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Quietus
On a stormy winter night, a small plane bound for Boston goes down in the treacherous White Mountains of New Hampshire. Through a haze of morphine, Kylie O’Rourke awakens in the hospital to confused and harrowing memories of the crash. Though trapped within the wreckage with her husband, she recalls wandering the icy mountainside and speaking with the other passengers, including one who had died on impact. As the bizarre aftermath becomes sharper in her mind, it appears more ominous, along with the unshakable feeling that her survival somehow defied fate. Reassured by her doctor that the disturbing memories had been caused by her sedation, Kylie returns to her life in Boston, but the aftermath of the tragedy proves unbearable. As her husband slips away from her into his own world of survivor's guilt and deceit, Kylie is seized by a growing paranoia that someone is stalking her every move. In her nightmares, the predator is a specter crossing over from the mountaintop to reclaim her. Then a sudden and freakish tragedy sends Kylie's world toppling. While those around her fear she is losing her mind, she finds herself caught up in a chain of events she cannot escape.
Raising provocative questions about fate, mortality and what lies beyond, QUIETUS takes the reader to the brink of reason, to the edge where spiritual and physical meet, building with frenetic momentum to its shocking and haunting climax.
Raising provocative questions about fate, mortality and what lies beyond, QUIETUS takes the reader to the brink of reason, to the edge where spiritual and physical meet, building with frenetic momentum to its shocking and haunting climax.
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2002
About the author
Vivian Schilling
4 books43 followersVivian Schilling is the award-winning author of the novels Quietus and Sacred Prey, as well as a screenwriter, producer and director of independent films. She recently completed work as co-writer and producer of the documentary "Bonobos: Back to the Wild" and is currently at work on her third novel.
Review Quotes:
“Quietus is a great gothic raven perched somewhere between Anne Rice and Iris Murdoch. It’s a spooky, sweeping book of death, dreams and psychosexual intrigue. Schilling herself—in her deft melding of mythic animus and modern anxiety—seems like the bastard daughter of Carl Jung and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.” —James Ireland Baker, Time Out New York
Review Quotes:
“Quietus is a great gothic raven perched somewhere between Anne Rice and Iris Murdoch. It’s a spooky, sweeping book of death, dreams and psychosexual intrigue. Schilling herself—in her deft melding of mythic animus and modern anxiety—seems like the bastard daughter of Carl Jung and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.” —James Ireland Baker, Time Out New York
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
December 25, 2018
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
The cover of Quietus by Vivian Schilling says it is a novel of suspense and man is that one accurate description!
What it's about: After a plane crash that kills everyone except for five people, the remaining survivors (especially Kylie and her friend Amelia) start having a very strong sense of foreboding. Kylie starts seeing people that aren't there and she is terrified that her and the rest of the survivors were not meant to live. After a very upsetting tragedy, Kylie's paranoia reaches a new high that has her fearing for her life.
This description of the plot is pretty vague, but I think it still gives you a good enough idea of what the book is about. Quietus is quite long at over 600 pages but the pages turn very quickly and had me on the edge of my seat pretty much the entire time. This might be the most suspenseful book that I have read in an extremely long time, and I have to give props to the author for managing to keep over 600 pages that interesting.
If you are terrified of dying in a plane crash or supernatural occurrences, this will probably be very frightening to read. For the longest time I was scared of dying in a plane crash so when I first started reading Quietus it was a little tough to read. But after the initial crash scene it really just moves into a bunch of supernatural stuff and is freaky in a completely different way.
Viewpoints switch from Kylie, her friend Amelia, Kylie's husband Jack, Jack's brother Dillon, and a few other people. I really liked all of the different viewpoints and some of them were a nice respite from all the suspense there was in Kylie and Amelia's POVs. Schilling sets up a very complex story and plot that is both terrifying, and incredibly interesting to read.
Final Thought: The ending was actually a bit of a let down in my opinion, but I guess it fit with the overall feel of the book. Other than the end, I really enjoyed everything else about the book. It does have a bit of a Final Destination vibe, but it was so much more than that. I would recommend Quietus to people who like reading about the supernatural and enjoy long books filled with suspense.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The cover of Quietus by Vivian Schilling says it is a novel of suspense and man is that one accurate description!
What it's about: After a plane crash that kills everyone except for five people, the remaining survivors (especially Kylie and her friend Amelia) start having a very strong sense of foreboding. Kylie starts seeing people that aren't there and she is terrified that her and the rest of the survivors were not meant to live. After a very upsetting tragedy, Kylie's paranoia reaches a new high that has her fearing for her life.
This description of the plot is pretty vague, but I think it still gives you a good enough idea of what the book is about. Quietus is quite long at over 600 pages but the pages turn very quickly and had me on the edge of my seat pretty much the entire time. This might be the most suspenseful book that I have read in an extremely long time, and I have to give props to the author for managing to keep over 600 pages that interesting.
If you are terrified of dying in a plane crash or supernatural occurrences, this will probably be very frightening to read. For the longest time I was scared of dying in a plane crash so when I first started reading Quietus it was a little tough to read. But after the initial crash scene it really just moves into a bunch of supernatural stuff and is freaky in a completely different way.
Viewpoints switch from Kylie, her friend Amelia, Kylie's husband Jack, Jack's brother Dillon, and a few other people. I really liked all of the different viewpoints and some of them were a nice respite from all the suspense there was in Kylie and Amelia's POVs. Schilling sets up a very complex story and plot that is both terrifying, and incredibly interesting to read.
Final Thought: The ending was actually a bit of a let down in my opinion, but I guess it fit with the overall feel of the book. Other than the end, I really enjoyed everything else about the book. It does have a bit of a Final Destination vibe, but it was so much more than that. I would recommend Quietus to people who like reading about the supernatural and enjoy long books filled with suspense.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
February 18, 2018
I truly enjoyed the experience I had reading this book. From the beginning to the end I was transported into the story. My attention was there every step of the way. Kylie became more and more intriguing as the story progressed. As did the mysterious man that was haunting Kylie in her life. Who was he? What was his connection to Kylie? Was he good or a sign of death?
I read a comment by another reader who mentioned Final Destination movies. Yeah, I kind of saw a bit of a reference to the movies but to me this book was more then the movies. It was not trying to be a knock off. It is kind of funny as I would be complaining about how subtle actions or other events were in a book but with this one it worked. It was kind of poetic the way that there was nothing too bold about the story. It just flowed. Plus, there was an underlining message within the story. Fans of gothic stories may want to check out this book.
