[books 2016] Dead Shift
Jul. 10th, 2016 12:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inulro34. Dead Shift by John Llewellyn Probert
I'm not sure how I came to be aware of the launch event for this book, but it was held at a book shop in Clevedon called Books on the Hill that I'd been meaning to visit for some time, so I dragged Jason out to the seaside early on a Saturday morning to pick up a copy (and other things).
It's a Lovecraftian horror novella. A dying man performs a ritual to open the gates to another dimension in hospital (rather than at the place of great evil he originally intended) and three doctors, stuck on the night shift, have to save the world as the hospital is cut off from the rest of reality.
Not complicated, not even particularly original, but a terrifically fun read nonetheless. Some of it is genuinely creepy, balanced by some laugh-out-loud funny moments. Even if I hadn't read the author's note at the end it would have been obvious to me that his day job is in the NHS, because he captures that so perfectly.
Even though Probert lives locally and has written loads of stuff, I'd never heard of him before. I will definitely be seeking out more of his work.
I'm not sure how I came to be aware of the launch event for this book, but it was held at a book shop in Clevedon called Books on the Hill that I'd been meaning to visit for some time, so I dragged Jason out to the seaside early on a Saturday morning to pick up a copy (and other things).
It's a Lovecraftian horror novella. A dying man performs a ritual to open the gates to another dimension in hospital (rather than at the place of great evil he originally intended) and three doctors, stuck on the night shift, have to save the world as the hospital is cut off from the rest of reality.
Not complicated, not even particularly original, but a terrifically fun read nonetheless. Some of it is genuinely creepy, balanced by some laugh-out-loud funny moments. Even if I hadn't read the author's note at the end it would have been obvious to me that his day job is in the NHS, because he captures that so perfectly.
Even though Probert lives locally and has written loads of stuff, I'd never heard of him before. I will definitely be seeking out more of his work.
