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Jonathan Aycliffe

The Talisman Kindle Edition

by Jonathan Aycliffe (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A statue, unearthed in ancient Babylon during the course of an archaeological dig, is transported to London. Once there, it quickly exerts an evil influence over those with whom it comes into contact; an influence which threatens to spread throughout London and beyond, and which pits the living against the dead in a battle for all mankind . . .

Praise for Jonathan Aycliffe:

'Aycliffe has a fine touch' Independent

'Aycliffe conjures up a feeling of dread that deepens with each unsettling incident' Time Out

'Naomi's Room must rank among the finest of English ghost stories . . . They certainly don't come more dark or fearsome.' Newcastle Evening Chronicle

Length: 224 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British author Aycliffe (Naomi's Room) generates some genuine fear in the early chapters of this briskly paced if meandering horror novel, but he reveals too much too soon, rendering the rest of the story anticlimactic where tension should be mounting. After a prologue in which medieval Muslims hide a satanic idol in a soon-to-be-buried Babylonian sanctuary, the action shifts to modern-day London, where Tom Alton, a Mesopotamian scholar, has just taken a job as a British Museum curator. An archeologist friend, Ed Monelli, arrives in town to donate to the museum an extraordinary and eerie statue of Satan, discovered by Ed's archeologist wife shortly before her mysterious death. Tom accepts the gift, though the statue, kept briefly at the Alton home, has troubling effects on his wife, Nicola, and his young stepson, Adam. In dramatically muddled ways, the author introduces elements reminiscent of The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby Adam suffers an unaccountable fall that leaves him mentally and physically precocious and possessed by the devil, while Nicola becomes pregnant with a fetus that grows at supernatural speed. The protagonists, Tom and Nicola, are unconvincing in part because they lack a sense of proportion, as when Nicola, amid all the horrors, objects, "Adam can't afford to miss school." A padded plot that fails to cohere, as well as often trite or hackneyed prose ("The snow continued falling, unaware of grief or happiness"), makes for a book likely to please only Aycliffe loyalists.

--This text refers to the cassette edition.

About the Author

Aycliffe was born in Belfast in 1949. He studied English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic studies at the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh and Cambridge, and Morocco and Newcastle upon Tyne. He lives in the north of England with his wife.

--This text refers to the cassette edition.

ASIN : B00X7UILQU
Publisher : Constable (October 1, 2015)
Publication date : October 1, 2015
Language : English
File size : 1085 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 224 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,249,550 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #49,696 in Horror (Kindle Store)
- #104,486 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
22 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Plagues of blindness and demonic children

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2017

The author of "The Talisman" studied English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic Studies at the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh, and Cambridge, and lectured at the universities of Fez in Morocco and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In his introduction to this book, Aycliffe assures us that, "The Babylonian bits(for the most part) are accurate, as are the Arabic and Persian references. I share with (M.R.) James the tendency to give in to temptation and provide my readers with authentic incantations and and historic personages."

For this reader, at least, the author's authenticity is what made "The Talisman" so fascinating and frightening. The ancient Babylonian demon Shabbatil is made to come alive (or was it ever dead?) through a combination of archeology and evil intent. The resulting plagues of blindness and demonic children form a mystery that is slowly unravelled by Tom, a museum curator and his wife Nicola, a doctoral student. Their son, Adam is one of first children to fall under the influence of Shabbatil. "The Talisman" builds to a horrifying crescendo of evil, and its end is not a tidy gathering-in of loose ends. As the protagonist comments in the final pages, "The past is not dead, it merely sleeps."

This author also writes as Daniel Easterman, under which name he has penned nine popular thrillers.

Helpful

Plagues of blindness and demonic children

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2015

The author of "The Talisman" studied English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic Studies at the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh, and Cambridge, and lectured at the universities of Fez in Morocco and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In his introduction to this book, Aycliffe assures us that, "The Babylonian bits(for the most part) are accurate, as are the Arabic and Persian references. I share with (M.R.) James the tendency to give in to temptation and provide my readers with authentic incantations and and historic personages."

For this reader, at least, the author's authenticity is what made "The Talisman" so fascinating and frightening. The ancient Babylonian demon Shabbatil is made to come alive (or was it ever dead?) through a combination of archaeology and evil intent. The resulting plagues of blindness and demonic children form a mystery that is slowly unravelled by Tom, a museum curator and his wife Nicola, a doctoral student. Their son, Adam is one of first children to fall under the influence of Shabbatil. "The Talisman" builds to a horrifying crescendo of evil, and its end is not a tidy gathering-in of loose ends. As the protagonist comments in the final pages, "The past is not dead, it merely sleeps."

