Review - Down: Pinhole by Glenn Cooper

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If Down: Pinhole is to believed, the Christian idea of Hell is actually to be transported to Europe some time in the mid-18th Century. As if being thrown into pre-industrial society wasn't bad enough, you share your dismal demise with all of the nasty people from throughout history.

Borrowing the idea that the LHC in Switzerland would open up some sort of wormhole which will swallow the earth, Glenn Cooper leverages the idea into a solid 'portal' story where people from the real world are sucked into some fantasy - although not all that fantastic - world.

What the Author does well is to build well-fleshed out characters, and put them in situations where the tension is seeping out of the walls. Although I will admit that there is a certain diminished tension in a world (Hell) where most people are already 'dead' and the possibility of dying further doesn't really exist.

On the other hand, Cooper does take us on a whirlwind tour of famous-European-people-who-are-dead-but-still-want-to-continue-their-former-lives. The characters who stick in for long enough with the main hero are certainly interesting, but they tend to leave a lot of dead bodies in their wake.

It was an entertaining, solid beginning to a trilogy, and I am interested to read the rest. I felt like there were a lot of unresolved issues, even before we got to the cliffhanger at the end, but I guess the author has started a lot of snowballs rolling downhill, and I'll wait and see where they end up.

4/5 stars