| Title | : | The Abyss Above Us |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 277 |
| Publication | : | First published September 21, 2011 |
Introverted network engineer Shaw is brought in to find out why.
All too soon he finds that while the night sky may be dark, it is not silent. A signal is coming from those coordinates. Creating a sound liquid and hypnotic with layers of data that suggest anything but randomness. A siren's song that leads to horrific suicides in everyone who listens to it.
By the time Shaw realizes this, it's too late to stop the signal he sent back into the night. A signal obviously received, for the abyss has begun to move.
And it's moving towards us.
The Abyss Above Us Reviews
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Rating: ⭐⭐ ½
Genre: Horror + Science Fiction
Shaw, a reserved network engineer, is hired to investigate a critical situation. Via a large telescope that is turned towards specific coordinates, a signal comes, creating a strange sound and hypnotic waves. There is a siren song that causes people to commit suicide when they hear it! It is the abyss’ signal and it is moving towards earth. Something has to be done about it.
In some ways, the story resembles several science fiction movies that try to mix the sci-fi genre with the horror genre. The concept of the book is brilliant, and that is what made me pick it up. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about the execution. The writing is decent, but it seems while writing this story, the author has neglected the horror side of it. The horror side or precisely the lack of it was a letdown. The start of the book was quite good, but towards the middle, it felt sluggish to me. The cliffhanger at the end didn’t help either. Obviously, I'm not going to read the next book. -
The first part of a two part book series, The Abyss Above Us represents an effort to bring elements of Lovecraftian horror into the technological age as a computer system expert uncovers something evil manipulating a powerful telescope for unknown purposes.
Ryan Notch certainly seems to have pinned down the tech side of what is presented in this novella. It most definitely read authentically, insofar as his main character seems to know what he is talking about. However, the structure of The Abyss Above Us is all over the place. Most of the horror takes place off page and is only referred to by one character telling another about it; a small group of characters is established in the first half of the book, and then suddenly, a whole new group of characters are introduced half way through, who, at the end point of this book, have only barely begun to circle the major thread peripherally; and, worse, those characters seem to drone on about their love life for a full third of the page count.
Quite simply, if I wanted to read about good looking twenty-somethings gushing over one another and pining about "the one they can't have", I'd tune in to Melrose Place re-runs. I certainly wouldn't be picking up a horror novella that seemed to have a good angle on a classic horror concept.
And the ending was painful. Truly painful. Like end of Season 6 The Walking Dead painful. I enjoy a cliffhanger as much as the next person when it is handled appropriately. But when a book fails to close or satisfy any single narrative arc within its page count - so it seems like an original manuscript was simply ripped approximately in two - that comes across less like a cliffhanger and more like someone wanting to make double the money for the same amount of work.
2 Mysteriously Hidden Offices for The Abyss Above Us. -
2.5/5
Tenía leves expectativas porque supuestamente el libro se considera lovecraftiano. El problema surge cuando siendo un libro autopublicado, la falta de edición/corrección es demasiado obvia y dificulta la lectura.
La premisa es muy buena y por eso no dejé de leer. Realmente quería saber qué pasaría cuando la oscuridad llegara, pero bueh. La manera en que está escrito el libro no me pareció la más buena para representar la trama (y qué es eso de agregar las larguísimas descripciones de Collin, sus amigos y enamoramiento a mitad del libro cuando no aportan nada a la trama central).
En fin, valoro la intención del autor al crear esta historia con una trama interesante (aunque mal realizada y con un final tan cliffhanger). Por suerte, como es un libro corto, se lee súper rápido. -
So here goes. I’m going to try to explain what this book did to me.
It kept me awake. It was late at night and I was falling asleep. Then that feeling of falling hit me and startled me awake. My first thought was about this book, what I thought was really happening. A dread for what was coming from far, far away. As I drifted towards sleep it happened again.
Not wanting to have it keep happening, I grabbed a cozy mystery by my bed and read from it for a while, finally falling asleep. The same thing happened the next night, so I put the book aside until the weekend so my work didn’t suffer from lack of sleep.
I finally finished the book. And I can’t tell you what it was that affected me so deeply. I’m not one to scare easily. And this book didn’t horrify me so much as fill me with dread, with a sense of impending doom.
Shaw is brought in to help some astronomers with a computer problem. They found a strange signal from an empty place in space but their computers can’t isolate it because they are all interconnected and way old.
Shaw tracks the connections to a blank wall. Considering that it doesn’t lead out the other side he correctly deduces there is a room walled over. A forgotten room with a computer in it, receiving the signal. If they can get in there, they can start to try to understand it.
Down comes the wall and out comes the nightmares.
It all starts gradually. people start acting strange. All of the people who listened to that signal. Soon they start to die, but not by murder. Oh no, it’s worse than that.
Shaw feels responsible. He should never have hit that reply button on that stupid computer. Just what response did he send to the unknown? What hell had he unleashed?
