A fast paced and suspenseful horror tale with a dash of Dystopia. 5 friends wake to find the world as they know gone. Families and neighbours have disappeared, electronics have stopped working and something spooky is stiring up the mists...

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

The plot is centred in Yerevan in Armenia. It's dark, mysterious and full of suspense. It hits the ground running and doesn't give any reprieve right up to the very end.

Five friends play a game of cards until early hours in the morning. All is well until the next day when they face a world that's totally alien to them. Nothing works and everything looks bleak. Strange phenomenas start to happen and on top of that there is a serial killer on the loose. They are close friends and it's a time for them to band together and work out why this is happening and how they can escape it. Instead, as time goes by, their personalities start to change and paranoia sets in. Not for Aram and Michael though. They find out that they are not alone. Erik has been in this predicament longer than they have, and knows how to navigate the place without alerting the strange beings who make things disappear. Are they aliens? Where is everyone else? Is it an alternate parallel universe? Who is the killer?

It's a well crafted plot. It's in alternative points of view and each chapter brings something to ponder on. This in turn makes you want to know what happens next. With each occurrence, the suspense intensifies. The identity of the killer remains a puzzle until towards the end. The characters play their roles very well. Most of the mysteries are revealed except for the origin of the strange fog which is left open to the imagination. This gripping story held my attention right through to the very end. Beware though, as some of the contents might be a trigger to some readers. A great concept and a captivating read.

I received a complimentary copy from the author via Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion.

After a long night of playing cards, five life-long friends: Arthur, Aram, Michael, Daniel and Harris discover that the world as they know it has drastically changed in an ominous way. People have been mysteriously disappearing for some time, but now everyone appears to be gone, and what remains are fog-like creatures with dark eyes that seem intent on finding any left behind. mysterious “storms” appear that switch things in the physical environment every time they appear. None of them know why or whats causing this, but as they try to survive and find their way back to the real world, a different kind of darkness descends on some of these friends, and loyalties are put to the ultimate test. When a mysterious teenage boy named Erik and a young woman named Lydia show up, things are further complicated....

Because he (the author) gave moments of insight into the long history these men have had with each other, I was far more emotionally invested in how their individual stories played out. I was impressed with the rating as English i not his first language.. Hakobyan has a very visual style of writing, so I could see the picture he was painting quite well and feel the bleakness of their experience, which made up for not always understanding the mechanics of their new reality. The ending wasn’t quite as resolved as I would’ve liked it to be, and some things could have been explained a little better. All-in-all it was a good book i am a fan of Stephen King and my husband loves Dean Koontz so when i got to read this i had some high standards going in..
and one I would recommend to those who like sci-fi/fantasy, horror and mystery genres

TRIGGER WARNING: There are a couple scenes involving rape. I understand why it was used in the plot, but ultimately I wish the point could have been made differently.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided this ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
#VoidFate #NetGalley

I downloaded this one after an e-Mail from the author because I really appreciate the effort that goes in to writing a book and then marketing it yourself.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t up my alley. I struggled through the print book but was enjoying it enough to spend an Audible credit on the audiobook. I was able to finish it but it just honestly wasn’t my thing.

I DO however think it would be great for fans of “The Darkness on the Edge of Town” or harder core Stephen King fans.

An interesting read with a good storyline and developed characters. If you like stories of this type, you will enjoy this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Truly terrifying terror. Great characters interacting in a well thought out and carefully crafted horror story. Highly recommended

I didn’t finish reading this book. In fairness to the author this is a genre I rarely read. I found the plot too disturbing for my taste. For readers who like the horror genre the author is a great writer.

Five friends played a game of cards one night, went to sleep and woke up to find the rest of the world wiped from existence and a sky dome over their heads.

For some reason, the apartment they're all in still has electricity but they realise early on they can't stay there all the time and they can't make noise, because if they do the foggy creatures with ghostly limbs and black eyes will get them and there's no coming back from that.

But our heroes aren't as alone as they thought. Two more join their group and it seems that all of this started with the boy's arrival to the strange world, since he's been there the longest.

The more time they spend in the new reality, the more their minds decline. At the beginning they were ready to try and find a way out of there, but will any of them make it out alive?

I don't even know where to begin. The one thing I can say for certain is that I WILL have nightmares and Mr. Hakobyan can be proud.

This book spooked me so much, I kept jumping at every noise and casting glances towards the front door thinking one of the fog creatures was going to come through.

The book is better than the blurb, but there were still things I disliked.

1. How long it took to get any and all answers. It's really not fair. I didn't have problems following the book or anything, but I wish things were explained a bit sooner.

2. The names bugged me, especially Harris. The others I could see happening with different spelling but...that one really stood out to me. Aram got the best name.

