Vortex

The Horror of Ray Garton, Book 3

By: Ray Garton

Narrated by: Caroline McLaughlin

Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Karen Moffett and Gavin Keoph have investigated vampires in Los Angeles in Night Life and werewolves on the Northern California coast in Bestial, but this time they face something utterly baffling...and deadly.

Blockbuster horror novelist Martin Burgess has money to burn and enjoys spending it to find out if the paranormal things he writes about are real. He hires Moffett and Keoph again and sends them to California’s Mt. Shasta. Long believed by spiritual seekers and New Agers to be a “vortex” of magnetic and spiritual energies, Mt. Shasta is a mystical locale, allegedly the site of alien visitations, paranormal apparitions, bizarre physical phenomena, and even Lemurians, an ancient race of little people from Atlantis believed to be living inside the mountain.

Strange things are happening in the small town at the foot of the mountain, things that have remained invisible to most, but not all, of the residents—things that have caught the attention of Martin Burgess and his small army of computer geeks and conspiracy theorists.

Skeptical of the New Age mumbo-jumbo, Moffett and Keoph encounter an extraordinary, hungry creature that is being used to malevolent ends by a powerful and cruel enemy. Uncovering the mysterious secret in Mt. Shasta is one thing—staying alive long enough to share it with anyone is another.

©2013 Ray Garton (P)2023 David N. Wilson

Powerfully, Subtly, Horrifically Fabulous!

Purported to be a “Vortex” of energy, Karen and Gavin head to Mt. Shasta California to investigate Martin Burgess’ latest paranormal book subject. Strange doesn’t begin to cover the horrific goings on they uncover, and the conspiracy of evil that just might be their curtain call! Engrossing and horrifying, “Vortex” drew me in with subtle, soothing, almost hypnotically smooth, clear narration, that at times belied the absolute horror of the subject matter, allowing me to clearly grasp the magnitude of what was playing out! To say that my enjoyment of this brilliantly horrific story was magnified tenfold would be an understatement! And believe me, THIS story was brilliantly and beautifully horrific! The plot was diabolically different. To avoid engaging in spoilers, I’ll stop there, but have no concerns, the writing is so good, so clear, so compelling complete, that everything you need to know to throughly understand is there, perfectly explained in an interesting manner that beautifully enhances the story! The characters are interesting, incredibly unique and fully explained and developed! The entire production was fantastic, so much so that I not only listened once, straight through, but twice, on successive nights! And like a favorite novel or movie, it was even better the second time through! It’s a save bet that I won’t stop at two! “Vortex” gets five stars across the board! I loved it!

Swept me up

A decent book with nice pacing. The story keeps you interested, although I wish I'd known it was part of a series that was already established and not a stand-alone book. It didn't take away from the story in any major way, but I did feel like I didn't have a complete idea of what was going on.

Narration is ok, I can't say it blew me out of the water, but I have high benchmarks considering I listen to Andrea Parsenau and Anneliese Rennie a lot. Tough acts to follow.

Would have been better without the politics …

This was a good little story with surprisingly good character development for such a short story. It was more frightening because if not plausible it is certainly a possible premise. I would recommend this book to lovers of folklore horror. Pet peeve, to much political commentary that did not move the story forward. I received a copy of this audiobook from the narrator. I am choosing to review it to hopefully help others choose books that are right for them.

A short but interesting listen

I hadnt heard of the author before getting a copy of this book free foe review. It actually took me a while to get thru this book even though it was very short. Alot of my favorite authors put works out thw last month and this one kept getting pushed off. After being dissapointed by the latest Stephen King and Craig Alanson books this novel was quite refreshing. The beginning was a bit slow, but I found myself fully engaged from the hour mark to the end. I look forward to discovering some of the authors previous works.

Excellent Horror Novella

Not sure if Vortex is technically a novella or a short novel (or if those two mean the same thing), but whatever. This is yet another wonderfully creepy and exciting horror story from the mind of Ray Garton. Here he brings back the investigating team from his novels Night Life and Bestial for this short adventure, and, like the others, this is another fun ride. Narrator did a good job with different voices, though there was a quality to the voice that was a little whiny and off putting. Not so much to distract, and it should also be mentioned that is was listening at 1.5 speed, and that can sometimes have a negative effect on some voices. Overall, fun read, good narration, well worth a listen.

Vortex

I enjoyed this book. It was different than most horror books I read. Narration by Caroline McLaughlin was well done. I was given this book free for an honest review.

A great monster of the week type story

I enjoyed the episodic feel to this story. The narrator was fantastic and the story solid. I do wish I had noticed it was part of a series as it may have added to the appreciation of the characters history.