It starts with reports on the news of an inland lake turning semi-solid.Surely, a media joke, some lame April Fool’s prank?The before and after pictures are vaguely ludicrous and oddly disturbing, the contrast stark and strange.First, darkly rippling water that hints at hidden depths. Slightly spooky and perfectly normal. Next, a putrid blotch of clotted sludge which bears little resemblance to … resemblance to anything aquatic.
It isn’t a joke.
And pretty soon, that greasy, sickening substance isn’t confined to an inland lake.
It’s spreading. Flowing over fields and filling streets.
Each morning brings a new revelation. Countryside denuded of life and towns empty and echoing.
The night is when it changes, becomes something that consumes. Something infinitely worse than a congealed impossibility.
CONGEAL is a short tale of apocalyptic horror. How the world ends may not be how you expect. Nuclear Armageddon or a zombie apocalypse could get beaten to the punch.
Our apocalypse may come from below.
An ancient, cosmic entity bubbling up to the surface in search of food.
It’s also the story of one individual and her fight to stay afloat in a sea of despair.
more
4.5/5
John F. Leonard has quickly become one of my go-to authors. He puts out quality releases and his interconnected Scaeth Mythos he’s developed have always been fun. Saying that – I still haven’t read Bad Pennies, the origin tale of all the books I’ve read since. This is something I really need to fix.
Congeal is both a standalone story but also a follow up to The Bledbrooke Works.
I enjoyed this subtle nod to the ongoing apocalyptic story that John has developed, but I also enjoyed the afterword where he discusses that this could simply be one trajectory that occurs. A fascinating idea.
Overall I enjoyed this story. Post-apocalyptic stuff is hard for me to enjoy lately. I think The Walking Dead really crushed my enjoyment of it but Leonard actually asked some of the questions real folks would ask; “What happens when we run out of toilet paper? Or out of food? Nobody is producing any more, nothing is being bottled, and it’s not like we can Google instructions or search the internet for how to do the stuff we’ve never been taught.”
That has been my ongoing issue with a lot of post-apocalyptic stuff and I’m glad to see it written down like this for once. Now, don’t get me wrong, Congeal is still post-apoc through and through.
The story picks up just after the incident alluded to in ‘The Bledbrooke Works.’ We are introduced to Amelia and follow her from the beginning to the end of the story.
The Clag as it’s become known is a gelatinous blob that is all-consuming and as the reports start to come out, many people are in disbelief. Believing this to be a made-up news story or a practical joke. Soon though, as everyone becomes impacted by the ‘thing’ they start to believe. Leonard does a great job of helping us feel that sense of unease growing and then when reality hits we are thrust into some great action.
The ending of the story is a great think point, one that is nicely set up and I was glad to read that afterword. Originally I was going to rate this book 4 out of 5, simply because I felt John had written himself into a corner and there wasn’t anywhere to go from here. Another post-apoc tale told and man has reached his ending, but that small sliver of opening added at the end that he tucked in was well played and let me see the story breathe at the end.
I’m excited to see what John comes up with next and as I wrote in my last review of one of his books, I really do need to read Bad Pennies!
Congeal by John F Leonard is a post-apocalyptic horror story which I chose to read as a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team. I received a copy from the author but this does not affect my review at all.
I think this is the longest story I have read from this author but the pace is unrelenting throughout. Congeal is the stuff of nightmares. You know, those ones in which you are being chased by something that doesn’t tire when you do, and which may subside during daylight but by night returns bigger than before.
At the beginning of this story we meet Amelia, who is running, along with Pete, who definitely annoys her, but then her choice of company is limited so beggars can’t be choosers. There were more in their group but that number dwindled in ways that you need to read the book in order to discover.
As always with Leonard, the writing is a joy to read, each turn of phrase or descriptive passage a delight and I highly recommend this to all who like their reading to be on the dark side.
4.5 stars
Another fine novella that fits perfectly into the limited space – I do appreciate writers who understand how to use the shorter format so well.
Amelia had a happy life with a man she loved, but then the Clag arrived; now she’s stuck in a deserted city with a guy she can’t stand, as nasty slimy stuff from the deep bowels of the earth rises up to swamp the world….
Having just read two post apocalyptic novels that centred round human relationships and practical survival, Congeal underlined to me how many subsections this genre has; this one is far into the ‘horror’ end. Amongst its many strengths, I liked the short, sharp prose style, so appropriate for the horror and despair of Amelia’s situation, though not without dry humour. I also enjoyed that those in the group with whom she found herself trying to survive―a standard in all PA stories―were not all of the likeable, resourceful, charismatic variety, as they so often are; indeed, Pete, Maurice, Yvonne and the others were types she would have avoided like the plague (pun intended) in real life.
A good ending, too―I had no clue about Amelia’s fate, even by 95%. Anyone who has read the author’s recent novella The Bledbrooke Works will enjoy the connection between the two, but both are entirely stand alone. Oh, and one more thing – in the flashbacks to Amelia’s pre-apocalypse life, she refers to her mother as ‘Mom’, several times. As she is English, living in England, and her story is written by a British author, I questioned this – out of place American English is one of my ‘ouches’, but apparently it’s a Birmingham-Irish thing, as well. Just making this point, in case it’s one of your ‘ouches’, too.