Rating: 
Summary: A world of light and darkness
Review: Caitlin R. Kiernan returns with a second novel that should erase anyone's doubts as to whether she "can do it again." If anything, Threshold is indicative of a significant maturation of Kiernan as an artist. Readers who weren't so keen on Kiernan's examination of Gen X subculture in Silk may find Threshold more to their liking, as the characters are generally more accessible to mainstream readers, though still quirky enough to evoke past masters of the Southern Gothic and grotesque (Faulkner, O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, etc.). This time out, Kiernan delves deeper into the tradition of "weird fiction," the territory of Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood, only hinted at in Silk. The title is the key, as Threshold drags us along with its characters across the barriers of worlds that divide the present from the past, and sanity from chaos. Terrible, fantastic, ancient things lurk beneath a mountain, things that must be faced. But this isn't merely a spook story. Kiernan's dabbling in the stuff of heroic fantasy here as well, drawing on the AngloSaxon poem "Beowulf," for example, to give the book a deeper level of meaning. Threshold is about the lengths we go to to save, or lose, ourselves. It's truly terrifying and the author's poetic voice continues to amaze!
Rating:
Summary: Star of the South
Review: Kiernan immediately draws the reader into a world of past and present in 'Threshold'. The realism overlaid by supernatural - or is it reality superimposed on the supernatural? - draws the reader magically on to the surprising ending. Not a book of guts and gore, but of truly awe-inspiring quiet fright. The South's finest writer today, Kiernan perfectly captures the region's life today along with its permanent ties to its past.
Rating:
Summary: Super Southern Spooky!
Review: Kiernan immediately draws you into a world both familiar and off-kilter, with the contemporary southern city life populated by fascinatingly real
characters. Her prose is most like that of Bradbury, poetic and drawing you into a building sense of dread that she has carefully crafted. Excellent
book from an increasingly important American author!
Rating:
Summary: Scarier than Silk
Review: I loved Kiernan's first novel Silk, but some of my friends complained it wasn't scary enough for them. I think they would be much happier with Threshold. Though Kiernan's books are always about more than "things that go bump in the night", there's enough spooky stuff in Threshold to keep just about anyone happy. Threshold is fantastic book!
Rating:
Summary: Kiernan shines again!
Review: I always worry that a writer's second novel won't be up to the standards he or she set the first time out. With Threshold, Caitlin Kiernan puts my fears to rest, by delivering a second novel that is in fact far better than her exquisite, award-winning first novel Silk. In many ways, Threshold is a much more traditional horror novel, alluding to the works of such past masters as H. P. Lovecraft and Ramsey Campbell, yet the book stays true to Kiernan's affection for characterization and stunning prose. This book is a triumph and a must read for any horror fan!
Rating:
Summary: Closed Passages and Ancient Secrets
Review: I've remarked in at least one other review that Caitlin Kiernan has gone a long way to establishing herself as a bright light in the firmament of horror writers. Kiernan has four novels to her credit, the first of which has only appeared as a limited edition. Threshold, which is her second commercial novel (and the first involving Chance Matthews and Deacon Silvey), is one of those brilliant exercises that leaves the reader stunned and hungry for more.This is Chance's novel, as Red Moon Rising is Deacon's. A run of deaths among Chance's friends and family have left her numb and at sea. In the middle of the sorrow two things happen to her In searching through her house, she discovers a box of her grandmother's research materials - paleontological artifacts, a diary, and a vial with the preserved body of a curious insect that bears an uncanny resemblance to a trilobyte. All are drawn from the same local mine. The second event is the appearance of Dancy Flammarion a monster hunter who knows more than she possibly could. In between her explorations of the lives and relationships of Chance, her ex-boyfriend Deacon, his current lover Sadie Jasper, and Dancy, Kiernan lets us have glimpses of an ancient horror that has come to see them as a threat. It manifests in many forms - a fellow bus rider, the ghosts of friends, eerie animals that live in the darkest corners, and something thoughtlessly evil that lurks in the depths of the mines. Once touch at a time the horror builds subtly for the most part, until the reader experiences a sense of free form unease. Kiernan works with small crises rather than apocalypses, but the potential is always just under the surface. And then the writer finds a finish that is both intrnsely satisfying and deeply mysterious. This is a superbly crafted book. Kiernan's habit of choosing the lost and the hopeless as main characters will invite comparisons will Poppy Brite, but she is really a different sort of writer. And in my minds eye, possible the better of the two. She draws from sources as diverse as Lovecraft and Beowulf without a blink, and manages to keep the concoction marching to the satisfaction of the reader. Read it, and prepare for a nightmare or two.
