Doors (2013)

"When you break the conceptual barrier, the impossible ..." - Doctor David Druas

David Druas is a psychologist with a thriving practice who has the misfortune to be treating Hans Werner, a client with very distinctive problems. In order to treat Werner David enacts a ceremony Werner claims to have found on a paper hidden in an antique doll. Soon after the ceremony David begins to notice strange doors that no one else can see, proving Werner isn't as delusional as David thought and that there are other "worlds" he can visit via the doors. Naturally those worlds will prove to be less beneficial than David might have supposed.

Complicating matters Hans Werner is murdered and the Police suspect David of the crime, he escapes and is on the run. While he can hide out beyond the doors that brings additional peril and David to the attention of the "Doorkeeper", a being who's task is to monitor how the doors are being used and to keep them hidden from humanity. Can David decipher the new paradigm he finds himself in and can he protect those around him who have been exposed to the secret from those who seek to keep it hidden?

Doors, not surprisingly, play a huge part in the fabric of the horror genre, both physically and metaphorically. Queen Elizabeth Ist is quoted as saying she didn't want to open windows into men's souls, and that feeling of some doors being best left unopened permutates the genre, case in point The Monkey's Paw. Author Daniel Brako dials into that unease with the aptly titled Doors, a novella that keeps pointing out you really shouldn't be opening doors as you just don't know what might be lurking on the other side. Thankfully point of view character David Druas doesn't heed the warnings and just keeps on plunging through, much to the delight of the reader who is going to get caught up in the hectic pace being delivered as we visit multiple other worlds as David stumbles through his quest to make sense of what he has chanced upon.

One of the hardest things to pull off in fiction is alternative worlds, being able to imagine something alien to our own environment yet able to be recognisable to the reader as being simply alien. Brako doesn't do this once or twice, he keeps up the alternative throughout Doors showing a vivid imagination and an innate ability to take the reader beyond the everyday. Added advantage is most of the worlds Brako creates are hostile to human life as David Druas discovers. While there probably aren't any denizens beyond the doors that are going to give the horror fan nightmares, there are still some pretty vicious life forms to contend with. Science Fiction readers will probably dig this more than horror fans, so feel free to wear your Starfleet academy uniform while reading the book, we won't snigger too much!

Which of course brings me to my first criticism of the book, the plot device of the doors struck me as being a little too close to the Stargate universe for my comfort. You step through the door and are transported to another planet/world, not the most original of plot devices and frankly ranging away from the dark genre which would have used one door only. On the bright side, as mentioned above, doorways to other worlds have been around a lot longer than Colonel Jack O'Neil and crew, so we'll let this one pass to the keeper. Okay not overly original, but the well hasn't been drained on the idea yet as demonstrated by the never ending sequence of horror movies with the premise of haunted mirrors etc.

Where Brako does get it right is in the structure of his novella. We start with David Druas on the run from the police through a large park, he naturally side steps them via a doorway the police officers can't see. Brako then flashes back to how David came to be in the park on the run from police, and in fact does a number of flashbacks to flesh out different ideas in the narrative. While some Writers lose the plot in a big way with this approach Brako is right across it and you will not find yourself confused as to what the hell is going down. No the narrative isn't linear but equally it doesn't tangle itself up and overindulge itself in making twists that have no possible advantage for the average reader. I'm fine with authors playing with the timelines as long as that play doesn't involve simply trying to confuse anyone that might want to pick up the book.

So Science Fiction fans are going to lap up this book, horror fans maybe not so much. There are deaths, monsters, and all manner of dark notions going down but as explained above you are not going to have nightmares after reading Doors. I'm not even going to say that Brako hits the horror tropes; then again that is probably not what he wanted to do in the first place, so add this book to your reading beyond the genre category and simply enjoy.

Daniel Brako writes in a perfectly natural style and paces things about right. You will be dragged along by the narrative finding things to enjoy along the way till the resolution, which is suitably acceptable. Once again as opposed to most horror novels there isn't a sudden twist, the masked killer doesn't improbably rise again, you are left with a feeling of satisfaction as you read the final paragraphs. And that friends and neighbours is pretty much what you start this novel hoping to achieve, oh and yes I would have no issues with teens tackling the story.

Doors is probably not the normal novella I would have latched onto, as you may have noted we don't do a lot of Fantasy or Science Fiction around these here parts. But having said that I did enjoy the read and had a good time from opening paragraph to final paragraph, though I would have liked a bit more mystery added to the text. If after something outside your normal reading sphere then Doors is well worth a look.

Daniel Brako maintains a web presence right here. You can score a print edition of Doors from Momentum Books for $15.99 or an electronic version for $4.99 (epub, mobi formats).