The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller [Kindle Edition]

Robert Swartwood (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When eighteen-year-old Christopher Myers' parents are murdered, something is written on his bedroom door, a mark in his parents' blood that convinces the police the killer has targeted Christopher as the next victim. To keep him safe, he travels away with his estranged grandmother and uncle to the small town of Bridgton, New York. And it's in Bridgton that he meets an extraordinary young man who has come with his father to stop an unrelenting evil. Soon Christopher learns of the town's deep dark secret, and how his parents' murder was no accident, and how he has been brought to Bridgton by forces beyond his power -- forces that just may threaten the destruction of all mankind.

The Calling is a 100,000-word supernatural thriller in the vein of Peter Straub and Dean Koontz.

BONUS CONTENT: excerpts from Spooky Nook and The Man on the Bench

***Look for Robert Swartwood's new thriller, Man of Wax, available now***

Praise for The Calling:

"The Calling is a powerful, gripping and terrifying novel, the sort that possesses your whole life while you're reading it; it'll stalk you through the day, and inform your dreams. Swartwood has delivered a novel that will become a classic."

-- Tim Lebbon, author of Echo City

"Robert Swartwood's The Calling is a diabolical rocket sled of a psychological thriller. Told through the vivid, almost druggy point of view of a young man on the edge, tangled in a web of tragedy and surreal horror, Swartwood's novel gets under the skin and stays there. Highly recommended."

-- Jay Bonansinga, co-author of The Walking Dead: Rise of The Governor

"This novel is small town horror at its best."

-- Hellnotes

**Get your Kindle edition personalized by the author by visiting kindlegraph.com/authors/RobertSwartwood**

About the Author

Robert Swartwood's work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, The Daily Beast, ChiZine, Postscripts, Space and Time, and PANK. He is the author of several novels and the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. Visit him online at robertswartwood.com.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 533 KB
• Publisher: RMS Press (March 19, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004SYNSN0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,026 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts
  • #15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult
  • #97 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror

More About the Author

Robert Swartwood was born in 1981. His short fiction has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, The Daily Beast, Chizine, Space and Time, Postscripts, and PANK. He created the term "hint fiction" and is the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. He lives with his wife in Pennsylvania. Visit him at www.robertswartwood.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An intense, dangerous, emotionally-charged debut novel, March 26, 2011

By 

Samuel Rippey "onecoatzombie" (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller (Kindle Edition)

The biggest fires start as slow burns.

Okay, I made that phrase up, but it's true--at least regarding suspense novels. Robert Swartwood, in his thrilling and merciless debut THE CALLING, has proven himself a master of building suspense--feeding the fire until all the reader can do is watch as the flames grow until the blaze becomes blinding.

But this is a controlled burn, as Swartwood orchestrates his work with deftness and intelligence. The story, which is as dark as they come, avoids the pitfalls of becoming exploitative or shock-value, and reads rather as an unblinking exploration of tragedy and violence in the lives of good people.

The narrator, Christopher, is reeling from the gruesome murders of his parents. For safety's sake, he's shuffled out of his hometown in Pennsylvania to a trailer park in New York. It's here that menace and mystery grows until he finds himself embroiled in a malign supernatural plot, which holds the fate of many innocent (and not-so-innocent) lives in the balance.

Things get complicated fast. In the hands of a lesser writer, the multiple backstories and large cast of characters could have collapsed under its own weight. Yet Swartwood never overwhelms the reader, and the characters live and breathe, with most of them well-drawn enough for a novel of their own. Everyone (and everything) is connected, in compelling and often startling ways.

Tempering the book's darkness is real emotional depth. Each characters has lived and lost and paid for their mistakes, and this intense humanity spills out into the story. Especially noteworthy are an itinerant preacher, Moses, and his strange, precocious son Joey, who are both instrumental in bringing the book's paranormal themes to light.

Swartwood's prose burns bright and clear, strong without becoming intrusive. While some dialogue runs overlong, his ear for speech is an excellent one, especially in the interactions between younger characters.

All told, THE CALLING is a novel of dangerous intensity, growing in every word and chapter, hitting the reader with an emotional punch that lingers long after the last word. An outstanding and auspicious debut.

(P.S. While this is Swartwood's first full-length novel, he's published other shorter titles, all of them available on Amazon. Check out THE SILVER RING or THROUGH THE GUTS OF A BEGGAR.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart., March 23, 2011

By 

A.M Donovan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller (Kindle Edition)

I actually got done reading this book yesterday, and had to think about it. I really liked the book, and will read it again, but for as few pages as it contains, Robert manages to get a lot of substance into a small space. Unlike some authors we all know, that use a lot of pages to say very little. Yes, the book is, technically, a horror, but the themes dealt with are not simplistic. They are (and this is just from the first time through, I'm sure I can find more with a second read)choices, consequences, growing up, loss and faith. He approaches these in an unusual, non-preachy way while definitely being thought provoking. If you are looking for a simple book with easy answers, go to the self help section. If you enjoy a book that reads like a good steak dinner and requires a little work on your part, you will enjoy this. I did.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, March 27, 2011

By 

D. Falor (calif.,usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller (Kindle Edition)

Keeping the review short without rehashing the storyline. I enjoyed the novel and will recommend it to friends. I would classify it as a thriller with a style similar to Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. It was hard to put down as I needed to know how the story played out... and that's how you know when a book is good...lol I think I will try another novel from this author.