Customer Reviews

The Hades Project

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Hades Project!
If you have an insatiable need to be scared, you have to get this book! The story unfolds with a dark, evil force that escapes the gates of Hell to make its way into this world. Torture, sex, and murder are the calling card for this sinister power that is bent on unleashing even more horror. You won't be able to put this book down as the unsuspecting investigators only begin to realize the fate that could be awaiting them. The story is delivered so well that your eyes won't leave the page. Just don't forget to turn the lights on before you begin or you'll find the words creating chills that won't go away in the dark.

The Hades Project by Justin Gustainis

I became aware of the book when the author mentioned it in
alt.horror.cthulhu. Here is the plot in very few words: An
inter dimensional door is opened to Hell. A demon comes though
who is into sex and gruesome murder, performed by the bodies he
possesses. A hunt for him ensues. Meanwhile the demon gets the
word from Lower Authority "Enough with the fun stuff. Get that door open so we can all come through and have fun".

"Hades Project" is gripping and chilling. The mundane
background: cars, weapons, and geography are well researched to
the point where you could you could believe that the whole thing
is real. First chance I get, I'm going to check out Sager Avenue
in Fairfax City, Virginia where much of the action takes place.
The characterizations are also good, as shown by the speech and
actions of the persons.

My complaint is the use of the words "f---", "f---er", and
"f---ing" to the point where they become tiresome. Perhaps the
author pencilled them in for shock value. They were not needed.
The book is shocking enough especially as it moves to a breath
taking pace in its conclusion.

I can recommend "Hades Project" for horror and swift action.
When they make a movie of it, I will be first in line at the box
office.

I never fully realized what the phrase "all hell breaks loose" meant before. Didn't realize how one man's mind let's horror reshape itself and settle in the dark corners of my heart and soul. Justin Gustainis has pulled me into a horrible nightmare that is all the more terrifying after being raised a Catholic. Where "The Exorcist" was a single battle between good and evil, "The Hades Project" is all out World War Infinity. Strange how the story sticks with me, like the aftertaste of medicine...and perhaps that is what Justin has given us....a vaccine of fear. I laughed at his intro about summoning demons... when he said "don't blame me if nothing happens".....but even more so, "don't blame me if something does." I'm not laughing now.

simple, straight-forward tale of good vs. evil. scientists [ apparently] inadvertently allow a demon to cross over from hell. after a few fun filled days of raping and murdering, our hero[?] is ordered to return to the lab [by a demon higher in rank], and assist in opening the "gate" again, and let some of his pals [demons] to cross over and get in on the fun. tough old school federal agent michael pacilio is just the man for the job to put an end to what might be the beginning of the apocalypse. michael is haunted from his experience with a demon in vietnam. I hope this is the beginning of a long career for justin. graphic and gory, my favorite kind of horror.

The plot in this book is nothing special; a demon is let loose in the world and it is up to an ex-SEAL to stop it. However, the storyline flows smoothly, the characters are interesting, and the author has spent some time thinking about the details of demonic appetites. Well worth the read.

A great story idea. Keeps you guessing. For anyone who likes a great horror novel. I could not put it down, read it in one night. Anxiously waiting for more from this great new author.

I do not usually read books of this type since I am a hardcore sci/fi and Clancy fan, but it looked intresting so I gave it a try. Well, like others, I have read some Stephan King and all I can say, after reading this, is "Who's Stephan King?"

This one blows King away! The book ROCKS and will keep you turning page after page to read what happen next to the point that you will not put the book down (I stayed up till 3am to finish it).

The bad point...I ran out of pages to read.

The Good...it will keep you on the edge and wanting more (like Clancy).

All I can say Stephan King is no Justin Gustainis! I am already looking for more from Gustainis and tossing my copies of King!

The Hades Project is one of the scariest books I have read in a long time. The first chapter has one of the most graphic scenes of violence I have ever read and Gustainis paints a vivid picture with his words and imagery. From there, the book doesn't let go. The characters are interesting, the chase is on, and a showdown looms between good and evil - and you're not sure who will win at the end.

I am not a sci-fi/horror novel type of girl, but I truly enjoyed The Hades Project. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

Justin Gustainis, The Hades Project (Brighid's Fire Books, 2003)

It's not often that a small-press horror novel surprises me. When I picked this up, I figured it for a vanity publication, but it seems I was wrong. Gustainis got more cred in my eyes when I found a few more of his publications listed with some publishers I respect. But the real acid test was, of course, the book itself. No, it's not Kathe Koja or Ramsey Campbell-level stuff, but I've read far worse from far bigger presses.

The story revolves around Michael Pacilio, an ex-Navy man now working for the government's Office of Scientific Accountability. When an experiment goes horribly wrong, leaving ten dead and one missing, Pacilio is sent to track down the missing team member. As well, no one seems to know exactly what the team was doing there, and whether it had anything to do with what killed them.

The Hades Project, both in design and execution, has a good number of the hallmarks of the amateur effort (the cover, in fact, was what led me to tab it as a vanity in the first place--it wouldn't stand out mixed in among a shelf of iUniverse and Xlibris titles), but where the writing is concerned, there's nothing a good copy editor couldn't cure. The actual meat of the book, and the technical aspects of its construction, are as solid as they come--maybe not Koja or Campbell level, but certainly in the realm of, say, Richard Laymon. Whether or not you think the pace drags is likely to rest on how you feel about information as opposed to action; I had no problem with the pace, but others who have reviewed it are of differing opinions. There are also some "as you know, Bob" moments (really, does any doctor specializing in emergency medicine these days need to have an AK-47 described to them?) and the like, but again, nothing a rewrite (with the kind of professional help one gets at major presses) wouldn't have fixed.

Gustainis knows what he's doing, and I liked this enough that I've got his second novel, which is coming out in about six months as I write this, on the wish list. If you're a horror fan, you could do a lot worse than The Hades Project--and you probably have. ***

I hadn't given much thought to death until I read this book. However, after reading The Hades Project, I now know how I don't want to die.

Gustainis paints vivid and often disturbing pictures with words. His is a frightening world in which demons are unfurled and inept bureaucrats tied in red tape are the lone barrier between the normal world and total devastation.

As a side note, I've been to Wolf Road in Albany, one of the scenes from the book. Does anyone know whether the hookers really go to the Friendly's restaurant there?