Snag Your Copy Highway To Hell By Alex Laybourne Issued As Manuscript

to Hell by Alex Laybourne
This is a fictional story that encompasses mans sinful nature, damnation, judgment, heroism and redemption, It is a story that is part thriller, horror, and scifi rolled into one, It will keep you thinking from beginning to end, what is going to happen to the characters, It is the first of a series to be written and you will want to find out what happens next when you finish reading this book.
It tells the tale of six main characters who all die in the beginning of the book, but their end is far from over ,in fact without revealing too much about the plot their existence is just beginning.
Marcus, Helen, Sammy, Graham, Becky, and Richard are people just like you and me who lead different lives with different experiences to different ends, and different beginnings.


I found this book to be fascinating, the characters are so well detailed that you can get sucked into their thoughts ,you really will have no doubt that they could be real.
The emotions expressed in their lives, deaths, and the hereafter will throw you for a loop, I was intrigued by the thought process that this author demonstrates in writing this, I found this book nothing short of amazing and well written, It would be terrifying if parts of this novel were real, The story could be believable as some parts are based on Biblical history and the descriptions of Hell will scare the heck out of you to put it mildly.


It is a novel that should be strictly labeled as for adults as there are many graphic situations, violence, and adult language throughout the book.
I look forward to the author releasing the next in the series,

At the start of the book the reader is introduced to a few characters that all seem to die a brutal and untimely death.

Here I started to fear that this might be a confusing book to follow with so many characters introduces in such a short span of time.
My fears were unfounded.
The reader is taken into hell with some of these characters, literally, Their stomach turning torture

is devised and each individual goes through torture that no living person would survive, good thing they are dead, This part of the book is really dark and deeply disturbing and I really liked the dark edge to the story even if it got to be a bit drawn out for me at times.
Here is the first really funny irony, Every time I got to the point where it got to be a bit much for me and too drawn out the author managed to bring me back to reality and make me see that these poor protagonists is actually physically suffering through this day after day, night after night for decades at a time.
So in this aspect the author did a brilliant job in getting some of the true tribulation through to the reader,
Then the torture is over, at least the type the protagonists and the reader have come accustomed to, A new set of torture is introduced, We find two of our protagonists caught up in a maze with no idea of where they are heading or why, But go, they must, as they navigate the maze to a destination unknown they meet up with others and by the end of this section the reader is left with six main protagonists! The second irony,people are saved from Hell, see where I am going with this
These types of hidden ironies can be find everywhere in the book and really adds substance to the story.

Then enters the Angels, The beings of hope and love and promise of light, but they are not all they seem to be and they saved our six protagonist to go on a quest for the lines between good and evil is no longer clear, enemies once were brothers and little is as it seems.

The cliff hanger ending to this book ensured that I will definitely read the next book, I need to know who they need to find and why.

WaAr I picked this up on a whim and didn't really know what to expect but after a bit of a slow start I really got into the story and found it really gripping.
Then the ending happened, talk about a cliffhanger! I had to check to see if this was part of a series as it leaves it so open it really feels like there should be more to come apparantly there's not.
Once you get past the first couple of chapters that introduces and kills off the main characters, Laybourne really goes to town with the descriptions of Hell and the tortures suffered there, detail that many will find too graphic and disturbing but I thought was really well done and well thought out as each matched the characters and their transgressions.
I also loved the portrayal of angels, which was far darker and to me more believable than the usual approach taken, An excellent read but not for the fainthearted, Marcus is a cop. Becky is a crack whore, Helen is a manicurist. Sammy is a construction worker, Richard is a playboy. Graham is an old man, They all come from different backgrounds, They live in different countries and even at different times, Unfortunately, they are all dead, Except, what seems to be the end is only the beginning,

Strangers to each other, these people meet in the most horrific place imaginable Hell, One by one, they are forced to face their past and admit to their sins, And when this is done, they are sentenced to spend eternity in various torture chambers this is where you, my dear reader, get a chance to relive gore, and I suspect that some fans of Stephen King might appreciate it.