I read a comment by another reader who mentioned Final Destination movies. Yeah, I kind of saw a bit of a reference to the movies but to me this book was more then the movies. It was not trying to be a knock off. It is kind of funny as I would be complaining about how subtle actions or other events were in a book but with this one it worked. It was kind of poetic the way that there was nothing too bold about the story. It just flowed. Plus, there was an underlining message within the story. Fans of gothic stories may want to check out this book.
February 7, 2018
This book was really interesting and actually reminded me a lot of the movie Final Destination. After Kylie and her husband Jack, along with some of her close friends are involved in a plane crash that almost kills them, Kylie wakes up very confused in the hospital with memories from the crash. Although Kylie has survived the crash, she can't seem to shake the feeling that something isn't quite right and she has some strange memories from her time in the mountains. She shares these feelings and memories wit her psychiatrist who tells her that these things simply never happened. She tried to believe this and move on, but when she finds that someone seems to be stalking her, she finds her world starting to crumble around her.
The premise of this book sounded really interesting, a big familiar, but interesting none the less. However, I just didn't really like the author's writing and she seemed to be trying to write too many different themes into one story. Overall, it was an interesting story and I found Kylie to be a likeable character, I just never became overly invested in her character. The book definitely combines elements from both the thriller and horror genres, along with a bit of suspense.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.
The premise of this book sounded really interesting, a big familiar, but interesting none the less. However, I just didn't really like the author's writing and she seemed to be trying to write too many different themes into one story. Overall, it was an interesting story and I found Kylie to be a likeable character, I just never became overly invested in her character. The book definitely combines elements from both the thriller and horror genres, along with a bit of suspense.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.
January 12, 2008
Did not like this book at all. I think it started out with a good idea and turned into a cheesy almost-romance novel. Plus it was just too long. It took forever to get to the ending.
March 29, 2010
Scarey book- with a sad note.
As this was a suggestion by a beloved friend of mine, I was anxious to read it, and it wasn't disappointing. This read lent to the mystical/horror realm, although not obnoxiously so. (Not a huge horror fan here!)
Quietus is a sad story of one woman (Kylie O'Rourke) trying to come to grips with the fact that she's seeing ghosts and magical beings that others are not. After surviving a plain crash in which all died except she, her husband, her best friend, her best friend's husband, and one other man, Kylie begins to realize they weren't supposed to have survived the crash. (The book never established why they survive when everyone else did not, but for some reason I get the feeling it is because of her semi-connection to the mystical realm she's had all her life.) However, this may not be what the author was getting at, and I wish it would have been clarified.
My favorite parts were Kylie's research into the beings she is seeing AND the way she resolved her feelings for her long-dead baby brother.
It reads like a movie and I think it would make a pretty good one, if you ask me. Like I said, it's sad, (although there is a some-what happy ending), so I don't suggest you read it if you are looking for a light-hearted read!
Results: I liked it and recommend it!
As this was a suggestion by a beloved friend of mine, I was anxious to read it, and it wasn't disappointing. This read lent to the mystical/horror realm, although not obnoxiously so. (Not a huge horror fan here!)
Quietus is a sad story of one woman (Kylie O'Rourke) trying to come to grips with the fact that she's seeing ghosts and magical beings that others are not. After surviving a plain crash in which all died except she, her husband, her best friend, her best friend's husband, and one other man, Kylie begins to realize they weren't supposed to have survived the crash. (The book never established why they survive when everyone else did not, but for some reason I get the feeling it is because of her semi-connection to the mystical realm she's had all her life.) However, this may not be what the author was getting at, and I wish it would have been clarified.
My favorite parts were Kylie's research into the beings she is seeing AND the way she resolved her feelings for her long-dead baby brother.
It reads like a movie and I think it would make a pretty good one, if you ask me. Like I said, it's sad, (although there is a some-what happy ending), so I don't suggest you read it if you are looking for a light-hearted read!
Results: I liked it and recommend it!
July 12, 2018
I've been putting off writing about this book because it's difficult to put into words my feelings, but I ought to try at least. First of all, I like to the idea of a thriller based on near-death experiences; it's not a subject that gets much intelligent treatment and I thought it was well-done here and as a bonus, with a healthy dose of well-written eroticism. However, this is where the problem began for me because most of the rest of the book was over-written with one over-burdened sentence after another. (I teach English. I read and correct written exercises and essays. Feel my pain.) Not every noun needs an adjective, sprinkling adverbs on all verbs, adjectives and other adverbs just weighs them down and not every word in the dictionary, used in its most unusual form, should be inserted. After a while, reading this novel was like trudging through mud, not because it was dense but because it was overladen. "The old man stared at her with dumbfound." (Hmm, I know how the old man felt; I looked at the sentence with a bit of dumbfound myself.) "(She) saw the fear and overwhelm choking the very breath from her friend." (Actually, her friend may have been choking on the sentence while I was gagging with overwhelm.) "The distant eyes looked toward her like a deep abyss of ruby wine." (Oh, please, I was about ready to jump into the abyss myself.) I know that the author has wriiten and acted in independent films but I suspect these are of the sort that 60 or 70 years ago were called "B-movies" and more recently were called "straight to video" and I think that may be the problem here, too much theater and not enough attention to straightforward writing; the delusions of grandeur got in the way. I know there are people who can skim over all these things but based on other reviews of this book, I know I'm not the only one who felt such dumbfound and overwhelm that only a couple of bottles of ruby red wine could have helped see me through.
February 22, 2008
You know that movie, what's it called? "Final Destination?" Where the kids avoid death in a plane crash, but are then "stalked" by death because they were supposed to have died? This is book is kind of like that, except smarter.
After Kylie O'Rourke, her husband Jack, and her best friends narrowly escape death in a plane crash, Kylie can't shake the feeling that something weird is going on. Her psychiatrist tells her that the strange experiences she recalls having prior to their rescue from the wreck of the plane simply did not happen -- she never met an angel of death, and she certainly never met and talked to passengers who died on impact. Kylie tries to believe this, but after she realizes she is being stalked by a man who looks exactly like her "imaginary" Angel of Death, she begins to suspect that she was never meant to survive.
