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faemorgan's review
3.0
This book was dark and at times confusing, but it was gripping. A cool read with illustrations that were amazing.
vondav's review
5.0
If you had the chance to clear your debts, have the job that you always wanted in somewhere nice and all you had to do was find the key would you do it This was the proposition given to John Andras a prison officer, and all he had to do was speak to a special prisoner.
John was quite downtrodden with life, with lots of debt and wife he only sees in passing, he tends to go to work on autopilot. After sorting out an incident at work, things seemed to click in place and he became more confident in himself, so when he was offered a secret mission by the governor, he became a bold with his comments. However it started to go downhill once he met Seth. Not a lot is known about Seth. He reminded me of a new age guru as when he was getting abused in the prison, he was still calm and philosophical.
Set in a prison this story had a sense of foreboding. Whilst reading this I could feel the oppressiveness of the prison and how bad prison life was. The violence was raw whether it was the guards or the prisoners. Something different in this book was John’s nightmares, they were depicted by some brilliant artwork and this made the story come alive as you could see what he was dreaming. The final scenes were built up to a dramatic showdown which I never saw coming. This was a quick read which left me wanting to know more about Seth and his philosophy.
As mentioned the artwork complimented this story and whilst it looked good on my device, I am sure it looks even better in the paperback.
John was quite downtrodden with life, with lots of debt and wife he only sees in passing, he tends to go to work on autopilot. After sorting out an incident at work, things seemed to click in place and he became more confident in himself, so when he was offered a secret mission by the governor, he became a bold with his comments. However it started to go downhill once he met Seth. Not a lot is known about Seth. He reminded me of a new age guru as when he was getting abused in the prison, he was still calm and philosophical.
Set in a prison this story had a sense of foreboding. Whilst reading this I could feel the oppressiveness of the prison and how bad prison life was. The violence was raw whether it was the guards or the prisoners. Something different in this book was John’s nightmares, they were depicted by some brilliant artwork and this made the story come alive as you could see what he was dreaming. The final scenes were built up to a dramatic showdown which I never saw coming. This was a quick read which left me wanting to know more about Seth and his philosophy.
As mentioned the artwork complimented this story and whilst it looked good on my device, I am sure it looks even better in the paperback.
thomaswjoyce's review
4.0
The second collaboration between Malan and Cockshaw in their A Darkness in Mind series (the first, Quest & The Sign Of The Shining Beast, was published in 2016 also by Luna Press Publishing), The Prisoner tells the story of prison guard John Andras who comes to the attention of mysterious new warden, Elliot Danvers, when he intervenes on the behalf of a prisoner who is beaten by three other guards. The warden is impressed by Andras’ almost supernatural ability to defuse the situation and calm the prisoner, almost as if he willed it with his mind. Danvers makes the miserable Andras an offer the guard cannot refuse; help get information out of mysterious prisoner “Seth” in return for promotion and a transfer away from the stifling environment of Morningstar prison.
What follows are brief conversations between prisoner and guard, delving into the purpose of our continued existence and whether there really is any point to life at all. Seth seems to lead Andras down meandering paths that the guard at first assumes are distractions to keep him from locating the mysterious “key” the warden seeks, but actually drives Andras on a journey towards self-awareness. In between these thoughtful conversations, Malan offers us a small insight into the nature of the guard through interactions with friend and head of security, Freddie, and, more importantly, his relationship with his wife, Madeline. Malan shows a stagnant marriage through their very short encounters, usually for a couple of minutes in the morning before she leaves for work and a couple of minutes when Andras returns from a shift before collapsing into sleep.
Overall, Malan delivers an enthralling story exploring some of the more burning questions of human nature. The dialogue between his characters is intriguing and entertaining, while the descriptive language he employs, especially during Andras’ “dream sequences”, is often mesmerising, even more so when it is combined with Cockshaw’s artwork. While delivering a thoughtful and entertaining tale, Malan doesn’t spoon-feed the reader and there is much still left in darkness for the reader to interpret for themselves. And maybe just enough to suggest we should start from book one and become totally lost to the darkness in mind.
To read the full review, please visit This Is Horror.
What follows are brief conversations between prisoner and guard, delving into the purpose of our continued existence and whether there really is any point to life at all. Seth seems to lead Andras down meandering paths that the guard at first assumes are distractions to keep him from locating the mysterious “key” the warden seeks, but actually drives Andras on a journey towards self-awareness. In between these thoughtful conversations, Malan offers us a small insight into the nature of the guard through interactions with friend and head of security, Freddie, and, more importantly, his relationship with his wife, Madeline. Malan shows a stagnant marriage through their very short encounters, usually for a couple of minutes in the morning before she leaves for work and a couple of minutes when Andras returns from a shift before collapsing into sleep.
Overall, Malan delivers an enthralling story exploring some of the more burning questions of human nature. The dialogue between his characters is intriguing and entertaining, while the descriptive language he employs, especially during Andras’ “dream sequences”, is often mesmerising, even more so when it is combined with Cockshaw’s artwork. While delivering a thoughtful and entertaining tale, Malan doesn’t spoon-feed the reader and there is much still left in darkness for the reader to interpret for themselves. And maybe just enough to suggest we should start from book one and become totally lost to the darkness in mind.
To read the full review, please visit This Is Horror.
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