Early Review – The Monsters in our Shadows by Edward J Cembal (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Post-Apocalytpic
Length: 388 pages
Publisher: Lovecraft Press
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
ASIN: B0BNLPF4F2
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from Netgalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“It’s been a century since “the great consumption.” Humanity has been devoured to the edge of extinction by the ever-ravenous Shivers – terrifying, shapeless creatures that latch onto their hosts, tormenting them over time before consuming them all at once. The last of civilization lives in the crumbling city of Atlas, where they subsist on processed insects and await their inevitable fate.
Anthem is the city Exilist, tasked with trapping the Shivers and banishing them to the malevolent Deadlands outside the city walls. But Anthem is ailing and destined to soon fall victim to his own Shiver, a fate he’s reluctantly accepted. As Anthem begins to withdraw from his world, a threat he’s unprepared for comes hurtling home. If he is to save anyone, he will have to travel into the Deadlands in search of a remedy to tame these creatures. But no Atlas dweller has ever made it back alive, and Anthem must confront his own darkness before humankind is forever lost to the monsters in our shadows. “
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: This was a fast-paced post-apocalyptic novel set in a world where humans are hunted by the Shivers they create. This was easy to read and I enjoyed all the action.
This book follows Anthem, a man assigned with escorting people to the Deadlands once their Shivers can’t be held in check anymore. The Shivers are shadow monsters that appear to certain people. At some point, people can’t control their Shivers and they have to be exiled so that their Shivers don’t break free and kill the rest of the town. This is set in a post-apocalyptic world where very little humanity has survived.
The origin of the Shivers was hinted at but never fully explored. I liked what the author was hinting at but it would have been cool to have that concept expanded on and explained a bit more. The world-building here is fairly sketchy as well, we only see a small part of the world and we never get a good explanation of how the apocalypse came to pass.
I did enjoy the secrets of the town of Atlas and there is a ton of tense action in here. The writing was easy to read and the book was hard to put down. I just kept struggling with the “how” and “why” behind the Shivers; as I said above, it’s a neat idea but I wish it had been fleshed out more.
As with many post-apocalyptic novels, the ending is fairly open and doesn’t resolve everything. However, it fits well with the rest of the story.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed, post-apocalyptic read with some excellent twists and turns. I do feel like it’s a bit rough around the edges. Some of the concepts in here have potential but weren’t fleshed out well. It also has that very unfinished feeling that a lot of post-apocalyptic novels tend to have. If you are looking for an action-packed post-apocalyptic novel full of strange monsters, I would recommend this. I will definitely be keeping an eye open to see what Cembal writes next.