This is a tense, well-written thriller, but at times I felt that Schilling got carried away with all of her various plot elements. Some of the story seems both over-the-top and needlessly complicated; we've got sparring spouses, infidelity, repressed memories, past tragedies, Church history, and a dozen other elements all combining in a way that doesn't always work as coherently as one would hope. Still, this book keep me turning the pages, and I found the ending very satisfying.
After Kylie O'Rourke, her husband Jack, and her best friends narrowly escape death in a plane crash, Kylie can't shake the feeling that something weird is going on. Her psychiatrist tells her that the strange experiences she recalls having prior to their rescue from the wreck of the plane simply did not happen -- she never met an angel of death, and she certainly never met and talked to passengers who died on impact. Kylie tries to believe this, but after she realizes she is being stalked by a man who looks exactly like her "imaginary" Angel of Death, she begins to suspect that she was never meant to survive.
This is a tense, well-written thriller, but at times I felt that Schilling got carried away with all of her various plot elements. Some of the story seems both over-the-top and needlessly complicated; we've got sparring spouses, infidelity, repressed memories, past tragedies, Church history, and a dozen other elements all combining in a way that doesn't always work as coherently as one would hope. Still, this book keep me turning the pages, and I found the ending very satisfying.
January 20, 2009
What a great story!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend this book for people who really enjoy creepy stories...this one will haunt you totally.
Kylie and Jack, two of their friends are part of a group on a charter plane leaving a peaceful ski vacation. The pilot takes off in a storm and the plane crashes. The wreckage is found by a local and the four friends and one of the other occupants are pulled out and rescued in the nick of time.
In the hospital, Kylie is the worst off of all of them, and remembers her ordeal vividly. However, it is a strange story that she tells, and the shrink that listens to it tells her she's suffering from survivor guilt or post traumatic stress, whatever. However, events after the crash, after Kylie and Jack try to settle back into a normal routine, prove the doctor wrong. They have all cheated death, but have they really?
This book is 581 pages long and I finished it in an afternoon because I couldn't stop reading it. I was flipping pages at a phenomenal rate because I couldn't stop reading. It was so creepy and so incredibly good that I totally lost myself in it.
If you like a good horror story complete with ghosts and experiences from the other side, you are going to love this book. I very very highly recommend it.
Kylie and Jack, two of their friends are part of a group on a charter plane leaving a peaceful ski vacation. The pilot takes off in a storm and the plane crashes. The wreckage is found by a local and the four friends and one of the other occupants are pulled out and rescued in the nick of time.
In the hospital, Kylie is the worst off of all of them, and remembers her ordeal vividly. However, it is a strange story that she tells, and the shrink that listens to it tells her she's suffering from survivor guilt or post traumatic stress, whatever. However, events after the crash, after Kylie and Jack try to settle back into a normal routine, prove the doctor wrong. They have all cheated death, but have they really?
This book is 581 pages long and I finished it in an afternoon because I couldn't stop reading it. I was flipping pages at a phenomenal rate because I couldn't stop reading. It was so creepy and so incredibly good that I totally lost myself in it.
If you like a good horror story complete with ghosts and experiences from the other side, you are going to love this book. I very very highly recommend it.
May 5, 2011
The premise of this book was interesting, but I had to force myself through it. It's over 600 pages and could have been written in less than half of that. All the action happens in the beginning and the entire rest of the book is the main character and her friend being scared of dying while everyone else thinks they are crazy. There are completely unnecessary side stories that barely add anything to the plot or even the character development and the writing is horrible. The same descriptions were used over and over and there were far too many tropes that were overused, such as "She woke up in the morning feeling refreshed when suddenly it came rushing back to her and she felt scared and horrible," etc. There were also a ton of typos and grammatical mistakes, making me wonder if this book was edited at all. There were so many good reviews for this book on Amazon, sp I kept reading, hoping it would get better. By the time I was halfway through, I found myself skimming the rest just so I could finish.
March 14, 2017
I didn't realize how good of a read it was until I tried reading other books. Nothing has really compared to the psychological intensity and sanity questioning that Schilling portrays in this novel. I had a hard time putting it down and then - due to it's length - made it my mission to finish it. Schilling could have ended the book a couple of different times but decided to move on. At first I became frustrated because it didn't end then she had me flipping through pages with an intense desire to read more-again.
August 12, 2009
Very intriguing story, but cripes, this woman can't write for shit. And her editor sucks too. I've spotted so many grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors ... this is the kind of thing that really detracts from the reading experience for me. It's also the reason (well, one of them) that I want to become an editor. A few examples of problems I've noted:
'She didn't want to wear a straightjacket.'
'The room was heavily gaurded.'
And my favourite (look closely...)
' "Wait for me" she shouted.'
ICK.
'She didn't want to wear a straightjacket.'
'The room was heavily gaurded.'
And my favourite (look closely...)
' "Wait for me" she shouted.'
ICK.
February 24, 2008
This book was annoying. It was way too wordy - several hundred pages in small font and much of it totally unnecessary mush. It was full of stereotypical characters, was predictable and ultimately unsatisfying.
December 4, 2007
This book had an interesting premise, but at 600 pages it was too long and tried to do too much. At the end, it didn't feel like the pieces all fit together quite right.
April 9, 2009
Where is the cell phone and what happened to Amelia's husband. Guess he didnt care enough to come to her funeral and just left the book? Serious writing flaws.
December 16, 2018
Engrossing! An interesting concept which I will not reveal so as not to spoil the story. It's a borderline spooky read and will keep you turning pages!
January 20, 2021
I really enjoyed this book - the writing is able to paint pictures with words that you can taste and feel. The story takes the reader on a journey that questions what is real and what is fabricated by our minds. The characters are rich, vibrant, three-dimensional people who elicit strong emotions. My book club had some wonderful discussions about how views on death and dying seem to vary between different cultures and different times .... and yet so many fears and perceptions seem to permeate them all.
June 11, 2013
This book was nowhere near as scary or compelling as the blurbs on the back claim. At least the beginning was exciting. The plot immediately throws you into a brutal plane crash, which our protagonist and her friends barely survive. Things get even more tense when she begins to suspect that they weren't supposed to make it after all, and maybe something is trying to correct that mistake. Yes, it's the rehashed "Death will get you no matter what" plotline evident in half a dozen Final Destination movies. However, I was intrigued by the introduction of sinister angels and pagen artwork and hoped that the book could maintain its initial frantic pace. Unfortunately the action slows down dramatically in the middle and the plot itself suffers from too many wholesome characters. The main character is just soooo beautiful and good and pure and her brother in law is just so handsome and brave and noble and her father is just so kind and understanding and supportive and.... you get the idea. The last 200 pages or so were a real slog, and I just wanted it over. Oh well. Two stars for the sexy ghost.
