I was nervous going into The Final Reconciliation because I had Robert McCammon on the brain. How can I think of a horror story that revolves around music without thinking of McCammon's The Five? I feel bad for any book that has to live up to McCammon, but The Final Reconciliation had no trouble at all! Where McCammon's The Five was about feeling the emotion of music, The Final Reconciliation was about feeling the music itself. (That and some kick ass horror.)I'm a metal head and I fancy myself

As the synopsis indicates, THE FINAL RECONCILIATION, by Todd Keisling, pays homage to the ideas presented in Robert W. Chamber's "The King in Yellow". Even H.P. Lovecraft wrote in reference to Hastur (sometimes referred to as "The Unspeakable One", or "Him Who Is Not to be Named"), and the city of Carcosa. However, Keisling has simply nailed these concepts in a modern day style and setting, using Rock musicians as his "artists". The entire tale is told in the vein of an interview with the on...

This is my first read from Keisling. It definitely won’t be my last. He writes well and easy and doesn’t convolute his work with prose he thinks may impress, much like Koontz. The topic within the pages culls from ideas born in the late 1800s by Robert W. Chambers. Ashamedly, I was unfamiliar with Chambers’ King in Yellow mythos until Keisling breathed his own life into it with The Final Reconciliation--a modernized, rock & roll take on a dangerous and haunting idea. The book reeks of Lovecrafti...

Author Todd Keisling has created a horrific composition in THE FINAL RECONCILATION, combining heavy metal music and horror mythos for a compelling configuration of a novella. It’s a quick-paced and captivating read that craftily builds tension right up to the final bloodbath. A progressive metal band from Southeastern Kentucky parlays a successful EP release into a two-record contract with a major music label. Outside forces, in the guise of an entrancing ethereal groupie, exert a subliminal in

I've been on a bit of a novella kick the past six months. I've consumed titles by authors such as Laird Barron and Stephen Graham Jones, and for the most part loved every single one of them. So I was delighted to see author Todd Keisling continue this trend of excellence with The Final Reconciliation, a creepy and enthralling take on Chambers' Yellow King mythos. Told in an interview narrative, The Final Reconciliation tells the story of the Yellow Kings, a progressive metal band whose members,

It's like reading a Rolling Stone interview...but filtered through Chambers and Lovecraft. What's not to like. I just wish it was longer.

So, as a fellow metal-head, I feel a kindred spirit with Todd as he unfurls The Final Reconciliation, a story about a journalist who is interviewing Aidan Cross. Cross is an aging guitarist who is institutionalized for going off his nut over the tragic show his band played 30 years ago. Aidan was the guitarist of the prog-metal band, The Yellow Kings. After hardcore touring in support of their EP, the band lands a two-album deal and head to Los Angeles to record their official first record. Afte...

“This world is nothing more than a masquerade” “TAKE OFF YOUR MASK” I found this story to be a brilliant, original, modern-day take on “The King in Yellow” mythos. Especially, for those that are into heavy, metal rock bands. The writing was perfect and the setup for the story was excellent. It’s a story told within an interview and the chapters are tracks off the LP. (They actually sound like song titles). I thought I had one of those special, lanyards with backstage privileges that gave me a ve...

Heavy metal and esoteric horror. A splendid marriage sanctified in an abyss.

Keisling's novella here was rad. I read it with the HOWL Society book club, though, I was busy during discussion days and by the time everyone had chimed in already, I had nothing unique to add. So it goes.I also want to thank Keisling for being a cool cat and agreeing to come into the HOWLS server for a Q&A session immediately after the club completed the book. Lots of opinions flew through the air, good and bad, but I thought this was a solid novella. He wrote it five years ago, and I can only...

