Customer Reviews

Shadow Coast

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book along with several others from Amazon and I had planned to read this particular one at a later date. But I was hooked after the first few sentences. For the next few days every free moment was devoted to finding out what in the world would happen next. And the reader is never disappointed right up to the breathtaking ending, when like the main character in the book, one becomes "all out of fear."

This book is a great read and very entertaining. The descriptions of ocean mist enshrouded cliffs, fog-filled pine forests, and the eerie abandoned logging roads of the Northwest coast provide the environment to weaken rational expectations about what must be real. The character development is also excellent. My favorite was the slow but steady disintegration of the categories of understanding of the so-sure rational anthropologist who ends up taking decisive non-scientific action to end the onslaught of events he does not believe are possible.

In sympathetic hands this book would make a great movie.

California architect Mark Sayres is on his way to the Pacific Northwest to retrieve his wife, Maggie, when the yacht he's traveling on is in a terrible accident at sea. Mark is hoping to get to Maggie as soon as possible; she's working at an archeological dig near the small island town of Neah Bay, and the last time he spoke to her she sounded strange. After recovering at the home of Sandra Torrel, Mark learns that Maggie has disappeared from the island without a trace. Hundreds of volunteers have been searching for her for days, with no luck. Maggie, though, is only the most recent person to disappear from the island; Sandra Torrel's husband is also missing, along with a string of others. And then, as the fog moves over the island, cloaking it to the point of invisibility, the missing begin to reappear against all odds, and there are whisperings that an ancient Native American evil has awakened from a century-long slumber...

SHADOW COAST's real strength lies in author Philip Haldeman's breathtaking physical descriptions, which evoke mist-laced beaches, verdant, dark forests, and an eerie coastal town brilliantly. These stunning descriptions are relayed with better-than-average prose in a tale of quiet horror. The novel moves along at a nice pace, and I could really feel the tension and fear in the narrative. The inclusion of Native American mysticism in the novel just made it ten times scarier for me.

While the novel's eerie atmosphere is clearly its strength, the characters are also well-fleshed-out and engaging. Haldeman does an excellent job of balancing Mark's grief with his desire to find out the truth, and he effectively relays Mark's internal struggle. Some of the more minor characters are equally fascinating; I really found myself trying to uncover some of the more mysterious characters' motivations and secrets.

SHADOW COAST isn't an in-your-face horror novel, not by any means. The horror here is quiet, subtle, soft as the fog in which it comes. It's psychological horror as much as it is physical, and it is relayed in a way that will send chills down your spine. And SHADOW COAST'S ending just blew me away; it almost reads like a really good horror movie ending -- twisty, unexpected, slightly repulsive, something you'll be thinking and talking about for days to come. SHADOW COAST was a deliciously scary treat, and I can't wait to see what Philip Haldeman does next!

A fantastic book. At once relentlessly paced, eerie, and terrifying, it's easily one of the most memorable horror novels I've read. The claustrophobia of a small town, the bleak forests and coastline, the mysterious mythologies of the Native American culture, and the increasingly bizarre and horrifying storyline combine to create something seriously original and engaging. Great, great stuff.

I have to tell you right up front that this book opens with the best shipwreck I have ever read. I really love the way Haldeman opened it with the action sequence while spilling the rest of the details to catch the reader up to speed. For that alone, the book deserved a 5. Now if you need more than a shipwreck to get you into a book, the rest of the story may not be enough. For me it was. The story centers around two basic plots. First you have a man looking into the mysterious disappearance of his wife. She was attending an archeological dig located in a remote area of the west coast. The second plot line involves the resolution of the past with the present and future. Two opposing viewpoint of how a culture should best be preserved clash. Add a dash of horror and you have this story. I felt that the first plot line could have been better developed. I wasn't always picking up the emotions the main characters were said to be giving off. I think the second plot line was handled well. I think both sides were presented fairly and intuitively. The ending felt rushed to me. Perhaps I wanted a little more sound and fury. I enjoyed the read though, especially in some of the more suspenseful moments.

Set along the desolate coast of the Pacific Northwest, Shadow Coast, conjures up a wonderful supernatural story involving ghosts, fear of the unknown and Native American mythology.
Mark Sayles sails to a remote island off the Washington coast to visit his wife who has been working on an archeological site. A powerful storm sinks his ship and two of his crewmates are killed. Half drowned Sayles is rescued by local islanders but once he recovers from the accident his world is thrown upside down when he discovers his wife is missing, and she isn't the one.
Then the mist and fog envelopes the coastline and Sayles and the town's folk begin seeing visions of people that should not be alive. The story develops with Sayles having to accept his wife's disappearance and probably death as he wrestles with the fact that supernatural forces may be at work and that no one is safe from the town's past or the superstition of a mythological deity that comes in with the mist to cleanse the town for long ago misdeeds.
The physical descriptions of the area are magnificent. I have never been to the Pacific Northwest but through Mr. Halderman I could envision myself standing along the bleak rocky coastline, with thick forests standing behind me and I can envision the fog as it forms over the sea and moves inland--I get scared just thinking about it.
Hopefully, Mr. Halderman has some more stories for us in the future and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great supernatural tale. One word of caution: Don't read this book if you find yourself alone on a remote island and the fog starts to roll in.

James Clifford
Reviews Editor, Northwoods Journal
Author, Double Daggers

I remember when Phil was working on this and I am glad he got it published. However, this publisher never did any marketing of the book and as a result no one ever knew about it. This is very sad because Phil spent years writing the book and he is an wonderful writer. Trying to find a copy wasn't easy either because the publisher only printed a small number of books. I got my from a second hand source.

This should be a lesson to those writers who go with small press publishers.

The story is well written and entertaining. I would hope that Phil would do it as an e-book and promote it himself.

My husband read the first chapter and made the mistake of putting the book back on the coffee table. I was curious about the book, picked it up and could not put it back down. I even got up an hour early one morning to read more - and I am not a morning person... At night, I turned my daughter's nightlight on because I was too afraid to sleep in the dark.

This is a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very fast paced, very descriptive, very entertaining and may I say - addictive. I loved the writing style and character development. And I got that little kick in the butt which is always nice...

I love this book, it is quite simply the best thing I have read in a really long time. I am recommending this to everyone I know. The story is exciting, eerie and chilling. The writing is wonderful and the characters believable. I cannot wait for Mr. Haledman's next book!