Darkbound

By: Michaelbrent Collings

Narrated by: Steve Marvel

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

There is no light at the end of some tunnels.... The New York subway system has:656 miles of track... 468 stations... 31 thousand turnstiles... and 1.64 BILLION fares yearly.

For six of those fares, the trip is going to be one they will never forget.

Six strangers will board a subway. But this subway is unlike the others.

This subway doesn't take you where you want or where you need. It takes you where you fear.

This subway...is Darkbound.

©2012 Michaelbrent Collings (P)2014 Michaelbrent Collings

FREDDY WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO EAT ANOTHER LOLLIPOP

AND THAN THE SCREAMING STARTED
If you can keep your mind from wondering, you will hear some gruesome descriptions. Some authors can build suspension, get you involved in the situation and with the characters. This book did none of that. I heard the awful things and I should have been terrified, but I was not. MC failed to put me in the train car. It was like a TV with the sound turned off. If looking at a list of gruesome things scares you, than you might enjoy, otherwise avoid this book.

horror novel with some gore

Warning: this is a horror novel with some gore and mentioning of rape.

For a horror genre the settings of the novel are real, it’s a normal subway station in the early morning hours.

In the early morning, there are six people waiting in the subway to ride the Metro. The problem is that the Metro isn’t taking them to where they want to go or even where they should go. Instead this Metro goes where their fear is . . . We see Jim, a family man, describing the other passengers by stereotypes so we have a sweet old grandma, a ganger, a rapist, a rich lawyer, and a pedophile. You know the normal people you see every day, yet moving with the chapters of the story we realize how the characters are much more complex than their simple stereotypes. The author really focused on the inner psychology of each character in their behavior, speech, and reactions. There were reality aspects to each of these characters, but I didn’t find them likable.

The events had a very visual aspect told from Jim’s point of view, but he wasn’t the narrator here. The plot was fast going; we see an incident after another in very quick session, with the degree of horror intensity climbing up a notch with each incident. As is common in the horror genre this had a very climatic ending, but was it predictable? For me some aspects were clear, I knew the jest of what was happening, but I will say there were some very good plot twists here.

Steve Marvel did a great job here as his voice was calm but chilling in describing the horror and even the gory parts. He really gave each character its own voice and accent depending on the background of each of them. He delivered the emotion in each moment making the reader feel as if they are there watching what is happening.

A psychological note: since I’m a psychologist, I couldn’t pass by without saying, there is a character whom we are told is a sociopath. I have to say this isn’t quite accurate, a sociopath wouldn’t feel anxious, afraid, or despair, a sociopath feel so little or mostly nothing.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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More Horror than Collings Other Books--A Good Read

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge MbC fan. I particularly love his supsense/supernatural/action stuff. I'm not as big a fan of classic gorey-horror, which this leans more towards.

What I loved about this book:
The symbolism. Like all horror, this is a morality tale. I loved the literary symbolism in the various train cars and their occupants' deaths.
The twists. Of course, you know that what you see is not what you get in a book like this, but even though I was second-guessing everything, there were lots of surprises.

What I didn't love as much:
The gore. It was pretty hard for me to keep listening through that. A lot of others would enjoy it, though, and it's a valid artistic decision for the genre and morality lesson of the book.

Overall, I'd recommend it to fans of classic horror. This is definitely not horror-lite, so be prepared if you decide to dive in.

Fast Paced Horror

This book was right up my alley, dark and bloody with an end that made me say "didn't see that one coming". It began with seven characters who find themselves trapped on a subway train. All but one made me a little bit nervous with their distasteful personalities. Throughout the story the author is trying to get us to guess who the bad guy is. Who is the one responsible for the entrapment of all the passengers on this train. The description of gore was vivid and reminiscent of Stephen King in quality. Although I found myself wondering if there was going to be anything ELSE to this book besides the horror (more character depth, new scenery, etc) and thought it deserving of only 3 stars. BUT the ending, the ending. When it all came together and I saw the WHY.

This book is not for the queasy. But if you can handle some blood and guts, otherworldly horrors, and (very mild) language combined with characters that make you want to wrinkle your nose with disgust then read up. Enjoy the ride.

Inventively Gruesome

Which character – as performed by Steve Marvel – was your favorite?

Oleg

Any additional comments?

Master of the third person limited graphic cinematic point of view, Collings likes to kill people in inventively gruesome ways that make you think what kind of death you'd deserve if you fell into one of his stories.

Direct line to Hell, no waiting.

Would you listen to Darkbound again? Why?

Perhaps in a year or two. It was fun, in a twisted sort of way.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The abuelita as she had some of the best lines and obviously had some history - I kept wanting more of her story.

Which character – as performed by Steve Marvel – was your favorite?

