The Catacombs by Jeremy Bates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This mainly follows the story of Will, an American staying in Paris. When his friend and (pretty) language tutor Daniele shows him footage of a video camera discovered under Paris and tells him she plans to investigate it, he feels the need to go with her.
The story had an interesting premise, who can refuse creepy catacombs as a base of a story and the author seems to have researched a lot of detail making it very realistic. It is not a light-hearted thriller! It is easy to read, but is quick and hard-hitting with the story flowing naturally. Suspense, horror, treacherous terrain and odd incidents all add to this dramatic story.
I did feel the characters could be explored/ explained a little more and think Will has a lot more story to tell with the opportunity to feature in future books. The reader did get glimpses of his past throughout and these little snippets of info really helped the reader engage for him and hope he had the will-power to survive.
This is book two in the series “A World’s Scariest Places”. The first “Suicide Forest” was also a great thriller, capturing your interest in another particularly creepy setting. These books will appeal to fans of Stephen King’s earlier work; dark, twisted and gritty storylines with plenty of action (and the odd bit of compassion) to keep the reader going. Looking forward to future reads from this author.
New2Writing 