Here is my review for Requiem by John Palisano

I found this to be an intriguing horror story that I really enjoyed reading right from the start of the book. Ava was cautious about going back to Eden after her previous stint there and she still had strong memories of Roland who she still believed to be missing. On this trip to Eden, Ava is made leader of the crew. This time round, Eden is haunted by spirits of the interred that are on board there. One by one the crew are driven mad but Ava has to fight against it. I thought the book was brilliantly written and well thought out by the author. The characters were interesting and well thought out. I liked Ava and thought she was a terrifically strong character. She was trying to get over her grief for Roland and lead the crew. The story was interesting and the writing was very descriptive so it explained everything in great detail. I liked the author’s writing style and I found it very easy to get into. I would like to read more horror stories from this author in the future.

Blurb :

New gothic horror from Bram Stoker Award winning author, and recent past President of the Horror Writers Association, John Palisano.

Ava must fight an entity locked in on taking out the crew of the Eden, a moon-sized cemetery in space, as it brings back the souls of the dead buried aboard. One such soul is Ava’s lost love, Roland.

The spirits of the interred on the Eden haunt those aboard, including a visiting musician is tasked with writing a new song for the dead. Her Requiem calls a cosmic entity that illuminates their darkest fears and secrets. One by one, they’re driven mad. Ava fights her grief and must rise up before they’re lost and the entity reaches Earth.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to excellent original writing in horror, science fiction and fantasy. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress. Awarded independent publisher of 2024 by the British Fantasy Society.

Space horror is quickly becoming one of my favorite things. Fun. Interesting. Unsettling. There were moments when the pacing worked against the claustrophobic feeling to it, but really interesting and a good read overall.

I am sadly DNFing this book at 50%. I was so drawn in by the premise, but each time I put it down I’m finding it increasingly difficult to pick back up. The characters seem out of touch with each other despite having lived and worked together for a month, and I had no real understanding of Eden because of the time jumps. I wasn’t sure who we were supposed to be rooting for or following and found my interest dipped as a result.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I love the genre mashup of science fiction and horror. And this title has it in spades! At times I felt the story was not presenting itself as either genre and it was frustrating. Finally in the last half of the novel it hit the mark and an exceptionally original take on sci-fi horror. Highly recommended.

Eerie, fantastical and all round insane. This was a fantastic story that gave me shivers from the start to the end.

I’ll give this 2.5 stars. I really liked the premise of this book, and was really looking forward to reading it, but to be honest, I felt like what I read was a first draft. It seemed like a lot of thoughts and ideas were just thrown on the page. One minute we’re in third person, the next it’s first person. There were a lot of telling, not showing, as well as just general redundancies and being told the same thing within paragraphs of each other while also somehow contradicting previous statements. Big plot moments would happen, and then they’d just be forgotten about or not brought up when the pov changes, or there would still be questions about what’s happening in the space station, even though we just got told there’s an alien life form two chapters before. I still enjoyed the story for what it was, overall, I liked that we got the flashbacks of Ava and Roland’s relationship, and what happened there. I think if this had been fleshed out more, it would’ve been a lot better.

I loved the premise of this. Humans have run out of space and now a company has offered the option of burial on this (moon sized?) satellite. There’s some sketchy coffin fluid (the deceased are suspended in a fluid, this is scifi after all) that caused havoc and now they have to fix the facilities and the company’s reputation. That’s about where it stops being rooted in a solid story line. If you love stories disjointed from reality this book is for you.

I thought I loved weird lit but this version of weird lit just wasn’t for me. It’s hard to say without spoilers, but, for much of the book the characters are experiencing weird events and the plot goes no where except describing these events.

This book is definitely going to be a hit with folks who love vibing in a scifi and just letting the words roll over them. It just didn’t hit the spot for me personally. I needed more to be happening in the book than one long fever dream.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

A crew trapped in a spaceship far from home face a terrifying force. Things they thought were in their past have came back to haunt them. Can they defeat the ghosts.

