• http://www.gothicrevue.com/Basenji.html

    I found this looking around yesterday…...pretty strange.:eek:


  • wow, the review sounds like all of the training issues revealed in a deep gothic horrific storry…LOL


  • here are some reviews I found on that gothic basenji book:

    Customer Reviews
    By Gricel Castineira - See all my reviews
    The Basenji Revelation is an exceptional book. The horror portion of the book is genuinely scary. The author uses a combination of heart-pumping
    action scenes, mythological references, and rich vocabulary to make the reader feel each action of the protagonist. An example is the nightmare Maggie has right before her husband lapses into his first public display of madness. For me, this episode remains one of the rare, truly frightening pieces of literature I've personally read. However, horror was not the only thing that attracted me to this book. I've been toying with the idea of getting a basenji breed for about a year. I
    wanted to learn more of this particular breed, especially about its origin. When I searched online, I found good information on Wikipedia and there I read about Simon Cleveland's book. The book is rich with historical and mythological details about the breed and its link to the Egyptian culture and religion. What's really fascinating is how the author links modern society with the ancient people. In the character of Sam he reveals more than just a burnt out workaholic with mental issues. Sam is a product of the impacts of modern technology and cultural values. The wife's character, Maggie, symbolizes the natural human response to mental illness, mainly the desire to help and the confusion or lack of knowledge on how to achieve that. The book never failed to entertain me. The end is probably what I found the most compelling. It suggests much greater symbolic meaning to the book than the dramatic conclusion and I think that any reader would be impressed with it.

    I thought it was amazing, June 15, 2006
    By Ivy Timber (Canada) - See all my reviews
    I can still hear the call of the Basenji. I have a basenji in fact. No wonder it's called the barkless dog, it sounds like a female crying. This book gives a new meaning to mythological horror. It's both a contemporary mystery and psychological thriller, except it has a fully developed historical research to tie it nicely to the overall story. Before I bought it I read one of the reviews below that said something like: Try not to read it with the lights off and something about giving you the shivers. Both are very true. In one of the scenes where the psychologist is alone with the Basenji in the middle of the night, boy it freaked me out. Does anyone know anything about the Rosetta stone? Are the creature's phrases really based on the Demotic and Coptic languages from the ancient Egypt? Wow, what a book.

    Hungry for horror in the style of 'The Mummy'? Look out King, June 2, 2006
    By Juryduty "Stan" (USA) - See all my reviews
    This is one of the best books I've read in a while. The story seizes you immediately from the start and before you know it, you're turning the last page. This author has a wild imagination, that's for sure. There's a fully developed horror story around a 6,000 year-old Egyptian deity and the final revelation made the heirs on the back of my neck stand.
    The way he explains some of the scenes, I felt as if I was part of the action. Definitely gets a high score in my book.

    reader from pa, April 14, 2006
    By reader from pa - See all my reviews
    I found this book an intruiging read. I disagree with another reader about giving the breed a bad name. I own a basenji myself, and anyone that owns or has been around them knows they're sweet, clever, silly little dogs. I don't think any less of St. Bernards because of "Cujo".

    Powerful symbolism - frightful yet thought provoking, February 8, 2006
    By Reader from Virginia - See all my reviews
    There are few books written in the horror genre that deserve special attention. These are the treasures that possess both the power to frighten and the capacity to compel by responding to the reader's expectations and fears. The Basenji Revelation is one of these rare treasures. Simon Cleveland had fashioned a powerful drama, which although supernatural in its core never escapes actual human reality. The story is quite interesting. It combines elements of both the mythical and the modern as it charms the readers with a rich history. In the end, the author's message goes beyond the unexplained. It leaps forward in search of the symbolic nature of the super human - the one who ultimately becomes aware of all life's mysteries. And it is this leap forward that transitions the Basenji Revelation out of the routine realm of horror and marries it with the one of magical realism. A very, very good read indeed.

    Questioning existence , May 9, 2005
    By P. Keller - See all my reviews
    Uncertainty in the outcome of existence - is this not the plague of reality? The Basenji Revelation is in essence a wake-up call to the sleepy human, whose only chance of reason is hidden in the mystical, the metaphysical, the supernatural. Helplessness, exhibited in the actions of the beings is nature at its best. Confusion in the world of chaos is nothing new, but just a simple emotion, another breath of air. Why wonder at the unexplained, why despise the evil or suffer the pain of restlessness? Why not accept the unacceptable and praise the ancient in its simplicity and cruelness? The novel is a work of the existential, a look at the reality of the unreal, of the nothingness of life. It's a parody of the illusion and at the same time a plea for authenticity. The book is recommended to all who wonder and at the same time are grounded in their beliefs of sound reason and the irreversibility of logic.

    Malignment of the basenji breed., April 26, 2005
    By Lurcorsr "lurcorsr" (OK) - See all my reviews
    I was very disheartened to find that the basenji character was so maligned as written in this book, and in the end the basenji was beaten and shot to death. Certainly not a good promotion for the basenji breed or any breed, for that matter.

