An amazing horror/ science fiction survival story. A fresh take on alien invasion and what it might look like combined with excellent character development and fast action make this a book worth reading and re-reading. The ending, while satisfying did leave some doors propped open ( IYKYK) and could be a great topic for a book club. Overall a highly enjoyable, fast moving, and memorable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the books publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this advanced readers copy. I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

People are getting mysteriously snatched- seemly out of thin air. When John’s son is taken from right in front of him, John is set on a path to get his family back together- one that will stretch him to near breaking and bring him to the edge of insanity.

I absolutely loved this sci-fi creature feature with so much soul! My middle school students are not quite ready for the violence and language, but I would absolutely recommend this for high school and up if you love real science based science fiction (Andy Weir fans this IS your next read) and fantastic monsters.

Thank you NetGalley!

A novel about aliens that allows us to glimpse the best and worst of humanity, Jonathan Janz’s “Veil,” is an action-packed, nerve-fraying, brain-sizzling, sci-fi horror triumph. I only started reading Janz about 5 months ago, and this is my fourth by him so far- it’s also the fourth time that he has blown me away, this time, literally to another dimension. I’d read the man’s shopping list. Gorgeous writing delivered alongside break-neck, whiplash-inducing pacing and one of my favourite protagonists, well ever, “Veil,” is a novel full of heart and love and hope- for people, for stories, for humanity to do better- and I for one would like to see not only a sequel (PLEASE Jonathan, make it so) but also a movie. Coming September 16th from Blackstone Publishing, “Veil,” is a smooth blend of King’s “The Mist,” with Lebbon’s “The Silence,” with Star Wars, and it is sure to frazzle the synapses of nerds everywhere.

We follow John Calhoun, a biology teacher, a book-store owner, and most importantly, a father and a husband. These are relationships that are strained, with his wife Iris due to their finances, and on that fateful evening, with his son Sam because of the curfew he’s imposed upon him. These very domestic tensions give way to something far bigger however, when Sam storms off around a corner, and vanishes completely. As more and more people go missing, seemingly from the face of the earth, as lockdowns are imposed and conspiracies are created, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Sam has simply run away from home, and increasingly unlikely that he’s coming back anytime soon.

The action scenes Janz writes are truly something else. Otherworldly (if you will) denotations of tension and character, of nerve and nerve-ending. A horrifying, cloying motorway scene reminiscent of that from C.J Leede’s “American Rapture,” a truly tense home invasion, and a very claustrophobic underground brawl, are just a few scenes that jumped out, amongst others. Janz’s pulse-pounding, propulsive writing that is as tightly choreographed as it is sweat-inducing, makes for a reading experience that is paced like a heart-attack and about as relaxing as a root canal… it’s just how I like it.

There’s one scene in particular I have to highlight though, which takes place in the parking lot outside Aldi. What struck me harder in this passage was not the inter-dimensional threat overhead but the humans beneath it. Having, like most, had to sit in my home and watch COVID-era videos of super-spreader protests against masks and vaccines, of people fighting over toilet roll and bashing each other with cans of food, this chapter in particular, clearly shaded by that same experience, horrified me the most. The grotesque selfishness that blooms when humans are cornered and unchecked, and the self-interested acts of many of the characters, really does hold up a mirror, and what’s reflected in it, at times seems far more monstrous than any alien invader.

That’s not to say that the alien invaders are not absolutely terrifying too. In the first half of the novel Janz does something genius. King did it in “The Mist,” and Malerman did it in “Bird Box,” and that’s withholding the visual element. Yup, the aliens are invisible. Having people abducted, snatched off of the ground, is deeply scary anyway, especially for our protagonist as a father, but when the only inclination that this is coming is a thrumming, vibrating sound, and a nasty smell, well that’s a whole bunch scarier. The reader is forced to fill in the blanks, populate the void, with our imaginations, and when the curtain, or indeed the veil, is pulled back- it is of course far ghastlier than we thought.