3. The sexual assault. It wasn't graphic but it wasn't needed, nope nope nope. I'm going to pretend I didn't read that.

4. The ending. I didn't dislike this, per se, but unless if there's a sequel coming I am not satisfied with what we got.

What I did like was the plot, it was so engaging that I had to know what was going to happen next and couldn't stop reading.

I liked Aram the most, the rest of the characters shifted the more I saw of them but he stayed consistent.

I was tricked into liking Erik, I have no regrets.

The spookiness was very well done and did the job. The fog creatures don't seem so bad NOW when I had time to regroup my thoughts but...

The friendship (before it got warped) was nice to see.

THE LOCATION. YES.

Now that I think about it, imagine if the book had Armenian words (other than khash) in it with a glossary in the back? Now that would be so cool.

It was good but it could've been better, so four stars from me.

*Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Disclaimer: I got this ARC from @NetGalley.

This is a sci-fi horror and that is usually not the kind of book I'd read but I really enjoyed this one!

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, scenes of r*pe

After a night of card games, five friends find that their world has changed, and not in a good way. Everyone is gone, except for the five friends. Their sole "companions" in this strange new, silent, dome covered world are dark-eyed creatures formed out of mist (called "demons") that try to hunt them down. Furthermore, every now and again a strange storm appears that changes minor details in the world around them. The friends are left to wonder if they are in a Matrix-like simulation? Have they been abducted by aliens? Are they dead? Are they in Hell? A parallel universe?

I really didn't want to give this book 3 stars because of the sexual violence in it. I felt it was unnecessary, disturbing and rather boring to see this plot device used yet again by a male author.
Having said that, though, I have to give this book three stars because I must give credit where credit is due.

The author managed to create an intriguing mystery in this 'silent world' that kept me guessing until the end. He made good use of foreshadowing and took time to show us the life long friendship between these five men, which made for good characterization and escalation of the conflict.

Aside from the sexual assaults, I also had issues with the pacing. Yes, this is a great mystery and yes, the men are all confused as to what is happening, but I feel like we spend too long talking about that without a lot of plot advancement. Also, the speech is kind of awkward and stilted at times. It doesn't come off as the way people naturally talk to one another.

If you are a fan of Science Fiction, Horror or thrillers this will appeal to you but be prepared for a long ride. I think fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz would appreciate this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
Review posted to GoodReads and Amazon, as well.

Set in a parallel post apocalyptic kind of world, a group of friends face an unknown enemy that can't be killed.
This novel was a very interesting read. I enjoyed the character developments and breakdowns and the plot was twisting and turning I wasn't sure where it was going to go next.
The end had me in tears almost, I'm not gonna spoil it but I really wished that it might have been a different ending.

Good quick read, enjoyable. Go try it for yourself.

Reposted on good reads and amazon

Enjoyed this book immensely. Had a really creepy, spooky atmosphere, and a storyline that encompassed several different threads well. The writing style was spare; I don't know if this is because English is not the author's first language, but either way, it contributed to the bleak, end of the world storyline.

This wasn't a perfect story - I felt it rambled a little at points, and while I really appreciated the focal point was the five men, the inclusion of what happened to the female characters was pretty brutal.

All in all, this is a 3.5 star read for, rounded up to 4. I would be happy to read another book from this author. I really enjoyed the premise, I can't think of anything similar I have read before.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read.

After a long night of playing cards, five life-long friends: Arthur, Aram, Michael, Daniel and Harris discover that the world as they know it has drastically changed in an ominous way. People have been mysteriously disappearing for some time, but now everyone appears to be gone, including Aram and Daniel’s wives and children, and what remains are fog-like creatures with dark eyes that seem intent on finding any left behind. Furthermore, an unnatural silence and darkness have fallen over things, and mysterious “storms” appear that switch things in the physical environment every time they appear. Is this the work of aliens? Is it a rapture of sorts? Are they in a Matrix-like existence? Are they in a parallel universe? None of them know, but as they try to survive and find their way back to the real world, a different kind of darkness descends on some of these friends, and loyalties are put to the ultimate test. When a mysterious teenage boy named Erik and a young woman named Lydia show up, things are further complicated.

I thought this was well-written with fully formed characters that each brought something unique to the story. Because he gave moments of insight into the long history these men have had with each other, I was far more emotionally invested in how their individual stories played out. Hakobyan has a very visual style of writing, so I could see the picture he was painting quite well and feel the bleakness of their experience, which made up for not always understanding the mechanics of their new reality. The ending wasn’t quite as resolved as I would’ve liked it to be, and some things could have been explained a little better - I’m still not entirely sure I understand Erik’s role completely, but none of these took away from my enjoyment of the story. All-in-all it was a good book and one I would recommend to those who like sci-fi/fantasy, horror and mystery genres.

***TRIGGER WARNING: There are a couple scenes involving rape. I understand why it was used in the plot, but ultimately I wish the point could have been made differently.

★★★ ½ (rounded up to 4)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided this ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
#VoidFate #NetGalley