Download PDF Leave It to PCver (SS Book 1)

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But it falls apart near th I've actually read this book before, but it still counts towards my New Books goal because I didn't remember that I had read it until about a chapter or two in. But it falls apart near the end as the truth of what the mysterious hero Glenn really is, and his connection to the vampire in the keep. It becomes a story about ancient warring powers and demigods and nonsense with no leadup, suddenly shifting gears from horror to fantasy. Molasar, the vampire, is actually Rasalom the warlock from prehistory, and Glenn is actually Glaeken with a magic sword from that time too.

It becomes too cartoonish. The villain was more threatening when he was an inhuman beast with no backstory other than the subtle hints of his relation to Dracula. Even the premise, promised on the back of the novel "Nazis vs a Vampire" falls apart as Glaeken takes the center stage and all of this ancient prehistory nonsense kicks in.

The interesting characters, Kaempferr and Woermann are killed off and the center stage is left for the less interesting ones: I recommend this book only because of the first three quarters. They're just that entertaining that they make the last bit bearable. Supposedly, this is the first book of a series. Maybe reading the rest of it will improve the ending of this book. I remember this book terrifying me when I read it in the early eighties.

However, the horror is all reserved for the early chapters - towards the end, it becomes more of a thriller.

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This one is really old-fashioned. A centuries-old evil and its centuries-old nemesis fighting it out in a Transylvanian castle during the Nazi occupation. There is also a Jewish exorcist well, folklorist, actually and his beautiful daughter in the mix. If you love vintage ghost stories, this should be your cup of tea I remember this book terrifying me when I read it in the early eighties.

If you love vintage ghost stories, this should be your cup of tea. Or even if you won't. The Nazis encounter an ancient entity almost as evil as themselves. Only a Jewish scholar and his daughter and a mysterious red-haired man can save them. I liked this older work better than Wilson's Repairman Jack novels, which tend to be overlong and feel repetitive after you've read a few of them. I was glad that I went into this book unaware of many of the plot elements.

It made for a more exciting read. Despite this, I was still surprised as things turn out to be not as they seemed. Paul Wilson's writing voice. It's erudite and sophisticated. He did his research about WW2 and what was going on in Europe at this time. The aspects of the Nazis' treatment of the Jews and the Gypsies made my heart hurt.

I can't and never will understand such barbarity, cruelty, and inhumanity. Mr I was glad that I went into this book unaware of many of the plot elements. Wilson doesn't just throw this in for a background historical context. This becomes a very important aspect of this story as it deals very much with the nature of evil, how humanity's actions perpetrate evil and its sickness in the world. The characters were engaging, making this supernatural story feel very grounded in some respects.

No Citizen Left Behind

I felt deeply for Magda. She was a strong woman hemmed in by circumstances, a sickly father who took her granted in a way that was almost criminal. All her dreams denied because of her need to take care of him, and because she was Jewish. Glenn is an interesting character as well. He's quite enigmatic, something more than human, although he wears the cloak of humanity well for the most part. He has lost touch with some of the human emotions, as he says, but in contrast to the SS soldiers, there is no question that he is a humane person.

As for the Germans I felt sorry for Woermann, and I didn't think he was a bad man.

Imagine me feeling sympathy for a German soldier in WW2. The key point that I am glad that Wilson makes clear is that not all the Germans supported or believed in what Hitler was doing. Of course, many did act to thwart Hitler, and lost their lives in the process. Something that one might not choose to acknowledge on the surface, as it's easy to label all Germans as the hated Nazis.

It is the truth, none the less. History now makes it clear that there was a strong German Resistance, as well there should have been. One hopes that good men and women will not stand by and watch evil happen, and Woermann felt like he had done too much of that and it destroyed his belief in himself, and the country that he had spent most of his life serving. In contrast, there was the SS commander, Kaempffer, who was a horribly evil, vile human being.

It is harder to feel sympathy for him and his ilk, in light of his vicious and unwarranted hatred and persecution of people because they happened to be of a different ethnicity than him. Part of me relished seeing the SS soldiers get their just deserts, but Wilson makes it clear that this only perpetuates the dangerous taint of evil in this story. There were some touches I liked very much in this story: Lovecraft fans will likely appreciate this as I did.

It was good to see that Magda does get a chance to have a 'life' and to be appreciated in a way that she didn't in a man's world, with a father who doesn't respect her as much as he should, and as a member of a group of people who were horribly persecuted against. And Glenn has been alone so long. I love a good scare, so I was a happy camper. It was less scary towards the end, but still thrilling and disturbing in a different way. The Shoah is a disturbing subject, even in fiction. The supernatural horror of this story pales in comparison to what kinds of horrors really happened, and the fact that behind them was human evil and institutionalized racism.

I won't go into that, because that would spoil this book, and this is a book that the less you know, the better it reads. Suffice it to say, if you like arcane supernatural fiction as I do, you might enjoy these aspects of this book. I found myself reading this very quickly on my Kindle. I was immersed in this story, transported to s Romania, and submerged in the gothic feel of this novel.