What I fear I’ve done is presented this book to you as one that is about interdimensional kidnappings and the failings of humanity, and whilst both of those things are apparent in “Veil,” as I suggested in my introduction, it’s a book with a beating, human heart at its core. John Calhoun is a wonderful man, a wonderful dad and a wonderful protagonist, flawed, human, but unwaveringly decent. With explicit references to his love of King and “Providence,” by Caroline Kepnes (which I, along with the majority of readers certainly appreciated) I can’t help but wonder if this character is so well-developed and fleshed-out, because… John is Janz. John and the gaggle of good guys he befriends serve as a reminder that amongst the selfish and uneducated, there is such greatness within the human race, and that we are right to expect far better from it.
A truly masterful novel, that is about what it is to endure as a father and a human being, Jonathan Janz has yet again demonstrated that he can write just about anything. I feel it’s high time we let him write just everything. Novels, manifestoes… screenplays. Somebody call Hollywood.

Holy smokes, what a nonstop action ride this one was!! 🙌

Gave all the creepy scifi horror vibes!!! I can totally see this one becoming a movie!! Pulled me in from the very start and didn’t let go!! This one is definitely in my top 5 reads of the year!! Highly recommend, especially if you love scifi horror!! 👏

Thank you to Jonathan Janz, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!! New favorite Janz novel!!! ❤️

Veil throws you into a chilling new world where people are vanishing, and no one knows why. We follow John as he tries to protect his family and uncover the truth, only to find something far more terrifying than anyone could have imagined.

Janz’s writing completely immerses you in this eerie apocalyptic setting. It reminded me so much of the early COVID lockdown days, which made it feel even more real and unsettling.

Now I have to admit… aliens terrify me. As a kid, I had vivid dreams of being experimented on, so this book hit a personal fear of mine. And honestly, I loved it. The sci-fi horror blend was everything I’ve been craving lately.

This one creeped me out in the best way, and I’m seriously hoping we get a sequel. There’s definitely more story to tell.

Veil by Jonathan Janz is Predator meets Falling Skies and The A-Team all rolled into one wild ride!

What starts out as a simple story of John Calhoun, a father desperately trying to keep his family from falling apart, turns horrific as first his son, then his separated wife, and finally his daughter are abducted in the midst of nation-wide series of unexplained disappearances. Rumors spread that the abductions are part of an alien invasion as reports surface of people literally vanishing into thin-air. As the world around him devolves into chaos, John wants nothing more than to bring his family back together, and joins with a small group of misfits who have a risky and radical plan to find and battle the abductors and bring their loved ones home.

With Veil, Janz has crafted a tension-filled story that evolves into an action-packed thriller, with strong and interesting characters and skillfully applied echoes of government and citizen reactions to the 2020 pandemic.

I'll be looking for more books by Jonathan Janz, Recommended!

I have to admit this is my first sci-fi book that I’ve read and I’m glad this was the first one I tried. Please bear with me as I am not very good at writing reviews but definitely wanted to try to write a little bit more for this book. I think this book hit me a little bit different because I’m a parent and you can see the love that John has for his children. You can see the love that he has for his wife and how he wants to do better as a husband and a parent. This book was nonstop adventure and at no point slowed down. This book kept me captivated and I would have finished a lot sooner if I didn’t have to work or be a mom 😂. Never did I think that I would be sobbing at 2 AM finishing this book but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a great story where a dad will do anything to get his family back and realize what he took for granted and wanting to change and do better. Also, don’t believe Tommy, the Cubs don’t suck.

Some horror hits you emotionally from the first line. Some horror sneaks up on you, quietly twisting something inside until you realize you’re in way too deep. Veil does both perfectly.

The pacing of the book might seem a little bit slow at the start, but this is totally on purpose. Janz lets the dread simmer just long enough to get under your skin, and when things finally kick off, you are already on the edge.

What makes Veil hit so hard isn’t just the horror; it’s the characters. They feel raw, real, and messy in the best way. You care about them, which makes every twist hurt a little more.

The horror in Veil doesn’t just pop out at you; it creeps in, quiet and relentless, until it’s everywhere. It’s the kind that messes with your head as much as your heart.

Veil by Jonathan Janz is a character-driven sci-fi horror story that allows you to get up close and personal with not only the characters but the alien invasion and all of the horror elements it offers. It is a perfect book for anyone who enjoys horror books from the likes of Stephen King (who influenced Janz) and David Wellington.

