Had a very difficult time getting through this one as the writing was so flat. Show, don't tell. Very one-dimensional, unfortunately.

Nick Jones was named after his grandfather. After he died in a mine cave in, Nick is determined to go exactly there and film a documentary about it. With that in mind, Nick and a social media star named Jess head into the old abandoned mine and find something they never could have guessed could be true.

Big surprise, the first thing they find in the mine is a dead body. Luckily, it's a skeleton. But more surprisingly is that a little further in, they find a letter from the legend, the man himself, Nick's grandpa. Not only did he survive the cave in, but others did too. The problem is that it's been sixty years, and nobody really knows what they could find.

But after a few more tremors and cave ins, and more weird notes from grandpa Nick, it turns out that there's a lot more to the story than just a documentary about three miners surviving an ancient cave in. Could it be the work of God or his angels? Or something more sinister?

This book is perfect for fans of Blair Witch, and Phoenix Forgotten. In my mind, it's filmed exactly like one of those movies. It's not a very long book but it is one that really sticks with you, and it has a lot of gory descriptions, and truly violent scenes. That's why I would say it's suited for a more mature audience. That being said, I loved every moment, and it's something I really recommend to anyone who loves the horror genre.

This was a serviceable, fun subterranean horror story, but the frame narrative about the reality show felt tacked on and not really fleshed out. Most of the plot holes center on that frame narrative -- why would a full-on production company let them go down alone without experienced/licensed cavers? How could they show any of what happened on TV? But overall, very claustrophobic and I enjoyed all of the side characters.

When Nick joins a TV production to explore an old mine that took his grandfather's life, he is intent on finding out what happened in the past, maybe even finding some remains he can bury to get closure. But what he and his team find in the caves is something more sinister and deadly than they ever could have imagined.
A scary story that slowly leads to a gruesome but therefore also unavoidably predictable discovery. There was some nice creepy atmosphere, but I wished the group would have been forced to remain underground the whole time. That would have added a much greater level of claustrophobia and dread. Bottom line: a solid horror novella with a consequent twist.

This book was capable of keeping me on my toes. Although it didn't scare me in any way, it did keep me turning pages. That is by no means an insult to Kev Harrison. I am hard to scare. After countless years of reading horror and watching horror or thrillers, it's hard to get under my skin these days. I would suggest reading this book. For those like me, it's just plain fun. For those who are not yet jaded, you might just get a bit scared!

Dr. Nick Jones wants to find out what happened when his grandfather died in a gold mine. Nick is named after him. Nick has always revered him When he gets the opportunity to examine the cave that took his grandfather’s life, he agrees to be part of the travel adventure documentary. He will be working with Jess, who has outgrown her status as an all-action social action media celebrity and endless demands on her. Adventure Travel tv tells Jess that it will give her the launchpad she desires and Nick the chance to tell first-hand what really happen to his grandfather. As they explore the cave, they hear strange noises. Who is making the noises? Will they find out what it is? While exploring the cave, they discover notes from the deceased grandfather that gives clues about what happen or what he imagined? It’s frightening to read the notes. :Nick, Jess and the camera gal become worried about their survival as the cave has “caved” in. There is no exit for them to leave. Will they be rescued in time?

It’s a fast read that engages you with its mystery. The notes found written by Nick’s grandfather frighten and I wondered how they could still be readable. . The descriptions of darkness and rock surface with mysterious noises only add to the horror of the story. I felt as if I was there as the author has written this story so well.

This is a fast-paced horror story about three people who explore an old, caved-in mine in order to film a documentary. What do they find? Can the truth about what happened sixty years ago be discovered?

There are certain details that bother me. I do not want to spoil the story, but there are certain things that are not very believable. It is just not very likely that THAT would be what the three people can find, after SIXTY years. But, if readers can be a bit less serious about the probabilities of certain things happening (this is horror fiction after all), then this is quite an exciting story. There are a few really creepy, atmospheric scenes.

"There is no danger down here, Not as long as they can get us out. Eventhen, its only slow danger. Thirst. Starvation. Suffocation."

In 1957, several miners were trapped inside a gold mine after it collapses. They manage to stay alive for several days but are unfortunately never recovered from the collapsed mine.
Some 60 years later, Nick, the grandson to one of the miners trapped, works as a mining engineer and grew up with a granddad portrayed as a hero by the locals. He decides to go back to theold mine, bringing a social media influencer, Jess, and her camera operator Sofia, to try and uncover the secrets of what really happened in the mine. They soon discover unsettling clues to the workers last moments alive, but are they really alone in the deep, dark mine? Or is there something, or someone waiting for them down in the abandoned mine?

