Alexander’s Comments (group member since Aug 16, 2017)

Alexander’s comments from the First Readers (Beta Readers) group.

Hi everyone. I am very interested in BETA readers for my dark fantasy/horror/adventure/mystery novel in the vein of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Tim Powers. It is 200,000 words (500 pages). I know it's long, but I would be happy to return the favour. The blurb follows:

Have you ever listened to a song and felt it take you far away, somewhere you can be at peace? Has a painting had the same fantastical effect? Have you ever wondered why?

Seventeen-year-old Adam Reilly knows all about it, as a gifted musician and dreamer. A lonely boy, he finds solace in the worlds that can be created through imagination. But the day he awakens to find that an eleven-year-old has been abducted from the town he lives in, a vast array of events are set in motion that will ensnare many citizens, their paths colliding, making them all aware of the painful memories they have blocked away. While on a terrified run through the hinterland, lost beyond all hope, Adam Reilly uncovers the town's greatest secret - a mansion, decrepit yet beautiful, with a power almost beyond comprehension.

The town stews in its confusion as the days grow darker and more children are taken by persons unknown. One man rises from the pack to find them and bring them home - Adam Reilly's father. Joshua Reilly is unaware his son has found revelation; he is also unaware of the insidious desires of the townsfolk around him, and those he might have thought of as enemies soon begin to look more innocent than those he called his friends. Allies will be revealed as liars, and their allegiances to tempting beasts will bring death and betrayal in abundance. One beast, with a deadly agenda, is heading towards the town from the other side of Creation. Will the innocent be able to find themselves and find the truth before It arrives? What begins as the lonely day-to-day life of a gifted boy playing music with his friends soon becomes an other-worldly pilgrimage with allies and arch enemies and maidens and monsters, all forces converging on the miraculous mansion and its crucial secret.

Thanks very much! I am very eager to have this read. Like I said earlier, I will return the favour!