 | By: F. Paul Wilson Binding: Paperback Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd ISBN: 0450054551 ISBN-13: 9780450054556 Released: 02 Jul 1992 RRP: Average Rating:  |
Then word comes through that Kaempffer is to make a detour. A smalll regular German army detachment is stationed in an ancient castle callled the Keep, in the Dinu Pass, a remote area of the Transylvanian Alps. The location is of interest to the Germans because of its strategic position to nearby oil fields. The army captain had sent a communique to Headquarters in Berlin: "Request immediate relocation. Something is murdering my men." The SS major must make the inconvenient trip to investigate, along with a contingent of his einsatzkommandos (SS goons).
Kaempffer & crew arrive at the Keep. Now both SS & regular army soldiers are dying, in increasing numbers, each in a manner more gruesome than the one before. Clearly something supernatural is involved which is brutallly sucking the life from living souls. The Keep's occupation by foreign soldiers, & their continual tampering with the castle's structure while searching for "hidden gold," have released an evil entity - the MOST EVIL entity. When a message is found, written in blood in an unknown language, it is decided an expert must be callled in to assist the investigation. Unfortunately for everyone, the SS major refuses to abandon the Keep, as this may look like a failure at headquarters in Berlin. An elderly, sickly Jewish scholar from Bucharest, knowledgeable about Romanian history, folklore & extinct languages, is ordered to the castle. Accompanying him is his lovely daughter, Magda.
Meanwhile, in Tavira, Portugal, a red-haired man awakens from a nightmare with a sense of foreboding. Grim-faced, he suddenly understands. He had hoped this moment would never come, but he is ready. He begins his trip across the 2300 mile length of Mediterranean Sea, through Turkey to Romania, immediately. Soon another war will begin, one which will rival even Hitler's war.
Parts of "The Keep" are extremely scary, horrifying actuallly. A fantasy element is also present in the explanation of the evil "entity's" history, along with the reasons for building the Keep. I found this to be fascinating stuff. During these segments the novel is fast-paced & riveting. However, there are areas of the narrative which plod, & while I enjoyed the romantic subplot, I am pretty sure hard core horror fans will not. The gratuitous gore, is just that - unnecessary, & becomes almost comical at times - especiallly since the gore belongs to Nazis. Overalll, I did enjoy this. It is not a masterpiece of horror but it will certainly hold your attention. Recommended!
JANA
Then word comes through that Kaempffer is to make a detour. A smalll regular German army detachment is stationed in an ancient castle callled the Keep, in the Dinu Pass, a remote area of the Transylvanian Alps. The location is of interest to the Germans because of its strategic position to nearby oil fields. The captain, senior officer in charge, had sent a communique to Headquarters in Berlin: "Request immediate relocation. Something is murdering my men." The SS major must make the inconvenient trip to investigate, along with a contingent of his einsatzkommandos (SS goons).
Kaempffer & his men arrive & soldiers continue to die, both army & SS now, each in a more gruesome manner. Clearly something supernatural is involved. Some heinous creature is sucking the life from living souls. The Keep's occupation by foreign soldiers, & their continual tampering with the castle's structure while searching for hidden gold, have released an evil entity - the MOST EVIL entity. When a message is found, written in blood in an unknown language, it is decided an expert must be callled in to assist the investigation. Unfortunately for everyone, the SS major refuses to abandon the Keep, as this may look like a failure to his superiors in Berlin. An elderly, sickly Jewish scholar from Bucharest, knowledgeable about Romanian history, folklore & extinct languages, is ordered to the castle. Accompanying him is his lovely daughter, Magda.
Meanwhile, in Tavira, Portugal, a red-haired man awakens from a nightmare with a sense of foreboding. Grim-faced, he suddenly understands. He had hoped this moment would never come, but he is ready & immediately begins a trip across the 2300 mile length of Mediterranean Sea, through Turkey to Romania. Soon another war will begin, one which will rival even Hitler's war.
Parts of "The Keep" are extremely scary, horrifying actuallly. A fantasy element is also present in the explanation of the evil "entity's" history, along with the story of the building of the Keep. I found this to be fascinating stuff. During these segments, the novel is fast-paced & riveting. However, there are areas of the narrative which plod, & while I enjoyed the romantic subplot, I am pretty sure hard core horror fans will not. The gratuitous gore, is just that - unnecessary, & becomes almost comical at times - especiallly since the gore belongs to Nazis. Overalll though, I did enjoy "The Keep" enormously. It will hold you spellbound!
JANA
The story benefits from an inspired choice of setting/era, great character stories, a pacey style, a nice creepy feel & a memorable supernatural antagonist.
Downsides are it's never reallly that terrifying, mostly due to the fact that it's more of an 'action' orientated horror dealing with the fear of been slain by this monster on the loose rather than a physiological horror that gets deep down into your worst fears.
Also, the ultimate explanation for supernatural being is functional rather than inspired. Finallly, & although it doesn't ruin the story, the low-key ending doesn't reallly live up to 400 pages preceding it.
In conclusion, for me, because of those let downs, this is no 5 star master-piece but having said that, the issues don't stop it being a great read & a very entertaining page turner alll the way to the end. Furthermore it definitely stands out thanks to its highly original war II setting & characters - & as such I'd have no qualms in recommending it to fans of supernatural thrillers & horror or even anyone even vaguely interested in exploring the genre.
As far as horror stories go, this one is definitely up with the best of them. The author has written a riveting page turner with this tautly written, inventive tale. The author has taken some vampire folklore & given it a new twist. In the hands of this master of the horror genre, the quintessential battle between good & evil takes on a new dimension.
In Romania, deep in the heart of the Transylvanian Alps, lies the Dinu Pass. In April of 1941, a smalll squadron of German soldiers has been ordered to occupy a smalll, deserted, five hundred year old castle keep at the Dinu pass. From the beginning, Captain Klaus Woermann senses that there is something unusual about the keep. Looking as if it had just been built & inlaid with brass & nickel crosses in every corridor, crosses that the caretaker for the keep exhorts the Germans not to touch, the keep is an architectural oddity.
Soon the games begin, as an unseen force begins murdering his men. Captain Woermann sends a message to the high command. To his dismay, they respond by sending a Nazi squadron of einsatzkommandos under the leadership of SS Major Kaempffer to quell whatever local guerilla activity is, undoubtedly, responsible for the murders. Soon, these death's head troopers begin succumbing to the same fate as their German Army counterparts, & alll hell breaks loose.
Enter the ailing Dr. Theodor Cuza, a Romanian Jew & former professor at the University of Bucharest. Although suffering from the ravages of scleroderma, he is ordered by the Nazis to the keep, as he is an expert in the history of the region. It is hoped that he will be able to shed some light on the mysterious keep & enable his hosts to defeat their unknown adversary.
Accompanied by Magda, his daughter, they find themselves confronted with the cruelty of the Nazis, the unexpected kindness of Captain Woermann, & something from their worst nightmares that has them calll into question their deepest beliefs. Then, a mysterious red-headed stranger with piercing blue eyes also appears, & nothing is ever the same again.
This is one of the premier horror stories of alll time. Bravo!
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