The Matrix

Rating:
Summary: A modern-day Necronomicon
Review: I don't know why Jonathan Aycliffe is not better known. This story is about a man's search for forbidden knowledge. The story has its roots in Faustian myth, forbidden knowledge, that type of thing. Andrew's wife is dead. That simple, and she was the love of his life. Andrew is now a bright professor, and is doing some research into occult practises and groups. The more research he does the more he sees that these people are wanting something tangible, but Andrew believes that these rituals and meetings are just shams put together by those who don't know what true secret knowledge is. At one of these meetings he meets a man named Duncan. Duncan is a brilliant and wealthy lawyer, and has a very large private collection of occult and arcane books. Andrew befriends Duncan, and Duncan hints that these amateur and ritual meetings that they attend are but the tip of the iceberg of knowledge that Duncan hints that he has. All he asks of Andrew is to be a good student, and give himself over to the serious study of the occult that Duncan can provide. Andrew does, becoming immersed in ancient manuscripts and texts in several languages. All of these are mere primers though for what awaits. Duncan hints at even deeper knowledge if he will travel with him to Morocco to meet with others that share his thirst for arcane occult knowledge. Andrew agrees to do this. Just before Andrew leaves, all sorts of mysterious and horrible things happen to Andrew and his other more level-minded friends. Sickness, tragedy, strange sounds and things that go bump in the night. Then one night, as Andrew is studying in the library with a table filled with occult books, he finds one small old book crammed into a corner of a shelf that he has not noticed before. The name of the book is the "Matrix Aeternitatus", which could be described as a "Necronomicon" book right out of H.P. Lovecraft fame. A horrible book filled with terrible knowledge that is never fully revealed to us the reader, although we can make good guesses. Between his studies, the Matrix text, and his trip to Morocco, Andrew finds that he is getting deeper and deeper into something that he isn't sure he is fully prepared for...

Rating:
Summary: Horrific but ultimately disappointing
Review: I'm a new fan of Jonathan Aycliffe and "The Matrix" is the
third novel of his that I've read this year. The first two, "The
Talisman" and "A Shadow on the Wall" were more tightly
plotted and ultimately more satisfying and frightening. "The
Matrix" seems to wander through a series of horror story
set-pieces, e.g. the claw marks on the apartment door, the violation
of Catriona's grave, the sucker marks on the hero's body, without
really connecting them together in a way that satisfies and makes
sense. A new character, Father Silvestri, pops up toward the end of
the novel and juggles our hero out of the fire a la Dr. Van
Helsing in a Dracula novel. Then he dies, and we never really learn
what group he belonged to or why he was trying to save Andrew from the
Necromancer. Yet another new character, an evil book seller is
threaded into and out of the story's climax without really helping to
wrap up the plot. It made me wonder if "The Matrix" had a
precursor or a sequel where some of these seemingly extraneous
characters are introduced in more detail.

At any rate, Aycliffe
still manages to write a horrifying although rather discombobulated
story about a young, recently widowed doctoral student who is slowly
drawn into the web of an evil Necromancer. There are some nice Gaelic
touches, brooding Scottish scenery, and a pilgrimage to the stifling,
ancient landscapes of Morocco. I'm in violent agreement with the
other reviewers in that this author should be much more visible on the
bookshelves. He writes a more frightening story than any of the
authors in the Buckets o'Blood school of horror fiction.

However,
I'm glad my introduction to Jonathan Aycliffe was through "The
Talisman" and "A Shadow on the Wall". "The
Matrix" unravelled into too many loose ends: Why were those
flapping, tentacled thingies in the Andrew's attic? How did they get
there? Who was the baby in the coffin with Catriona? What purpose
did it serve? Where did Father Silvestri learn about the Necromancer?
How did he die? Why did he show up so late in the plot?




Rating:
Summary: Horrific but ultimately disappointing
Review: I'm a new fan of Jonathan Aycliffe and "The Matrix" is the
third novel of his that I've read this year. The first two, "The
Talisman" and "A Shadow on the Wall" were more tightly
plotted and ultimately more satisfying and frightening. "The
Matrix" seems to wander through a series of horror story
set-pieces, e.g. the claw marks on the apartment door, the violation
of Catriona's grave, the sucker marks on the hero's body, without
really connecting them together in a way that satisfies and makes
sense. A new character, Father Silvestri, pops up toward the end of
the novel and juggles our hero out of the fire a la Dr. Van
Helsing in a Dracula novel. Then he dies, and we never really learn
what group he belonged to or why he was trying to save Andrew from the
Necromancer. Yet another new character, an evil book seller is
threaded into and out of the story's climax without really helping to
wrap up the plot. It made me wonder if "The Matrix" had a
precursor or a sequel where some of these seemingly extraneous
characters are introduced in more detail.

At any rate, Aycliffe
still manages to write a horrifying although rather discombobulated
story about a young, recently widowed doctoral student who is slowly
drawn into the web of an evil Necromancer. There are some nice Gaelic
touches, brooding Scottish scenery, and a pilgrimage to the stifling,
ancient landscapes of Morocco. I'm in violent agreement with the
other reviewers in that this author should be much more visible on the
bookshelves. He writes a more frightening story than any of the
authors in the Buckets o'Blood school of horror fiction.

However,
I'm glad my introduction to Jonathan Aycliffe was through "The
Talisman" and "A Shadow on the Wall". "The
Matrix" unravelled into too many loose ends: Why were those
flapping, tentacled thingies in the Andrew's attic? How did they get
there? Who was the baby in the coffin with Catriona? What purpose
did it serve? Where did Father Silvestri learn about the Necromancer?
How did he die? Why did he show up so late in the plot?




Rating:
Summary: Cold and creepy
Review: Jonathan Aycliffe specialises in a subtle, scary brand of horror that isn't graphic or bludgeoning but which lets your imagination do the work. Set in a wintry Edinburgh, his student hero finds himself sucked into a nightmarish world by an insidiously charming occultist. The ending is powerful and haunting. I recommend all of Aycliffe's books to those who crave elegantly-crafted horror in the tradition of M R James. Jonathan Aycliffe is a pen name ; these books are actually written by Daniel Easterman whose thrillers (equally nightmarish in quality) are also well worth seeking out.

Rating:
Summary: A modern-day Necronomicon
Review: The matrix is a wonderful book with the reading quality of Ben Bova's Orion series. If you read this book you will not be able to put it down as it keeps firmly entrenched in its suspense. You just have to see what happens next after every chapter. Though dark and frighening at times, even children who currently read Rl stein will want to read this book and not be bored with it until they put it down.