The Reaping, by Bernard Taylor

I received a free audible copy from the author with the expectation of an honest review. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Tom Rigsby is a successful owner of a paint supply store. He is a widowed father, lives with his sister and has a semi-serious girlfriend. While his life has certainly not been all fun and games, these days, Tom is doing okay. His relationship with his oft away girlfriend is strained at the moment, but life is otherwise good. Then, one day, he gets a request to paint a portrait at a country estate, and after deliberating, finds it too hard to pass up. This sends Tom down a path that threatens to tear his comfortable life apart. Here’s my thoughts on this horror tale:

• By the stars, this is possibly the most 70s/80s British story I’ve ever read/heard, and I grew up with BBC and UTV. This by no means makes it bad. In fact, this is quite a treat for fans of the old Hammer Horror movies and series. Like me.
• I live to give the narrator some kudos for audiobooks (assuming they deserve them), but I found the awesomely named Hannibal Hills to be the driving force of the whole show, more so even than the story itself. His portrayal of Tom as his life begins to crash around him is top notch. He portrays a relatively large array of accents and personalities well, and pushes the pace. If I had one gripe, and we must have one, some of the women sound more like dockworkers, and it temporarily sends the plot in a different direction, when it shouldn’t really
• It’s a slow build, which in horror novels can send people off to sleep, and The Rea;ing lacks the creeping dread of some of its counterparts. That being said, it’s a solid, if unoriginal, story, and a tale one could sit and sip tea while reading. It’s not overly long – I got through it in a couple of days
• I must be honest, Tom seems to be a bit of a bonehead, and is as much the catalyst for his own failures as the overarching scheme he is being trapped in. At times I felt like screaming at him, as some of the twists of the plot were glaringly obvious, but that probably would not have ended well for me. Probably better than it did for him though
• Certainly not the scariest of horrors, although definitely enjoyable. To be honest, I think this story would have translated better to TV, or perhaps even a low budget movie. 

Verdict

Solid, but unspectacular, if you like your horror with a bit of a bang, then this is not for you. If you like the everyman struggling against not particularly arcare forces, then check out…The Reaping (cool title, by the way).