Gilchrist: A Novel

By: Christian Galacar

Narrated by: Kevin Clay

Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

"If you like Stephen King or Dean Koontz you will like this story." (Sunny DuPree)

Bag of Bones meets Stranger Things....

Gilchrist is as beautiful as it is terrifying - a novel of mounting suspense, with an unsettlingly human heart at its core...black as it may be.

Two years after losing their infant son to a tragic accident, Peter Martell, a novelist with a peculiar knack for finding lost things, and his wife, Sylvia, are devastated to learn they may no longer be able to have children. In need of a fresh start, and compelled by strange dreams, the couple decide to rent a lake house in the idyllic town of Gilchrist, Massachusetts, a place where bad things might just happen for a reason. As bizarre events begin to unfold around them - a chance encounter with a gifted six-year-old boy, a series of violent deaths, and repeated sightings of a strange creature with a terrifying nature - Peter and Sylvia are drawn into the chaos and soon discover that coming to Gilchrist may not have been their decision at all.

Set against a small New England town in the summer of 1966, Gilchrist is a sinister tale about the haunting origins of violence, evil, and the undying power of memory.

©2017 Christian Galacar (P)2018 Christian Galacar

Enjoyed it

if you like Stephen King, you'll enjoy this one! it kept me interested until the end

Deeply disturbing and thoughtfully written

It’s been a while since a book has genuinely gotten under my skin, but this one certainly did the job! A slow burn with plenty of character development that only serves to better humanize the victims of the town’s ancient evil, this is a great new story for fans of Jackson and early King.

More Koontz than King, but great nonetheless

The storyline was solid and the writing spot on. I suffer from cognitive difficulties which result in me only able to finish about 10% of the books i start. Had no effect on my ability to finish this one tho, i kept turning the pages. (This is quite a big deal for me, before injury i could read at least one novel a week, a couple on lazy weekends.) The book was more eerie than terrifying, at least in my opinion, but gripping either way.
My only complaint was that there were certain characters i wiggle have loved to been able to get to know better, and i wish those would have been flushed out more. But, hey, maybe he'll address that in a follow up book? One can only hope.

Pretty good story lousy ending

Not a fan of the narrator and the story really has some scary elements and kept me wanting to listen but the story just sort of fizzled out. Spoiler alert. Pretty much everyone dies in the end. Not a criticism particularly of the book, I just hate when everyone dies in the end.

Decent listen.

The story was entertaining but I found that there was a lot going on. I was left wishing the author focused on just a couple of characters rather than so many other minor characters. Because of this, I couldn’t really care about the main characters - they didn’t make much of an appearance.

Originality and good story telling

I've listened to this story twice. It's worth a credit. Long listen but I was never bored of lost.

Well Executed Horror

'Gilchrist' is a great example of a 17 hour long book feeling more like a 7 hour long book. While it was slow to really switch into gear, it allowed time to fully flesh out the characters so that they felt human to me. That served the story well, since we follow the main protagonists for a long while. Once the plot got going, it turns into a fun and juicy, old-school feeling horror mystery. Set in a small town and in the past, this one feels old in a very satisfying way. Kevin Clay delivers a performance that I thought was truly fascinating.

If you are sensitive to animal cruelty, I might steer clear of this one. It only has one incident but it's enough to ruin your day if you're sensitive to that kind of thing.

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

Disappointing

This book started strong, but fizzled before the end. Too many things were introduced to the story but none of them were wrapped up effectively. It was supposed to be set in 1966 but I think the author forgot that sometimes, his colloquialism and narration didn't ring true throughout most of the book.

a really fascinating book!

I really enjoyed this book, I liked the time period that took place in. it really had a great plot, I've never heard this author's books before but it was really good. the narrator did a real good job. if only it was longer, but it was really a fascinating book.

Great story. Very Stephen king-ish

Story is great, start to finish. If you like King and Koontz this one will satisfy you. I’m not a writing snob so won’t comment on style and all that but I thought we’ll written and paced. Narration is good also and story was well presented. Another good writer is now on my list. Yes some violent parts but this is horror and it’s along King’s use not just gratuitous but adds to story and surrealism of events.