Harvest

by Steve Merrifield

The Heights; three blocks of flats at the heart of Camden, North London. Their number and construction unknowingly influenced by a long forgotten landmark. Something stalks the corridors and minds of those living within. Taking them. Causing outbreaks of violence. Killing. A group of disparate residents realise the true nature of what is happening and only they can stop the Harvest.

Genres: Horror

540 pages, Nook

First published January 31, 2010

Reviews

[Billy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay for a free read, but not as good as the reviews would indicate. What's wrong with this book is the old horror style of writing and plot, which is a fault of the author, because he seems intent on copying the 70s/80s old style of horror writing and structure. What you get then is an old fashioned, run of mill horror novel with some heavy-handed writing. You can find this book just about everywhere for free, and I'm not swayed by the long list of praise for what is an old fashioned grubby horror skit. I found it all highly predictable and long-winded. Too many purple patches and off-putting bad sentence construction. The other thing that made this boring for me were the characters. They are all stock characters lifted from 70s horror novels. The plot is about a bunch of characters and an evil in the building. Whoopsie-doo. On other point, the author obviously has a problem with English grammar and has uploaded many updated versions but I read this when it had all the terrible grammar mistakes still in it.

No doubt self-aggrandising reviews will follow this one by dubiously named people invented by the author himself.

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like a free read as much as the next girl but I wish I had never downloaded this book. Although not bad enough to abandon half-way through, I found myself actively disliking the book the more I read. There are some creepy images and passages in this book but unfortunately there is alot of talking and pointless dialogue as well. I cannot recommend this book.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good old fashioned horror that follows a group of residents in one of the tower blocks of The Heights as the discover an evil presence has taken over their building. While the writing is a little clunky in places over all this is a good well written story that keeps you engrossed from start to finish, drawing you in with different views, including that from the creature itself, showing the progression of the creature's power and dominance over the residents of the Heights. The characters do fall in to a few stereotypes with the hard a*se female cop and the lonely not so successful photograph but they are so compelling you don't really mind. The finale of the story is superbly done with a twist and a half at the end (which I'll be honest had me chuckling quietly to myself for the rest of the night). Overall a darn good read.

[Joe Hempel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was free from Barnes and Noble, but it had some pretty good reviews. I will say it's not like any of the other "free" books, it's quite good, well thought out, and was suspenseful.

Some things were kind of disturbing for sure!

The big final climax against the villain however, I thought played out like a video game from the 80's. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but but it seemed like a description of what was playing out on a screen than of what was going on.

Still entertaining, which to me is what matters. I'll be reading his other novella Ivory next!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just amazing and very fast paced! It's like one of those horror movies where you cant bear to watch so you just peek out a little because you just have to know what happens! There were times I was afraid to turn the page and times when I was so relieved that what I imagined didn't happen only to realize the true plan was so much more insidious. This is definitely a page turner with twists and surprises straight to the end!!

[Tentiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaay to long. Many, many characters. I wasn't satisfied with how it ended.

[Mr Leigh W Marsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow and ponderous. Spends too much time on the relationships between the characters and particularly the love angst between the Police Officer and the photographer before getting to the action. Also, the "epilogue " just went on and on before getting to the point. Disappointing.

[Dyno Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you very much Mr. Merrifield, I super enjoyed the Harvest. What a great, fun, scary read and it was free...Thanks so much.
Please ignore these folks that worry about 70's / 80's horror writing styles. Who knows what is going on in their feeble brains...lol...I think your super creatvie and really good at storie telling. I also like the fact your storeis are longer than 300 pages. I really got to spend time with the charecters and got to know them personally.
I really do hate that Rachel died. I really wanted for Cat to tell her she was sorry and loved her like a second mother.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a group of people who live in a tower block all just living their lives, when people start going missing. The police are investigating but are getting nowhere,is a resident or something more sinister responsible.
I really enjoyed it and would recomend.

[Jacqi]

This book is available as a free download for Kindle at www.manybooks.net

There are well over 30,000 free eBooks listed on that site!!

[Khadija Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic read!

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a while to get into, but once the story FINALLY got started it was great. I loved the twist at the end just when I thought it was over. Good book even if it was a bit long and slow.