The Fall

by Simon Clark

When a group of tourists visits a Roman amphitheatre ringed by prehistoric stones, they move back in time two hours - but it doesn't stop there. Every few hours or days, they are returned to the theatre. Each time one of their number is found butchered on the altar stone. Where will it all end?

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction

537 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Born, 20th April, 1958, Simon Clark is the author of such highly regarded horror novels as Nailed By The Heart, Blood Crazy, Darker, Vampyrrhic and The Fall, while his short stories have been collected in Blood & Grit and Salt Snake & Other Bloody Cuts. He has also written prose material for the internationally famous rock band U2.

Raised in a family of storytellers – family legend told of a stolen human skull buried beneath the Clark garage – he sold his first ghost story to a radio station in his teens. Before becoming a full-time writer he held a variety of day jobs, that have involved strawberry picking, supermarket shelf stacking, office work, and scripting video promos.

He lives with his wife and two children in mystical territory that lies on the border of Robin Hood country in England.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been years since I read this book. But I still think about it. Some parts are just engraved into my memory.

I dont like to leave spoilers. But the tree and the man... the scene with the truck. This book got to me.

[Mandy Dowson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting take on time-travel. Loved this story. Mr Clark is always entertaining, and always gritty and raw.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final battle scene toward the end was tremendously well-written and enjoyable, and the whole idea of the work was pretty good. The reason it's not got top marks? The ending. Do we not get anything more than that? And the prologue didn't really get explained either! Not a book to read unless you've got the sequel lined up. Is there one?

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. I arrived at page 255 (so a bit more than 50%) and I was not enjoying the book. I am becoming a bit preoccupied. It has been three books from him that I don't enjoy. I will try probably another one since the ideas are there.

Read the synopsis - is the first 250 pages nothing happens besides what it said on the synopsis. But most people enjoy it so maybe it's a me thing.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of loosely connected strangers visiting the remains of an amphitheater are shunted back and forth through time, eventually alighting in 1865, where they end up having to battle with other, less-than-friendly time travellers.
Entertaining enough read, but some things were left inadequately explained (surprising considering the length of the book), and I didn't feel the ending really, well ... ended.
Okay, but I've enjoyed other work by Clark far more.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and entertaining book. The beginning was a bit slow and I was just about to get bored with them jumping further and further back. Finally Mr. Clark stated to dish out a bit of information about what was happening and from that point it was a very good read. If you like Simon Clark I recommend this book. If you have never read anything by him I would start with 'Blood Crazy'.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tale of time travel but with a twist. A group of about 50 people find themselves repeatedly moving backwards and forwards in time for varying periods of time. Interesting concept.

[Suzanne]

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