October 25, 2012
This felt like two or three books smashed into one long wordy one. Parts were interesting but more parts long winded and repetitive. And I don't care how lonely you are and how hot the ghost is; you wouldn't knowingly sleep with a dead man.
July 15, 2010
The premise is interesting, the execution, less so. Simplistic, tell not show characterization.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2018
I was first introduced to the novel QUIETUS when it was first released in 2002. Now, having the opportunity to re-read it nearly 20 years later I am pleased to say my 'mature' self enjoyed it more and that the story does not lose anything with the passage of time.
The term quietus literally means a finishing stroke; discharge or release from life; the moment of death. For the purpose of this haunting and extremely memorable work by author/filmmaker Vivian Schilling, the reader is subjected to the entirety of this definition throughout the story.
Kylie O'Rourke and her husband Jack are aboard a small plane bound for Boston following a fun getaway at Balsam's Resort located near the border of New Hampshire and Canada. Joining them are their two best friends who they were able to have tagged along on this weekend --- Amelia and Dix. Kylie and Amelia have been friends since grade school and know each other probably better than anyone else in their lives.
For a variety of reasons, including an ice and snow storm, one of the wings gets sheared off and the plane goes down in the dangerous White Mountains. Many miles and hours away from help, in clear weather, one good Samaritan is able to get to the wreckage. He witnesses the horror of finding most passengers and crew from the plane deceased and some already frozen stiff by the elements. Our two couples survive the wreck, but all are eventually rushed to the hospital with Kylie being comatose for several days.
Once Kylie eventually awakens she shares a mix of remembered and some possibly imagined memories of the crash. The trouble is that the most lucid memories she has are physically impossible. Probably because they include her wandering the White Mountains, miles from the plane, and coming upon a shack in the wood. The other passengers she remembers interacting with are the puzzling part. The reason being is because those people she remembers speaking with post-crash were all immediately killed on impact.
Kylie remembers other things --- eerie visions of a talking raven and other shadowy figures she cannot identify. Jack's brother, Dillon, is an M.D. who met them at the hospital to help manage their care. When Kylie shares some of her recollections about the crash he diagnoses her as having a form of PTSD from the extremely traumatic experience she lived through and insists she talk things out with the resident Psychologist.
However, for Kylie, her visions are all too real and they begin invading her waking moments. This continues almost to the point when she is unable to tell the difference between her visions and reality. The survivor guilt she feels is shared by her husband Jack --- who returns to his old vices of gambling and alcohol --- and her best friend, Amelia, who becomes obsessed with her Catholic upbringing putting a clerical spin on her own post-crash reality.
In much the same manner as the cult horror series, Final Destination, the survivors of that flight begin meeting their maker, one by one. Almost as if they had cheated death and now had to pay the ultimate price. One of the spookiest parts of the novel, and there are many, is that Kylie's personal Grim Reaper takes the form of an infamous serial killer who had been executed decades earlier.
Kylie's horrific journey constantly crosses the border between classical gothic story-telling, psychological thriller, and out-and-out horror. QUIETUS is a lengthy read at nearly 600 pages, but it never feels like it. I not only had trouble putting it down at times but also had some of the creepier passages leak into my psyche long after I had walked away from the book.
Usually, I am not swayed by online reviews, even when some of them are contrary to my own opinion. Everyone has the right to review how they see fit. This novel is one of the few times that I have to lash out against the myriad of poor and one-star reviews I read --- many of which refer to the novel as too long, boring, not scary and one even claiming it read like a romance novel. I could not disagree more strongly and have to question whether any of those reviewers actually read the entire novel or had ever been exposed to classic horror. QUIETUS is an amazing novel and a powerfully moving read that I guarantee will not be forgotten. My only critique is that the ending seems a tad abrupt. That being said, the Epilogue was very well done and will even get you choked. Do yourself a favor and pick up this re-release and treat yourself to several days and nights of quality reading.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
The term quietus literally means a finishing stroke; discharge or release from life; the moment of death. For the purpose of this haunting and extremely memorable work by author/filmmaker Vivian Schilling, the reader is subjected to the entirety of this definition throughout the story.
Kylie O'Rourke and her husband Jack are aboard a small plane bound for Boston following a fun getaway at Balsam's Resort located near the border of New Hampshire and Canada. Joining them are their two best friends who they were able to have tagged along on this weekend --- Amelia and Dix. Kylie and Amelia have been friends since grade school and know each other probably better than anyone else in their lives.
For a variety of reasons, including an ice and snow storm, one of the wings gets sheared off and the plane goes down in the dangerous White Mountains. Many miles and hours away from help, in clear weather, one good Samaritan is able to get to the wreckage. He witnesses the horror of finding most passengers and crew from the plane deceased and some already frozen stiff by the elements. Our two couples survive the wreck, but all are eventually rushed to the hospital with Kylie being comatose for several days.
Once Kylie eventually awakens she shares a mix of remembered and some possibly imagined memories of the crash. The trouble is that the most lucid memories she has are physically impossible. Probably because they include her wandering the White Mountains, miles from the plane, and coming upon a shack in the wood. The other passengers she remembers interacting with are the puzzling part. The reason being is because those people she remembers speaking with post-crash were all immediately killed on impact.
Kylie remembers other things --- eerie visions of a talking raven and other shadowy figures she cannot identify. Jack's brother, Dillon, is an M.D. who met them at the hospital to help manage their care. When Kylie shares some of her recollections about the crash he diagnoses her as having a form of PTSD from the extremely traumatic experience she lived through and insists she talk things out with the resident Psychologist.
However, for Kylie, her visions are all too real and they begin invading her waking moments. This continues almost to the point when she is unable to tell the difference between her visions and reality. The survivor guilt she feels is shared by her husband Jack --- who returns to his old vices of gambling and alcohol --- and her best friend, Amelia, who becomes obsessed with her Catholic upbringing putting a clerical spin on her own post-crash reality.