Requiem by John Palisano

Before reading Requiem I hadn’t read anything by John Palisano. Browsing NetGallery, the amazing cover art drew me in and the premise — gothic horror in space? Gotta love that, right? — compelled me to request an eARC from Flame Tree Press. I love science fiction and am always on the lookout for new authors in the genre who can provide the wonder, thrills, and mind-altering perspectives that I crave. Palisano is now on my radar, and I will certainly read more of his books, although this one left me wanting a bit more at the ending.

In Requiem, Ava captains a small crew staying aboard Eden, a moon-sized orbiting mausoleum that houses thousands of Earth’s deceased who are labelled as “residents” by the Vita Nova Corporation who owns the satellite. Not only are the bodies of the residents stored on Eden, but so are their memories — very lifelike and active memories thanks to a strange entity awakened by the new requiem being composed onboard by a member of Ava’s crew. Something in the music begins to drive Ava and her crew mad, creating vivid and dangerous hallucinations. With the immense satellite seemingly coming apart around them and struggling to think clearly as she is haunted by her lost love Roland, Ava must discover the key to defeating the entity before it consumes the people on board and on the planet below.

Palisano hits all the notes for a gothic horror story, cleverly utilizing the space satellite in place of the typical haunted mansion, and he certainly knows how to ramp up the action for a page-turning read. However, I did feel let down by the story after the climax. The ending drags on through the last two chapters, a coda, and another piece of “Supplemental Material.” There’s plenty of time to explore the changed perspectives of Ava and her companions after their mind shattering experiences, to reveal their new philosophies on life and the afterlife —something I wish Palisano had delved into more, especially since he’s chosen such a diverse cast of characters.

As a fast summer read, Requiem hits the mark. As to whether I become a fan of Palisano’s writing, I’ll hold off on my opinion until I read some of his other work.

I tried to read this but I just can't finish it. To be fair, I don't read these types of books so I feel my experience probably isn't what others will think but I was intrigued by the description and am thankful for the opportunity. However, I don't like the writting style and maybe that's why I couldn't keep going. This felt like a cheesy horror film where things are happening and you don't know why (which is usually fine if you like anything else with the book such as the characters, which I didn't feel connected to at all) If you like a cheesy horror with not much depth, this would be great for you!

An eerie space horror that gripped me from the start. The tension was palpable the author got that spot on. Ava fights the entity and her own fear abourd the space cemetery. I love the atmosphere and pacing and I for onrwill be looking for more from this author. Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for this review copy.

A crew heads to space to address issues on board the Eden, a space cemetery. I thought the concept was cool and there were some really creepy parts. This was a very claustrophobic read, as most of the story takes place on this space vessel where the atmosphere is very isolated and bleak. This was a shorter read, but it took me forever to get through. I just couldn’t stay interested for some reason. I think I wanted more of a backstory to all of the characters because it was hard to connect to any of them. There were some great gory horror moments though, and I liked the ending.

Recommend for: fans of space horror

This book is mind boggling.. 😵‍💫😂 It grips you because you have no idea why things are happening!

Love the way it is written in third and first person, very cool! 🤩

The story… you’ve got to concentrate quite a bit to know what’s going on. The reveal of what is happening without giving anything away was confusing 😂 but overall, a good book that I would recommend to any Sci-Fi lovers 🚀👽

Requiem is a cosmic gothic horror novel that explores the familiar trope of what can happen when AI goes wrong (in space!) but the familiarity did not detract from the story and as advances in AI technology continue, is even more relevant. More importantly, the AI and the space station setting serve to create the isolated, dread atmosphere that defines gothic horror. Though I was intrigued by the mystery of what is causing the calamitous events, John Palisano’s characters and his way of putting you behind their eyes, especially mission leader Ava, were what gripped me and kept me turning page after page to learn their fates - and that of all of humanity. #Requiem #NetGalley @flametreepress @johnpalisano

Requiem by John Palisano kicks off with an incredibly compelling premise that instantly hooked me. The eerie atmosphere and the slow burn of the early chapters were wonderfully done, drawing me into a space horror setting that felt both familiar and fresh. For a while, I thought the narrative might head in a direction similar to Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes — a vibe I was completely on board with — but it ultimately diverged in a different (and less satisfying) direction.

