Perfect for fans of old-school horror classics like Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Chad Miller's The Prisoner of Fear is an evocative, unpredictable, and disturbing horror mystery with a supernatural twist that will keep you wide awake long after you have closed the book.
It is 1889 in Philadelphia, and detective John Doyle is restless. Along with his miserable partner, Thomas Braham, Doyle pursues mysteries, strange sightings, and other obscurities tossed aside and disregarded by the police. For years, Doyle has taken on these cases in the hopes of discovering something supernatural - something that could upend and dispute his long-standing, debilitating fear that immortal souls do not exist.
Doyle's search for the supernatural remains unsuccessful until he receives a strange letter from an old doctor friend regarding a young woman with a mysterious and rather disturbing illness. When the doctor goes missing in the same town that this young woman resides in, Doyle and Braham decide to take on the case and search for clues regarding their missing friend. In doing so, they discover that there is no longer any suffering young woman, but a dangerous abomination whose origin cannot be explained by science nor modern medicine.
Meanwhile, an unnamed victim has been kidnapped. Trapped in a cell with nothing but a journal to document their experiences, this mysterious Prisoner must undergo terrifying scientific experiments while trying not to lose all hope and sanity.
Inspired by the works of renowned horror and mystery writers like Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, and Arthur Conan Doyle, The Prisoner of Fear brilliantly weaves questions of mortality and the human propensity for evil into a truly intriguing, unique, and frightening narrative.
Review:
The synopsis gives a broad introduction to "The Prisoner of Fear", so with that being said, I am not going to give any details of what lies within.
My thoughts:
The main character's Braham and Doyle are wonderfully developed. Their bantering at times had me chuckling as their personalities are so opposite. Doyle is more adventerous while Braham is cantankerous. They take us on their investigations and it felt as if I was right along side them trying to uncover the mysterious events that are occuring.
I really enjoyed the writing style, diary entries, letters, and reports from all the character's involved. I loved reading the first person POV, it made the story flow smoothly and gives insight to all the character's thoughts and personalities.
The setting is well developed as it made me feel like I stepped back in time. The imagery at times was really dark and unsettling. I could feel the sadness, the anxiety, and the fear. The whole story is filled with suspense and mystery, it kept me on edge and fearing the outcome. The possibilities seemed endless, knowing that anything could happen. There is also an anonymous character that added to the mystery and suspense, the name is never revealed leaving the ending open to continue into the next book. (For me, cliffhangers are exciting, it lets me know that I have more to look forward to.)
Atmospheric, tense, and often times chilling, I really enjoyed the depth in this book and I am looking forward to visiting these characters in the next book!
Goodreads Author Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/
Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chad-Miller/author/
Review Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/
Author Website Link:
https://www.chadmiller-author.com/
Publisher Link:
https://www.hearourvoicellc.com/
https://www.hearourvoicellc.com/chad-miller
(Thank you Novel Cause for reaching out and offering this book to read, I truly appreciate it and look forward to reading more by Chad Miller.)
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