    Would make a great movie! , February 10, 2005
    By a Washington reader - See all my reviews
    Good plot line, great potential as a writer. Would've liked to see a more subtle handling of Sam's transformation, and a little more development on the love-interest parts. Would make a great movie!

    By Diana (FL, USA) - See all my reviews
    We've all heard the warning that you never really know someone, it goes along with the warning that inevitably in a relationship people will grow and change. Of course we never expect these changes to be drastic; to the extreme that the person is totally different than the person we love. This is where Maggie Johanek finds herself. After the death of his mother, a prominent archeologist, Sam Johanek is changing in drastic and disturbing ways. His memories of his life before the event are missing, he has gone from a vegetarian to craving raw meat, and he wakes in the night from horrid dreams to sleep walk and talk. But most of all his temperament is far from docile, to the point that his wife, Maggie, is afraid of him. In desperation she seeks out the help of a psychologist who happens to have a connection with a colleague hot on the trail of an archeological find that may well be related to the strange behavior. The answers they seek may not lie directly in his mother's death so much as they do in her parting gift to her son, the basenji dog she left in his care. Time is running out for all as they race to find the answers before it is too late. This is an action packed thriller that will have readers white knuckled and holding their breath as they travel to far away places in search of answers that they may not want to find. The settings are rich and the history is utterly fascinating. Simon Cleveland has created a cast of characters that are so believable readers will truly feel every emotion they do as the story takes them on a thrill ride not letting go until the gripping conclusion. Due for December release this book will make a perfect gift for all that love a great read regardless of genre. I am duly impressed and give Mr. Cleveland the highest praise for accomplishing the difficult task of composing such a compelling thriller. I do hope all my readers will heed my warning: this is one book you don't want to miss and try not to read it with the lights off.


  • I just ordered it 🙂 I will let y'all know how it is!


  • Oh crap…I just read the reviews....maybe I don't want to read the ending 😞


  • Haven't read it myself but on another basenji list a couple of people read it, it got very negative reviews. Not much really about the basenji, poorly written and dumb story line is the way I remember it, a "don't waste your money" review. Too bad, any novel involving a basenji should be wonderful!
    Anne in Tampa


  • I have this book and read it, a little odd, but I LOVED it, very edge of seat. Now the basenji is not the main character but he has a impact on the storyline and is in there.


  • I received this book for my birthday and I'm reading it now. It's not bad. It's not a great read but I'm stilling anxiously waiting to see what is going to happen in the end.

    I did love a part about the basenji and the legend was that the basenji would hold the owner's secrets and therefore became barkless. It was written much better than I wrote it, but I loved that part.

    Okay, let me type it out (I'm at work right now).

    "Another curious characteristic was the Basenji's mysterious eyes and intent look. An old legend even declared the ancestors of the Basenji able to talk. Legend stated that a Basenji, once empowered with owner's secrets, decided to keep silent forever. Thus, the secrets and any clues related stayed with the dog. From that time on, all Basenji remained barkless."


  • @Basenji_Boy:

    http://www.gothicrevue.com/Basenji.html

    I found this looking around yesterday…...pretty strange.:eek:

    that sounds really creepy.


  • Ooooohh….aaahhhh..how creeepy 😃


  • the Heart of Savannah is a prequel to August Majic, so you read August majic first? right?? lol..


  • Savannah is Magic's mother, so maybe you might want to read heart of Savannah first. just got August Magic for christmas, oh what a tearjerker of a story, but i loved it. 🙂 do you think it would make a good movie?


  • Have any of you read "Candle" by Sally Ann SMith? what a sweet story, will give you a lump in your throat…my husband ordered Call of the Marsh by Jill Wylie, a copy coming from South Africa. can hardly wait to read it.


  • @felakuti:

    Have any of you read "Candle" by Sally Ann SMith? what a sweet story, will give you a lump in your throat…my husband ordered Call of the Marsh by Jill Wylie, a copy coming from South Africa. can hardly wait to read it.

    I just recently bought "Candle" for my kids. 🙂 Very sweet story.


  • my basenji book from South Africa finally arrived, and i have to rave about it..It's called Call of the Marsh..a story of a young couple raising pet basenjis in the 1950s in Africa, written as a journal. I cant say enough for this wonderful loving and expressive book. 🙂


  • am trying hard to remember the name of the book

  • Houston

    Felakuti, That books sounds very interesting and wonderful. Were did your husband find it? I would love to get a copy, but can't seem to find it online.


  • Other books with basenjis that you may not know about:

    http://www.amazon.com/Shade-Tree-Piers-Anthony/dp/0812531035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244904249&sr=8-1

    http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Pea****-Other-Stories/dp/0446400556/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244904374&sr=1-2
    (short stories, one with a basenji)

    And I got Call of the March years ago. Loved it. Don't remember where I got it from, but I do know I spent a lot of money on postage.

  • Houston

    Thanks, I will see if I can track down these books.


  • I bought the Basenji Revelation last year!

Suggested Topics

  • 2
  • 10
  • 16
  • 3
  • 11
  • 4