Review of The Middle Reaches (Episodes 1-8)

[Twylla Johnson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Middle Reaches (Episodes 1-8)" by L. Andrew Cooper.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Middle Reaches by L. Andrew Cooper is a dark fantasy/horror story about five teenagers who lost one of their friends, Sheldon Vere, to a mysterious disappearance. They rekindled their friendships at their ten-year high school reunion. As adults, they all came back to the same town where they attended high school, but in the last 10 years, they had never seen each other or talked. As they shared their memories of Sheldon’s disappearance, they discovered they were all having the same horrible recurring dream.
 
I enjoyed the strong symbolism in the story. I think the bad dream they were all sharing represents the darkness in all of us. The flies were symbolic of transformation—the shedding of toxic memories. Even the directions on how to get to the physical place that was so strangely supernatural added to the suspense. To get to the “Middle Reaches," you have to find the overgrown area between two streets with the same name, Acton Road, where you will come to a dead end, and then you follow the flow of the creek. That sounds like a very dangerous place to go.
 
Sheldon’s closest friend, Nick Andrews, represented leadership, empathy, friendship, hope, good fortune, and success. He always held out hope that he would find Sheldon or at least find out what happened to him. My favorite character was Ambrose. As the most horrific scenes unfolded, I would laugh out loud at his observations.
 
The story reminded me of the work of L. H. Lovecraft, an author of horror novels from the early 20th century. His main characters were never humans, and the reader felt an ever-increasing sense of dread throughout the entire story.

The only suggestion I have to make this book better is to illustrate it. This story could have some powerful art associated with it.

This book was professionally edited. I didn't find a single typo, grammatical error, or punctuation problem in the first eight episodes.

The Middle Reaches is a thrilling story of five adults who were being lured by a force more powerful than themselves from another reality. But, at the same time, they were scared to death of what was luring them. I am giving this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. This book is not for the squeamish, but I recommend The Middle Reaches to mature adults who enjoy the horror genre.

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The Middle Reaches (Episodes 1-8)
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