I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t get into this. The style of writing didn’t gel with me, even though the plot is interesting and the initial action pretty intense!

I may try again in future. Apologies.

Damn… this was honestly going to be one of the top books I’d read this year until the 3/4 mark… then it nosedived and crashed.

The first 3/4: spooky and creepy as heck. This is a paranormal scifi horror that gives the reader goosebumps. A team investigate a mine where the miners have disappeared. There seems to be one or more malignant entities (demons or evil spirits or cosmic gods perhaps) that are involved.

The last 1/4: things get weird and confusing. There are some editing errors and a continuity error (sooo is Ramee’s mom dead or alive???). Big, monstrous things are happening, no answers yet, but the characters are starting to figure some things out slowly…. AND BOOM.
It’s over, no resolution, no answers, not even a cliffhanger or epilogue. The characters just seem to not give a crap anymore and leave. What the actual eff???? That was brutal as a reader to be left like that. Boooooo 👎🏼

Thanks to NetGalley & Flame Tree Press for a copy.

I’m not much of a sci-fi gal, but this book kept my interest and didn’t do an overwhelming amount of worldbuilding

When 37 miner vanish without a trace in a mine on a distant moon, FBI agent Kendra Omen is sent to investigate. In addition, a team of paranormal investigators joins her for what appears to be anything but a routine investigation. Suicides, spectral visions of the dead and signs of esoteric rituals are only the beginning of what really happened in the mine. A touch of Event Horizon, a bit of Aliens, Hellweg's Keep combines science fiction and the occult in a unique twist on the genre. 3.5 of 5 stars.

I am generally a fan of Flame Tree books; I think the imprint offers new authors and offbeat books. That said, I found Justin Halley’s Hellweg’s Keep disappointing. The amalgamation of space opera, mystery, horror, and outright fantasy didn’t gel for me. On the plus side, the horror element is gripping and the psychological tension keeps mounting. The background universe didn't feel fleshed out or real. Little things, like naming the lead viewpoint character Omen, or the colony planet Terra, seemed amateurish. I also found the narrative disjointed at times. But the real disappointment was a dues ex machina ending, bound with some really odd morality and a casual disregard for human life. While I will keep coming back to Flame Tree, I will approach Holley with caution.

3.5

First and foremost, this absolutely kept my attention from start to finish. It is a conglomeration of my favorite genres of science fiction, mystery, & horror. And I was sincerely invested in the narrative and the characters. I did however find it almost comical how every male character throughout the novel lacked any sort of confidence or bravery - except perhaps for Gladius but his motivations were strong as he would sacrifice anything for his son. Our two main protagonists of Lunar & Kendra were flawed but fierce in their resolve to portray fearlessness and leadership. They were by far the most interesting of the rag-tag rescue party and I did quite like how Holley split them up at the beginning of their search for the missing miners and chose to alternate chapters to consistently leave the reader in anticipation as each would be always be in a difficult predicament.

If I were to make a comparison, my mind kept going back to Paul W.S Anderson's 1997's science fiction, horror film Event Horizon & James Cameron's 1986 Aliens. Simply, how the demons, spirits, elementals were able to look into the minds of the characters and portray the deepest fears and regrets - similarly to Event Horizon.

All in all, I did enjoy this reading experience as I feel like it appeals directly to me - but I inversely feel like this might not be everyone's cup of tea. In addition, I was very lukewarm on the ending as I was not entirely sure the introduction of the Gatekeeper necessarily fit within the narrative AND why the hell did Zak feel Briggs was the one that needed to be sacrificed. And nobody seemed at all displeased and everyone walks out onto Terra and live happily ever after.

A few gripes, but an easy and satisfying reading experience.