Briardark

By: S.A. Harian

Narrated by: Brenda Scott Wlazlo

For Dr. Siena Dupont and her ambitious team, the Alpenglow glacier expedition is a career-defining opportunity. But 30 miles into the desolate Deadswitch Wilderness, they discover a missing hiker dangling from a tree, and their satellite phone fails to call out.

Then the body vanishes without a trace.

The disappearance isn’t the only chilling anomaly. Siena’s map no longer aligns with the trail. The glacier they were supposed to study has inexplicably melted. Strange foliage overruns the mountainside, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin, and a stranger with a sinister message….

Holden Sharpe’s IT job offers little distraction from his wasted potential until he stumbles upon a decommissioned hard drive and an old audio file. Trapped on a mountain, Dr. Siena Dupont recounts an expedition in chaos and the bloody death of a colleague.

Entranced by the mystery, Holden searches for answers to Siena’s fate. But he is unprepared for the truth that will draw him to the outskirts of Deadswitch Wilderness—a place teeming with unfathomable nightmares and impossibilities.

©2023 S.A. Harian (P)2023 S.A. Harian

Good multi-media story

Fun start to this story. Ended up on the book website and trying to figure out the stuff coming next.

Cosmic Confusion

First, as always I start with the narrator. I admit when I first heard her voice I thought I wasn't going to really appreciate her because of her very soft tone,but as the story went on, she was very clear and concise.

The story started off very interesting and I was really getting into it especially when some weird things started to happen, but I do have to admit it became, for me, a little muttled and I was confused as to what was actually going on... however towards the end I kind of became aware of the situation.
It ends on a cliffhanger, so I definitely will be diving into the second part of the story to see where this cosmic horror will end up!

So very well written

The book is a marvel of realty and other worlds
Moves fast with so many characters that flavor the total story

Read this

I really enjoyed this book, it scratches an itch for something like the tv show yellowjackets but with a focus on the cool spooky strange woods aspect

What?

She forgot to write the last act of the story. Brenda Scott Wlazlo needs to stop producing her recordings in her home studio and let a professional mix her sound. The recording is a hot mess. Barely intelligible in many places.

One of the best books I’ve listened to in a long time

Honestly, it’s hard to believe this is the first published book by this author. It’s excellent. The story has a great hook and it keeps you thinking the whole time. Very few cosmic style horror books are anything more than a homage to Lovecraft but this one is doing its own thing. It kind of reminds me of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski in some aspects but only a little. It kind of reminds me of The Breach by Nick Cutter but again, only a little.

It’s a vivid and complex weave and I can’t wait until the next book in the series.

Big build up to not much

The premise of the story sounded incredibly intriguing and for the first 2/3 of the book it held my attention. Then things took an existential, esoteric turn, which I was still on board for but the payoff was basically nonexistent. As the title of this review says there’s a lot of buildup to a whole lot of nothing.

I think I missed something?

I kept listening, thinking it would all come together and make sense in the end, but instead it just ended? I even doubled back a little to make sure I didn’t miss something, nope, this is all she wrote!

Interesting story line

i still have no clue what's going on... its this supposed to be a series? I don't see any other books... Dreams.. panic attacks.. alternate realities.. bugs.. missing people... dark shadows... a lot to process and zero explaination of any of the unfinished story lines... story ended and I was like... huh? Disappointing... I'd wait to read until another book comes out so you can make some sense of this... IF one comes out.

Worst Listen

How do you rate a novel with no ending? This story was absolutely pointless. What could have been imaginative and fun turned out to be a waste of time.