Veil

De: Jonathan Janz

Narrado por: John Pirhalla

“The voice in Veil is as present, strong, charming, singular, and desperate as any I’ve read. The story of a family man who will stop at nothing to protect those he loves. Even if those threats are beyond sanity, reason, and a once agreed upon reality. Janz has written another absolute gem of the genre.”—Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box

From beloved horror author Jonathan Janz, Veil is a heart-stopping story of one father who will stop at nothing to save his family.

It begins at night. People vanish from parks and city streets. Then in broad daylight, they’re dragged screaming into the woods, into the water, into the sky. People take refuge in their homes, but still the invisible creatures come, ripping people away from their horrorstruck loved ones. Spouses. Parents. Children. Nowhere is safe and no defense can stop them. Because nothing can save you from what you can’t see.

High school teacher John Calhoun loses his son the first night. A day later, they take his wife. For two months, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter manage to survive, but in the end, she is abducted too. In John’s darkest moment, he meets a motley group of survivors who have a secret: a near-fatal car accident has given one of them the ability to detect what normal human eyesight cannot.

The survivors believe they can replicate the brain injury that will enable them to see the creatures. To discover how they’re invading our world. To fight them. Desperate to save his family, John volunteers. And after the veil of invisibility is lifted, he and his new friends will risk everything to achieve the impossible: enter an alien world and bring their loved ones back.

©2025 by Jonathan Craig Shaeffer w/a Jonathan Janz (P)2025 Blackstone Publishing

incredibly hood

Jonathan Janz has a very unique way of bringing to mind great authors and great works, while keeping his work entirely his own feel. This one was a wild ride bringing to mind the vibe of Birdbox & the brain food depth of the science/reasoning for the setting that I've only before found in I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The imperfection of the characters is refreshing & expressed in a way that you still want to cheer for them... but like you'd cheer for your neighbor in an extraordinary situation, rather than cheering a typical hero.

Great Invasion Horror

Jonathan Janz’s science fiction horror saga is a viscerally vibrant account of the lengths a father will go to save his family. Janz hits all the post-apocalyptic buttons: the chaos of day zero, the human monsters who may be worse than the actual monsters, and the struggle to survive taking precedence over everything else. Yet, none of this feels like a retread. His monsters are quite monstrous, and the opening scenes are visually and emotionally impactful, and some of the most memorable I have listened to in a while. Veil combines classic alien invasion novels like Footfall with high-concept sci-fi like Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin, to create something that feels both timeless and brand new. Narrator John Pirhalla gives us a truly human performance, taking us into the head of the main character, which grounds us when things start to turn decidedly inhuman. Absolutely loved it.

Excellent narration and vivid storytelling.

Suspenseful, emotional, expert visual storytelling with strong character development. Janz definitely knows how to write vivid action packed fight sequences. Some of the best I've ever read. His descriptive writing style makes it very easy to vivalize the creatures and I appreciated that he did not shy away from explaining their motives. His use of color,smells and imagery made it easy to get caught up in the story. But, he never loses the emotional elements of the personal relationships between the characters, that I think are the key to any successful story. I can definitely see this being made into a blockbuster movie. I hope Janz writes a sequel. The narration of this book is brilliant. Definitely recommend. 5 stars- Samantha

This is a great book.

This is a fun and easy read, I loved it. The narrator did a great job. I’m ready for some more.

PSA - Some Listeners May Experience Ugly Crying

There are a couple of novel ideas that made Veil unique in the genre, but what really elevated the experience was the complete understanding of parental love and the eloquence in which it was expressed. I had to stop listening to control my tears multiple times in chapter 35.

Excellent Sci Fi Horror

Veil by Jonathan Janz is a fun science fiction horror novel for fans of A Quiet Place, Bird Box, or Tim Lebbon’s “The Silence”. So you know mysterious entities snatching people in broad day light by the thousands.

John is a science teacher and book store owner with a family that’s disappointed in him. Then one night while walking his son walks ahead and out of sight for a few seconds and by the time John catches up he’s just gone. Around this time mass disappearances begin happening all over the world. People being dragged away and vanishing before people’s eyes by entities that cannot be seen.

I had a lot of fun with this one. I always enjoy a good creepy mystery and creature feature and this one hits all the notes.

On a side note maybe don’t read the entire synopsis on the back of the book as I feel it gives a little too much away.

Also warning this is pretty open ended so a sequel is likely in the works. I did not know this going in and I think that really can matter when picking what to read.

easy listen

I work while listening so easy to follow is key. good story, good characters, kept me interested.