Rating:
Summary: Closed Passages and Ancient Secrets
Review: I've remarked in at least one other review that Caitlin Kiernan has gone a long way to establishing herself as a bright light in the firmament of horror writers. Kiernan has four novels to her credit, the first of which has only appeared as a limited edition. Threshold, which is her second commercial novel (and the first involving Chance Matthews and Deacon Silvey), is one of those brilliant exercises that leaves the reader stunned and hungry for more. This is Chance's novel, as Red Moon Rising is Deacon's. A run of deaths among Chance's friends and family have left her numb and at sea. In the middle of the sorrow two things happen to her In searching through her house, she discovers a box of her grandmother's research materials - paleontological artifacts, a diary, and a vial with the preserved body of a curious insect that bears an uncanny resemblance to a trilobyte. All are drawn from the same local mine. The second event is the appearance of Dancy Flammarion a monster hunter who knows more than she possibly could. In between her explorations of the lives and relationships of Chance, her ex-boyfriend Deacon, his current lover Sadie Jasper, and Dancy, Kiernan lets us have glimpses of an ancient horror that has come to see them as a threat. It manifests in many forms - a fellow bus rider, the ghosts of friends, eerie animals that live in the darkest corners, and something thoughtlessly evil that lurks in the depths of the mines. Once touch at a time the horror builds subtly for the most part, until the reader experiences a sense of free form unease. Kiernan works with small crises rather than apocalypses, but the potential is always just under the surface. And then the writer finds a finish that is both intrnsely satisfying and deeply mysterious. This is a superbly crafted book. Kiernan's habit of choosing the lost and the hopeless as main characters will invite comparisons will Poppy Brite, but she is really a different sort of writer. And in my minds eye, possible the better of the two. She draws from sources as diverse as Lovecraft and Beowulf without a blink, and manages to keep the concoction marching to the satisfaction of the reader. Read it, and prepare for a nightmare or two.
Rating: 
Summary: incomplete novel
Review: Aside from the flowery and poetic prose this story can be summed up in one word,,,incomplete? It's only 256 pages but I got to page 200 feeling like I have another 2 or 3 hundred more pages left to read to complete the story. The storyline really doesn't have a climax it just develops to a "nothing" end. If this was the first 1/4 of a novel I would think that it's a excellent beginning to a sci-fi thriller. But it's not. The story begins with the main character and two of her friends experiencing something horrific in a tunnel. You never really find out what that is but none the less it leads up to a mystery of old archeoligical findings and some kind of supernatural connection to all of the main characters? 200 pages later you find out that there's some "MONSTERS" around???? With only 56 pages left you read about how they Kill the "MONSTERS". That's it!!!! I have to admit I did like the characters in the book and I thought the author did a good job of developing realistic characters with humanistic qualities, but they never really are aloud to do anything in this story. They aren't really involved at all with the story line because the story line is too incomplete for the characters to be effectively changed . The good part of this book is that it's only 256 pages.
Rating:
Summary: A New Classic
Review: With the October/Halloween theme blowing through, I decided to search for a current addition to the horror genre. This book looked different from the usual ghost/vampire story. One thing I have to say about this book is I almost stopped reading it because nothing was happening. Sure, she can write, she is an amazing writer and does so with great ease. I was very impressed with Caitlin Kiernan's style, however, the first half of this book is really boring. Also, the characters weren't exactly the most likable people. Why should we even care what happens to them? Chance Matthews, a student and rock genuis, is the main character. The first chapter has Chance, her boyfriend, Deke, and there other friend, Elise in this underground tunnel, and they are getting stoned.
The rumor has it that there is something beyond this wall, something evil that could get out and kill, but just what is it?
Well, Elise gets killed by whatever is out there and Chance and Deke spend the rest of the story trying to figure it all out.
They break up and Deacon's new girlfriend, Sadie, comes in to the story. This is the only character with any true goodness. When a teenage girl, Dancy(gotta love these names), gets involved in the whole scheme of where the horror starts, Sadie takes the girl under her wing. She grows to care, while the rest of them are just trying to stay alive.
There is a trilobite(you can find out the meaning of that at the back of the book) named dicranurus, this is the evil of the story. The dark side, the bad guy. It seems that this rock like fossil/creature, takes on somewhat human form, and terrorizes the characters.
About half way through the book, where I almost put it down cuz of the slowness and lameness, is where things started getting interesting. A bit spooky. I had nightmares every night I read this book after this point. Definitely worth picking up, if you don't mind the slow start. Kiernan is an amazing writer who has a great passion for the subjects chosen in the story.
I don't recommend you buy it though. I got it out of the library and paid an overdue fee.
Worth a look just to feast your eyes on some of the best writing I've read thus far.
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