Horror Story with Extraterrestrial Twist

----Sept. 5-7 2003 weekend edition, Tahoe Daily Tribune

Reviewed by Mark Dulyanai

"The Everborn" by Nicholas Grabowsky

The fate of mankind hangs in the balance, evil forces are at work and all that stands between the annihilation of mankind and an alien takeover are a novelist and an enigmatic "grey alien" known only as "The Watcher."  This is the unique and often terrifying world that Sacramento novelist Nicholas Grabowsky launches us into with his latest novel "The Everborn."

The aliens of Grabowsky's "Everborn" are entities that have fallen "from heaven."  They have co-existed with us since the beginning of humanity's birth and have the ability to reincarnate continuously.  In essence they are immortal, but with a decidedly alien twist.  The good alien, the aformentioned "Watcher" teams up with ufologist Max Polito to help save the world from destruction by an ancient evil.  Our evil alien is the Watcher's twin, known as "Scratch."  Scratch no longer has the ability to reincarnate and seeks to be reborn again into the cycle of immortality, but it is unable to do so without the help of a she-demon known as Salvatia.  It is this conflict between these two parties that is central to moving the plot of "The Everborn" to its twisted conclusion.

Grabowsky's writing is at times touching and emotional, however, his real talent is his ability to infuse his writing with a sense of dread and loathing that I have not experienced since H.P. Lovecraft.  At times "The Everborn" has the feel of an "X-Files" episode, at other (very twisted) turns it delves into the psychedelic.  For those of us looking for something new in the alien horror genre, look not to the stars, but look to Nicholas Grabowsky's "The Everborn."

More of what the critics are saying on The Everborn promo page!