In much the same manner as the cult horror series, Final Destination, the survivors of that flight begin meeting their maker, one by one. Almost as if they had cheated death and now had to pay the ultimate price. One of the spookiest parts of the novel, and there are many, is that Kylie's personal Grim Reaper takes the form of an infamous serial killer who had been executed decades earlier.
Kylie's horrific journey constantly crosses the border between classical gothic story-telling, psychological thriller, and out-and-out horror. QUIETUS is a lengthy read at nearly 600 pages, but it never feels like it. I not only had trouble putting it down at times but also had some of the creepier passages leak into my psyche long after I had walked away from the book.
Usually, I am not swayed by online reviews, even when some of them are contrary to my own opinion. Everyone has the right to review how they see fit. This novel is one of the few times that I have to lash out against the myriad of poor and one-star reviews I read --- many of which refer to the novel as too long, boring, not scary and one even claiming it read like a romance novel. I could not disagree more strongly and have to question whether any of those reviewers actually read the entire novel or had ever been exposed to classic horror. QUIETUS is an amazing novel and a powerfully moving read that I guarantee will not be forgotten. My only critique is that the ending seems a tad abrupt. That being said, the Epilogue was very well done and will even get you choked. Do yourself a favor and pick up this re-release and treat yourself to several days and nights of quality reading.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
February 28, 2018
Vivian Schilling, Author
Quietus
Hannover House, ISBN 978-164008044-7
Fiction-religion, murder, mystery, thriller, Boston, Savannah, families, tragedy, occult, paranormal
594 pages
February 2018 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Vivian Schilling, author of Quietus, is a producer and director of film (Toys in the Attic an adaptation of Na Pude) and award winning author (Sacred Prey). (2017, inside back cover) Her thirst for film comes from her educational background where she had the pleasure to study under Stella Adler and attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Schilling is an animal welfare advocate and conservationist.
The main characters in this thriller are Kylie, Amelia, Jack, Dix, Dillon, Sean, Ruby, and Julius. The book opens with a private plane crash where many of the above characters were lucky to get out without being killed. However, none of them have come away without scars or one sort or another. Kylie and Amelia are best friends, but live far away from one another. They team up to try to figure out the dark side of a murder that Kylie witnessed as a child has to do with their uncertain lives now.
Julius is the man who murdered Kylie’s teacher when she was seven. She witnessed it and then blocked it out of her life until the fateful plane crash brought dribs and drabs back to live. She is not sure whether she is losing her mind or whether the visions she sees are actually real. Dillon, her husband’s brother is a doctor and he initiates contact between Kylie and a psychiatric professional in efforts to allay her building fears.
Julius visits Kylie night and day. She is able, she thinks, to feel him, see him, and speak to him. She is frightened yet drawn to this speaking, thinking, touchie being from her past. Eventually she learns how their paths crossed in her youth and why he is connecting with her now. Before being executed for this heinous murder Julian had been an aristocrat. His family lineage was wealthy and influential. As a young girl she vowed to marry him because she was so taken with him.
Kylie is an interior decorator and Jack a contractor. They have been working on a large mansion renovation when Kylie unwittingly stumbles onto Jack’s gambling away the funds given to them for the renovation. This has been his Achilles heel for years off and on. Kylie is beside herself and wonders how they can ever recover the large amount of money that Jack has gambled away. She threatens to divorce him. He is humbled and promises to do anything if she will give him another chance. Can their marriage survive? What will become of their business and reputation?
Kylie confides these visions with Julius to her husband Jack and her friend Amelia. Jack does not place a lot of credence in this possible phantasm. However, Amelia falls for it in its entirety. She and Kylie believe that this ghost or vision intends to kill all of the people who survived the plane crash. Can they manage to save these people from certain death?
One by one the survivors are met with strange accidents until only Kylie and Dix remain. What becomes of them? Will they eventually succumb?
Read it and enjoy the roller coaster ride. It’s a long book and very detailed. I enjoyed it and about two hundred pages from the end I found it hard to put down. I think you will enjoy it too!
Quietus
Hannover House, ISBN 978-164008044-7
Fiction-religion, murder, mystery, thriller, Boston, Savannah, families, tragedy, occult, paranormal
594 pages
February 2018 Review for Bookpleasures
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Vivian Schilling, author of Quietus, is a producer and director of film (Toys in the Attic an adaptation of Na Pude) and award winning author (Sacred Prey). (2017, inside back cover) Her thirst for film comes from her educational background where she had the pleasure to study under Stella Adler and attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Schilling is an animal welfare advocate and conservationist.
The main characters in this thriller are Kylie, Amelia, Jack, Dix, Dillon, Sean, Ruby, and Julius. The book opens with a private plane crash where many of the above characters were lucky to get out without being killed. However, none of them have come away without scars or one sort or another. Kylie and Amelia are best friends, but live far away from one another. They team up to try to figure out the dark side of a murder that Kylie witnessed as a child has to do with their uncertain lives now.
Julius is the man who murdered Kylie’s teacher when she was seven. She witnessed it and then blocked it out of her life until the fateful plane crash brought dribs and drabs back to live. She is not sure whether she is losing her mind or whether the visions she sees are actually real. Dillon, her husband’s brother is a doctor and he initiates contact between Kylie and a psychiatric professional in efforts to allay her building fears.
Julius visits Kylie night and day. She is able, she thinks, to feel him, see him, and speak to him. She is frightened yet drawn to this speaking, thinking, touchie being from her past. Eventually she learns how their paths crossed in her youth and why he is connecting with her now. Before being executed for this heinous murder Julian had been an aristocrat. His family lineage was wealthy and influential. As a young girl she vowed to marry him because she was so taken with him.
Kylie is an interior decorator and Jack a contractor. They have been working on a large mansion renovation when Kylie unwittingly stumbles onto Jack’s gambling away the funds given to them for the renovation. This has been his Achilles heel for years off and on. Kylie is beside herself and wonders how they can ever recover the large amount of money that Jack has gambled away. She threatens to divorce him. He is humbled and promises to do anything if she will give him another chance. Can their marriage survive? What will become of their business and reputation?
Kylie confides these visions with Julius to her husband Jack and her friend Amelia. Jack does not place a lot of credence in this possible phantasm. However, Amelia falls for it in its entirety. She and Kylie believe that this ghost or vision intends to kill all of the people who survived the plane crash. Can they manage to save these people from certain death?
One by one the survivors are met with strange accidents until only Kylie and Dix remain. What becomes of them? Will they eventually succumb?