Thanks so much to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think I mentioned in the past I'm a big fan of sci-fi horror and this novel hits on all cylinders. Plenty of action, emotion and gore made my read a quick one.
The reader will go thru some very emotional scenes that had me on the verge of tears.

Highly recommended read!

I’ll admit, Sci-Fi isn’t my preferred genre and I haven’t read much of it, but dammit if Jonathan Janz didn’t just rip my heart into a million little pieces with this book.

He writes character so extremely well, and from the start I was so invested in John and his family. The story never once got slow or boring and was action packed until the very end. It felt a little like watching a movie.

This insane and brutal journey John and the others go on to save their loved ones from the aliens took turns that I did not see coming.

The love that John feels for Iris, Sam and Emma was so strong that I could literally feel it seeping off of the pages. Knowing that Jonathan Janz is himself a father, made the parts of John reflecting and talking about his love for his children that much more heart wrenching and put tears in my eyes thinking of my own adult son.

There are no words, but there are also all the words to describe this book. Phenomenal, amazing, incredible, yes, but so much fucking heart. Parts of this felt so personal and like Janz tore out his own heart and bled it all over the page. It’s just insane how well written this is.

The Sci-Fi elements were so cool and epic and had my pulse racing. For someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the genre, I found this so easy to read and would a hundred percent recommend it to others.

I also love how it ended. It felt right, even though it destroyed me. I can’t imagine it ending any other way. I so look forward to the next adventure in the Veil Universe and can’t wait to visit it again soon.

I vibe with having an invisible force pull me in undesired directions. In this book, that’s called an alien invasion. I call that Tuesday.

This was a wild, non-stop, action-packed ride. A remarkably vivid world is depicted and described with astonishing detail, particularly once they’ve moved through the gate. I could see the vibrancy and peculiarity of the alien world on the inside of my eyelids.

Miranda is badass. John is fine, but frustrating. Maybe listen to your wife sometimes; and your kids too. Stop being such a knucklehead. The creatures were unique and horrific. Their unrelenting, unflinching pursuit is the stuff of nightmares. I like the cloaking and the minion goggles they rocked.

Is an ending without an ending really and ending? Or does it just end up leaving me mad? I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I have to assume this is part of a broader universe, or is being set up for a sequel. Because I left the book feeling very unresolved.

All in all, this is one of the best alien books I’ve read, and you all should push away your invisible forces and go read it.

This book had me hooked from the start. Reading it even made me late to an appointment. Reading this also reminded me of my own anxieties during that time.

Beneath the horror and sci-fi elements is a story of love and family; of a man struggling to hold his family together during a time of total chaos and cruelty, and in the face of societal collapse. Of a man trying to regain what he’s lost.

This book gave me anxiety. At times it was gut-punching. I know it will stick with me, and for the feelings and emotions it sparked in me I give it 5 well-deserved stars.

This book is exactly what I was in the mood for. The sort of sci-fi horror of it all really kept me glued to the book. I don't think I've ever recommended a book so fast. I can't wait for it to release so I can have it on my shelf.

I was very lucky to get to read an early copy of this one, I'm a big fan of the authors other books, and when I saw the cover reveal on it, I knew it was something special.

How can you live and even raise a family in a world where, you or anyone else can just vanish, broad daylight or no?

Do you try to build a shelter, do you pray, or do you just surrender to the horrors that cannot be kept out, that slide in and get their victims no matter the obstacles.

My heart broke for John, I kept holding out the hope, maybe it would be okay, he still has the rest of his family, until those too slowly vanished.

I have a real weird reading kink for survival stories ( but they HAVE to be good ) and this one, it fed that need in spades, it reminded me of the vibes from one of my favorite books, Darkness on The Edge of Town by Brian Keene, after the darkness settles on the town, the unknowing really has a way of driving characters and the story.

Between not knowing if you can trust those around you, plus this, supernatural force, be it a wall of darkness or scary dark figures that seem to know nothing of boundaries and doors and you can feel the characters panic, and tension.

So I began to wonder...

