Digital Reads Reviews

My review

What a fabulous, exciting, eerie, shivery horror story which is an absolute thriller too. I loved every word of this book. The prose written simply weaves an air of macabre gruesomeness around the characters. A cold chill winds its way, following doggedly like a never ending shadow.

And look at the cover…

My first thought was Oh, my!! This is it. I am having nightmares for the rest of the week. It is so striking, my heart stopped for a second… OK for quite a few seconds, looking into the eyes of the main character… A thrill rushed into me at the first glance. Awesome!!

Witness and learn, and the balance will return to you. Then you can escape…

—advice to the Witness

Good vs pure evil.. The kinds which cause even the earths to shudder… An evil which is rooted deep down the history, a repetitive vicious cycle that rises each time from the bowels of darkness, like a venomous fog, in search for its next victim.

My first book by the author, Dexter Morgenstern, and man… What a book. The author is pure genius!! The evil described here is so unholy and depraved that the darkness pervades into his words, into his pages, into his story.. There is a complete eclipse which obscures all the light. Traversing and defeating such a demonic spirit to reach the radiance of goodness is what this book promises…. Wow! What a ride!!!

The victims—other preta (spirits) —they search for their lost lives, stolen from them by the same darkness that haunts you. The same evil that haunts you…

—warning to the Witness

The story unfolds in the fog of horror and murder, there is pure malevolence in the environment. The book is written in first person as the voice of the lone Witness who wakes up in a hospital only to go into the ethereal space where the story of the past and the present collide. Every time the Witness goes back in history, into the story, she comes out battered and bruised, learning what roams on this earth, wearing the skin of humans, but also with an understanding of the method to fight the evil. There is only a single presence seen in her reflection who helps her…

I’m following a nightmare, and that girl is the only person, so far, who has given me any cards to play…

—words of the Witness

The Witness sees upfront what evil is and what evil does, and that can cause even the strongest amongst us to shudder, to look into the shadows, and to check under the bed. Darkness has a diabolical face every time, in every story. Extraordinary storytelling by Dexter!!

All I’ve learned is that everything that chases me, wants me dead….

—Thoughts of the Witness

The grey characters are the ones which add flavor to the story. Goodness has a value only if it can counter the bad. And the author has not only made evil grey, but he has coated evil with pure black, which does not allow even a sliver of light to penetrate. And that’s pure brilliance. Writing a good main character is extremely easy, but it is sheer talent to write a black, remarkable sinister presence, taking care that it does not overpower the story… Isn’t this the mark of a great author??

The Whistler, the Constrictor, the Director, and the Father —the perfect evil marking the most selfless soul as its host, both fated to repeat the same cycle. Evil has to die before the good…

— random words from Eternal Victim

The author has done a brilliant job describing evil as an elegiac, malicious being, wearing a body in each era to stamp its vile sins on to innocent humans. Writing this review while remembering the story, causes a shiver down the spine and my soul to shudder.

If I weren’t but a ghost, a witness, my stomach would surely turn, but at least here I’m in no pain…

—words of the Witness nearing the end

I read this book at one go, both slowly and rapidly to savor each word, each eerie atmosphere, yet fast enough to reach the end where the real truth resides… Nirvana…

My rating : 5 stars

About the Author

Dexter Morgenstern is a Southern-born Seattle author and model. Homeschooled after a diagnosis of mild Asperger’s, he learned to play to his strengths as an energetic, creative artist. He began writing at the age of fifteen, and published his first novel two years later. Outside of art, Dexter spends his time gaming, studying, and socializing with other ambitious minds. As an army brat, he attained a pragmatic sense of discipline that he uses to balance his artistic endeavors with his academic ones. Dexter’s ultimate goal is to contribute to the subjugation of humanity by artificial intelligence.

Book blurb

Follow the Witness as she travels through a perpetual series of nightmares, haunted by a mixture of pernicious serial killers and their imprisoned, undead victims, known as preta. As she wanders through time and memories shared by the killers and their victims, she fights to solve the puzzle of their connection to each other and to herself. Her only hope of salvation lies in connecting key victims to the souls who can rescue them, thus waking her from the nightmare, but one killer follows the next, bringing forth a new set of victims, a new score of preta, and immediately landing her in a new terror.

Product Details

Publication date : 29th January, 2018

Publisher : Self

Language : English

Available on Amazon

Eerie, exciting, eternal horror