One teacher in particular bothers young Sheldrake more and more-Christian Noble. Dominic also worries a lot about telling lies and defining the shades of truth. Dominic attends a Catholic upper school run by strict monks he gives a fair amount of discussion regarding religion-how it should be taught, how it’s perceived, but is actually lived and practiced by the adults. The engaging main protagonist, the teenage Dominic Sheldrake-who narrates the story-is a likeable, observant, thoughtful lad whose anxieties and obsessions leap off the page. the 1953 film, From Here to Eternity won Best Supporting Actor/Actress Oscars not the two top Best Actor/Actress awards, much to Hollywood star Burt Lancaster’s chagrin. The city stands out as another character in its own right, including the cinemas the teenage protagonists (the self-titled Tremendous Three) patronise and the roads and parks they explore.īeing a keen film buff, I did spot the odd implied inaccuracy – e.g. It is meticulously realised and clearly vivid in Mr Campbell’s personal memory.

So, the pluses: Liverpool, grey, and dreary in 1952, still in the grip of rationing. There’s only so much hinting you can do over 240-odd pages without losing this reader’s interest. But nothing is being explained or resolved, merely hinted. It’s fairly clear Campbell’s novel is Book 1 everything is being set up. And by the last few chapters I’d given up hope and therefore lost interest. I enjoyed, very much, the set up and back drop of 1950’s Liverpool (where my parents lived and grew up) but the second half, which I kept hoping would deliver more horror or a bit more supernatural oomph at least, for me it didn’t. When I reached the end of The Searching Dead, it’s fair to say I still wasn’t certain who or what Daoloth was, which felt like a bit of a let-down and a swizzle.įor me, this was a book of two halves. The subtitle The Three Births of Daoloth did recall to mind a Tom Baker ‘Dr Who’ 1970’s episode (nothing wrong with that either-I loved Baker as the time travelling Dr). So, when the opportunity came to review Campbell’s latest-I leapt at it, albeit with mental reservation I am not a trilogy reader. I have read Ramsey Campbell over the years, along with other authors published by indie horror press Flame Tree (launched in 2018).

The Searching Dead by Ramsey Campbell