Read it and enjoy the roller coaster ride. It’s a long book and very detailed. I enjoyed it and about two hundred pages from the end I found it hard to put down. I think you will enjoy it too!
February 24, 2018
This book has been on my TBR shelf for quite some time. At one point near death experiences were quite the popular topic and I'm sure I purchased it for that reason. It also received some good reviews according to the blurbs on the cover. I am afraid that I don't agree with those reviews but you may well disagree with me.
For the first 100 pages I was quite engaged. The story of the doomed plane flight along with a strange off the wing of the plane gave me that nice twilight zone vibe. Unfortunately this feeling did not last.
Possible spoilers below so stop reading now if you intend to read the book.
Overall the book was far too long and needed a good edit as well. For example, At one point we are told that Kylie was in a psychiatrists office three days after her suicide attempt and that she was rosy and healthy looking yet right before the attempt she was too thin and looked horrible. This particular example came toward the end of the book and I'm pretty sure the editor must have dozed off at this point. In another example Jack has a friend, Freddy, who is homeless and yet has a phone and evidently enough money to gamble.
My first problem with the book was that there was a lot of telling to establish character. We are told repeatedly that Kylie and Jack were one of those couples mad for one another - yet Jack doesn't bother to stick around his wife's bedside after the crash. What we are told about him would have made me kick him to the curb but no we had to hear Kylie whinge about him for most of the book.
My second problem is that the book is creepy and not in a good horrific kind of way. Kylie begins a relationship of sorts with a man she had a crush on as a seven year old. She later finds out that this man killed her favorite teacher and yet she nearly has intercourse with him on the train despite the fact that she is so madly in love with Jack. I don't know about you but I doubt as an adult I'd be that excited about a childish crush and I certainly wouldn't have the hots for a murderer. I don't know if the authors attempt was to make him into some sort of incubus/reaper or what.
The overall philosophy over the beings Kylie sees is also confusing. The author talks about nephilim and fierce angels who come to earth but Julian (not a Nephilim) is a soul tasked with taking Kylie's soul because he is somehow damned and this is what the damned do? It made no sense. Also why does only Kylie and to a lesser extent Amelia see these beings? Shouldn't Jack and Dix also sense them as they too technically should have died in the crash? Dix by the way must have become an inconvenient character as he drives off to Los Angeles never to be heard from ever again even after his wife dies.
Overal flat characters, muddled plot and far too wordy for my tastes.
For the first 100 pages I was quite engaged. The story of the doomed plane flight along with a strange off the wing of the plane gave me that nice twilight zone vibe. Unfortunately this feeling did not last.
Possible spoilers below so stop reading now if you intend to read the book.
Overall the book was far too long and needed a good edit as well. For example, At one point we are told that Kylie was in a psychiatrists office three days after her suicide attempt and that she was rosy and healthy looking yet right before the attempt she was too thin and looked horrible. This particular example came toward the end of the book and I'm pretty sure the editor must have dozed off at this point. In another example Jack has a friend, Freddy, who is homeless and yet has a phone and evidently enough money to gamble.
My first problem with the book was that there was a lot of telling to establish character. We are told repeatedly that Kylie and Jack were one of those couples mad for one another - yet Jack doesn't bother to stick around his wife's bedside after the crash. What we are told about him would have made me kick him to the curb but no we had to hear Kylie whinge about him for most of the book.
My second problem is that the book is creepy and not in a good horrific kind of way. Kylie begins a relationship of sorts with a man she had a crush on as a seven year old. She later finds out that this man killed her favorite teacher and yet she nearly has intercourse with him on the train despite the fact that she is so madly in love with Jack. I don't know about you but I doubt as an adult I'd be that excited about a childish crush and I certainly wouldn't have the hots for a murderer. I don't know if the authors attempt was to make him into some sort of incubus/reaper or what.
The overall philosophy over the beings Kylie sees is also confusing. The author talks about nephilim and fierce angels who come to earth but Julian (not a Nephilim) is a soul tasked with taking Kylie's soul because he is somehow damned and this is what the damned do? It made no sense. Also why does only Kylie and to a lesser extent Amelia see these beings? Shouldn't Jack and Dix also sense them as they too technically should have died in the crash? Dix by the way must have become an inconvenient character as he drives off to Los Angeles never to be heard from ever again even after his wife dies.
Overal flat characters, muddled plot and far too wordy for my tastes.
February 28, 2018
***Possible spoilers you have been warned***
I was absolutely into the first half of the book. I loved the dark setting, the dark descent of madness for poor Kylie and trying to figure out what is happening to her and her world. The mood and the setting is dark and meant to be so, this part is excellent and sets the tone of the book. You get the eerie creepy feelings and the writing style is good enough that it could be played out like a movie in your head.
So Kyle as a character is all right. She has her flaws, her marriage has flaws but I’ll be honest to say I really did like her and Jack together. You knew they had major flaws and issues that should have been resolved but they just never got around to it. But their chemistry was excellent and you could feel their love even though sad to say, it was going on a path that just wasn’t meant to be. Although their relationship wasn’t that great to begin with, love was never a problem and they looked and seemed great together but it just wasn’t meant to be.
So let’s get to the plot. It started off on the right foot. Lots of creep factor. The plane crash incident well done. Kylie’s recovery, and the slow descent to what looks like madness (but isn’t) and the book tries to explain this to you while you read. Okay. I can handle this. I wanted to know what happens next.
Then we come across this incident in Kylie’s past that’s coming back to haunt her (see what I did there? Har har) okay. It’s pretty traumatic, and well you did send the guy to death because of a crime he committed so I get it.
Julius though….This guy was a grown man while Kylie was a little girl when he died and all of sudden he’s going all creepy touchy feely and managed to induce this semi wet dream/alternate reality sequence with present day Kylie while she was on public transportation. Yeah. Ok. And stop calling her Kylie Rose. It’s annoying but also creepy in a Pedo kind of way.
So after being introduced to Julius the incubus ghost wannabe the plot just slides down the hill and it becomes almost a chore to read through. I can’t believe this book has to be 608 pages as we already know what’s going on with Kylie and her crew about 200 pages in. It gets too descriptive, too mushy and it attempts to do some sort of surreal thing about life after death yadda yadda yadda.
I tried to like it. I can’t. If you cut the book in half and redid the ending so it wasn’t one long dreary part then the book would have been much better and more enjoyable to read. But this falls so short and it’s unfortunate the theme had promise and even the characters had potential.
February 14, 2019
Kylie O'Rouke can't believe that tragedy has hit her family again. When she was a child in Savannah, Georgia, her mother and younger brother were killed in a car crash. A few years later, her older brother overdosed as a result of that accident and losing his family. When she met and married Jack, she felt like her luck was finally turning.
Now, she and Jack and her best friend Amelia and her husband are facing death again. After a two week vacation, they are returning to Boston and get a ride on a private jet, rented by a group of lawyers desperate to get back that night. Now that jet is caught in a snowstorm and is about to go down. Surely, the gods won't allow such a thing to happen again. But happen it does. All aboard die, except Kylie, Jack, Amelia, her husband, Dix, and one of the lawyers who had insisted on flying in that horrible weather.
After a stay in the hospital, Kylie and Jack are released back to their lives, restoring old historical buildings in Boston. Things seem fine but it's soon apparent that they are not. The strain of survivor guilt follows the pair and soon Jack is drinking heavily again and gambling. Kylie and Jack's brother try to pull him out of his funk, but he seems caught up in it. Soon Kylie begins to see a figure following her at odd times, and that figure turns into a man, a man who seems familiar and compelling to her. Kylie has multiple encounters with him and then recovers a childhood memory that is so horrific that she has repressed it her entire adult life. Now she believes that she and her friends were meant to die on that plane and that this apparition is from the afterlife to bring her there since she has exceeded her natural lifetime.
Everyone around her insists that she is wrong and that she needs medical help, but Kylie is convinced of her truth. She spirals out of control and as she does, tragedies pile up over and over in her life. Will Kylie manage to survive against what she believes is a predetermined fate?
Vivian Schilling has written a haunting and suspenseful novel that will take the reader into a mindset that the reader must decide is either one of truth and horror, or one that is self-imposed and clinically disturbed. The events pile on until the reader is as frantic as Kylie to do anything to make the horror stop. Schilling is a filmmaker as well as a novelist and that background gives her the insight to make the story visually compelling in the reader's mind. This book is recommended for readers of horror and suspense novels.
Now, she and Jack and her best friend Amelia and her husband are facing death again. After a two week vacation, they are returning to Boston and get a ride on a private jet, rented by a group of lawyers desperate to get back that night. Now that jet is caught in a snowstorm and is about to go down. Surely, the gods won't allow such a thing to happen again. But happen it does. All aboard die, except Kylie, Jack, Amelia, her husband, Dix, and one of the lawyers who had insisted on flying in that horrible weather.
After a stay in the hospital, Kylie and Jack are released back to their lives, restoring old historical buildings in Boston. Things seem fine but it's soon apparent that they are not. The strain of survivor guilt follows the pair and soon Jack is drinking heavily again and gambling. Kylie and Jack's brother try to pull him out of his funk, but he seems caught up in it. Soon Kylie begins to see a figure following her at odd times, and that figure turns into a man, a man who seems familiar and compelling to her. Kylie has multiple encounters with him and then recovers a childhood memory that is so horrific that she has repressed it her entire adult life. Now she believes that she and her friends were meant to die on that plane and that this apparition is from the afterlife to bring her there since she has exceeded her natural lifetime.
Everyone around her insists that she is wrong and that she needs medical help, but Kylie is convinced of her truth. She spirals out of control and as she does, tragedies pile up over and over in her life. Will Kylie manage to survive against what she believes is a predetermined fate?
Vivian Schilling has written a haunting and suspenseful novel that will take the reader into a mindset that the reader must decide is either one of truth and horror, or one that is self-imposed and clinically disturbed. The events pile on until the reader is as frantic as Kylie to do anything to make the horror stop. Schilling is a filmmaker as well as a novelist and that background gives her the insight to make the story visually compelling in the reader's mind. This book is recommended for readers of horror and suspense novels.
May 27, 2018
I've got incredibly mixed feelings about this book, truth be told. Quietus is built from atmosphere right from the start, and it was the creepiness of things that swept me into the story from the beginning--and that kept me wanting to turn the page. For most of the book, what builds into a supernatural thriller is atmospheric, dark, and wonderfully paced, with a flavor of horror that I loved. Story-wise, the problem for me came pretty late in the book--maybe three quarters of the way through, the plot's focus moved more into what felt like a familial drama, with grief, family, and domestic concerns taking over. Although I understood the turn and the way the book got there, in a lot of ways, the author lost me. I kept reading out of curiosity, to see what would happen... but even a hundred pages from the end, I already knew I wouldn't be picking up another book by this author. Readers who like both types of fiction, both supernatural thrillers and domestic suspense or women's fiction, might not be bothered by the move... but I have to admit it rather ruined the book for me. Simply, it became a book that I just wasn't interested in, subject-wise and genre-wise.
And, it has to be said that this book should have been a lot shorter. Schilling truly needed a better editor to get involved here and help on a language level, sentence by sentence. There's so much telling (vs. showing), and just in general, the book is overwritten--taking three sentences to make a point when the point was already made two paragraphs before and doesn't need to be restated. That issue alone would probably be enough to keep me from picking up another of Schilling's books, honestly, much as I enjoyed the story in the beginning. My paperback clocks in at 646 pages, and I feel pretty confident in saying that it would be a much better book if it were 100-150 pages shorter, given how overwritten it is.
So, interesting as I found the premise and the beginning, I'm afraid this isn't a book I can recommend.
And, it has to be said that this book should have been a lot shorter. Schilling truly needed a better editor to get involved here and help on a language level, sentence by sentence. There's so much telling (vs. showing), and just in general, the book is overwritten--taking three sentences to make a point when the point was already made two paragraphs before and doesn't need to be restated. That issue alone would probably be enough to keep me from picking up another of Schilling's books, honestly, much as I enjoyed the story in the beginning. My paperback clocks in at 646 pages, and I feel pretty confident in saying that it would be a much better book if it were 100-150 pages shorter, given how overwritten it is.
So, interesting as I found the premise and the beginning, I'm afraid this isn't a book I can recommend.
February 27, 2018
Kylie O’Rourke was on a charter plane with her husband and two friends when it goes down in a snow storm. Kylie, her husband, two friends, and another person from the plane are the only ones to survive. She wakes in a hospital and goes on to try to get back to her life. Unfortunately this is not possible. She clearly remembers talking to someone from the plane that died on impact. She goes to a psychiatrist and is told that none of this really happened and she needs to get on with her life.
