharon Leung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This is a great read. It has a good strong characters and a fascinating storyline. Loved Jacob and Mari, how their relationship is so strong, and how they fight for each other. Jacob is definitely the favourite and you feel his pain and suffering. There are parts where you think that wasn't needed but it all ties in bringing out the story. Young couple in a relationship that one goes away to work the other suffering at home. But not just through separation are they suffering. But they try to suffer alone to not worry the other. Then things begin to spiral out of control and they have no choice but to in the end. So much in this read to keep you entertained, with twists, plots and some macabre decisions. Recommended