Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

​Wow. That was just…wow. And how often do you finish the book and walk away in pure awe of the author’s talent?
I’ve been impressed with DiLouie since is Children of Red Peak, so I was excited to check out his latest and he certainly did not disappoint. The opposite, in fact.  Well, ok then, now I’m very, very impressed.
There’s been a slew of novels lately that tell a story in found-footage style. It’s often surprisingly effective, and I saw surprisingly because I don’t much care for the found-footage style in cinema. It might just be something more suited to written word.
At any rate, DiLouie does it justice, utilizing camera footage, journal entries, interviews, etc. to present us, the readers, with an unforgettable episode of fictionalized television.
Fade to Black is another one of those ghost hunting shows, striving to distinguish itself by primarily utilizing the strong dynamic of its married cohosts–he’s a believer, she’s a sceptic. Together they investigate the paranormal.
And they find the best place to do it; a site of a long-abandoned psych experiment that seems to have been sitting around waiting just for them, untouched and shrouded in mystery. Sitting around all the way from the 60s and 70s, when groovy psych experiments were all the rage. Only this time, the experiment might have actually grazed upon something…in a way, though there’s no one left to tell the tale–the scientists have vanished, the subjects (mostly) didn’t make it.
So yeah, a perfect setting to hunt some ghosts, make some fun tv, distinguish oneself from a million similar shows.
Fade to Black team goes in. What they find in the place…well, you just have to read to find out.
If you dare.
It’s one of those trips–a terrifying descent into darkness and madness, where supernatural and metaphysical blend and distort all reality. A classic case of abyss gazing back. As mentioned, pure wow. Nearly impossible to put down, electric ride of a story. Bravo, author. Must read for genre fans. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.