Is this really a world where some monsters can slither in and take anyone, at anytime?

or

In my darkest of hearts I wondered, is this a man who is making this up in his head, and created some storyline to cope with the guilt??

Suddenly he meets a group that has figured out a way to see the monsters, and maybe even save his family.

The dread was so heavy in this book, if I had been turning the pages, Id have had to heft them, the way he wrote this, you knew John, and felt his desperation, and fears.

The ending on this one, was everything I needed and some things I didn't know I even wanted. ( vague I know, but spoilers )

I'm going to go real bold here and say of all his work, this might be my favorite.

I went into Veil not knowing much about it, other than it was an alien invasion horror book. But that was all I needed to get hyped for it. Coupled with the hype this book was getting online, and I knew I needed to dive in. Veil by Jonathan Janz is the story of a father who will do anything to save his family from an unknown and unseen terror that has come to our world. Alien horror is one of my favorite subgenres of horror due to its excellent blend of science fiction and horror, two genres that I enjoy quite a bit. Veil has become my favorite alien horror book I’ve read so far. Janz does a masterful job getting readers to buy into his characters and the story. The monsters themselves were utterly terrifying and merciless, making the book even more horrifying.

Veil starts off with a parent’s worst nightmare: a missing child. One day, John’s son, Sam, goes out at night and never returns. Soon, more people disappear in the middle of the night all across the globe. Desperate to save his family and put a stop to this nightmare, John teams up with other survivors to put a stop to the unexplained invasion and take the fight to their aggressors.

The book is a brilliant blend of sci-fi horror, mystery, and blockbuster action. It was such a fantastic ride! Veil is a beautiful, moving story about family and family loss, with relatable characters who act like real human beings. Veil is horror at its best and I simply couldn’t put it down. If you love sci-fi/horror, make sure you check out Veil by Jonathan Janz this fall!

Let me get this out of the way up front: I am, unabashedly, a Jonathan Janz hipster. I’ve been reading and reviewing his stuff for damn near a decade now, going back to his days as a new small-press horror author with Samhain Publishing, onto Sinister Grin Press, Flame Tress Press, and Cemetery Dance. I can count the number of his books I haven’t (yet) read on one hand, and they consist only of Marla — published as a limited edition by Earthling Publications with a print run of only 500 copies, plus 15 lettered, traycased hardcovers — and Tales From the Shadow Side, another limited release published by Thunderstorm Books, first as a hardcover limited to only 60 copies, and then as a limited, exclusive paperback edition. I have hardcover copies of both books, and of the stories collected in Tales From the Shadow Side I’ve read most of them elsewhere. I will get around to Marla one of these days, I promise.

Make no bones about it, I am a loud and proud Jonathan Janz fan. I tell you all of this so that you’ll know where I’m coming from when I tell you that Veil is immediately noticeable as a step-up in an already strong career of a gifted horror author. Children of the Dark still holds top-spot as my favorite of Janz’s works, but Veil is an immediate top-five contender at the very least.

I don’t know if it’s a culmination of Janz’s experiences as a writer, teacher, father, and husband, or possibly a boost in editorial and developmental support from his new team at Blackstone Publishing, but Veil has a definite next-level feel to it. There’s a pathos and empathy to it that, while certainly not absent from Janz’s previous works, feels more honed, not to mention a stronger sense of authorial confidence. Janz knew what he wanted this story to be, and if it wasn’t easy to write he certainly makes it look that way in the end.

Movie critic Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it,” meaning that the execution of a story can be more important than the plot itself. It’s a sentiment I believe applies to books, as well. Janz’s execution in Veil is assured, presenting a story of an apocalyptic alien invasion through first-person narration of an everyman archetype. It’s easy to slip into John’s shoes and feel the chaos, the unknowing, the uncertainty of it all. At times it’s scarily familiar, echoing recent concerns from the covid pandemic, like grocery stores becoming hotbeds of both political and societal unrest, as nationwide lockdowns are instituted in an effort to keep people safe from an unseen killer while humanity engages in dick-waving contests to see who can be the bigger threat and/or the bigger moron, often at the same time.

