The Reaping

By: Bernard Taylor

Narrated by: Hannibal Hills

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Tom Rigby is commissioned to paint a young woman’s portrait at Woolvercombe House, the offer is too lucrative to refuse. But from the moment of his arrival at the secluded country mansion, strange and inexplicable events begin to transpire.

Soon, he is drawn into an impenetrable maze of horror, and by the time he discovers the role he is intended to play in a diabolical design, it will already be too late. For, the seeds of evil have been sown, and the time to reap their wicked harvest is nigh!

A classic novel by ’70s and ’80s horror master Bernard Taylor, The Reaping (1980) is now available as an audiobook.

Praise for The Reaping:

"Move over, Stephen King!" (New York Daily News)

"Draws the reader into a web that grows gradually tighter with each turn of the page!" (Booklist)

"Taylor works wizardry again!" (Publishers Weekly)

©1980 Bernard Taylor (P)2019 Valancourt Books LLC

Seeds of Evil Will be Sown

I thought this story was entertaining. I thought it was a slow burn with a slight pop at the end but was an enjoyable story. I liked trying to figure out what was going on more so than actually finding it out. I pretty much pegged what the goal was early on, although the journey of getting there was not at all what I thought and was quite surprising. Fans of 80’s suspense horror that isn’t full of gore and touches on cults and provides some decent thrills.

The overall plot wasn’t extremely original but the way it was told was. I liked how the plot unfolded and while I was really hoping for a bigger ending, I was happy with the final reveal. I just wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt and that there was a little follow up. I put this one down as an easy horror to listen to. Even the sexual scenes, which most horror authors put graphic details in, were tame. The best part of the story was the writing. I really enjoyed listening to the words and thought they were strung together to put the perfect image in my head.

The characters were quite engaging. My favorite was Miss Stewart. She definitely had the macabre factor and the few encounters with her had me completely creeped out. The room Berndard sets up for her coupled with the descriptions Tom gives kinda grossed me out. When she goes for a walk around the room I was thinking I couldn’t do that. Would have called it quits and walked out. Carl also got a bit under my skin. The vision I had of him, especially when he was helping Tom relax, was like that of an ancient vampire, all skinny with long bony fingers and a smirk that will haunt your dreams.

As he does with all of his narration, Hannibal Hills continues to bring the story to life. I love his character voices and the emotion he puts into the characters is palpable. If you want to be taken for a ride on a suspenseful thriller, look no further.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Slow Burn That Will Sit With You For Days

I received this audiobook free at my request and am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Reaping is a great old school suspenseful horror tale that will keep you guessing, and looking behind you in the dark. Excellent narration and a slow build to a satisfying finale, fans of classic horror will definitely enjoy this one. 5 Stars!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great listen!

Narration was great, characters and plot worked nicely together... all in all an enjoyable listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Well Written Old School Creepy Horror

This was a pretty solid and creepy slow burn horror written very well. In fact the quality of the writing takes first place in what was most enjoyable about the story itself, followed by the creepiness and how the horror was built up.

The narration was fantastic as well, doing a great job of giving voice to such a novel.

I received the review code for this audiobook at my request and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Fastinating tale, narrator did an excellent job

A tale was an unique spin. The story was fascinating , kept my attention and caught me a little off guard. The narrator did an excellent job interpreting the story

A horrifying tale

A very entertaining and excellent read very good and scary very well narrated. Thank you

Old school 80's horror

A wee slow to get going and a wee cheesy in parts, but filled with unsettling characters and plenty of creepy goings on. In other words, classic 80’s horror.

Tom Rigby is finally going to make a little dough from his art by painting the portrait of a young woman out at the old Woolvercombe House.

Should be easy money.

Well…should have been anyway.

It seems that there may have been some underlying ulterior motives for Tom’s trip out to Woolvercombe. Ulterior motives of a most sinister kind…

*"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

The narration for this one really fit with the old school feel of this one and added much to the story.

Old-school thriller that thrills still

First of all: "This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

I found this storyline to be quite intriguing. It was the kind of thing that pulled you in right from the start. I found the actions of the protagonists to be fairly logical and believable throughout. The ending had perhaps a little more intrigue and twisting than was necessary, but it was still pretty good. Perhaps the extra twists were to thwart the predictability that had started to creep in.

The narration of the book was quite well done. I found the narrator's voice to be very pleasant, and it added to the story. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys thrillers.

WOW

Full of suspense and drama with plenty of thrills and chills.

I thought the narrator was good at the start of this audible. But he blew me away at the ending.

I received this audible free at my request. I'm thrilled to be able to provide my honest review.

good read

I received this book for free for a honest review. This book held my attention and it flowed very well. The narrator did a great job of bringing the characters to life.

Vintage 80s Horror

I love old-school horror and sci-fi and this book was right up my alley.
There is a general menace present throughout the book and never a dull moment. Great character build ups and although quite a slow burner of a book pacing wise, this is such a fun read. There are hints throughout about what is going on and the ending is genuinely creepy and utterly weird. Although not horrific or gory like most modern horror books, this is more of a slow build up which I find more effective rather than using the usual scare tactics.
Hannibal Hills is a great narrator for these types of novels.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request via Audioboom and have voluntarily left this review.

Well written occult story

This is a surprisingly well written gothic occult story. The story builds slowly, but there was enough going on to keep me interested and wonder what was happening. There is a definite feeling of foreboding running throughout. Although it was written and is set in 1980 it had an older feel to it. If it hadn't been for the odd 70s/80s reference I might have thought it was set many years earlier. The first half of the book is a sort of gothic romance, but then in the second half it becomes more of a mystery and the proper horror/occult comes in the last 25%.

I liked Thomas, the main character, and was rooting for him as he tried to work out what the hell was going on in that creepy house.

The narration by Hannibal Hills was absolutely perfect for the book. He's one of my favourite narrators of this genre of audiobooks.

Rather slow but not too bad

It is worth remembering that this was originally published in 1980 but it's slow even by the standard of that decade, it's a long winded and mostly boring story about a gullible man who ignores every single strange occurence and often repeats himself and other characters sentences (which is infuriating). He does, however, manage to bumble his way out of the unsurprising ending.

Narrator does a reasonable job.

I received a review copy free of charge, in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.