Review copyFirst, some background on The King in Yellow. Prior to season one of HBO's True Detective series, few people ever heard of Robert W. Chambers or his book of short stories by the same name. According to Wikipedia the book is named after a play with the same title. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and has been described by critics as a classic in the field of the supernatural. There are ten stories, the first four of which mention The King in Yellow, a

4 young rock and rollers from Southeastern Kentucky get in a little bit over their heads, when Johnny the lead singer, takes on a new groupie. The beautiful and mysterious Camilla. She immediately asserts her will over Johnny and the band as they prepare for the release of their groundbreaking first album, The Final Reconciliation. Her influence is undeniable and with her help, “The Yellow Kings” first show is going to be a killer. Literally. It may also be the end of world as we know it. Now th...

Keisling delivers a horrific novella which is equal parts Lovecraft meeting The Omen channeling Clive Barker. The cost a band pays by dealing with powers beyond their control. I would have liked to have seen the story fleshed out a bit more, but as a novella it is quick and to the point and strikes hard as we get the first hand account from the guitarist of the band, Aidan Cross, as he relates the story of his band The Yellow Kings and what happens when they come across a groupie with ever chan

The Build-up is AmazingThe story as told by the protagonist, Aidan, has you wondering why he wasn't the lyricist. Excellent background, and of course the fore shadowing is in the title. Little by little, we are led to The Final Reconciliation, which gives the reader the urge to either scream or read more rapidly. As beloved was sleeping soundly next to me (how can he DO that when I am holding my breath to the point of taking deep gulping breaths when I could no longer hold it) I chose more rapid...

Metal band the Yellow Kings are on their first tour when they meet Camilla Bierce, the woman who will be their downfall...I was tangentially aware of The King in Yellow for years after playing Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying and my interest was further piqued by True Detective. When I read the synopsis for this, I was all in.Told by the lone survivor of the band thirty years in the future, The Final Reconciliation is the tale of the disintegration of a band as they record an album, both pers...

This book has been called Lovecraftian, but I think that's mostly because any book that's described as Lovecraftian automatically sells a bunch of copies. (Note to self: Describe next book as Lovecraftian.) Robert W. Chambers' King in Yellow mythos, which this book is actually based on, is less well known, but I've got to say, it's refreshing to come across a horror novel that isn't Lovecraftian for once. This book stands on its own, so you don't need to have read The King in Yellow first, but i...

The Final Reconciliation is a hard metal symphony of terror.Written in an album format, The Final Reconciliation is a tale of the occult, a gypsy who is more than she seems and a hard metal band trying to make the big time. When The Yellow Kings have the performance of their lives, there is only one survivor.I was delighted to receive an ARC of The Final Reconciliation from Crystal Lake Publishing (link to the Crystal Lake website). This is the third book I've read from Crystal Lake Publishing,

In the late 19th Century, American author Robert W. Chambers wrote a couple of horror stories that have been influential on fantasy, horror, and on a TV crime show (the first--and best--season of True Detective). In the universe of those stories by Chambers, there is a two-act play, titled The King in Yellow, which leads to madness and/or death to those who read it or see it performed.Like the late Joe Pulver, author Todd Keisling eschews rote imitation of Chambers and does creative things with

Taken from: https://thewriterfromthenorth.wordpre...So, it's been awhile, but hello fellow reader nerds! I am back with a review of The Final Reconciliation written by Todd Keisling, as I asked for an ARC copy in trade for a review. I'll give you the skinny before I jump right in. It'll probably be short though, but this review will be full of love (and maybe spoilers? Just read at your own risk).So, as taken from Goodreads:TAKE OFF YOUR MASK.Thirty years ago, a progressive rock band called The

First and foremost, I consider Todd a friend of mine. I am notoriously harder on people I like and respect and I expect them to treat me the same way. This is a good novella. Not great, but good. Todd's newest novel Devil's Creek is something I consider great. Best horror novel by a male writer this year, easy. Now I will explain my gripes.The characters. I'm knocking an entire two stars off for the characters. We receive zero history for this band, no sense of what these guys are like before Ca...