The Descent - by Jeff Long (Paperback)

About the Book

In a cave in the Himalayas, a guide discovers a self-mutilated body with the warning "Satan exists". In the Kalahari Desert, a nun unearths evidence of a proto-human species and a deity called Older-than-Old. In Bosnia, "something" feeds upon the dead in mass graves. So begins mankind's shocking realization that the underworld is populated by another race of beings--and they are waiting to be found.

Book Synopsis

We are not alone. Some call them devils or demons. But they are real. They are down there. And they are waiting for us to find them.

In a cave in the Himalayas, a guide discovers a self-mutilated body with a warning: Satan exists. In the Kalahari Desert, a nun unearths evidence of a proto-human species and a deity called Older-than-Old. In Bosnia, something has been feeding upon the dead in a mass grave. So begins mankind's most shocking realization: the underworld is a vast geological labyrinth populated by another race of beings.

Review Quotes

"An imaginative tour de force...equal parts Ray Bradbury and Robert Stone, Michael Crichton and T.C. Boyle. It is a rip-roaring good read. Jeff Long has written a remarkable novel...that somehow succeeds both as a sober-minded allegory and a nail-biting thriller." --Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air

"Would give Stephen King and Dean Koontz the night sweats. A flat-out, gears-grinding, bumper-car ride into the pits of hell. Jeff Long has delivered what is bound to be this summer's really hot read." --Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers and Apaches

"The Descent is simply the best horror novel since Ghost Story, and, on pure literary merit, it could even be called a masterpiece." --Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"A return to the fantastic epics readers associate with H.G. Wells or Jules Verne...[A] high-spirited tale of good versus evil, faith versus reason, and the power of the human heart to overcome even the darkest obstacles." --Chicago Tribune

"As frightening and exhilarating as anything in heaven or hell...[and] impossible to set down. Part thriller, part horror story and part mystery...an all-engulfing reading experience." --Denver Rocky Mountain News

"Perfect...right out of the stephen king mold, with a touch of Dante's Inferno." --Denver Post

"Deeply piercing terror. A sweeping, dark epic.Entertains the senses and challenges the mind [with] new levels of visual wonder." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Horrific...takes the reader into a Dantesque world, a journey to the center of the earth for the new millennium...Long deftly blends science, myth, and a superb imagination to provide an entrancingly dark novel...a novel for the thinking reader--bright and scintillating, illuminating the darkness it so smartly depicts." --Baltimore Sun

"A dizzying synthesis of supernatural horror, lost-race fantasy and military SF...Like the subterranean trail blazed by its adventurers, the narrative twists, turns, dead-ends and backtracks. Brims with energy, ideas and excitement." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Jeff Long is a veteran climber and traveler in the Himalayas. He has worked as a journalist and an elections supervisor for Bosnia's first democratic election. The Descent is his fourth novel. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.