If this was a movie I'd be on it ASAP! It has a kind of found footage-feeling to it with the documentary trope and the old abandoned mines which I really love, it added to the creepy atmosphere and added another level of threat with the chance of another collapse. I liked the writing style, it really added to the suspense and my enjoyment of the book. I would definitely recommend this to any horror reader.

The ending was a bit drawn out I think, but the plot twist was fun and the method of the characters figuring things out and piecing the events together with the help of the diary pages found in the cave was a nice detail.

TW: cannibalism, body horror, kidnapping, claustrophobia, injury detail, death
Genres: horror
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.


*MILD SPOILER*
"With his own breats silenced, it was undeniable. The unmistakable sound of someone panting." "His vision darted up, the cone of light following close behind. But there was no one. Nothing."
I was reading this in bed at night and managed to scare my husband trying to sleep next to me when I shouted "SOMETHING IS BREATHING INSIDE THE CAVE!"

This is a really fast-paced book, it takes off into the story immediately. But, maybe a little too fast. There just wasn't enough character development or much explanation, and I found myself uninterested in the characters or what was happening to them. It's a decent story and idea, it just didn't have enough detail or explanation to grab my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for providing me this ARC.

Chasing your grandfather’s ghost in an abandoned mine for a reality tv show…what could possible go wrong?

This book is hard to review. I enjoyed it, but in the end, I found that the flatness of the characters, the all-too-conveniently placed clues, and the number of times that I had to completely suspend all disbelief to accept the events and timing of the plot left me unable to truly recommend it.

In my opinion, there needed to be more backstory to develop my concern for the characters, and either a more detailed account of what occurred with the grandfather, or perhaps the story could have been told using multiple time lines? In the end, I think that the story that needed to be told was too big for the format that it was presented in.

I do look forward to reading future work from Kev Harrison. He is a talented writer, but this story didn’t work for me.

In 1957, a group of workers are trapped inside a Californian gold mine after it collapses unexpectedly. They endure unfathomable circumstances as they fight to stay alive and hold onto reality and their sanity. Unfortunately, the men never make it out and the story of what really happened during their time underground remains buried with them.

Nick, is the grandson of one of the miners and is now a mining engineer himself. He has been haunted by his grandfather’s story ever since he was a child and is determined to return to the mine to uncover the men’s final moments. His expedition includes social medial influencer, Jess, and her camera expert, Sophie, who have been hired by a travel channel to film a documentary on the findings.

As the three of them navigate their way through the underground caves, they will discover the unsettling facts of what really happened all those years ago. Can Nick handle the truth and more importantly will the three of them survive the horror lurking in the darkness to tell the tale. Something sinister is waiting for them below.

This was a light and entertaining horror adventure with drama and mystery included. Characters were easy to like and the plot was interesting. I particularly enjoyed the setting in the caves, which added to the sense of dread and tension because the threat of collapse was an additional danger to the horror that was unfolding inside. I also liked the discovery of old diary pages throughout the caves to piece together the past.

I found Below to be an enjoyable read especially if you like adventure and exploration. The length makes it perfect to take with you on a flight or trip - unless you’re about to visit underground caves, then you may want to wait till you get back!

Below is more of a dramatic piece than suspenseful or scary. Little happens in the current timeframe, which left me wanting the past to be fleshed out by actual scenes (rather than notes) -- that's when the exciting stuff happened. Had those letters been actual chapters of direct detail from the grandfather, I would have loved this more. Instead, Below focuses on a three person team wandering around the tunnels looking for clues as to what happened years ago. While they do interact with a creature, no one dies and the injuries are minor. The interaction is also brief, coming around the 80% mark of this short novella. While the writing is good, the story that is told just couldn't grab my attention. There were also some things that should have been explained but never are. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this book enough that I will check out more of Harrison's work down the road. I have his prior releases on my Kindle already waiting.

Caves/Caverns/abandoned mines, as a setting, have always been a great setting for a horror story. However, I think the claustrophobic element, innate in settings like this, was not leveraged to an effective level.
I wish Nick as a character was more engaging, and I would have given this story a better star rating. The story with the grandfather was interesting to a point, but not compelling enough.

