The Fall of Never [Hardcover]

Ronald Damien Malfi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2006

Kelly Rich, long estranged from her family, is forced to return home when her sister is involved in a mysterious accident. After years of suppressing the events that drove her away she must struggle to unlock the mystery of her past in order to save her sister. But nothing is as it seems in the foreboding Spires, her ancestral home, where cold hearts rule the hearth and deadly secrets lurk in the forest. Plunged back into the dreamworld of her youth Kelly is faced with the reality of her own role in the tragedies afflicting her family.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Fall of Never is a dark, suspenseful descent into the wild heart of dream, where the primal power of the imagination can turn reality into nightmare. Ronald Damien Malfi has crafted a novel you will not want to miss, filled with mystery, wonder and terror. Smooth writing, a sure voice, and emotional truth keep his engaging cast of characters rolling through the lonely territories of the human heart and mind. Grab this book and settle in for a hell of a ride that ends, as all journeys worth taking must, with surprises, thrills and chills. -Gerard Houarner, The Beast That Was Max, Road to Hell

Part modern gothic and part psychological nightmare journey, Ronald Damien Malfi's audacious The Fall of Never seethes with simmering danger and suspense, proving that "quiet" horror can still quicken the heart. With allusions from Shakespeare to Poe and a cataclysmic climax, Malfi's second novel reminds us that our minds are sometimes more frightening than the monsters of yore. -William D. Gagliani, author of the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel Wolf's Trap --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ronald Damien Malfi is the author of several short stories and screenplays, as well as the novel The Space Between. He graduated from Towson University in 1999 with a degree in English. Most notably, his short fiction can be found in the anthologies Sick: An Anthology of Illness and Of Flesh and Hunger. The Fall of Never is his second novel. He currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press (November 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933293306
• ISBN-13: 978-1933293301
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,257,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Mercy! Now that's what I'm talking about!, November 23, 2004

By 

Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fall of Never (Paperback)

Malfi keeps you glued to the book. Be it from terror or your own morbid curiosity, you'll find yourself unable to put this book down. In other words, he'll own you!

The plot is intoxicating, mesmerizing, and compulsively precise. Tying into the main, the subplot is just as equally engrossing and clever. The most scintillating aspect of the story is that although you can see that something evil is on its way with astounding velocity and inevitability, a part of you wants to close your eyes and wish it away. There's another part of you though, that wants to see, that needs to know. It's that part of you that keeps turning the pages as the blood spills and the bodies start to pile up. Malfi not only understands this, but he supplies it in spades.

The atmosphere is charged with voltaic emotions and external anguish, electrifying the air you breathe. Coming off in deathless waves, the fear is naked and palpable. Each setting can be felt and embraced, every location visually assaulting. I'm not sure how he does it, but Malfi manages to not only materialize the house, but also give it its very own personality. It becomes a character that while it is cold and ugly, manages to rivet you.

The characters are natural, realistic, and above all else honest. The interaction between Kelly and her family is both true and familiar. Each player has a depth, a well of emotions , that when tapped almost explodes off the page. Even the antagonist isn't without tenderness, forgiveness. Malfi's style of writing is sharp, keeping you on the edge from the first page to the last. His descriptions are tight, his settings corporeal, and dialog flawless. In all honesty, I never once even noticed the pace. The only time I even thought about it was when it came time to critique it. My assessment? Perfect.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Skillful, Satisfying Read, January 4, 2005

By 

John Sunseri (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fall of Never (Paperback)

It's always nice finding a gem from the small presses - anyone can read the latest Stephen King opus and enjoy it, but how many of us have discovered the wonder of both Ronald Damien Malfi and the fine folks at Raw Dog Screaming Press? Not too damned many...but that's gonna change someday soon. You can't keep stuff this good from hitting the greater world for very long.

Mr. Malfi is a technician of the finest order. His sentences...his paragraphs...his chapters...all flow together so beautifully that 'The Fall of Never' could serve as a primer for How to Write Great Fiction (and not just Horror Fiction - but Fiction in general. This is the best-constructed book I've read in probably a year). He, in his second novel, has perfected the quiet art of pacing, and I haven't seen characters this good since...hell, since early Stephen King. The novel is a creeping tale of lost memories, lost childhood, and there's a twist on the Frankenstein/Pygmalion theme that is the most original approach to horror I've seen in many moons.

It's a claustrophobic book, a gentle book, a grotesque book - and Malfi juggles these varying moods and styles with the skill of a four-armed juggler, never dropping a ball and rarely writing a sentence that doesn't ring with the perfect clarity of truth (and we all know Keats on the subject, right? Any truth is automatically beautiful, and this book ranks with the great beauties of all literature).

Sorry to rave so hard about this - but it's that good, folks. Please give the man a shot - and keep the string of perfect RDS titles going. The more we buy, the more they'll print - and the better the world will be for it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fall of Never Highly Recommended, December 20, 2005

By 

Patricia J. Esposito (St. Charles, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fall of Never (Paperback)

I was beginning to think that literary horror no longer existed, suspense and horror written only to old formulas and clichés, then someone directed me to the small presses, and then specifically to Ronald Damien Malfi. Reading Fall of Never made me want to rewrite anything I'd ever written and has sent me on a search of all things Malfi. Malfi's prose is impeccable, his settings evocative and alive-read this and you won't forget the Spires compound, or even the hospitals or restaurants these characters visit;and Malfi's characters are the kind you want to follow, all the way to the end and beyond-even minor characters stand out as layered and authentic. The novel offers an intriguing and unnerving blend of physical and psychological horror with a surprising look into how we might be creators of our own fears. It made me look again at myself which is what good fiction should do.