Exit Kingdom

Alden Bell is an amazing American writer, he is also the pen name of Joshua Gaylord. I have no idea why he is not a better known author in the horror genre. Maybe because his novels are about zombies, on the surface and some readers are "book snobs." I personally am a reverse "book snob," so I cast no stones.

The thing is the books in his series "Reapers" which include The Reapers are the Angels and the novel this review will eventually be about Exit Kingdom are some of the best books I have read in a long time. And it sticks in my craw that they are not better recognized by the American audience.

Exit Kingdom is another "American gothic" style novel. This was incredibly successful with his first novel in the series, nut for me, I'm not sure if it worked quite as well. Don't get me wrong, this was an amazing novel still. The characters were well developed and the story was laid out for the reader with the slow pour of cold molasses. I for one never saw Moses Todd as the antagonist of "Reapers," so it was easy for me to read a story about him.

My only complaint is what I found amazing and precocious in Temple in the first novel, started to annoy me in this second novel. The introspectiveness started to grate just a little, but again. I am giving this novel

4.5 of 5 stars.