Harden Campbell wishes he could wake up from this nightmare. Cold, alone and locked in a dark room, the first thing he notices is the dead body of his closest friend. That is not the only thing he notices. Harden sees an old typewriter, a stack of white paper and on the top sheet the words “Tell Me A Story.” He knows who it is from and he also knows that his life depends on the story he is about to tell.

“The words of a book mean nothing when they’re just ink on paper. It’s the author you have to believe in, not the message. If the author of the message is believable, the message becomes irrelevant.”

Harden is in his last year of college when he has the misfortune of walking into the path of Wylie, also known as Coyote to most. Coyote has a way a drawing people in. He is charming, friendly, and has an air of confidence about him that Harden lacks. It does not come as a shock that Harden follows Coyote’s lead, even though he knows he shouldn’t. What follows is a cat and mouse game orchestrated by Coyote in his quest for true power.

Coyote is very much a psychopath. We know he is the villain and the author does not make it a secret. I know it may sound a bit weird, but I have always been fascinated with psychopathic behavior. This is probably the reason why I loved the character of Coyote so much. I always wanted to know what makes a psychopath/sociopath tick. How did Coyote become the man he is today. Coyote is cunning. He knows what it takes to get people to believe in him and follow him. He uses his skills to his advantage and knows just who to target.

“Because Harden, in my experience, those who are haunted are the most vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable to what?”
“To everything.”

I especially loved this quote because I have often wondered why people can so easily follow a leader whether its a cult leader, or a religious fanatic. Can anyone be manipulated or is it only the vulnerable? I know this story is fiction, but yet we know this can happen and has happened. Look at Charles Manson and how he got people to do what he wanted of them. I don’t know about you, but I find it fascinating and in a way heartbreaking how someone could easily be led astray in order to believe in something that might not always be in their best interest.

REVELATION is a simple yet brilliantly written story. Carter Wilson takes you on a journey through the past and the present where not everything is as it seems. What you think you know. You don’t. There are so many twists and you will be wondering what is real and what isn’t. The story is just one complete mindf*ck. ( )

Didn't finish. While an interesting setup, too grotesque & gory for me at present ( )

I like that this is essentially a book within a book since the main character is being forced to write his story under duress.

It’s an entertaining psychological suspense that can make you feel a bit uncomfortable in its realism but you want to stick it out through the last page. The book reminds us that too often someone with a magnetic yet psychopathic personality comes along whose only purpose seems to be to find and manipulate others; a fundamental theory of this story told through alternating timelines.

Carter Wilson does a good job in his character development which also caused a bit of an issue for me. Harden, the main character is really not likable because he’s a gullible wimp who would be the perfect kind of prey for a psychopath. You just want to slap him at times which is kind of a problem since he’s the main character who is telling the story but that just goes to Wilson’s cred that he can write a character this good.

The book is graphically detailed to the point it will elicit reactions of shock and anger as it grips your attention and creates a need to see if happy endings can exist in a world where psychopaths go on a spree.

I would definitely recommend this book but not for the squeamish. ( )

All religions have, at their core, a charismatic figure; a leader in whom the masses are willing to put their trust and faith. Perhaps most important, this leader becomes someone whom others often blindly obey. This is the core concept of Revelation. The story is uncomfortably dark in its realism. We see how our human need to find purpose and meaning can so easily be manipulated and twisted by a psychopath with a magnetic personality.

This story is told through two closely linked alternating timelines. The present timeline has Harden locked away with a typewriter and a stack of paper. This part is written in third person, from Harden's perspective. The story he writes becomes the second timeline, beginning when Harden met Coyote at college. This part is written in first person. The switch makes it easy to keep track of where we are in the timeline.

I didn't actually like Harden all that much. He's a bit wimpy, gullible, and definitely a follower. I wanted to shake him out of his stupor. My dislike is not a fault of the author's. Harden's character is well developed and fits with the type of person who might fall prey to manipulation. But because Harden is the narrating character, and the other main characters are even less likable, I did miss the connection that comes when I enjoy spending time with a character I like.

The book is marketed as a thriller, but it reads more like slow-burning psychological suspense. Pacing, particularly through the first half, tends to be lag. We spend a lot of time watching the small group of young men interacting at college, going to parties, looking for girls, getting drunk, etc. While some of this was certainly necessary in order for us to get a feel for their personalities and the developing relationships, I thought the repetition of mundane activity weighed down the story.

Overall, this story offers fascinating insight into leader-follower dynamics, showing us how easily faith and trust can be misplaced by us and abused by those we allow to be in charge.

*I was provided with an advance copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.* ( )