Talk us through it
Brendan Craft along with his girlfriend Gwen are cleaning up the old homestead Brendan has recently inherited. An upstairs room that Brendan plans to use as a study proves particularly troublesome with a lot of rubbish accumulated over the years. An old tin containing war memorabilia also holds a strange amulet, that while unsettling, proves to be something of a lure for Brendan. Our two erstwhile house cleaners have just released an age old evil and it wants Brendan's soul. The only thing our duo have working in their favour is that Brendan must be driven to suicide in order for his soul to be captured, the evil lurking within the amulet must keep him safe from any other danger. How does a deranged first world war veteran killing himself in a hospice tie in with two young women being lead to their deaths? Can Brendan, Gwen, and new found friend Warden Anthony solve the riddle behind the amulet in order to save Brendan's soul and stop more deaths before it's too late? Ancient Egypt meets modern Australia in a chilling novel from G.M.Hague. Ready to match wits with the Setris?
Review"Kill yourself and the Setris will let us rest, Mr Craft. He's chosen you, not us" - Spirit of Jeneatte BeasonVoices of Evil was the third novel by Hague to be published by Pan Australia and unfortunately two weaknesses from his first published novel, Ghost Beyond Earth, have not been addressed. The Editing is letting the author down and the ending is pretty abrupt and unsatisfying after being in country for 612 odd pages of ancient demonic shenanigans. Hague remains an easy writer to read, and I would definitely point anyone who wants to dip their toes in Down Under Horror literature toward the author, but as a constant reader I was a little disappointed that the writer hadn't worked on his final assault tactics to leave more of a lasting impression. No wonder the local horror establish refers to Hague as the Down Under Stephen King, I have much the same ending issue with many of King's books. An example of bad editing, and remember this isn't the Author's fault, the onus is on the manuscript Editor to pick this sort of stuff up. On page 10 of my 2001 Hinkler Books reprint the writer informs us, "then she pulled a pair of rubber gloves from the back pocket of her jeans and tugged them on", yet by page 15 Gwen has apparently changed, "her shirt and shorts were stained by the dirt from the room". What are we meant to make of this Gwen's shorts are cut off jeans, Gwen changed somewhere off page, or the Editor simply fumbled the ball? It's oversights like this one, so easily caught, that take the reader out of Hague's otherwise excellent narrative. Okay I may be nit picking here, but his sort of a miss really does irritate one when they are trying to get into a thick novel. I'm left vaguely wondering if anyone can nail the ending of a large novel. Stephen King is pretty hit and miss and G.M.Hague surely wraps things up without leaving the reader feeling like they have been punched between the eyes. This is the second novel of Hague's I've read and in both cases I was left with a feeling of "that's it!". Someone point me to an author able to nail the conclusion of a five hundred pager and I'm buying everything that writer has ever published, including their laundry list. There are some aspects to Voices of Evil that I did enjoy, and yeah I've got another Hague to read right after I visit McBean's The Last Motel next. Like his first novel the writing style is easy to read, and besides the odd bit of editing miss, the prose doesn't hit you over the head mid page with a glaring change in tempo. Read some Gabrielle Lord to get how freaking bad that can be when you are settling in for a nice read. Actually can I say "nice" when it involves tales of the macabre? Hague maintains that realistic style of writing and you will believe what he has to tell you during the novel, no matter how far fetched. Think King slowly edges into the dark under the willows in the local swimming pool while Hague simple belly flops and relies on his inherent abilities as a writer to get the reader back into the well lighted shallow end, albeit with some nasty hanger ons. I was particularly taken by Hague's ability to interweave two timelines in the novel without missing a beat. We get the modern trials and tribulations of Brendan and Gwen, but underpinning the happenings in the current era are the adventures of Ben Hamilton and his mates immediately prior and during the Gallipoli campaign of ANZAC legend. Australia meets ancient Egypt through a mistake Ben Hamilton makes and we as the novel gathers pace we really are left wondering if Brendan Craft is going to pay the price. For those after the flesh meeting the metal end of horror, yes Hague does have some victims, with Jeanette Beason and Jodie Seager meeting particularly well thought out deaths that quite frankly match anything Friday the 13th has thrown our way. The final element of Voices of Evil I wanted to mention was Hague's handling of his demonic elements, and I guess, remembering these are ancient Egyptian demons rather than the modern Christian alternatives. The Author approaches his escalating horrors in a very similar manner to how Willam Peter Blattey approached his Georgetown material in the seminal work The Exorcist. The beginning, Brendan Craft's turn (as my mother was apt to put it), is quickly forgotten in the share mayhem that follows. In both books the manifestations of evil seems to work on what has gone before to reach dazzling new heights of sinister intent as events unfold. Brendan faces increasingly realistic nightmares and is unable to sleep, eventually causing Gwen to seek a medical opinion as to his condition. Regan O'Neil, Blattey's young victim, suffers from increasing paranormal attack, eventually causing her Mother to seek a medical opinion as to Regan's condition. In both cases medicine fails and a more arcane field of expertise is enlisted to combat the situation. Notably in Blatey's novel the "possession" is paramount to the story, while in Hague's novel it's hinted at, tossed around on a wet oval, before being discarded by the writer. End of day Voices of Evil fails in comparison to The Exorcist due to one writer being able to hit the emotional fallout of events, while the other seems to be touching bases with a number of pre-ordained events without any space being given to the likely ramifications of events on subsidiary characters. Not sure where I got off the beaten path with The Exorcist comparison, but in conclusion I will state for the record that I enjoyed Hague's third novel while not being blown away by it. One of those take or leave it efforts that wont be remembered in a couple of months time after you finally put the book down.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Worth picking up second hand or from a library, but not worth ordering in. Not the best horror novel you
are ever going to read but infinitely superior to the mass marketed crud currently being pushed out of North America. Must read for Hague fans.
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