![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/8131tTD2T6L._SL1500_.jpg?resize=188%2C300&ssl=1\")
By Relvin Gonzalez\nBirthmark Publishing, \u00a92024
\nASIN: B0CRS6S5H7
\nKindle Version, file size 5237 KB<\/p>\n
By Relvin Gonzalez
\nBirthmark Publishing, \u00a92024
\nASIN: B0CRS6S5H7
\nKindle Version, file size 5237 KB<\/p>\n
Void Beyond the Walls is exactly what it claims to be: a literary serial killer novel. I’ve read a number of thrillers and edgy, dark fiction, but I had not encountered this combination of style and genre in a novel before and looked forward to reading it.<\/p>\n
This book is, at its heart, the story of one man’s life, and his compulsion to kill. Yet it is told entirely through the eyes of the serial killer, Dean Turner, and the FBI agent who is after him, James Cole. Most murder mysteries I\u2019ve read in the past gave glimpses into the killer\u2019s mind. But Author Relvin Gonzalez tells the bulk of the tale through the eyes of the man committing these atrocities, which seemed uncommon. In like fashion, the usual main murder mystery POV of the detective is relegated by Gonzales to a secondary role in “Void.” In this, too, the book stood out from others in the genre.<\/p>\n
Both Turner and Cole are fully developed. Both are broken and relatable in their own ways. Gonzalez weaves a masterful tapestry of each.<\/p>\n
Revelations of the conditions in Turner’s childhood made it easy to empathize with his reasons for his first kill. But the author doesn’t stop there. Over the course of the story, he gives the reader deeper and broader glimpses into Turner’s ongoing motivations. Only a few of his kills are enacted to protect his freedom. Most are carried out for other, more layered reasons that make perfect sense to his twisted mind. Readers might (as I did) see why, given his background, Turner would come to those conclusions and make the decisions to kill those individuals.<\/p>\n
Cole also has issues from childhood following him into his adult years–not like Turner’s, by any means, but a history that constrains his abilities, raises nearly crippling self-doubt, and pushes him to yearn for acceptance as a strong, assertive person. Again, the revelations of his story make him understandable. Relatable. Even if we ourselves are not like Cole, we know someone who is. His obsession with exposing Turner is what keeps him going and, at the same time, is the ultimate cause of his failure.<\/p>\n
While I have read and enjoyed a few literary novels written with heavy florid prose, I never found them to be easy reading. Void is just the same. The subject matter’s thick darkness, alone, made reading the book a challenge. The fluidity of scene description, coupled with indirect conveyance of the sequence of events, made the book an even harder read. In numerous scenes, I had trouble following what had happened, who had done it, and why. A few of those instances were followed by a clue that helped me understand what I’d missed, but in many others I was left guessing. It may just have been my reading experience, given that literary fiction is not my usual choice of style.<\/p>\n
I can see, though, how this prose style might have been a deliberate choice used to convey the murkiness in the minds of both his characters; it would follow, especially in Turner, since he is twisted in many ways. Cole, too, seemed likely to think in indirect, stream-of-consciousness ways, given his anxiety. Still, I wondered whether such a choice would lose its purpose as it loses its readers. I managed to stay with it, but I would not read it again, even if for no other reason than the prose style.<\/p>\n
For whatever reason, I expected a satisfying, if not happy, ending; I was disappointed in that. Even so, I was captivated throughout (until nearly the end) by Turner’s mind, his motivations, the unveiling of who he was as a human being. That said, as the book progressed toward its climax and conclusion, I found it increasingly disturbing and had trouble finishing it. I have no regrets over having read Void. I suggest that though it was listed as science fiction, the book might be more aptly grouped with the horror-thriller genre. Its deeply unsettling tale is one I won’t soon forget.<\/p>\n
If you love horror or dark thriller fiction, this should be on your TBR list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Relvin Gonzalez Birthmark Publishing, \u00a92024 ASIN: B0CRS6S5H7 Kindle Version, file size 5237 KB Void Beyond the Walls is exactly what it claims to be: a literary serial killer novel. I’ve read a number of thrillers and edgy, dark fiction, but I had not encountered this combination of style and genre in a novel before…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-1je","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3427,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/18\/the-broken-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":0},"title":"The Broken Heart","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By N.J. Gallegos \u00a9 2023 Winding Road Stories ASIN: B0C7LJ7XRB Kindle version; file size 1658 KB Paperback, 340 pages. Heart failure looms in Casey\u2019s imminent future, while she awaits her turn on the transplant list for a new one. Her deadbeat husband can\u2019t be bothered to help her manage her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TheBrokenHeart-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1496,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/08\/the-perfect-assassin\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":1},"title":"The Perfect Assassin","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Book 1, Chronicles of Ghadid By K. A. Doore Tor Books, ISBN: 978-0765398550 Paperback, 352 pages. \u00a9 March 2019 Novice assassin Amastan is relieved to learn, after passing all his tests, that no new contracts are being issued. He\u2019s not convinced he could really take a life and doubts his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/PerfectAssassin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":891,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/02\/know-your-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":2},"title":"Know Your Characters","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are writing fiction, you must know your characters better than anyone else does. It\u2019s helpful to get a good start on that before you plug them into the plot. Why? Because you can\u2019t use them to their (and therefore your) best advantage if you don\u2019t know everything there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Character-232x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":565,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/22\/lost-somewhere-on-a-fictional-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":3},"title":"Lost, Somewhere on a Fictional World","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m writing the first draft of my latest novel, second in a trilogy. It\u2019s been a while since I wrote the initial draft of the first book. I\u2019d forgotten the annoying little quirks of this stage, things like overusing specific words, dropping a plot thread and having to go back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":421,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/10\/16\/long-stemmed-roses\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":4},"title":"Long-stemmed Roses","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, Bobby and I walked on the beach in the chill Autumn drizzle. Among our discoveries of a tiny moss-like crab lurking among the branches of a beached coral, a string of shells, and darting sanderlings, we found a long-stemmed pink rose. Far past its prime, the thing looked sad,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3366,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/19\/precise-oaths\/","url_meta":{"origin":5036,"position":5},"title":"Precise Oaths","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Paige Ewing \u00a9 2023, City Owl Press ASIN: B0C4ZJH81L Kindle version; file size 1350 KB Even though spider-kin Liliana sees the past, the future, and into men\u2019s souls, she can still be surprised. After all, no one wakes up wondering if they\u2019ll be accused of murder by a werewolf.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PreciseOaths-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5038,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5036\/revisions\/5038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}