Raven's Gate

He always knew he was different. First there were the dreams. Then the deaths began. When Matt Freeman gets into trouble with the police, he's sent to be fostered in Yorkshire. It's not long before he senses there's something wrong with his with the whole village. Then Matt learns about the Old Ones and begins to understand just how he is different. But no one will believe him; no one can help. There is no proof. There is no logic. There is just the Gate.

First thing you should know is that this is a YA urban fantasy...still if you are an adult and like paranormal, horror stories...you might find this one interesting. I've read this author before and always found him likeable.

Our main character, Matt is a troubled 14-year-old with quiet show more a tragic past. His parents died when he was very young, and he was then raised by an aunt that mostly ignored and neglected him...but was more than happy to send him to a rehabilitation program for troubled teens, after he is arrested for burglary.

Matt's life didn't change much as now he finds himself in the custody of a very odd woman, Jayne Deverill. Matt works on her farm, with only the very strange villagers to talk to. (Lots of strange folks in this story:). After several strange and unusual things begin to happen; like the sound of chanting in the woods, the suspected murder of one of the villagers on the farm, Matt turns to the news reporters when the police pay absolutely refuse to believe his version of what happened.

Matt on his quest to find someone to listen to him and believe his story meets Richard, who is a journalist in the nearby town. Richard helps him unravel the mystery of the evil cult that Jayne Deverill is running and uncovers the cult's plan to open "Raven’s Gate", and allow the horrors that it houses to again roam the earth. Matt soon realizes is that he is filled with dormant power and is the key to opening Raven's Gate.

This book hardly ever stops to take a breather. It's filed with continuous action, and a mystery that makes the reader continue reading. Eating and sleeping are over-rated activities!

Our Matt is a very relatable character that teens may relate to more than adults, since the way he deals with his circumstances speaks more to the young adult audience. Matt is a victim of his circumstances, he's misunderstood or simply ignored by all the adults he encounters in his life, and he is forced to adapt in order to survive, He goes from a troubled teen to a hero. At the beginning of the book, you will be overwhelmed by all his bad choices, but by the end, you will be cheering for him.

This story is a creepy combination of an isolated village, spooky woods, and some really strange residents...but it also adds a touch of magic. There are some sinister undertones, but that is what creates the book’s alluring intensity. show less

Two words: freaking awesome!

I had high expectations for this novel, since it is written by the guy who brought us Alex Rider. I wasn’t disappointed. The thing I liked most about the novel was the action. It can easily be compared to the Alex Rider series, and is exciting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. The horror isn’t shabby either. Horowitz’s style of writing is so vivid, you can really feel the chaos and doom happening, especially during the climax.

The plot meanders a little during the first half of the novel, then picks up pace during the second half. The plot twists are somewhat predictable, but they kept my interest the whole time. The characters, sadly, don’t develop much, save for Matt. He’s what you’d show more expect him to be – a flawed teen who discovers he’s a hero destined to save the world, complete with a dysfunctional background. I’m impressed by how the characters manage to draw emotions from readers, ranging from pity to disgust.

Gripping and suspenseful, fans of horror and action should definitely check out Raven’s Gate. Do note that it may not be suitable for younger readers, since there are quite some gruesome moments. show less

Raven’s Gate is quite different from Horowitz’s earlier Alex Rider series – and probably targeted at an older age group. This red and black book is bursting with red blood and black magic, and instead of teenage spies and hidden gadgets, there are powers of telekinesis and precognition. There is no less action or peril, but it comes from different places. Raven’s Gate employs good old ‘Castle Dracula’ style horror – Matt begins to notice horrible things about his surroundings that suggest he is in danger, but when he tries to escape, he finds that he is a prisoner, and must outwit his captors to save his own life. It has been done before, but Horowitz puts a new spin on it and recreates it brilliantly. The descriptive show more language and surroundings of Lesser Malling could only be described as ‘creepy,’ and the customary growing sense of dread will make readers wonder why Horowitz didn’t start writing horror earlier.

In my opinion, Raven’s Gate can compete easily with Stormbreaker and Point Blanc – but Skeleton Key and Eagle Strike are such exciting books that Horowitz has only just failed to top them. Perhaps he is slightly more at home in a world of sharks, grenades and MI6 agents – if only a little bit. Raven’s Gate may have just as much action and peril as the Alex Rider series, but Horowitz fans may find themselves thinking that it could have been a little more intense and thrilling.

The fear and realism in Raven’s Gate is helped along especially by the number of failures that Matt experiences. Time and time again, he makes an attempt to free himself from Lesser Malling, or alert the police to his situation, but somehow, Mrs Deverill always seems to win through. While most authors would have Matt whip out his magic powers and blow his captors to bits, (a typical fantasy quick-fix,) Horowitz restrains himself, and the novel benefits immensely from it. Not only does it boost the novel’s realism and make the story more convincing, it also adds weight to the overall feeling of despair and hopelessness which fuels the book’s horror feel. This kind of expertise is not something you come across in every book you read.

Suspenseful and vivid, Raven’s Gate is a definite must-read for fans of horror books and thrillers. Highly recommended. show less

"Do you really think it's so crazy to draw parallels between the power of the nuclear bomb and the power of black magic?" [he added] "Do you really believe that a weapon capable of destroying cities and killing millions of people in a few seconds is so removed from the devil's work?"

