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Book Review: David Warren’s The Quarry

Some Things Should Stay Buried

David Warren is a New Jersey author best known for writing Jest: It Waits No Longer in 2011. Since then, he’s written other horror novels including his latest work – The Quarry. Now, if you’re not familiar with this author yet, I should probably tell you that Mr. Warren is great at what he does and he has a knack for infusing old school horror elements into the pages of his books. This means you get modern characters, locations, and technology mixed in with scary movie tropes from the 80’s and 90’s. While Jest: It Waits No Longer is a slasher, who-done-it mystery, The Quarry lends itself more to The Hills Have Eyes. Yes, I realize these titles are somewhat similar in nature, but they both feature characters in a rocky, earthy setting who find themselves under seize by mutated, cannibalistic creatures.

The Quarry follows a typical day at work for Matt Frazer that quickly becomes the worst day on the job. During a routine wall demolition, a team uncovers a mysterious hole in the rock-bed that leads into a near endless cavern. So, what happens next? Matt is dragged into the hole by a team of researchers and explorers, only to discover that an ancient civilization once stood where the rock-wall now stands. Houses are still partially standing as are streets and formations and… bones? Fresh bones. It seems that the civilization continued once the colony was buried underground. And they’re hungry. And they don’t care for visitors. Wrong Turn meets The Descent in this exciting new novel from David Warren, released by Brighton Publishing LLC.

What I like the most about The Quarry is that it has a high body count of really innovative deaths. All of the deaths are extremely gory, descriptive and thought of outside the box. Hollywood should take note that this is how you satisfy the gore-hounds. It’s not always about churning out massacre after massacre so much as it’s about giving the audience something new to gawk at. As far as written word goes, The Quarry contains some of the most brutal kills that I’ve read in 2016 and 2017 so far. I think this is what’s going to stick out to readers the most. The picture is painted for you so clearly that you’re going to want to keep reading until the next character gets carved up. Oh course, this gross out feature is only heightened by an above average level of suspense due to the relationships between characters. They have their tender moments and times that they show their true feelings for each other – usually always loyal, honest and courageous – and it’s sad and devastating when one of them falls victim to the bloodthirsty group of inbreds.

The characters, however, are my only source of contention. While they are nice enough and appear to be bonded together in their struggle, at times they also appear to be too cookie cutter for me. They don’t fall into any major character stereotypes, but they’re just kind of bland. I learned them by occupation more than description. And in hindsight, when I went back to read for certain things I thought I missed, I discovered that almost all the characters were described completely different than what I saw in my head. This could be chalked up to the fact that novels aren’t cut and dry like films are. While David Warren can offer me all the details about every person and setting, any reading experience lends itself to the brain filling in the blanks and envisioning the only 30% of the story in my mind. It’s not possible for him to flesh out everything.

Still, The Quarry was a rather enjoyable tale that I was able to knock out in about three days. I was treated to a rough copy and odds are the final draft is a little longer and more in depth than the version I received. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy it if you’re a fan of violence, suspense, and old school horror elements. Witty dialogue, family drama, and culture clash also line the pages in this new novel that is currently available in digital formats on Amazon Kindle and Nook. A paperback edition is slated for release in September. Check it out. Final Score: 8 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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