Hey everyone, this year I have made a goal to read at least 20 books. However, in February, I managed to read only 1 book and that was Graham Masterton’s horror and speculative fiction novel, The Doorkeepers. Keep reading to find out why you should give it a read.
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The Doorkeepers was initially published in the year 2000 and since then has been published by several publishers. The author, Graham Masterton is a British author known primarily for horror fiction. He has been writing horror fiction since the 1970s with his debut novel, The Manitou which was later adapted into a movie. He has also received several accolades for his works, one of them being, a Special Edgar Award by the writers of America for his 1978 novel Charnel House. The Doorkeepers has a total of 378 pages.
SYNOPSIS
“As far as her family knows, Julia Winward, a young American woman, has been missing in England for nearly a year. When her mutilated body is finally found floating in the Thames, her brother, Josh, is determined to find out what happened to his sister for all that time, and exactly who-or what- killed her……..”
SUMMARY
The book is set in London, during the time Queen Elizabeth II was in reign. Julia Winward is introduced in the beginning, working as a Secretary at Wheatstone Electronics. One day, her employer, F. G. Mordant offers to drop her home and on their way, they stop at a bar when Mordant offers her an apartment above it. The apartment was close to their workplace and the rent was also cheap. Enticed by these two conditions Julia agrees to take a look at the apartment. Following which we find that she was brutally murdered and dumped in the River Thames.
Josh Winward, Julia’s brother who lived in the US and worked as an extraordinary veterinarian, is the protagonist of this book. When he was informed about his sister’s death, he flies out to London to find out who is behind this, only to discover several other worldly concepts and a sister who didn’t exist in London for 10 months prior to her death. The most interesting part of The Doorkeepers is that it dives into parallel worlds that can be accessed by six doors, located in different parts of the world and these doors are guarded by the book’s namesake, the doorkeepers.
MY OPINION
As far as the thriller portion of this book is concerned, it immediately catches your attention in the first page. The way the author describes and paints a gruesome picture of Julia’s murder will make you yearn for the remaining story.
“They only saw her for a split second, but that split second was more than enough. Julia was hanging naked from the ceiling, her hands clutching at the noose around her neck, her legs wildly kicking. The rope was swinging slowly from side to side. Creak, pause. Creak, pause……“
The Doorkeepers, Graham Masterton
The characters other than the protagonist are well defined, and each one of them carries a secret that is slowly revealed throughout the book. My favourite character would be Nancy, Josh’s girlfriend. She was a complete package of intelligence, cautiousness, courageous, comforting and she was bold enough to venture alone in another parallel world that had threatened their existence since the first time both she and Josh had stepped into it. A special mention must be given to Abraxus, one of the character’s dog, that played a major role in the climax of the book. The dog alone cut through the suspense of the climax like a piece of sharp glass.
Gruesome, gut-wrenching and disturbing are the words that perfectly describe this book.
Overall I would rate this book a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. Although the book is great it loses its momentum in the middle and has quite a few unnecessary plots that remain unaddressed at the end.
I would recommend that you read this book if you love to read horror and thriller novels, especially the ones with horrifying scenes.
Get your copy – The Doorkeepers
EJ signing off……
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