Writing a review for this book that really expresses my thoughts and feelings has proven to be difficult. The way that this book is written and the subject matter leave you an almost unsettled feeling in your gut during the time you immerse yourself in this world. This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. I found myself having a difficult time even deciding what tags to use to help readers navigate easier to locate this book if they have a particular genre they prefer. Unique in his writing style, L.A. Barnes challenges your previous ideas about death and presents an original version of the afterlife that forces you to leave your comfort zone and journey with your characters.
You meet all the players initially and the author spends several of the first few chapters introducing us to them from who they were before death, letting us see how they died and how they felt right up to that point and then experience the controversial place down below with them for the first time. Be prepared for the people you read about to be highly offensive in some cases. Some of the character choices that the author selected are uncomfortable and deliberately have a cringe factor. Hell and the so called “Pit” that we see is beyond what you are taught in church or through conversation. This place is a battleground. Literally. The entry way to where these characters end up after they die is not fire, brimstone and demons like one would think. It is full of gateways, almost like a train station where people arrive after death. Some fall out of nowhere and topple those below them. Another thing I found interesting about this book is that you are trying to figure out what is going on along with those in the story so you really do find out when they do. Many books are written in this style but not many pull it off so well. The only person who knows everything ( or thinks he does) and is pulling the strings, Marcus, gives you a little insight into the INTENSE manipulation going on but leaves enough open to where you remain confused with everyone else until you are given tid bit by tid bit and begin to follow the bread crumbs.
The imagery in this book depicts a place with no hope and the unsettling description for your post-worldly body puts you in a place of mild despair for people experiencing it. The constant questioning by all those Newly Dead about why they were there and what in the world could have doomed them to hell is frustrating because the cleverly placed lies and implanted people in the groups that alter their reasoning hinders them even further from the truth. The amount of deceit running around was well.. hellish.
This is definitely dark but it is very creative and in my opinion original. Reading it however may make you re-examine your own life in hopes that if this place really exists… you don’t end up there.
Hell is split into two factions, with one side searching for redemption while both recruit the Newly Dead for an inevitable war in this debut supernatural thriller.
People condemned to hell enter through the Pit. These aren’t demons but rather the dead in shell bodies looking the same as when they perished on Earth. Marcus, a Roman dead some 2,000 years by 2011, has controlled hell almost the entire time he’s been there. He’s most often in the Pit to recruit people for what he calls his team. There are those working against Marcus, however, led by Deborah Molinksy, a Jewish woman who instills a belief in others that salvation is still possible. Four people arrive in hell around the same time: 17-year-old Allison Yates, Arab-Englishman Siddig El Tariq, widower Christoph Schmidt, and volunteer counselor Nadia Patel. They’ve each died in different ways but are all in hell for essentially the same reason, which they don’t immediately know. They ultimately must determine if they want to join Marcus’ team or follow Deborah, a decision that may hinge on The Gate above, where some of the dead go but which certainly isn’t the serene notion of heaven. Marcus would just as soon destroy bodies before losing recruits, but even a few on Deborah’s side believe that a violent confrontation seems unavoidable. This surprisingly insightful story zeroes in on its characters. Allison, for one, may be the reincarnation of Christoph’s wife, Sabine, allowing both (Allison with her new memories) to come to terms with Sabine’s death. Similarly, Heinrich von Helldorf, who perished during World War II, has become a self-hating Nazi and holds the magnanimous Deborah in reverence. Hell’s certainly a bleak place, and the fact that some characters who’ve reached The Gate have chosen hell instead makes the afterlife seem even darker. But hope shines bright throughout, epitomized by Nadia’s sanguine declaration: “This universe gave us a means of contrition, and we would feel inadequate if we ignored that.” There’s resolution regarding why characters, even the seemingly good ones, are in hell and how redemption is feasible, with an unmistakable open ending.
An intoxicating variant of the afterlife through the eyes of auspicious characters.
The Pit: Watchmaker's Hell, Book One by L.A. Barnes is an amazing, terror driven story that you will want to read again. All of us are curious about the afterlife and what happens when we die. In this novel, a group of people is shown in the afterlife. They have nothing in common, only that they died at the same time. They have no idea if they are in heaven or hell. They believe they are in heaven because they are not like people who would deserve hell.
However, when they meet other dead people, they get the suspicion that they may be in hell. There is a Nazi among them, so if he is here, maybe every one of them is in hell too. They meet Marcus, a Roman who has been dead for 2000 years. Now Marcus is guiding them through their afterlife, only Marcus is not leading them right. He is keeping something to himself. But what is it?
I usually stay very far away from horror novels and movies. But this novel intrigued me. First of all, the cover grabbed my attention and then the blurb grabbed me by the neck. The anticipation was so good. Right from the beginning, I was thrilled to read this novel. I wanted to learn more about the characters, even the ones whom I didn’t like particularly. I wanted to know more about the Nazi and about Marcus. I want to see how he was when he was alive. I hope Book 2 comes out soon. An amazing, well-written novel that you cannot put down.
