Review: "The Lurking Man" by Keith Rommel

Cailean, a self-pitying alcoholic; a failure as a wife, mother, and person, finds herself in a strange place, in conversation with an even stranger person, Sariel.  Forced to relive events in her tortured life before she dies, she comes face-to-face with the demon that lives inside her; an evil that has consumed her since childhood.

Keith Rommel’s The Lurking Man is a tale that is both chilling and touching as he takes us back and forth in time during Cailean’s voyage of self-discovery. The dialogue in a few places comes across as a bit stilted, and in at least one chapter, I got lost as to whether the events being described were past or present, but overall I found this to be a fascinating story of redemption and revenge.

The line between life and death becomes blurred in Rommel's deftly-written tale. As Cailean struggles with the realization that much of what has plagued her in her life has been of her own doing, the reader is pulled ever deeper into the whirlpool of her out-of-control life. I found myself rooting for her success, despite the way she's painted as a thoroughly unlikable person in the early part of the story.

The Lurking Man defies categorization – it in fact probably belongs to a genre all its on. It’s science fiction, fantasy, and with a bit of dialogue polishing, literary, all rolled into one.  This is not a book for the faint-hearted; it's gritty reality - even with some of the stilted dialogue - is likely to make many uncomfortable, but it shows life 'like it is.' Highly recommended reading.