Although I had no expectations, it turned to be a lot more than I even imagined. I enjoyed it a lot. Read and re-read, a really good vampire story set in WW2.

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There was a sourcebook out that gave more backstory to this tale, also worth reading but nearly impossible to find. This is part of a series of books which didn't appear connectd at first, but were brought together nicely in the end with a fantastic 5th book. Worth noting all 5 books stand alone nicely for those who don't like to read a series. While Repairman Jack was introduced in these stories, it was only in the last few, and these ar Read and re-read, a really good vampire story set in WW2. While Repairman Jack was introduced in these stories, it was only in the last few, and these are not a prequel.

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Leave It to PCver (SS Book 1) - Kindle edition by Mark Gooding. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like. Editorial Reviews. Review. “Spellbinding, chilling, bloodcurdling.” ―Seattle Post- Intelligencer It's set during the early days of WW II, and at first centers on a brutal, amoral, evil, SS officer that has been promoted from an assistant job at.

This is an original story series that first introduced the character. It was his popularity that spawned the spin-off RJ book series. The Michael Mann movie is still one of my favorites, though it's never officially been released on DVD, my understanding is those are bootleg versions out there, would love to see the director's cut version, and get more of the story restored.

His take differed slightly from the book in what the adversary was Molosar.. I have to say that after reading The Keep i was pretty darn disappointed. I actually liked the book, which is why it got three stars from me. SS Nazi troops in an old spooky castle being terrorized by an unknown ancient evil the cover of my copy gives away the monster sounded great to me. The Keep was filled with many potentially great themes that could have been explored, but it ended up feeling like F.

Paul Wilson was brainstorming awesome ideas and then tossing them away. His writing style d I have to say that after reading The Keep i was pretty darn disappointed. His writing style did not impress me very much and his descriptions were bland. Wilson went into more detail with the absurd romance going on in the story. The one with almost comical scenes involving the macho hero with foul body odor and the innocent beautiful daughter.

Themes such as the Nazi SS being pitted against a timeless evil being or a Jewish guy reluctanly finding salvation in the power of the cross would have been worth going into more. The Keep was also boring for long stretches. Overall I did like it, but it could have been a lot better, which is why my review is harsh.

Dec 17, Mark rated it really liked it Recommends it for: This is the first book in "the adversary cycle" series of novels. It doesn't end on any kind of cliffhanger, though, so it can definitely be read on its own. The Plot There are basically 2 forces in the universe: Both forces have their own agents. In "The Keep", we meet 2 of them. It's in Europe. The Germans have invaded Poland and are extending into Romania.

A German regular army company has been ordered to occupy a keep in a mountain pass in Romania because it has a good vie This is the first book in "the adversary cycle" series of novels. A German regular army company has been ordered to occupy a keep in a mountain pass in Romania because it has a good view of any coming and going foot traffic.

The commander of the company is being punished for not joining the Nazi party, but he's a WW I war hero so they can't just throw him out. After occupying the titular Keep, soldiers begin to die during the night, their throats ripped out, at a rate of 1 per night. The commander, knowing that it's not a normal enemy, requests that his company be moved elsewhere.

The local German headquarters responds by sending out a contingent of SS men, led by a despicable Nazi death camp commander whose next assignment, after the investigation, is to start up a new death camp in Romania. He thinks it's Romanian partisans killing off the German soldiers. The plot continues from there. The thing killing people in the keep is quickly surmised to be a vampire. The SS commander and the regular army commander lock horns more than once. They know each other from before, and they hate one another.

Other people are brought in to help with the investigation, including a Romanian History professor, who also happens to be a Jew. The Good I liked the antagonists in this story. The main one is not actually a vampire; it's the creature upon whom the vampire legend is based. This makes for an interesting contrast between what we as readers know about vampires and the reality of the creature depicted in "The Keep". It's much, much worse than a vampire. A conventional vampire is a cute bunny rabbit compared to what's in "The Keep".

The other antagonists are the Germans; specifically the commanders. One commander, the regular army one, is definitely more of a sympathetic character than the other, the Nazi SS commander. However, they are both well characterized as just guys with strongly-held beliefs trying to figure out what's happening to them. There are parts of it, mostly when depicting the main adversary, that are genuinely chilling.

Paul Wilson did a good job of setting up a sense of horror and dread leading to the climax of the book. The Bad Maybe it's the fact that bad guys are more fun, but the protagonists, while well done, were not as compelling as the antagonists.

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Product details File Size: Something dark and awful had taken over. Recommended for good clean horror reading fun. Was anyone else rather disappointed by the genre shift near the end? Whose side will they chose when they come face to face with the evil. Such a fun book. In the following days, they don't make it through the night without a soldier being killed.

They were certainly not morally "pure", so they were realistically written. However, they just weren't as interesting. I would have preferred a little more plot involving the main adversary in "The Keep" and a little less plot involving the clash between the German commanders. These are really just nitpicks, though. Conclusion I say that vampire fans should get it to read the author's take on the vampire legend. I really enjoyed it and found it fresh.

