Sam (Damienverse (Shared Horror Universe))

Sam is a disturbed little boy and running out of options his mother summons the help of an ex priest and a ghost hunter to hopefully help him. This is a great horror book with many twists and turns that will leave you guessing until the very end. I like that there is a mix of short and longer chapters but none of the chapters are so long that I lose interest or have my mind start to wander. There is great character growth with some of the characters and many of the characters have interesting backgrounds that we get to learn about. Highly recommend Sam for those in to supernatural horror and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I worked my way through this novel over the course of a couple of evenings and I came away with some mixed emotions. The novel itself reads like a mashup of The Omen and The Exorcist. Fright-wise, it falls somewhere between the two tales. I remember when The Omen first came out and at the time it was fairly scary. Compared to what hits the multiplexes nowadays however, I can't imagine anyone managing to stay awake until the credits roll. In fact, it's hard to believe the movie spawned so many sequels! The good news is, "Sam" is light years better than "The Omen." It has bigger and more suspensful fright sequences for one thing. For another, Iain Rob Wright has the panache to create characters that are built on shades of grey. No, not 50 SHADES! This is horror, not a thinly-veiled fan-fiction sex fantasy! What I mean is that the characters that populate this book are more like real people than one usually finds in the horror genre. They are texturally defined and somewhat nuanced. There are no stereotypical hottie college cheerleaders lining up to get killed moments after taking a drink or allowing some jock to get to second base. No one in this story is either completely good or completely evil; utterly smart or totally stupid. I'm not big on spoilers, so I won't get into specifics. Suffice it to say that it was pleasant to read about people that struggle with their own morality rather than having a perfect black-or-white perspective. These are people with very real limitations and in differing ways, each is forced to step up and be tested, often with mixed results. On the negative side, any time an author treads the dark and haunted trail blazed by William Peter Blatty, comparison to "The Exorcist" is all but unavoidable. The book is a masterpiece and, just as all children's fantasy will forever be compared to a wizard in a certain Emerald City, all books about demonic possession will be measured against the tale of young Regan and Father Merin. If you doubt me, read some reviews of the Harry Potter books and see how often L. Frank Baum's, "The Wizard of Oz" books are brought up. When comparing "Sam" to "The Exorcist," the bar is set very high indeed and "Sam" doesn't quite measure up. In fairness, it will likely be decades before another novel equals or surpasses that lofty mark. It's more reasonable to keep expectations within a different set of guidelines. Is this book scary? The answer there is a qualified yes, in my opinion. One common trapping in modern horror is to confuse fear with gore. I'm one of those people that isn't bothered by blood and guts, but even Spinal Tap's Nigel Tuffnel knows you don't spend the entire show with the amp up to "eleven." It's there when you need it because sometimes it's good to go "one louder." If a book or movie goes for the grossout shock every time, it quickly becomes redundant and boring. One of the things that made Blatty's book such a classic was that it did such a great job blending small little shivers up the spine in with the occasional pulse-pounding events. Mr. Wright isn't quite as adept yet in that department. It isn't that the book contains more gristle and guts than a Chicago slaughterhouse. In fact, compared to a lot of contemporary horror books, "Sam" is a bit on the tame side. It's more that once the story reaches the first big crescendo moment it feels like it's pedal to the medal from that point forward. It makes the story feel a bit lopsided - as if the first third exists for the purposes of character development and to set the atmosphere and the remainder is crammed with as many set action pieces as the author could cram into the pages. Also, there are several places where liberties are unnecessarily taken with the scriptures to include concepts from apochryphal or Gnostic texts. Truly great horror stories are surprisingly rare and because of that I tend to hold horror novelists to a high standard. I know I'm tougher than many readers in that sense, so your mileage may vary. Either way, "Sam" is good enough that it held my interest and then some. It also left me eager to dive into more of Iain Rob Wright's writing and that doesn't happen very often for me. I also visited the author's blog site and learned that Mr. Wright greatly enjoys hearing from his readers. Since becoming disabled recently, I've spent a lot of time reading as well as researching for my own writing efforts. I'm glad I took the time to read "Sam" because it not only made for a decent (although slightly flawed) read, it introduced me to a new author possessing all the tools necessary to be an extraordinary writer. I can't wait to find out what places his mind will take us to next. I also can't wait to meet some more of the well-developed and interesting people that will populate said places.

I bought this book because it was .99 cents and the Exorcist scared me to death. This book, however, will not scare you at all. It's a little creepy but you can tell the setting is (again) in England. They put a lot of books on Amazon written or set in England. I'm not sure when it was written but it seems dated. There was a very small twist at the end that I wasn't expecting but by that time I could have cared less. Also, as you'd expect, there is some religion with one of the main characters being a female priest. Overall, it's a quick read or a good story to get you sleepy.

This was a really cool read. Really enjoyed this book. Quick read but written really well. I would recommend for anyone wanting to read a cool horror.

