Review - CRYPT

The Eulogy (From the Publisher): 
Meet Jud Lester: Paranormal Investigator.

When a crime is committed and the police are at a loss, the Covert Response Youth Paranormal Team (or CRYPT for short) is called in to figure out whether something paranormal is at work. Jud is their star agent. Jud, unwillingly paired with new recruit Bex, has just landed his biggest case yet...people have been disappearing in mysterious circumstances while others are viciously attacked - yet there are no suspects and a complete lack of hard evidence. The only thing that links each attack is the fact that survivors all claim that the culprits were 17th century highwaymen. Can Jud and Bex work out what has caused the spirits of these dangerous men to return to the streets of London before they wreak more death and destruction?

The Epitaph (In a Nutshell): A great start to what will prove to be an excellent paranormal investigation series. Also, the gore is spot on!

Dearly Departed,

We are gathered here today to discuss CRYPT: The Gallows Curse by Andrew Hammond. It took me a little bit to get into this - the prologue felt a little too info-heavy for me, and I would've liked it woven into the story more naturally. But once I got to the first ghostly highwayman attack, I was back on track and loving it. I've made no attempts to hide my love of gore in the past, and this book has some wonderfully gory scenes - the shorter chapters containing ghost attacks are like little jewels in the crown of the story. My standout favourite scene has to be when one of the ghosts pulls a woman into a wall. The description of it is brilliant, and has to be read to be believed.

Jud did get on my nerves a little, but then, I think he was supposed to - the cocky, angry son of a billionaire who gets everywhere on a speeding motorbike and tends to rate fellow female CRYPT operatives on how attractive they are is probably not going to be anyone's best friend. But he did grow on me as the story progressed, and I enjoyed the partnership between him and Bex.

In all, this is a solid start to what should prove to be a very interesting series. The premise of the book and the mythology of its secret society is one that will immediately appeal to fans of action horror, myself included, and I eagerly await more adventures from Jud, Bex, and the rest of the Covert Response Youth Paranormal Team.