But Kylie gets the feeling that no one should have survived the plane crash. She thinks someone is stalking her and plans to wright the wrong of five survivors. If this is not enough to give you the creeps, the story also twists and turns around everyday issues of infidelity, suppressed memories, and so much more happening in the story.
I liked the whole concept of you can’t cheat death. I liked the Angel of Death stalking her. But I have to say that there were so many other little subplots floating through the story. They didn’t really add a lot to the main story and made the book start dragging. The book is 600 pages and could have easily but trimmed back.
Over all I did like the story and am very curious to read Vivian Schilling’s Sacred Prey. This is a good story and one that you should give a try.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
But Kylie gets the feeling that no one should have survived the plane crash. She thinks someone is stalking her and plans to wright the wrong of five survivors. If this is not enough to give you the creeps, the story also twists and turns around everyday issues of infidelity, suppressed memories, and so much more happening in the story.
I liked the whole concept of you can’t cheat death. I liked the Angel of Death stalking her. But I have to say that there were so many other little subplots floating through the story. They didn’t really add a lot to the main story and made the book start dragging. The book is 600 pages and could have easily but trimmed back.
Over all I did like the story and am very curious to read Vivian Schilling’s Sacred Prey. This is a good story and one that you should give a try.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
April 18, 2018
Quietus was everything I hoped it would be and more. The cover calls it a novel of suspense, but I felt like maybe it was also a psychological thriller or a horror story. In the style of Final Destination, the survivors were perhaps meant to die in the accident so they (and we) are left to wonder if that unfinished business must be taken care of. It is so much more creative and well-written than that basic premise, but I don't want to give the story away. This one is definitely worth a read.
As the story progressed, it was at times difficult to discern whether the events were actually happening or caused by a mental breakdown. More backstory only left me to doubt what I thought I knew. I kept thinking I had things worked out, but not quite. The plot continued to twist and turn until the very end.
The characters were well fleshed out and the author gave you reason to care about them. The topics the characters were associated with were related in such a way that you knew the author did her homework. She incorporated a lot of factual information that was relevant to the story and made it seem realistic. There were just the right amount of people and events to keep the plot moving along. I can see why this book was reprinted several times.
This book is for mature audiences only as there are depictions of sex in it. Not tons of it, but enough to not pass this one along to someone else's teenager.
(I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.)
As the story progressed, it was at times difficult to discern whether the events were actually happening or caused by a mental breakdown. More backstory only left me to doubt what I thought I knew. I kept thinking I had things worked out, but not quite. The plot continued to twist and turn until the very end.
The characters were well fleshed out and the author gave you reason to care about them. The topics the characters were associated with were related in such a way that you knew the author did her homework. She incorporated a lot of factual information that was relevant to the story and made it seem realistic. There were just the right amount of people and events to keep the plot moving along. I can see why this book was reprinted several times.
This book is for mature audiences only as there are depictions of sex in it. Not tons of it, but enough to not pass this one along to someone else's teenager.
(I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.)
January 23, 2018
A creepy thrilling novel that is sure to haunt you long after you read the last page of Vivian Schilling’s Quietus. When Kylie and Jack plan to go on a peaceful ski vacation with their friends, the last thing they thought would ever happen did!
The pilot decides to take off in the middle of a nightmarish storm and the plane crashes only to be found by a good samaritan that manages to rescue them just in time. When flashbacks and memories do not add up sounding more strange than real. A doctor decides Kylie is suffering from survivor quilt or post-traumatic stress. However, events long after the plane crash prove the doctor wrong! Was it really an accident or is something else at play putting their lives in greater danger now than before?
Quietus is a long but fast-paced read that is sure to capture your attention from the beginning and draw you in more with every page you turn. This creepy, thrilling, and very suspenseful novel is sure to make you question everything that goes bump in the night. An eerie plot that will have you on the edge of your seat afraid of what lurks just beyond the next page.
Overall, an intriguing read that is perfect for anyone who is a fan of spine-chilling, unnerving suspense that is sure to haunt you long after your finish reading.
The pilot decides to take off in the middle of a nightmarish storm and the plane crashes only to be found by a good samaritan that manages to rescue them just in time. When flashbacks and memories do not add up sounding more strange than real. A doctor decides Kylie is suffering from survivor quilt or post-traumatic stress. However, events long after the plane crash prove the doctor wrong! Was it really an accident or is something else at play putting their lives in greater danger now than before?
Quietus is a long but fast-paced read that is sure to capture your attention from the beginning and draw you in more with every page you turn. This creepy, thrilling, and very suspenseful novel is sure to make you question everything that goes bump in the night. An eerie plot that will have you on the edge of your seat afraid of what lurks just beyond the next page.
Overall, an intriguing read that is perfect for anyone who is a fan of spine-chilling, unnerving suspense that is sure to haunt you long after your finish reading.
October 13, 2018
Once I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. It was as though I was so famished; I voraciously devoured the entire novel. Though I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and gave it a five star review, I am unsure of my thoughts on it. I have only moments ago finished it and am still trying to digest it all. The author is brilliant and her imagination unparalleled. So many authors “recycle” the same ideas, topics, and genres; changing only certain characters, worlds, and ideas without introducing anything new. This novel swept me away, keeping me on my toes while making me wonder if what I was absorbing was truly what the author intended for me to take away from the book - or was my imagination running away from me? While I did enjoy this book, it did contain beliefs and thoughts that are not my own. I am a Christian and there were several times that I thought of putting this book down because of my own beliefs and convictions. I do, however, acknowledge that God gave each of us our own imaginations… Vivian Schilling���s imagination is vividly bold and striking! This is a book that I will not forget for a long, long while - and I am quite an enthusiastic reader!
October 16, 2020
Quietus was a very long, but well worth it, read. Some parts of the story were somewhat repetitive, but repetitive in a way that was appropriate to the story and therefore acceptable even if it was pretty noticeable, because it wasn't quite overdone. Honestly, some of the twists in the story were really well thought out, and surprising. I also really love it when a book can bring in some history through religion, art, culture, etc. and give something a new meaning for me, even if the history that the book explains isn't necessarily true. I don't normally look into things to check on this, but I do love the imaginings that authors bring to life for me when they do this. This book was really well written and interesting throughout. I'd definitely recommend it!
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
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