Neverland [Kindle Edition]

Douglas Clegg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An adolescent's cruel mischief proves a pathway to a dimension of otherworldly terrors in this creepy supernatural thriller, first published as a mass-market paperback in 1991. One summer on Gull Island off the coast of Georgia, Sumter Monroe indoctrinates his cousin Beau Jackson into the marvels of Neverland, Sumter's name for a tumble-down shack on their mutual maternal grandmother's property that's a shrine to a god he names Lucy. In Neverland, reality and illusion blur eerily, and the spirit of fun takes a malevolent turn as Sumter begin offering sacrifices of an increasingly disturbing nature to placate Lucy and sustain his special relationship with her. Clegg (The Vampyricon) crafts a haunting story redolent with the influence of Arthur Machen, H.P. Lovecraft, and other classic horror writers. His credible rendering of the internal lives of children and their imaginations give this flight of dark fancy a firm and frightening foothold in reality. (Apr.)
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Review

"Clegg is truly a master of imagination and fantasy. Neverland is one of the spookiest, most unpredictable adolescent tales that I've read in a long while. And it's believable. That's what makes it so frightening." --Dark Discoveries Magazine

"The suspense had me turning pages as fast as I could read, so I could find out what happened next. Clegg has created an exquisite mix of truth and mythology, of secrets and lies, of darkness and the supernatural." --Book Sandwich

"Neverland is a mix of Southern Gothic, horror and coming-of-age story--a chilling adult bedtime story for those not afraid of the dark." --Shelf Awareness

"A Gothic Masterpiece!" --Dread Central

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1226 KB
• Publisher: Vanguard Press; Reprint edition (April 13, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003HO5UVA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,296 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

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DouglasClegg.com

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I'm a novelist living on the New England coast. My first novel, Goat Dance, came out in 1989, and since then, more than 20 of my novels have been published.

I'd recommend: Neverland, Isis, Afterlife, The Words, Purity, or The Priest of Blood (and the entire vampire trilogy, The Vampyricon) if you're new to my fiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, December 6, 2000

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Neverland (Paperback)

Clegg does it again. He is one of the most consistently effective horror writers I have ever read. In Never Land, we meet cousins Beau and Sumter summering at their grandmother's home on Gull Island. While the grown-ups drink and fight amongst themselves, the kids explore the island in search of adventure. Unfortunately, Sumter isn't exactly the most mentally healthy child, and he drags his cousins into some bizarre, frightening and dangerous games in his secret hideaway called Neverland. Communicating with another world, Sumter calls forth evil forces that threaten to destroy the family and the island. In the process, family secrets are dragged into the open, and Beau finds himself as the single person who may be able to save his family. Clegg has a knack for creating believable child characters who act in ways and say things that you would expect from a child. I absolutely could not put this book down until I finished it. It's creepy, suspenseful, and wickedly fun to read. Do what you must to track down these out-of-print Clegg novels; you won't be disappointed.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Sweet, Terrifying, Touching, February 24, 2003

By 

Sebastien Pharand (Orléans, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neverland (Paperback)

I'm a sucker for coming of age stories, where the main character (usually a young boy) steps out of childhood to enter manhood through a series of traumatic events that will leave him changed forever. This is exactly what happens to Beau in Douglas Clegg's brilliantly imaginative Neverland, a book that will leave you breathless and in complete awe.

Beau, his parents, his infant brother and his twin sisters leave for their annual summer trip down to the family island, where they will stay with Beau's aunt and her family and his grandmother for the following month. When he arrives, his cousin Sumter is already waiting for him. Sumter is a strange boy who has discovered something magical and yet terrifying in the old shack behind the house. A crate with something - or someone - trapped inside. Something that calls itself Lucy.

Soon enough, Beau finds himself trapped in a nightmare he can't get himself out of. They nickname the shack Neverland, the place where imagination runs free, a place where pain and sadness does not exist. But Neverland grows to be an entity of its own, and it wants something more than mere company. It wants blood.

Douglas Clegg's imgination is amazing, and he puts it to full use in this book. The things we used to dream as children - both good dreams and nightmares - come alive in this book. You soon find yourself trapped in playground from hell, where there are very few rules.

Beau will have to face his own personal demons as he will be pushed to the very limits of sanity by Sumter and Neverland. The last 150 pages of the book are a real roller coster ride, where everything goes to hell, and where Clegg really shows how great and brilliant his imagination truly is.

Not only is Neverland a great horror novel, it is one you won't soon forget. Douglas Clegg is the master of suspense, no dout about it. So do yourself a favor and pick on of his book up. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful 'Clegg experience!', February 28, 2005

By 

ThePaperbackStash.com (FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neverland (Paperback)

Douglas Clegg is a master of fantasy and imagination. THIS plot is nothing simple; it turns out to be creative ,and unpredictable as hell, and I stand with applause for the hours he must have spent brainstorming this one.

Neverland is fun, twisted, gripping. I fell in love with the characters, I weeped with them, I feared for them. The setting with the old house, the creepy shack, the woods - all amazing, beautiful, unnerving. The pace is quick when it should be, slower when its appropriate, and overall ends with a stunning conclusion. Clegg writes with a hand that holds talent, knowing how to work its stuff.

Read Neverland for a good time, an imaginative roll in the hay. You won't be dissapointed.