It was coming. It would be here soon. What would happen then?
You’ll get a couple of different POVs but the main one is Shaw. His thoughts and his terror. But several other characters have crucial roles, adding to the suspense and drama. So many are flawed, and one is just plain nuts.
And there’s some technical jargon. It is a computer problem and contact from outer space that starts this whole thing, after all. I got most of it and could guess at the rest. And the thought of our universe ever expanding leaves me bewildered and awe struck. There’s so much out there. There has to be other sentient beings right? Why do we think we’re the only ones? Who’s to say we aren’t being watched, haven’t already been contacted? Who’s’ to say they want to be friends? See why I couldn’t get to sleep. Paranoia!
What got this all the way to 5 stars was the ending. It killed me. It just left me hanging out there. No answers to my nagging questions, no resolution, and no idea what was coming next. I’m worried about that! I know it sounds weird. I should be mad, I should knock off a star in the rating because of it. But that ending fit the mood of the whole book. And thank you, the next book is available so, while dreading it, I’m also looking forward to what comes next in the finale. I’m going to get my answers. -
I'm not a huge fan of scifi horror, but Ryan Notch has impressed me sufficiently with his Nowhere Blvd. to give this one a try. Bottom line is this guy can write. Despite all the technical jargon and overwhelmingly specific computer references (astronomy references as well and I was very glad to have taken a class on it recently so I was able to keep up), despite the split narrative that seems so diametrically opposite in style and theme, despite the abrupt see you next book sort of ending, this was a great read. The characterizations was so nuanced and realistic, the horror vivid and palpable, the plot original and eerie. Mysterious signal from outer space found in an abandoned laboratory that leads humans to commit the most brutally atrocious suicides. That's pretty awesome. Wouldn't expect any less of a man who lives in Centralia PA. I do wish the book was published as one, it isn't really long enough to warrant two parts and would be nice to be able to just read an entire story and see what happens. Excellent genuinely scary book. Recommended.
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Effective hybrid of science & cosmic horror. Fast paced, but with a few stuttering flat segments, and clever, wicked imagery. The end came on too quick and quiet. Notch has bought himself one hell of blowout, and when it all goes off, it's a little subdued. But it works, it's internally consistent, and it's fun.
Would have loved to see this go through one more editing pass. It lacks the twisted grammar and flat out misspelled words I've seen in self-pubbed, but I was derailed a few times by misplaced homophones: "Dyeing", "down a dark ally", "forth dimension", & "take a peak." Spellcheck can only go so far. Didn't ruin my enjoyment, but tripped me up a few times as I flailed to parse the correctly spelled, wrong word. -
A decent Lovecraft style idea, very poorly executed. All character names are grin a top twenty list of common first names and gets irritating real quick.
The style here is the most offensive: narrators are "nerd-bros" and there is much author wish fulfilment about scoring with women.
Plot: ok, but slow
Characters: cardboard cutouts
Setting: unimaginative
Style: awful -
Are you scared of the dark?
You will be when you are done with this book. I couldn't put it down, and then I couldn't sleep. All good things when talking about horror. Excited for book 2. -
A little outside of my norm and my first read from this author. Solid. Will have you thinking about the story after you've finished reading. That is a good thing. This is the first installment in a series of two at present.
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Peguei descompromissado, só pra ter alguma coisa diferente pra ler e não me arrependi. Não chega a ser aterrorizante, nem assustador, mas não por isso deixa de entreter.
Vou começar a ler a parte 2 agora, imediatamente depois de terminar o primeiro livro. Isso, por si só, é um bom sinal. -
Great concept.
Just felt like it was written by someone still in highschool. -
Very interesting so far. I had no idea that this was a series so I was a bit upset to read "to be continued" at the end. However, I can't wait to read the next part. I was almost on pins and needles at the end of this book. I like that.
Ok. This book is about a network engineer, Shaw, who is called in to solve a problem with a university radio telescope. The telescope keeps pointing to a specific spot in the sky every morning at 1am. The problem is that the computer sending the command doesn't exist anymore. What Shaw uncovers has horrific consequences for everyone around. -
Well shit ! This book is CrEEpY!!! I am not a horror genre fan I don't even watch scary movies just because I don't like being scared ! I have no clue what prompted me to read this but I did! And I loved the thrill of it! Maybe because I like to read Sci-fi but it seriously freaked me out! I just wish I knew more about computers some of what's explained I kinda didn't understand... And the whole Collin and Alex thing in part 2 ? I wonder where that's going! I really want to read the seconded in the series but I am scared to find out what happens ! Poor Shaw! I really like him!
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This book is making my heart race. I'm going to read the next one in the series, but not tonight. Not just before going to sleep.
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Started out interesting but it's not a complete book. It feels like it is juat getting started when you read "to be continued". I guess thats what you get when you get it free from Amazon.
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This is very well written. I wish it went to the end of the story.