Sarah - her deadly, quiet, controlled voice was chilling.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Near the end, one of the characters faces her children and talks of the family business.

Any additional comments?

A subway train driven by a skeleton takes on 6 passengers, all in one car. They come from a variety of backgrounds and have different reasons for being chosen for this very ride. Full of suspense, and at times, gore, this fast-paced thriller grabs you early on and keeps you interested the whole way through. Jim, our mild-mannered narrator and family man, provides the viewpoint for the story. It is through his eyes and his prejudices that we see these other characters. An abuelita (little Hispanic grandmother) actually first meets Jim on the platform as they wait for their train. She is kicking a man (Freddy) in the lower legs; he is dressed in a trench coat and sucking a lollipop and the other characters all assume him to be a pedophile. Once the train loads, we get to meet an older man who is from Eastern Europe’s Georgia and has been involved in some shady life style choices. There’s also a tall, model-esque woman (Sarah) in a business suit and NY gang member.

I have read a few of Collings’s books now and all are easy to get caught up in; this is even more so. Right away, we have a hint of the paranormal and we have a short grandmother giving some vicious kicks to Freddy who is ogling the photo of Jim’s wife and daughter. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace of this novel. The characters were set and then the plot ran with them. While I will say that the characters are pretty one dimensional, this book is more about the action. We do get a little bit more on each character as one after the other suffers some gruesome death. And there are plenty of gruesome scenes. Out of all the Collings books I have read, I believe this to be the most graphic in violence and gore. And I was OK with that, because these characters have all done some pretty horrendous things in their pasts.

There is a wonderful twist that I want to say something about with out giving anything away. Such a challenge this early in the morning! Not all the characters are as they first seem and the ending wasn’t what I expected. There. That is vague enough. For a fast-paced thriller, this was excellent; I was enjoying the book, but I had certain ideas of how it would end. But then the twist hits and the ending is different and that took this book to the next level for me.

My one criticism is that the characters by and large are pretty one dimensional and fit into stereotypes. It’s not necessary that they be anything else for the plot, but a little more would have been nice.

The Narration: Steve Marvel was a great fit for Jim (the main character) who is POV for the story. His mild-mannered voice caught on excitement, fear, sadness, terror. Indeed, he did an excellent job with all the emotions that Jim went through. A few of the stereotype accents were a bit over done (the Hispanic grandmother and the gang member) but I liked his soft, deadly voice for Sarah (the business woman) and Eastern European man. I would listen to another book narrated by him.

Horror at its best!

Would you listen to Darkbound again? Why?

I will definitely be listening to this book again! I felt as if I was right there, in the train, seeing and experiencing all the horror first hand!

What other book might you compare Darkbound to and why?

Totally original, dark, frightening and very addictive. Reminds me a little of Clive Barker, but Collings has taken this to a new dimension.

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire book, right from the beginning the listener is grabbed by the back of the neck and thrust into a nightmare.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

So many twists and turns, it was a continual rollercoaster. Entire story moved me!

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best horror stories I've come across. I was totally addicted to it. Frightening, dark and full of twists and turns. My train journeys will never be the same again. The story is still haunting me, I can't stop thinking about it! A must for any horror fan.

He's got a ticket to Ride...err hell

What made the experience of listening to Darkbound the most enjoyable?

I was waiting to hear the story behind the main character, so the suspense made it fairly enjoyable in and of itself.

If you could rename Darkbound, what would you call it?

Soul Train. But that might come into copyright issues.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book a lot, there wasn't a lot of fluff that drags the book and scenes on with an over abundance of description and backstory. The book went by quick, with opportunities to see characters and get to know them. I felt that how each character's history also led to seeing how they would react when their moment abound the train arrived. Fun and quick read!

...And The Train Kept Going

If you could sum up Darkbound in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing, Original, Creepy

What other book might you compare Darkbound to and why?

Another type story doesn't come to mind

Which scene was your favorite?

The ending

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I like the way the author used the ending to answer questions I had while reading the book

Any additional comments?

Collings put together a smart original story

Gripping!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definately, its edge of the seat stuff from start to finish

What did you like best about this story?

just how it left you wondering the whole time Why???

What about Steve Marvel’s performance did you like?

I thought he was an excellent narrator

If you could take any character from Darkbound out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Karen

Any additional comments?

As the plot unravelled, taking us from one carriage to the next, I could not wait to hear how it would end.

Not for the faint hearted!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was well written & the different voices the narrator provided for each character really made them come alive. Great twist at the end; though not completely unexpected for me by the time I got there, it did provide further insight that I hadn't guessed. Please be aware that there are pretty vivid descriptions of gore, yet they are appropriate to the story & not thrown in just for the sake of it. There is also some description of rape at one point, which thankfully is nowhere near as graphic. I do strongly recommend you give this a try if the horror/gore genre is your thing!