Furthermore, Janz’s approach to the alien invasion itself is high-concept horror done right. Rather than going the route of the tried and true invading space force wreaking havoc with massive ships and laser beams, Janz finds a far more interesting way to truly personalize the effects these marauders have on society. The aliens themselves are an unseen threat, ripping holes in our dimension to abduct people seemingly at random. It starts off small and then escalates, pushing humanity to a breaking point, and is frighteningly effective the whole way through. They way John’s fellow Americans respond to this latest threat is not only spot-on accurate and realistic, but actually lived through, because we all saw these reactions first-hand as plenty of our fellow countrymen let their masks slip, metaphorically or otherwise. There’s plenty of large-scale disasters, like a chaotic evacuation from the city by panicked motorists on a highway turned abduction site, and plenty of room for more personal ones, such as John and his daughter coming under threat from a neighbor turned tyrant, like some homeowners association’s president from hell. But when John joins forces with a small band of survivors, the plan they come up with to be able to see the aliens is not only intriguing but flat-out dangerous. It’s also the one element I wish were mined a bit more deeply, particularly in terms of side-effects and unintended consequences, which never feel quite as significant or hair-raising as they potentially could be.

Veil functions well as a standalone, but by book’s end I found myself hungry for a sequel. Janz has opened up a unique world here that offers terrific series potential with plenty of room for growth, not to mention long-term repercussions from certain choices made. Maybe it’s just my love for films like Aliens and Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger books, but I couldn’t help but wonder what a military horror book would look like in the world of Veil with Janz’s imagination and knack for crafting frenetic, action-packed set pieces leading the charge. We get a taste it on the civilian front, and I certainly wouldn’t mind getting more. Veil is great on its own, but the potential for more is even greater.

What a truly incredible story. The details and characters in this story were so vivid and well thought out. I really felt like I was living within this story as I was reading it, Janz was able to create so much raw emotion for the reader, especially the ending. This is one of the best sci-fi horror books I’ve read to date and I would absolutely love to see this made into a movie! It’s like Signs meets I Am Legend.

In the latest from genre favorite Janz, people begin vanishing into thin air one seemingly ordinary night. But as dawn arrives, it appears those being snatched are abducted by some type of invisible force, their faces full of terror. This is the complete opposite of a heavenly rapture many hope for.

The novel follows a high school teacher named John who loses his wife and son, and after a couple months of struggling to survive, his teenaged daughter is ripped right from their allegedly safe hiding space. John meets up with a radical group of survivors who have discovered, by a (literal) accident, how they can see the invisible alien creatures who have figured out a strange way to invade our world.

After undergoing risky surgery to gain this new vision, John and co. are on a mission to rescue their loved ones on the aliens’ turf, and what follows is an action-packed sci-fi creature feature that’s full of heart and stand-up-and-cheer moments, not to mention a wickedly heartbreaking scene when John finally manages to locate his abducted son.

You’ve heard the term “popcorn movie.” This is an exciting “popcorn novel” that can be enjoyed even by those who don’t regularly read horror or sci-fi. With a super fast pace and a cast the reader cares for, this VEIL is nearly impossible to put down until you’ve completely looked behind it.

Review pending in Scream Horror.
Amazing I'd give it five billion stars if I could, a fantastic sci fi horror with a lot of heart.

Phenomenal. I'm talking relentless pacing from start to finish. Janz dips into some heart-wrenching fears and the horror is exquisite.
I honestly can't say enough about the pacing in this novel--it is just breath-taking. Here's a personal aside: I laid down in bed, took an Ambien, and opened the book. About half an hour later, the Ambien kicked in, I went downstairs, got a cup of coffee, and absolutely REFUSED to go to sleep until I hit the 50% mark--and even then, I wanted to stay up and finish it.
The horror aspect was as good as I've encountered in a few years and when the revelation of "the monsters" came about, it floored me. I was thinking "supernatural" and then "sci-fi" came out of nowhere.
But the emotional aspect of the thing really did a number on me. Janz did a masterful job relaying that part of the book and it really intensified the entire story for me.
Normally, I think these reviews through and write them in a semi-literary fashion, but I'm not doing that with this book. It was way too gut-wrenching, scary, and engrossing for that.
Don't miss it.