One of the best reads ever..

[Leon]

This is one of the best stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. After several copies(all of which were lent out and never returned) I now have a copy which will never leave my home. If you like a mix of thrills, chills, excitement, tension and also romance, then this book is for you. I personally have read this story numerous times and just writing this now has inspired me to pick it up again now...

... by the way don't be put off by the pitiful film, based on a fraction of the introduction to the novel.

[eucarya]

I'm pretty sure the film "The Descent," which I thought was very good, is not related to this book. The two just share the same title and both take place in caves.

[Jay]

One of my Top 20 books ever. Exciting and scary! Many times I purchase books, read them, yawn and give them away. Not this one! Kept it and re-read it. Don't read it at night alone unless you double lock the doors and windows. :)

[[deleted user]]

loved, loved, loved the book period, exclamation point :)

[Hazel]

try the sequel, Deeper. I'd say its not as good, but its still damn good.

[Stuart]

This was the fist book in probably over a decade that I couldn't finish, it was just so ridiculous IMHO

[Aura]

I am very happy that I initially mistook the book for the story of the Descent, the film. Found out very quickly that it had very little to do with the film, and could not put it down until it was finished. Ditto for the sequel although would have to agree that the first book was better. Still, very different from everything else I have read so far, the only book that come close are by Adam Nevill - the atmosphere felt similar.

[Jonathan]

This was my first read by this author and I'm looking forward to reading more. I was a bit let down when the Haddi went berserk on the worlds forces underground and then, *poof*, it is a few years later. What's up with that?! Oh well, the story kept me coming back and the scares are there. Pretty good book!

[Elizabeth]

Loved this. Long is one of my literary inspirations for invoking fear with words; few do it better.

I liked the sequel just as well, but can understand why others didn't. Descent is mostly scientific, while Deeper goes into supernatural territory, a departure from the first book.

I admire that Long could do both science-based horror and supernatural horror so well, though. ^^

-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive

[Stuart]

Stuart wrote: "This was the fist book in probably over a decade that I couldn't finish, it was just so ridiculous IMHO"

Honestly, this book is terrible, am I the only person who thought it was unreadable?

[Karl]

I thought it was probably one of the WORST books I've ever read. I barely managed to finish it.
The thing that struck me though... there are parts of it that are... not so bad. The opening chapter, the little interstitial scenes between the main story... I kind of liked those. They felt like short little stories that were written by someone else... while the main part of the book felt like a wannabe-Crichton hack grasping at a movie deal.

I loved the (completely unrelated) movie... though the sequel was horrid/bad/wrong/crap.

[Stuart]

Karl wrote: "I thought it was probably one of the WORST books I've ever read. I barely managed to finish it.
The thing that struck me though... there are parts of it that are... not so bad. The opening chapter..."

Oh yeah, 'The Descent' as a film is fantastic, classic underground horror film. Just happens to be totally different from this terrible book :)

[Dean]

I love The Descent. It totally took me inside that world. And Deeper took me deeper. Intimidating stuff.

[Andy]

An interesting variety of comments! Personally, this is one of my favourite books.

[Adrian]

For those of you who enjoyed the book, I started a fan site for it! I also had the good fortune to interview Jeff Long about his new book. Check it out:

http://hadals.tumblr.com