This author also writes as Daniel Easterman, under which name he has penned nine popular thrillers.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Plagues of blindness and demonic children

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2009

Helpful

Ancient Babylonian Evil Haunts Modern London

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2001

The author of "The Talisman" studied English, Persian, Arabic and Islamic Studies at the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh, and Cambridge, and lectured at the universities of Fez in Morocco and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In his introduction to this book, Aycliffe assures us that, "The Babylonian bits(for the most part) are accurate, as are the Arabic and Persian references. I share with (M.R.) James the tendency to give in to temptation and provide my readers with authentic incantations and and historic personages."
For this reader, at least, the author's authenticity is what made "The Talisman" so fascinating and frightening. The ancient Babylonian demon Shabbatil is made to come alive (or was it ever dead?) through a combination of archeology and evil intent. The resulting plagues of blindness and demonic children form a mystery that is slowly unravelled by Tom, a museum curator and his wife Nicola, a doctoral student. Their son, Adam is one of first children to fall under the influence of Shabbatil. "The Talisman" builds to a horrifying crescendo of evil, and its end is not a tidy gathering-in of loose ends. As the protagonist comments in the final pages, "The past is not dead, it merely sleeps."
Incidentally, Jason C. Eckhardt is the illustrator of "The Talisman", not its co-author.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

John Hopper

another slice of excellent Gothic horror

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2020

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In the run up to Christmas in six of the last seven years I have read one of Jonathan Aycliffe's brilliant modern Gothic horror novels. He has a way of conjuring up a thick atmosphere of dread through building up the tension through sounds and glimpses of evil, with sparing use of overt shock tactics. This one revolves around the discovery of an ancient Babylonian talisman and a statue that predates even the Babylonians, representing a primeval version of Satan (Shabbatil). It may sounds a little corny but this is a really tense and gripping novel (short as well at well under 200 pages, though it didn't feel short, in a good way). Academic Tom Alton 's life is affected with the most tragic of consequences for his family and some of his friends. The vanquishing of Shabbatil at the end was a little too sudden and easy to be wholly convincing in context, but the ending was studiedly ambiguous as some of his other novels. If you don't know this author, I recommend him - his books are most similar to Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, so if you like that, you should like Aycliffe's work.

Ms. K. Johnston

Wonderfully atmospheric horror story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2016

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A few months ago I read Shadow on the Wall and was a little disappointed. The mood is very much in the M R James style but I felt it wasn't one of Jonathan Aycliffe's best novels. So, I ordered The Talisman and began to read on a very wet and miserable evening. So far, so good, and this novel is a slow burn. The author references The Exorcist in his Introduction and that is spot on as it concerns a statue being brought back to England from ancient Iraq/Babylon and the havoc it wreaks. I could also say The Omen would fit the plot too - a child possessed by an evil force which grows in strength. The sense of creeping dread is very well done and Aycliffe's prose is very spare, with not a word wasted. The story builds to a climax and the highly sensitive wife, Nicola, is the victim. I won't spoil the plot (as many reviewers tend to do) but let Jonathan Aycliffe's fans read this novel and enjoy that feeling of dread and looking over your shoulder.

I've often wondered why some of Aycliffe's novels have not been filmed as the ghost/horror genre is so popular. However, he may not wish to have his work filmed as so many writers disown the finished product as it can bear no resemblance to the original work.

4 people found this helpful

Brilliant contemporary yet classic horror - truly creepy!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

I think Jonathan Aycliffe is one of the finest horror writers of our day. He is well able to strike at the heart of what is truly creepy and scary, and this novel doesn’t disappoint. I’ve binge-read all his novels in a matter of weeks, and more than once felt like leaving the light on! Up there with another contemporary favourite of mine, Adam Nevill (wrote The Ritual and other great, back-to-basics yet truly terrifying horror tales).

2 people found this helpful

ricardow

sinister, undemanding and enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

A short well written horror story, that builds and finishes well, though the narrative loses some shape in the last third. Aycliffe doesn't try and do too much, but at the same time manages to do just about the right amount. I was genuinely creeped out in the first half the book - checking the door was locked etc There isn't much originality here however - and there are big nods to the Omen in particular. Also the story gets somewhat overloaded by new characters in the final third with insufficient back story, and the author even throws in a Catholic priest at the end. But for all that, it is harmless fun, and on a line by line level Acycliffe writes well indeed, and the journal entries work elegantly. I wonder if the writer had kept his nerve and revealed his denouement more subtlely through the more allusive journal entries and letters it would have worked better and kept more of the excellent sinister quality of earlier in the book. Undemanding and enjoyable.

Mrs Aly Rhodes

Creepy supernatural thriller from the reliable Aycliffe.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

I am working my way through Aycliffe's back catalogue, starting with his latest ones and retreating in time. I bought this one 2nd hand off Amazon, and as always really enjoyed Aycliffe's clever mix of real history, made up history, supernatural thread, magic and real life settings. Read at night it's always best too. The author has never disappointed.

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