Sometimes the story moves fast, keeping you on the edge of your seat, fascinating you with its intensity, And then it slows down, making you wonder why such a slow pace and overwhelmingly detailed narrative,

It is a horror novel all right, And let me tell you that you get plenty of detailed, gory, picturesque horror that might turn your stomach, If you like horror, this book is for you,
Fast moving enough to make you want to hang onto your seat, scary and believable storyline, Really enjoyed the ride. Do we care about people who we think should go to Hell when they die
Maybe, we should learn to care,
The characters in this novel: Marcus is a police officer, Becky is a promiscuous woman who uses crack cocaine, Helen is a manicurist. Sammy works in construction. Richard is a wealthy man who behaves irresponsibly and is sexually promiscuous, Graham is an elderly man, They are all different in many ways except that they are all dead and in Hell together, They are strangers with one common thread: The destiny of the world will be decided by their actions or lack thereof,
In some places the horror in this novel is hard to fathom or read, The depictions of Hell are fictional, but who knows the real horror of Hell, Nobody, who has died and gone to Hell has ever come back to tell us of the atrocities, terror, and torture suffered in the damnation of Hell.

To say the least, Highway to Hell is an interesting read,
Here's a shocker. I don't normally read horror as if you couldn't tell from my reading list, . . but I love supporting new writers and Alex and I met through ROWon Twitter, I have to say I am REALLY Immensely glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one!

The characters are well rounded and well written, each having their own voice.
Their situations are unique unto themselves and yet circle one another throughout the story, The ending was a little shocker for me, I really wasn't expecting it! Now I can't wait to read the next one!

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book.
My idea of hell is pretty straightforward, . . I believe what the Bible says about it, However, I don't think there's anything wrong with changing things around a bit in fiction, Alex Laybourne's idea of hell is frightening, yet appropriate for each individual who has passed into that realm, We get into the minds of the characters and experience the horror right along with them, I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares over this story, The only thing that confused me was the ending, I'm not going to say what it is because I try not to do spoilers, But I realized there is a sequel coming out which should explain questions I have, and now I can't wait to read it and find out more about the journey of each person I met in the first book.
I look forward to reading more by this new author, Alex Laybourne draws on vivid, unrelenting “catholic” visions of a mediaevalist hell as he drives us through a more terrifying, modern version of a Dante Alighieris "Inferno".
As I read the grim horror, of Laybournes dark prose I found myself imagining some inquisitorial preacher spouting a very similar vision of Hell and damnation from his high pulpit, lashing his sinful parish to follow his idea of God through fear for their mortal souls.

In places I found the horror almost too hard, not that a lover of that genre will find it so, There is just too much of the frightened catholic in me to be able to read such works with the necessary degree of personal detachment, You have been warned, to reflect first on your own psyche,
I am glad I struggled through, Actually I felt strangely compelled to keep going as I grew to understand the cleverly constructed victims of the vision, Eventually I reached a point whereby I started to appreciate Laybournes mastery, and get a feel for the directions the following books may take, A modern version of the “Divine Comedy”, moving on from the inferno, is what I expect, But what Laybournes intriguing writing will actually show us, I cant wait to see,
This is a technically well written book, though certain passages would have benefitted from another edit, The grammatical flaws that remain take nothing away from the flow of his very readable style, The errors are just a reflection of the fact that like so many of our best modern authors, Laybourne has to write without the degree of support that the publishing industry now only provides for a very few chosen “thinkers” and a gang of “celebrity notables”.
Overall, the final edit is solid, and the art work of the cover is a clever reflection of the books story,
An exceptionally good start to a series that was ultimately ruined by the ending that wasn't, . . it just stopped suddenly with everything left up in the air and with no further books on the horizon, Scary, thrilling, don't shut the lights off, wait, what was that sound, oh yeah, where was I Do you want a spine tingling roller coaster ride

I used to love horror novels when I was a teen, but then when I became older I was more interested in books that were mostly romantic with a bit of fright.
Alex Laybourne reminded me why I loved horror so long ago, Because it is fun to be scared from the safety of my couch with my precious fuzzy blanket to protect me,

I don't believe in giving spoilers, so I won't go into detail, but if hell is really the way Laybourne created it, then we all better be saying our prayers before bed.
Imagine the smell of decaying flesh, imagine having your, . . uhhh private parts never mind. Imagine seeing the ones you left behind on earth suffer in misery when you're gone and you can't change that,

This book is for adults, I won't allow my "oh so curious" young teens the chance to read it until they are much older, BUT, adults if you want to read a novel with fascinating, detailed characters, and pacing that is so perfectly crafted that you can't pull yourself away.
Give this book and yourself a shared mutual gift, For the low cost I paid for it on Smashwords, it is worth every penny, .