Ed is a patient at an Asylum, deep in the wilderness having been transferred from a Rehabilitation centre. His days are quiet as he tries to avoid trouble, but his nights are plagued by PTSD and the horrors of the Gulf War that he experienced. One night he sees a light out beyond the walls, but when he tries to report it, it is brushed aside. Matters become worse, when the monthly delivery truck does not arrive and meals and medication are rationed out. Then the communications tower is burned down and the corpse of the guard sent to find help is discovered. Fear turns to terror, when the power is cut during the lockdown and those who have been watching, and cutting off the area, attack and look to kill everyone inside. Ed knows that if he does not find his way out, he will be as dead as every other patient, doctor and guard still hiding in the asylum.

This is a short horror story, although it settles on the more visceral than the psychological. The plot slowly ratchets up the tension as more odd things keep happening until the reasons behind it are revealed. As more incidents occur, you can feel the nervousness and fear of the residents. Then the attack is fast, brutal, and becomes a running battle for survival. Of the characters, only Ed is really given much background, which is impactful and does impact his judgement and actions, but everyone else is there to provide colour to the scene in one way or another. The writing is excellent and pulls the reader from scene to scene, you can feel the progress of time leading to the frantic conclusion. Both the slow, creeping, horror and the attack on the Asylum, grip the imagination and pull the reader from page to page. The formatting of the book is fine, and I didn’t see any major spelling or grammar mistakes that took me out of the story.

On the downside, the plot never explains where these attackers are from or even what they are, and the reader is left to make their best guess about it. Also Ed’s cell mate is mentioned several times but during the main attack is never seen or heard, which leaves you to wonder why so much emphasis was placed on him to begin with. The writing holds up extremely well, but is let down by the anomalies in the plot. Also while the writing is great, it is a shame the book did not decide what kind of horror it is going for.

An interesting mix of horror, which makes for a fun hour of reading.