Sam is a 10-year-old boy and he has a secret. It's a terrible secret, and if it's know, the entire world will shake at its revelation. Iain Rob Wright is a horror novelist from Great Britain and his new novel "Sam" is now available via SalGad Publishing (yes, I also happen to have a publishing deal with them). It's an remarkable novel. Sam manages to fill each page with dread, creating a kind of gothic horror that actually involves a large house in the English countryside that may, or may not, be possessed by a demon. Well, to be fair, the one possessed may be little 10-year-old Samuel Raymeady. Samuel recently lost his father and may inherit the vast fortune of the Black Remedy Corporation - a company so vast it can almost control the world. There's a problem, though. Little Sam has been acting very disturbing as of late. He draws all the time, and the things he draws show he knows things that he shouldn't know. Sam's mom brings in former priest Angela and ghost-debunker Tim. Perhaps they can help? Both of them, however, have very horrific secrets buried in their pasts. And Sam, well, he likes to take advantage of secrets like that. It's a complete page-turner of a novel. It manages to take the "possessed child" story and add enough original twists and turns that you'll be flipping pages or hitting the "next page" button on your reader with dazzling speed to see what happens next. Oh, and one more thing. Wright also manages to remember that horror, as a genre, should be fun as well as scary. And he imbues the tale of Sam with a heaping helping of wry humor, and a heaping helping of British slang ("What's your tipple?" being a favorite as one character goes to pour drinks for the others). The character of Tim, in particular, has a very sarcastic sense of humor throughout and it gets more intense as things get more frightening. If you are looking for a great Halloween story to read by the fire, this is one you need to add to your list.

A compelling story with plenty of creepy moments that kept me turning the pages. I didn’t feel much of a connection to the characters, which made it harder to care about their fates—a bit of a shame given the intensity of the plot. I also found myself confused about what was going on with Sammie at times, but the completely unexpected twist at the end tied everything together brilliantly. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

This book was so brilliant I had to read it again within a day of finishing it the first time. It's 'The Omen' meets 'The Exorcist', and as the first book I have read for this author, it was definitely one that has me buying more and continuing to do so. The premise is of an alcoholic former priest who has lost her faith, and a paranormal investigator/debunker shall we say, who have to join forces to save a poor 'innocent' child from what looks like a case of possession. But Sam and the 'being' inside of him has other ideas. Follow along as the death toll mounts and and even the faithful aren't safe. 'Sam' is just one of those book where the author grabs you from the first word and pulls you into a story so believable and so terrifying at the same time. I couldn't put it down, and all I can do is praise Iain for his brilliant writing and letting me become a part (even for just a short time) a part of this deliciously creepy tale. I won't spoil the story for those who haven't read it (and obviously you might not have done if you're reading these reviews), but sufficed to say I was thrilled to learn of another book where we meet a very familiar character :)

Ich habe das Buch gekauft, als es eines Tages mal für einen schlappen Euro bei Amazon zu haben war und sich der Inhalt nach alter Schule anhörte – Grusel, Besessenheit, ein altes Herrenhaus in England. Mein Ding. Gleich vorweg: Ich würde dem Autor gern noch mehr Geld in den Hals werfen. Für einen lumpigen Euro war das grandiose Unterhaltung. Wenig blabla, viel Grusel und noch viel mehr Atmosphäre. Das Buch erinnerte mich von Anfang stark an “Das Omen” – ihr wisst schon: Damien – das Antichristengör. Und ja, das zieht sich durch den gesamten Roman, was aber der Spannung und Unterhaltung überhaupt keinen Abbruch tut. Mich faszinieren einfach Geschichten und Filme rund um den Exzorzismus und um Dämonen, den Teufel und Besessenheit. Mich wundert schon lange, dass das noch nicht die Zombies abgelöst hat und ein Survival erlebt. Bin aber auch erleichtert. Ein Thema, dass mir noch nicht verleidet wurde durch immer wiederkehrende Verwurstung. Aber zum Buch…. die Charaktere sind witzig und fast alle recht gut ausgearbeitet. Tatsächlich war ich von der Qualität überrascht. Okay, der Plot dagegen ist jetzt nicht sooo ausgefeilt bzw. überraschend oder neu. Aber der Schreibstil holt einiges raus, zusammen mit der Charaktertiefe. Das Ende hat mich erst einigermaßen enttäuscht, wartet dann am aber noch mit einer Wendung auf, die gar nicht mal so blöd ist. Ich habe das Buch in englisch gelesen und gebe einen Daumen nach oben für Anfänger. Einfach zu lesen. Fazit: Wenn ihr mal wieder richtigen old school Exzorzismus-Bessenheits-Erbsensuppe-spuck-Kram lesen wollt, seid ihr hier absolut richtig. Ich empfehle das Buch ebenfalls den Gruselfans – alles da: altes Landhaus in England, mysteriöse Hausbewohner, seltsame Phänomene, unheimliche Gerüchte und Geschichten….für wenig Geld ein sehr kurzweiliges Lesevergnügen.

You want to read it with the lights on.

This book had me from page one very well written very well thought out and I just loved it. Can’t wait to read the rest of his books.