In the House of Leviathan

Giuseppe and his sister work together in a rickety old paper mill in mid 19th century Italy. Life is far from perfect, but the little family is content. Until Giuseppe sees Mr. Grapaldi attempting to summon the devil, to what end, Giuseppe is not sure; but ominous events begin to take place in the little seaside village. Violence breaks out at the mill and the young man fears for his family’s safety. As hard times make good people do things they normally would never think of doing, Giuseppe must find the strength and courage within himself to save his sister and his village. This is an atmospheric and highly readable Gothic

In the House of Leviathan B. D. Bruns

At first I thought it was going to be a sea monster story, then, maybe, an Angry God causing all the trouble. Boy, was I wrong. The Leviathan was not a sea monster or an Angry God. This story is a good, scary, Gothic style, keep the lights on all night, haunting story. The book cover is perfect for this novel.
The time slot for this haunting is late 1800's. The place is a papermill above the little fishing town of Amalfi. It is the day of Amalfi's Patron Saint, St. Andrew. The best celebration of the season. This is the start of the strange and fearsome events. Lucio, a young fisherman, wanted to go fishing but the sea was acting strange and he decided not to take his boat out. The main action is at the papermill, run by the same family for generations. An innocent action has awakened a vicious malevelnt entity that invades the mill. I really love this type of story. Bruns has started slow and built up the creepy sensation to a bursting point. The war hero trying desperately to save his younger sister from the evil. The young fisherman fighting to save the girl he loves. The priest who knows the secret but is unable to tell.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance Kindle version

Subtle terror.

I think those two words sum up the feeling of this book pretty well. B.D. Bruns does not jump into this story with gore and violence the way many horror authors seem to approach their books these days. Instead, the author allows the story to gain momentum using the unknown and builds the rest from there.

If you are a fan of suspenseful books that make you use your powers of reasoning to figure them out, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this book. I wasn't sure what to think in the beginning, but soon the story grabbed my attention and I found myself turning pages until I was finished. The classic elements chosen for this story reminded me of why horror is such a great category of fiction.

I enjoy books that can describe a setting well and make you feel like you are right there alongside the character and this is definitely one of those stories. It isn't a tremendously long book, but the author gets to the point and makes it memorable.

A suspenseful, interesting book. Recommended.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.