From lines like 'blood is the most powerful energy' to the general use of poorly written cult and witch lore, this book really gets you interested and then drops your hopes in the bin. We have our protagonist sent to live with Mrs. Deverill(guess what she's like just by her name) and it's all downhill from there.

So where should I start? I think with the beginning. The book starts really well, we have a protagonist who is likable, a bit mixed up with the show more wrong people, but it's obvious he's a bit of an odd kid. His friend and him make bad decisions and from there things are handled decently. Then he gets his sentence and it begins to erode.

There is always something to be said about a book you can skip or skim pages of and lose nothing of worth in doing so. Action scenes feel loose and silly, a lot of moments feel weird.

We have Noah, he's a special guy, as in he's slow and works with farm animals, gee, that's not offensive or a problem to read at all, and it's poked at enough to make me realize halfway the guy is actually mentally handicapped and it's being used as a punchline.

We got Richard, he denies it all, magic's around him and stuff's happening and he denies it completely. Yep, what a good character, and yet he's the only likable one next to Matt, the protagonist. How optimistic. Though, honestly, I'd love to read the whole thing through his POV or even read more about him. I doubt I will get to do so.

Matt, our prophecy child who has powers - or maybe he doesn't, that come and go like the wind. He can see the future, or maybe not. Has sixth senses, and sometimes says things that point to contradict what was written in past chapters. Or becomes a mess of run on sentences and telling/showing that becomes boring by the time the action comes.

And we have everyone else, who exist to die, be killed, or be the bad guy somehow. Such faces that all act and talk the same you forget their names - and so does Matt! They are so forgettable, even out protagonist forgets their name and spends a few lines trying to recall them.

Now onto what I'm sure people are wondering about. Witches, cults, dark magic, satan talk. Did the book portray any of this in new or original ways?
The answer is no.
It's all evil for the sake of being evil. There's not a single good person among the cult, they're all eager child-murderers and happy to slug people in the face and murder animals. Noah(see above) even talks about how much fun killing animals slowly is, and how he's 'allowed' to. Such lovely imagery, right? It's really not, it holds less horror and more a sense of boredom. Never have I read things like child murder written so boring. And the witches, man, I've seen stereotypes less offensive than this book's done. Witches are evil, speak in tongues, have a black cat who's evil too, and all they want to do is summon Satan. They form cults, they kill kids, they force labor. Even the food they make is gross and witch-like, thick red gravy and chunks of meat cooked in a pot like cauldron food. They are the stereotyped satanists with no actual satanism behind their actions of behavior, so little research went into them, that it's obvious they took the old fashioned outdated stuff and ran with it, thinking it wouldn't read bad.

But oh boy, does it.

This is book one of what I've surmised to be an over three book series and it's got me not willing to pick up the next one. Google says there's five books(of course there is, this is about five kids) and I think I read there's bonus ones and a second saga or something? I'm hoping not.

The only reason this is a two star rating and not a one star is the start was good, a nice start, and the book was not that long, amassing barely over two-hundred-and-fifty pages. Were it any longer, I'd have dropped it there and been done with it without finishing. The ending itself is a set up to the next book. If I ever pick it up, let's hope it's not as bad as this one was. show less

I read this book several years ago and apparently liked it because I gave it 4 stars and remember finding it super scary. But now having reread it I dont know what I was thinking. This book is ableist drivel (disabled people are either icky and "hardly human" or creepy and mystical) and not scary so much as it was gross. Also quite unoriginal with its villans (oh no, evil lady witches with black cats and inverted crucifixes!) and terrible pacing. I used to devour those Alex Rider stories when I was younger but this Horowitz book is a real stinker.

Matt, a troubled 14-year-old, goes a step too far and lands himself in England’s juvenile court system. He opts for a special rehab project that sends him to the countryside, only to find himself trapped in the creepy town of Lesser Malling by Mrs. Devrill whose evil intentions for Matt become quickly apparent.

Raven’s Gate opened well but then faltered. It had a solid premise and strong writing. Matt is a very well-developed character and Horowitz can really build a sense of danger that gets the pages turning.

But, I had two big problems with the book. First, it was almost a self-consciously boy-oriented story. There is absolutely no romance and very few female characters except for evil old ladies.

But its worst flaw is that it show more descends into random action at the end. In the best thriller stories, the action is surprising but makes sense. It arises out of the decisions of the characters. Too much in Raven’s Gate just seems to happen.

Raven’s Gate wasn’t for me. However, I suspect some readers might really enjoy this dark adventure. I consider Raven’s Gate to be “horror-light”—not as terrifying or gruesome as something Stephen King might write—but scary and evil enough to make for some chilling reading. show less

Matt made a mistake trusting his new friend Kelvin, and now he has to pay for it by working at the farm of some old crazy woman. It's that or jail. His new foster parent is more than she at first appears, as are the townspeople in Lesser Malling, and now Matt has found himself in the middle of a battle between good and evil. He should have chosen jail.

This book is exactly what it is meant to be; hence the high rating. Raven's Gate is interesting, easy to read, full of action, and mysterious enough to get me primed for the next book in the series. I read the book in three short hours, and it kept my interest the whole time.

Horowitz said he likes to think of Raven's Gate as Stephen King for kids, and I would have to agree. The plot calls show more for blood and violence and Horowitz delivers in a style toned down just enough for young adult readers. show less