Michael Brookes

This post is a bit of a departure for me.  It features my review of Michael Brookes’ second novel Conversations in the Abyss.  It’s also part of Michael’s Blog Tour in which he has blog-hopped around many writers’ and reviewers’ blogs in the last few weeks.

Michael is an executive producer for a video games company in the day.  He writes mainly in the horror/sci-fi and metaphysical genres and cites Milton’s Paradise Lost as one of his greatest influences.  He always wondered why God didn’t stop The Fall of Man.  He’s a man who likes to think big!

Conversations in the Abyss

Amazon.com Conversations in the Abyss

My review -

This is an amazing novel which weaves together a number of strands. We meet The Deathless Man, an entity who has been imprisoned within the walls of a monastery and is visited by a good and a fallen angel.  We meet a group of clerics from Rome who are chasing an ancient document, The Gospel of Lazarus and a newly discovered prophecy, and we follow the preparations made by The Antichrist for The End Times.  It’s an intriguing tale and is very philosophical and metaphysical.  I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it. 

There’s some wonderful imagery used here and the action of the story is exciting.  There’s also considerable food for thought.  If you’ve read Michael Brookes’ first novel, ‘The Cult of Me’ it will fill in some background on characters you meet here but it’s perfectly possible to appreciate this book on its own merits.  Particularly at the beginning, I found some of this book rather lyrical, poetic, in its descriptions.  I’m assuming there will be more.  I’ll certainly be reading it.