I couldn't put it down most times when I would get into it. I can't think of a higher praise for this kind of book. It's definitely a have-to read if you're a vampire fan looking for something fresh. Feb 14, Jaagup rated it liked it. See ei ole halb lugu, aga hea ka mitte.

Oct 11, Mike the Paladin rated it it was ok Shelves: I read this book some years ago I seem to say that a lot. I ran across it on the "Best Heroic Fantasy" list. I wouldn't really rate it "Heroic Fantasy" Is the villain really the "proto-vampire"? Is the hero maybe as bad as the villain?

These and other questions will be answered It's not a bad book but I've read a lot better. Th two main characters are linked together,immortal since what we are told is the first age of the world. One evil the I read this book some years ago I seem to say that a lot. One evil the other while supposedly with the "powers of light", has been his "imprisoner" for a long, long time. Till a human gets "conned and screws up the status quo. My attention was drawn back to this review and I couldn't resist the temptation to add a caveat.

This is listed see title above as 1 in the Adversary Cycle. It's also called the Nightworld Cycle. This and were originally written as stand alone. They retroactively became part of a cycle drawn in, in. Wilson interestingly there's no tomb in that book My understanding is that Mr.

Wilson wanted to title The Tomb, Rakoshi, the name of the creature he uses in the novel. The title was changed to be more like The Keep. Mar 18, Cheryl Landmark rated it really liked it. Wilson did an admirable job of mixing history, horror and romance in a gripping, chilling tale of a monster haunting a mysterious keep in the mountains of Romania during World War II.

The cast of characters really made the story what it was. Underneath the German uniform, Captain Woermann was really not a bad man. He disagreed with the policies and actions of Hitler and the SS and tried to atone for his own failings. Major Kaempffer of the SS, on the other hand, was a truly sadistic and bruta Mr.

Major Kaempffer of the SS, on the other hand, was a truly sadistic and brutal man, who might just have been as evil as the monster terrorizing the keep. Magda was a somewhat repressed, meek character at the beginning, but managed to find hidden reserves of strength and courage to fight for her father, her lover and her own sanity. Her father was not a bad man, either, but his sometimes callous treatment of her and manipulation of her intense loyalty to him lost him some respect in my eyes. I was happy when she stood up to him near the end. Molasar was a suitably evil, chilling villan, and Glenn, despite not being, in his own words, a totally "good" guy, was nevertheless a credible hero.

I thoroughly enjoyed this horror tale from Mr. Wilson and will certainly read more of his books in the future. A detachment of German army soldiers is sent to the keep, which is situated so that anyone coming or going through a certain pass which leads to the invaluable Ploesti oil fields can be spotted. The first night there, there is a grisly and strange death. A few days later, an SS squad under the leadership of an overzealous com first in a series called The Adversary Cycle The Keep is a high kind of "mini-castle" set in the mountains of Romania. A few days later, an SS squad under the leadership of an overzealous commandant shows up to check out the trouble.

He is on his way to Ploesti to start another concentration camp there. Once the SS commander realizes that the strange deaths of the Germans are not being caused by partisans in the countryside but rather by some nameless evil force, he sends for an expert in the area, a Jewish professor who is soon to be "resettled" with his daughter Magda. But there's always a but, isn't there? Fun, fast and easy to read.

Recommended for good clean horror reading fun. Feb 20, Rob Twinem rated it it was ok. This book was a disappointment to me. I was hoping that the idea of a no of SS troops billeted in the aptly named "Keep" would be the recipe for a great story. However this never developed and the usual battle of good v evil occurred mixed in with a rather odd love story, resulting in a somewhat boring and pedestrian tale Jul 31, Mark rated it liked it Shelves: High in the Transylvanian mountains lies a keep that is being tended to everyday, nobody lives there and there is no known history concerning this fortress high on this pass.

The strange keep with its thousands of crosses generates greed and in damaging the keep the German soldiers release and ancient evil. One that takes lives and drinks blood. A message for help sends High in the Transylvanian mountains lies a keep that is being tended to everyday, nobody lives there and there is no known history concerning this fortress high on this pass. A message for help sends a SS-major and his troops into the keep in the conviction he will solve this matter quickly and then start his real job by building a concentration camp in Romania.

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However the Nazi evil is small potatoes compared to this ancient version. An professor of History sits at home ill and out of work, he and his daughter who cares for him are dragged into the mountains because of their knowledge about the keep and the local history. They are Jewish and expendable. Whose side will they chose when they come face to face with the evil. Who is this deadheaded mand who when he felt that the keep was violated came all the way back from Portugal to face the evil that has been released?

When all the stories converge we will see a fight against evil as we always recognized but have forgotten as well. Stories of normal, evil and neutral people placed into a situation that is manipulated by mere mortal man and ancient powers. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping. Not Enabled Word Wise: Not Enabled Screen Reader: Enabled Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Amazon Music Stream millions of songs.

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