Book Review: Adam's Fall

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Adam's Fall    
Sean Desmond
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Psychological Suspense   Horror
St. Martin’s, Oct 2000, $22.95, 244 pp.

The occupant of apartment B-46 in the B-entry of Adam’s House, a classic Gothic style of architecture with its dark corners and numerous shadows, is a typical Harvard senior. The occupant is full of himself yet sure of his place in society. He is an English honors major working on his thesis and plans to obtain a fellowship that will allow him to continue his studies in England. His girlfriend Rosie was once the steady of his deceased roommate Billy, who committed suicide after seeing the two together.

The occupant starts to hear strange noises, but sees no one who could be causing them. While watching the fog roll in, he sees a shadow, but the individual vanishes before the occupant can accost him. When the man returns looking like a B-movie gangster, he talks to the occupant. Other weird events happen leading to the occupant wondering if he might be going mad, especially when harm besets the people he cares about. He wonders if it is he who is losing his mind or a phantom stranger causing the trouble, a person no one that no one else has seen.

Readers never learn the protagonist’s name yet intimately know his deepest darkest desires. Truth is relative, but in the end, whether it is defined by the occupant or by the police, the results remain the same. That is the frightening undercurrent to the mesmerizing plot that debut author Sean Desmond provides to horror and psychological suspense fans. Mr. Desmond’s opening gambit is a chiller that rivals the Kings of the genre.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner