Title: Under a Watchful Eye
Author: Adam Nevill
Release date: January 12th, 2017
It’s odd, that, as I work my way through completely reading Adam Nevill’s bibliography, I arrive at the last two – ‘Under a Watchful Eye’ and ‘Banquet for the Damned’ – and I could’ve sworn that this one, ‘Under…’ was far older than a 2017 release date. I had it in my mind that his debut ‘Banquet…’ came out in 2004, then this one followed shortly thereafter, and then ‘Apartment 16’ arrived. When I was done and looked at the order, I was shocked that this one came out after ‘The Ritual’ and ‘Last Days.’ And, in an odd turn of events, a novel about a writer descending into certain madness happened to also be Adam’s last novel before he devoted his career into going the Indie route – which certainly some would consider a descent into madness.
This novel grabbed me from page one and as it went on, a certain, eerie, familiar (Deja vu), feeling took hold and it wasn’t long before I understood that this novel was as close to parallel to my experience when I researched my Father of Lies series as I’ve come across. I want to try and keep this review focused on the novel – as I always try not to promote my own work during reviews as I can – but in this case, I’m not completely sure if I can stay neutral. Adam’s captured so much of what I experienced while joining the cult on the dark web for four-ish years, that a part of me is fighting the battle to email him and have a frank discussion with him regarding it. I feel like Seb reaching out to a character later in the book begging for details. But I digress, let’s take a look at this masterpiece.
What I liked: The story opens up with a scene that normally would be one of the more creepier moments in any novel, but this is an Adam Nevill project, so by the very end, it almost feels comedic. Seb is a fairly successful author, working his way through his next book, while understanding that the public wasn’t as happy with his most recent release as his publisher’s would’ve liked. He’s also trying to navigate the waters of his on-again-off-again relationship. Is she a friend? Is she more? When a figure appears. He realizes he knows who it is, but tells himself that’s impossible, until the figure, Ewan, shows up at his home and barges in.
It’s here that Nevill really begins the novel proper. Seb at first is annoyed, then frustrated, then angered at this intrusion. He’s anal, OCD and a perfectionist and everything the opposite of Ewan. They clashed as roommates in University and now, his intrusion has amplified everything Seb hated most about the man. But it’s the story that Ewan wants to share that slowly begins to whittle away at Seb. And with the story comes the ‘incidents.’ This is where Nevill really shines and where he does that thing Adam does – a one or two sentence pop of sheer fright, complete darkness that will make even the hardiest of readers reach for the light switch.
The story progresses as we learn more about the history of this association that Ewan has gotten involved with, as well as the ‘Master’ one M.L. Hazzard, as he comes to understand that this was more than a group of people interested in attempting to visit another plane of existence, that this was a cult and that they appeared to have become successful in their attempts. So much so, that they’ve achieved a sort of immortality, where time moves different in other astral realms and as such, they are able to still visit our here and now.
Throughout, Nevill illustrates the decay of Seb. From straight-as-a-board, even single detail to his precision, to a disheveled, unshaven, unbathed transient who has stayed awake for days on end and no longer has concerns for personal hygiene. Seb sees an escape, a way out, but as we often know, when dealing with a mad man at the helm of a cult – someone craving power and followers – the details can subtly change and no matter how well the exit strategy is, they are a dozen steps ahead.
I felt claustrophobic the entire time I read this novel. I was constantly thinking about it while not reading it. I was remembering moments of my time engaged with the depraved people in the cult I was researching. I shuddered thinking about how they would live in squalor in the hopes of achieving ascension, immortality and when Adam introduced the and developed the two women characters, who played such a pivotal role, I was reminded of the leaders whom the followers looked up to in my own situation and how they worked so hard to manipulate those who were mentally weaker and those whom they could control.
The ending branches into a very well executed ‘meta-ness.’ I won’t discuss it too far into detail, other then it was a really enjoyable conclusion seeing how Nevill also manipulated Seb.
Two last things I’ll mention here.
First – it was wonderful to see the inclusion and connectivity between this novel and ‘Last Days’ with the Temple of the Last Days being mentioned several times. (And a nod to Hasty for the Dark.)
Second – on the surface, you could take this as purely a novel about a man who is forced into a position to act as a ‘vessel’ to complete the tasks (under constant threat of blackmail/death) in order to bring this cult to a wider audience. OR. Or, you could read this as an allegory of Adam Nevill the author himself. If we place Adam as Seb, maybe this was the story of a writer struggling to break free of the chains of being a writer. We see an agent, we see the use of Pan MacMillan itself within the book, and we see these two women who seemingly take over Seb and his life near the ending. All and all, it could be a way for Adam to communicate to use readers that he had reached a potential ending, a way of sharing that with this novel, his last with Pan, that he wanted out, that he was sick of doing a song and dance for his publisher, his agent, and those who constantly tell him what he should write and how he should write it.
I could be stretching things here, but that was the other side of the coin I considered when I had closed the last page and sat back and took a solid few hours of time to contemplate what it was I’d read and how it had connected with me.
What I didn’t like: It’s funny because one of the frequent ‘negatives’ I see in reviews of Nevill’s work is how long his books are and how descriptive they can be. Ironic, considering his last release, ‘The Vessel,’ was a novella and I actually wished it was about twice as long, ha!
But in this case, you won’t find that here. What may ‘annoy’ some readers is the repetitious nature of Seb and Ewan’s initial meet up at Seb’s place, where they go back and forth on things for three dozen pages or so. At first, I rolled my eyes, longing for progression, but when I analyzed it at that moment, I understood – that was how things would ACTUALLY occur in real life. So, push past that section if you find it a slog, things ramp up quickly from there.
Why you should buy this: At this point in time, I don’t think Adam Nevill really needs me to try and convince you to buy any of his books. His novels are modern day classics and he steadily bridges the gap between the old guard and the way they told stories and the new group of writers and how they write their tales. For this particular book, which I don’t see much on social media in comparison to his other novels, Nevill went darker than even a lot of his darker books. This takes the ‘developing rabies’ full-throttle approach of ‘Last Days’ and pairs it with the smoldering ‘something’s in the shadows’ dread of ‘No One Gets Out Alive.’ Nevill is a modern master, his own Hazzard if you will, who conjures the deepest scares through the barest of sentences. I’ve never read another author like Adam. One who injects a mass market story with black metal aesthetic.
I can’t rave about this one enough and honestly, I’m hard pressed to decide where this one fits into my list of ‘Best Nevill Books’ because they all fill me with the same mix of dread and joy. An outstanding novel by one of the best writers out there and a writer who continues to club us over the head with new and exciting releases. Just don’t sleep on his back catalog at all.
5/5