Among the Living by Tim Lebbon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Among the Living is an Eco-Horror novel from Tim Lebbon.
I was so excited when I read the synopsis for this one, as we all know, there’s nothing better than reading Arctic Horror in the Winter. I was super stoked to get into it.
This story is set in a very remote area of the Arctic Circle, specifically, on Hawkshead Island. We follow two groups of individuals. The first, a team of illegal miners who essentially exploit natural resources, is led by Dean.
The second, a group of climate activists, who try to stop illegal activities such as those Dean and his team engage in. The activists are led by Bethan, an old friend of Dean’s.
Dean and his team go to the island to explore a vast cave system. Their exploits lead to a horrific contagion being unleashed. This contagion has laid dormant for many millennia, but now that it’s free, it’s ready to wreck havoc.
Bethan and her team, wanting to stop Dean and his associates from exploiting this rare and special environment, rush there to try to stop them. Spoiler alert: they’re too late.
Dean, Bethan and their rivals teams are now on a survival mission from hell. They can’t let this contagion escape the island. If they do, it could mean an end to life as we know it.
But, hey, no pressure…
The concept of Among the Living is great. I love the idea of exploring what could happen if some sort of ancient contagion, or virus, is unleashed, either due to ice melt, or humans uncovering it from underground.
I think it’s such a horrifying idea. I actually think about it quite a bit. I was really excited to see Lebbon tackle that potentially species-destroying topic here.
Sadly, the execution left me feeling majorly underwhelmed.
This is a good book. I know many Readers will enjoy it. For me though, I just couldn’t care less about the characters, or their interpersonal issues. I was bored by them.
There were some extremely vivid horror scenes, where I feel like the horror imagery was very well presented. Those were the parts I enjoyed the most. They were a little few and far between for my tastes though.
IMO, the beginning of this was the most exciting part, even though in terms of action, that definitely gets more amped up towards the end. It gets crazy!
What I enjoyed about the beginning though, and found most exciting, was the unknown. The anticipation of entering the cave, of what they found there and what it meant. Those aspects were so well done. I wish it could have carried that hauntingly-ominous tone throughout.
Once Bethan and her crew came on the scene, however, it just felt that the interpersonal issues started to outshine the suspense and the horror.
Because of my fluctuations in interest, this book, coming in at just over 300-pages, took me almost 20-days to read. It just went so incredibly slow for me.
With this being said, I understand this is 100% personal taste. It’s nothing the author did wrong, it just wasn’t a good fit for my tastes. Nevertheless, I can appreciate the creativity and the concept itself is absolutely terrifying.
I would recommend this for Readers who enjoy more Literary Horror, but also aren’t afraid of a blood and gore.
It is thought-provoking and could also work very well for Book Clubs, Group Reads, or Buddy Reads.
Thank you to the publisher, Titan Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am definitely interesting in reading more of this author’s work.