THE CAVERN BY ​ALISTER HODGE -BOOK REVIEW

Unfortunate cave explorers end up on the menu for a vicious aquatic creature
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Alister Hodge, either riskily or bravely, provides full disclosure of what lurks within The Cavern in the opening chapter. Because of this early revelation a fair bit of suspense goes out the window as the reader knows exactly what awaits the next group of unfortunate explorers when they start their thirty-meter descent into an uncharted underground cave recently discovered on the land of a local Australian dust-bowl farmer. Desperate for cash, Mr Anastas rents access to his property, and there are plenty of amateur explorers willing to take up his offer. 
 
Chapter one of The Cavern introduces and quickly kills off Jim and Beth who are the first, they think, to explore this remote cavern in the Outback. They are very gorily despatched, so this opening twenty pages will tell you exactly whether this is the sort of book you fancy reading as there is plenty more of the same to come. After venturing deeper and deeper they hear weird clicking noises and make a nervous reference to a creature called the ‘Miner’s Mother’ which the local barman earlier joked (or warned?) them about. Whilst exploring an amazingly beautiful cavern their equipment mysteriously disappears and Beth swears she sees a child causing a ripple in the water. Following the child, which is obviously something else, both are brutally killed and eaten by a horrific monster. If you like this kind of thing read on.
 
Although The Cavern builds a convincing story and conspiracy around the ‘Miner’s Mother’ the reader simply knows too much too soon and it was relatively easy to predict where the story is heading. The young, keen and intelligent members of the Australian Caving Association, who are looking for a few exciting days away from the city, are destined to be stalked in the belly of the cave. The only suspense is deciding who of the party is going to end up at lunch and who will be dinner.
 
The main characters are young couple Ellie who specialises in Geology; Sam who is a paramedic but has nervous issues with underground swimming and Frida who is a biologist and an expert on cave ecosystems. They intend to use a computer system called Zebedee to 3D map the cave with the help of local cave experts Aaron and Max. They ignore the early warning signs, having heard of another couple who disappeared from the cave system a month earlier. A big mistake; refer back to Jim and Beth.  
 
Throw into the mix Jack Horwith, a broken-down Vietnam Veteran who now works in the local bar, local ghost tours, a deeper conspiracy involving both the town, its residents, and the creature there is fair bit going on and although predictable it would be unfair to call The Cavern boring. It certainly is not.  At various points the novel is even seen from the point of view of the creature and there are some imaginative and explicit kill scenes.
 
The Cavern was solid underground horror which although it was entertaining reminded me of many other probably better books with a similar underground setting. A few of my favourites include Scott Sigler’s Earthcore, Jeff Long’s The Descent, Nick Cutter’s The Deep, and Tom Walsh’s Nogglz. All four of those novels wisely kept their monsters shrouded from the reader until much deeper into the book and one wonders how The Cavern would have panned out if the ‘Miner’s Mother’ was introduced in a similar fashion? In 2018 Ginger Nuts of Horror ran a feature on Underground Horror and if you want to read more follow the link:
 
http://gingernutsofhorror.com/features/going-underground-horrors-which-lurk-below
 
I sped through The Cavern in no time whatever and even though I was fairly sure I knew how things were going to pan out I did enjoy the wild and gory climax where the body-count spirals. The creature was so dangerous and comfortable in its natural habitat you could not help feeling sorry for the poor old potholers. It was trashy and easy-to-read fun which guaranteed to put you off this type of underground exploration for life.
 
Tony Jones

Click here to read our interview with Alister 

THE CAVERN BY ​ALISTER HODGE

When a sink hole opens up near the Australian outback town of Pintalba, it uncovers a pristine cave system. Sam joins an expedition to explore the subterranean passages as paramedic support, hoping to remain unneeded at base camp. But, when one of the cavers is injured, he must overcome paralysing claustrophobia to dive pitch-black waters and squeeze through the bowels of the earth. 

Soon he will find there are fates worse than being buried alive, for in the abandoned mines and caves beneath Pintalba, there are ravenous teeth in the dark. 
As a savage predator targets the group with hideous ferocity, Sam and his friends must fight for their lives if they are ever to see the sun again. 

"The Cavern is a tense and compelling descent into subterranean horror, with characters you will care about in a setting unlike most fiction these days. I've never been a fan of caving, but having read this book, I'm staying above ground in the sunlight forever." - Alan Baxter, author of DEVOURING DARK and the ALEX CAINE SERIES

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