A haunted castle....monsters.....rats.....and Nazis! F. Paul Wilson takes some tired old spook tropes and rewires them for this thriller, the first in a series, which proves to be a compulsive read despite a rather pat Hammer Horror type finale. Was made into a universally panned 1983 film (even Wilson hated it) heavy on the atmospherics thanks to a score by Tangerine Dream but not very faithful to the novel. ( )

"Solicito traslado inmediato. Algo está asesinando a mis hombres."
Éste es el mensaje que el capitán Woermann, al frente de una pequeña guarnición de la Wehrmacht, transmite al alto mando alemán desde el paso de Dinu, en Rumanía, donde ha sido enviado para ocupar una antigua fortaleza. Una oscuridad viva ha tomado el control del lugar, y los triunfantes soldados del Tercer Reich están cayendo uno a uno.
Como atraídas por los malignos efluvios de la remota fortaleza, tres personas encaminan sus pasos hacia ella: el mayor Kaempffer de las SS, al frente de un destacamento de Einsatzkommandos y decidido a derribar a toda costa cualquier obstáculo para su prometedora carrera en los campos de exterminio; el erudito judío Theodor Cuza, que irónicamente quizá sea el único con los conocimientos necesarios para salvar a lo que queda de los ocupantes nazis de la destrucción; y un misterioso hombre pelirrojo, anónimo y sin amigos, que tras percibir la alteración producida en la fortaleza acude a su llamada para continuar un enfrentamiento más viejo que la propia humanidad.

The Keep, written by F. Paul Wilson, was a popular horror novel published back in 1981. The graphic novel adaptation was drawn by Matthew Dow Smith and the script was written by F. Paul Wilson himself. It caught my eye while browsing the new books section at my library.

I didn't like this graphic novel. I didn't appreciate the artistic style and I thought the script was bland. Both seem flat, emotionless, and predictable. There is no sense of suspense or tension, which is unfortunate because the premise of the story is tantalizing. It reads more like a work in progress than an adaption of a powerful horror novel that's been in print for over 30 years.

It's April 1944 and a unit of Wehrmacht soldiers occupy an old "keep," a fort-like structure in the Dinu Pass of Romania in the Transylvanian Alps that's rumored to be over 500 years old. Crosses are imbedded in the walls. Men start dying mysterious deaths. Meanwhile, in Taviera, Portugal, a man wakes up after sensing a shift in the Force. He sets out by land and sea to you-know-where. The Captain in charge of the Wehrmacht unit sends a request for help to HQ. A Major from the SS, notorious from his "success" at Auschwitz, is sent by HQ to secure The Keep. The Captain and the Major have a history together that goes back to the trenches of World War I. One man was brave, one man was a coward. Considering that one man is regular Army and the other SS, you can probably guess which man is presented as the coward. Even the highly-trained SS men begin to die. A message in an ancient language is scrawled on the wall with blood. The caretaker offers up that there's an old man, a Professor in Bucharest, who can translate the message. The Professor is old and sick and Jewish. He is brought to The Keep along with his daughter who is his caretaker. The Professor stalls the soldiers. The man from Portugal arrives. The murderous presence reveals itself to the Professor. The daughter instantly hooks-up with the man from Portugal.

To find out how it all ends, you'll have to read the graphic novel yourself. It's just over 100 pages so it won't take long. You can also read the original novel (403 pages in paperback) or see the 1983 movie (95 minutes) that the author and critics disliked, which I will do in the near future as it's currently available for streaming from Netflix.

Jennifer Egan also wrote a horror novel titled The Keep (2007). I still have an ARC of that novel on my shelves and I know I read it, but don't recall enough to offer my opinion on it. It's odd that her publisher would publish a novel with the same title of a book that's a cult classic. Perhaps they were banking on confusion? ( )

This is an unusual book for three reasons; it is the first book in The Adversary Cycle, which is also part of a bigger series of books by this Author called The Secret History of the World, it is also a very good standalone read if you don’t want to find yourself tied to yet another collection.

As much I loved this book I did feel that so much more could have been done with the character development of, what I feel were the three major players in this book. However, having said that, it could easily be argued that there are no main protagonists in this read at all as there are so many characters that are woven into this novels pages, and they are written in such a manner that they interact with each other flawlessly. From a standalone read viewpoint this lack of development may mar some readers enjoyment of the book and leave it lacking in their opinion, but for me I didn’t mind at all and it made me wonder if, as part of not one but two series, if these characters would be revisited and explained a little more in-depth. I wanted to know more about the mysterious red-haired man, and why the female protagonist dressed the way she did, but I didn’t find it in the pages of this instalment. The ‘evil’ in the novel is well written, both the seen and unseen coming off the page and hitting the reader right between the eyes, and at times making it even harder to put this book down.

Despite the lack of character development, this is really a gripping and page turning read. The Author skilfully depicts the location filling each page with menace and dread to the point where the reader begins to feel a chill in the bones. It is not the usual run of the mill horror/supernatural story, and the only thing that sparkles in this book is the reflection of the sun off the river. As the storyline progresses the Author makes the reader feel as if they know the kind of evil that the characters are dealing with, even throwing in some references to bygone images of the vampire; but are we really reading about a vampire, or is it just an impression the reader is given because it is easier for them to visualise this kind of creature?

My real complaint about this book was that midway through all the gore and violence, the Author suddenly decided to throw into the mix an unnecessary, in my opinion, sexual liaison between two of the characters. Although it didn’t take anything away from the book, it certainly didn’t add any new dimension or understanding to it either, and it made me feel as if the Author had reached some kind of block, and needed something to squeeze into this space until their creative juices started flowing again. The relationship could have been expressed in a lot more subtle and tension ladened way, given the circumstances and time the novel was set in, with no real need to resort to the easy out of ‘let’s throw them between the sheets’. I really enjoyed the thought-provoking pages when the ‘cross’ is discussed as it made me think more about the power we let objects have over us, and I do enjoy books that make me think.

If you are looking for sparkly vampires, fluffy werewolves and a neat and tidy stake through the heart ending to make you feel good, this novel is not for you at all. However if you enjoy reading something that makes you think outside the box, and will keep you captivated well beyond bedtime, pick this up and give it a read. I would highly recommend this novel to lovers of the non-fluffy horror and supernatural genre, and I will most definitely be reading more by this Author.

originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/11/25/review-the-keep-the-adversary-cycle-1-f-pa...



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. ( )

An interesting book. Kept me engrossed in the story. At points I thought the love between the female protagonist and the male protagonist was a little hokey, but it was okay. ( )