As the action picked up, the momentum started to feel a bit uneven. The pacing shifted, and some of the tension that had been so well-established early on began to dissipate. By the time the story reached its climax, the resolution felt a bit rushed and somewhat unclear, which left me wanting more closure and depth in the final conflict.

That said, there’s still a lot to enjoy here. Palisano captures the dread of isolation and the unknown with skill, and fans of space horror will likely find enough to appreciate, even if it doesn't all come together perfectly. A solid read with a strong start — I just wish the ending had delivered as powerfully as the beginning promised.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Requiem is a quick and compelling read that taps into one of my favorite sci-fi themes: space exploration intertwined with the dead and mystery. The plot unfolds with a strong sense of momentum, and Joe Palisano delivers a concept that’s both eerie and intriguing. If you enjoy stories that blend cosmic settings with existential questions, this one will likely grab your attention.

However, while the narrative was engaging, the writing at times felt a bit unpolished. The dialogue, in particular, which was written strangely with a constant barrage of "X person says" over and over again, which pulled me out of the story in places. Still, these were relatively minor issues in the grand scheme, and they didn’t overshadow the imaginative plot or intriguing atmosphere.

Overall, Requiem is a solid entry for readers who like their sci-fi with a touch of the macabre. It's not perfect, but it’s definitely entertaining.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Joe Palisano, and Flame Tree Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I liked this one. The writing is good and the pacing just right. I had good time reading it. Longer review to come.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I really like the idea behind Requiem: a cemetery in space, a ‘burial among the stars’ as the book itself describes.
And I really like the idea of something not going as it was supposed to do. There are a lot of reasons to be afraid of space without adding ‘there might be something wrong with the dead people that surround you’.
The characters feel more or less realistic (some more than others, with their motivations not always clear) and the first half of the novel makes a very promising horror in space. Sadly, this eeriness is not maintained once the secret is out, transforming the whole experience into quite a mess towards the end. And it is really a pity, for it started so strong and with such a good rhythm, it feels like there should have been a better way of put it all together.

“Requiem” as a debut is a triumph. Creating a unique world amongst what seems like a plethora of Sci-Fi and Fantasy titles in incredibly unique, and Palisano delivers an ominous, frightening atmosphere that kept me hooked from start to finish.

The reason for my rating - many of the phrases and thoughts felt like cliches. In an atmosphere that is so unique & haunting - it’s quite jarring to read a character thinking or saying very cliche or repetitive things breaks the immersion.

Examples -
“She thinks she sounds so serious. Too serious.” (Chapter 2)
“All of you must also be aware of something else that’s been inescapable over the past year,” Mercer says, “or someone, more specifically.” (Chapter 1)


These are only two examples noted, and we we delved into the horror aspects of the novel, I found that my immersion wasn’t broken at all.

Overall, a triumph to be celebrated from a debut as Palisano has done! Whilst I believe this book wasn’t my style of writing, the immersive atmosphere and horror aspects kept me immersed and I enjoyed how fast paced it was! 3.5 stars

Requiem by John Palisano pulled me in with its eerie, atmospheric setup—a sprawling space station that doubles as a cemetery, orbiting endlessly through the void. It’s a strange and haunting concept, but what really worked for me was how personal and grounded it felt despite the cosmic scale.

Ava’s story—grieving, isolated, and suddenly facing the return of someone she thought lost—had just the right emotional weight without getting melodramatic. There’s a slow, creeping dread that builds as the mystery of the Eden unfolds, especially around the bizarre music that seems to awaken something ancient and hostile.

The horror here isn’t loud or gory—it’s thoughtful, often quiet, and all the more unsettling for it. I came for the space-set weirdness, but I stayed because it had heart.