Possible spoilers ahead. Enter if you dare.
First of all, thank you for bearing with me on my lateness. I had quite the week and just could not get caught up. I finally sat down this weekend and read the first section. Wow! Just what I would expect from a Nevill novel. Starting off with a bang with that prologue, and then not too long after, the creeping dread begins.
The first foray of Kyle and Dan into the house on Clarendon Road, the original headquarters of the Last Gathering, was definitely edge of seat. I can only imagine how scared they were. I was scared right along with them. They stuck around way longer than I would have. Also, the revelation that Max had been part of the Last Gathering. I thought he acted kind of weird. Makes sense that he would run a spiritual, new age type production company, though after his experiences with the cult, I wonder why? There is definitely something more about his involvement than he is letting on. At least in my opinion.
Onward with the creepiness...to Normandy and the dilapidated farm. Thinking about those poor children kept in the barn/temple with the dogs. How weird anyway. Kyle touched on it when he thought about how strange it was that Sister Katherine would want the followers to procreate when she mostly expected them to be celibate. A definite contradiction in the cult by-laws so to speak. I kept screaming in my head to Kyle. Why was he exploring that place by himself after Dan went off to help Gabriel? I knew something bad was going to happen there. But back to Kyle and his ill-advised solo mission inside the barn/temple and then Katherine's fermette. What exactly are these beings or figures he is seeing? Something nefarious for sure, and not sure what they're waiting for because they sure seem to be poised to do something. What, who knows?
I just wonder what makes people want to stay in "cults" like that. Sister Katherine clearly was cruel and probably a lunatic. Even after they discovered she was living high on the hog while they were suffering, some of them still stayed. The psychological trauma after experiencing something like that had to be significant. Well, we witnessed it with the woman in the prologue, and also with Susan and Gabriel's obvious apprehension on returning to those places.
I have to say I'm intrigued AND creeped out. This is why I love a Nevill novel. He never disappoints.
What are your thoughts? Any ideas on the mysterious and creepy figures? Add your thoughts in the comments.
Our next discussion will be on September 30. I will try very hard not to get behind again. If you need to reference the reading schedule, click the link to the master post below, or in the blog menu at the top.
This post is part of Something Wicked Fall.