This is an awkward book to review.
On one hand, it wasn't a very good horror novel, and yet, on the other hand, I really kind of liked it.

After reading, I went and doable checked what its genre shelving was and it's definitely shelved as 'horror'. In that regards, it's a pretty mediocre story. The situation, especially the television production and health and safety aspects, is extremely contrived and often unbelievable. The male protagonist - Nick - is supposedly claustrophobic but gives only the shallowest indications of it. There's never a real sense of atmosphere or danger since the characters are very capable and level-headed and don't seem to be that concerned by their situation. Not to mention the always dependable satellite phone. I mean, at no point did I feel like the characters were really in danger. The threat didn't feel that dangerous to me - neither from the environment (good ol' Al!) or the antagonist (wall-climbing doesn't make you scary).
The novel read more like an action story than a horror story.

So, I guess I would have to say that I didn't find it to be a very good horror story.

And yet...

I actually really enjoyed it! It's no work of literary mastery but it was a lot of fun.

I enjoyed the story, despite how obvious and predictable it was, and I enjoyed how capable Jess and Sophia were. I loved that the LGBTQIA+ elements felt totally natural and unremarkable (a good thing) too.

And that's why I have absolutely no idea how to rate this book! I'm going to go with a nice neutral 3 stars until I can figure it out.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

The underlying story idea is good, and the 'monster' parts have been done fairly well, but this just didn't engage me. It feels like it needs to be fleshed out more, and a lot of supporting details are unlikely. Nick is apparently claustrophobic, but doesn't act like it. His phobia should have been utilised far more in the story, or left out. Overall, the suspense was lacking , partially because I didn't feel like I knew the characters beyond names and some very basic details.

A very interesting, engaging story. I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere and the tension. I truly enjoyed this novella.

This was a fun spooky read. I love dark cave stories, how terrifying is it to be in a cave knowing at any time you can be trapped? And that is just one of the worst-case scenarios, that is the bare minimum of what can go wrong.

This was a perfect quick read that gave you a taste of that creepy cave with a compelling backstory and an interesting conclusion.

The only issue I had was the integrity of the cave. Let's be real here, contracts or not, it would be a legal nightmare to send someone in a cave that MIGHT collapse on them. Furthermore, after the first event... I don't think there is anyway the company wouldn't have pulled them out and not let them explore further. People dying on their dime, bad for business. So, you have to suspend disbelief for a portion of this work.

Overall, worth a read and made me curious to check into the authors other works.

Oh, and things should not crawl. Never. Nope. Never. Worst fear.

The perfect read for the claustrophobic, nyctophobic reader. We follow along as Nick, with his small crew of Jess and Sophia, travel further and further into a mine that had trapped Nick’s grandfather and his crew in 1957. Nick’s grandfather Nicholas was revered a hero, but was lost in the mine with some of his men. Nick is now on a mission to tell his grandfather’s story. The expedition soon turns scary and troubling as secrets about the 1957 events become apparent
“Below” is a page turner . I wanted be along with the trio as they began to find writings left by Nick’s grandfather and artifacts from the miner’s.
Later on, as things got weirder and creepier I was glad to be up here on the surface reading, not down there. This is a perfect for and edge of your seat quick read with characters that you care about. #Below #netgalley #SilverShamrockPublishing

A quick and easy read. The story just flowed so easily. Nick, Jess and Sofia go to an abandoned mine. The mine that Nicks grandfather disappeared in. You felt intense during the whole book, just waiting to see what’s around the next corner.
Really my only fault was how weak Nick seemed, I mean Jess was out doing him by far. But I enjoyed reading this one.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this one.

Twisty spooky novella

Nick Jones, a mining engineer from North Wales, comes to the U.S. with Jess, a social media celebrity, to make a television documentary about his grandfather, who was trapped in a gold mine collapse in 1957.

His grandfather was Nick's namesake and was a hero, rescuing most of the miners during the collapse in 1957. Now Nick, Jess with Sofia on camera will film the documentary as they enter the mine after the collapsed section is opened for them.

But they find more than they thought they would and are trapped underground with an entity that doesn't want them to get out.

Spooky, well-written, and quick read. There were a few cumbersome spots I think because the author was British and the setting was the U.S. and didn't quite mesh but it was still fun.

I received this advanced reading copy from Brigade Gate through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.