Lesath

Lesath centres around Greg, a nomad in between jobs and living out of his car. He is investigating a strange building out in the sticks, a building surrounded by stories of creepy goings on. Greg believes the building to be derelict, but after falling unconscious outside and finding himself locked in a cell inside the building, he learns that he bears a resemblance to a recently escaped inmate, and will be held there until the inmate is found.

As he tries to find his way out, he starts to believe he is going mad, and things begin to crawl around inside the vents..

Lesath is an eerie psychological thriller that calls back to the Gothic, and really has a feel of Shutter Island about it, where the main character has to navigate the corridors in an attempt to find answers. It’s an expertly crafted horror that will keep you guessing throughout.

From page one, I really identified with the main character and I literally could not put the book down until I reached the end! A great thriller/suspense/horror novel!

Lesath by AM Kherbash is an X-Files-esque read tinged with elements of Shutter Island, Inception, and the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. We mostly follow Greg, an unreliable narrator if ever there was one. A drifter who lives in his truck, and hopes to create a career in free-lance writing, Greg follows hints to a secret facility in Duncastor (or does he?), where he ends up a captive of the place. The facility director, Dr Carver, tells Greg that he must stay in place of an inmate who escaped, and who happens to look exactly like Greg. There are flashbacks to Greg's childhood that alludes to a twin named Ory, and some nameless abuse. Though most of the story focuses on Greg, there are asides following the enigmatic Dr Carver, as well as Holden, a former staff member turned inmate. Greg agrees, albeit reluctantly, but as the days pass, he discovers this is something more than a special correctional facility. Something sinister stalks the shadowed halls. Something hungry.

It reads like a paralysis dream, that foggy liminal state when the brain wakes, but the subconscious still controls body functions, aware and unable to move. A state that can lead to vivid dreams as real as the waking world. Greg, whose twin 'Ory'- Greg/Ory- makes me think that Greg suffers from DIDS, and 'Ory' is a dominant, yet secondary personality manifested to deal with the childhood trauma. A protector figure that resurfaces as 'Grim'. This mysterious doppelganger makes an appearance (or does he?), interacting with others, but never Greg, except one 'shroom worthy encounter that seems to support the DID.

Much of the story is disjointed, which suits its tone and substance. Every page will leave you questioning what is true and what shapes reality, what hides in the dark and what hides in our own inner depths. The ending, too, suits the book, but it left me going AAAHHHH! I wanted to know if my guesses and suspicions were correct, but like Inception, the ending leaves it open for the reader to continue to ponder the possibilities. Are you brave enough to face Lesath? Are you brave enough to face yourself? Enter the shadowed halls of Duncastor, where dreams are reality, and reality tis but a dream.

Overall, a great read. Recommended for those who like psychological thrillers, especially with hints of X-Files, Inception, and Shutter Island, or those who enjoy Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child's works.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and the author for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.


This is for sure a dark and creepy novel. I don't even want to imagine myself in the character's position.. no thanks.

This books is an odd duck but also a hidden gem.
It gives a sense of induced seclusion with curious readers who want to find out what lurks around every corner.
I had trouble ending this book which for me is a sure sign of complete immersion.
It is a sweet nightmare that you can't wait to escape yet to curious to completely wake up from.
It reminds me off an old story called the Keep. Similarity of an eerie setting. I would not want to reveal anymore.

This is a tricky one to write. Lesath is one of the most confusing books I’ve read in a long time, and even by the end I was still completely baffled, trapped in an answer-less void, desperate for more information but a little thankful that it was all over.

But that’s Kherbash’s aim, right? Such is the testament to our authors understanding of his contemporaries, the psychological web is weaved to absolute perfection. We waste no time in Lesath, immediately throwing Greg into a medical ward in the middle of nowhere, forced to remain until a nearly identical escapee is found to take his place, rather than cause chaos in the ward. While Greg agrees to the terms, it’s not long before everything begins to unfold and everything (and everyone) isn’t as it seems.

It’s a fantastic setting, and despite sounding a little cliché, it moves fast enough that it doesn’t allow itself to get bogged down with boring, irrelevant details. The ward is gothy and pulpy, as are the nurses and orderlies, and Greg’s exploring unearths some really well described environments that help stop a single location book from feeling stunted.
Lesath won’t be for everyone, especially considering modern horrors focus on immediate and obvious threats, but the book is one big mind game and its perfectly executed. I absolutely cannot fault Kherbash for his work at nailing a bygone era.

Lesath isn’t a colour-by-numbers horror, it’s difficult to digest and sometimes even harder to read, but it’s also clever fiction that deserves attention. Give it a read, maybe read it again after a few months if you’re lost, but whatever you do, don’t ignore it.

Lesath
by A. M. Kherbash
due 9-30-2019
self-published
4.0/5.0

#netgalley. #Lesath

What a wild ride! This was really creepy, some parts were gory, building atmosphere was really well done. This is a psychological thriller that worked for me, overall.

Greg, a loner living in his car, has heard of an old abandoned building in the forest. Its surrounded by hot wire and broken glass. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he wants to see what's inside the building.
He wakes up inside the building, with gauze on his forehead, in a white room with linoleum floors and a nurse that will not speak.
Eventually Dr. Carver appears to explain to Greh that he was found outside the facility, dressed in a uniform they wear in the building. He resembles a guy that escaped the facility, and to keep everyone peaceful, they tell Greg they want him to stand in as the escaped person until they are found. Greg is given no choice.

Once inside, he learns that this is a facility to house felons you are awaiting parole. They live in a monastery-type environment and are fed red capsules to make lethargic and forgetful. when inmates start disappearing, Greg believes they are being used for an experiment.....
This is just the beginning of Greg's nightmare....
This book will make you think again about what exactly freedom means.
Thanks to netgalley for sending this e-book ARC for review.

I have no Idea what to say about this book. I loved the story and it kept me on my toes with twists and turns and unexplainable events. However, no loose ends were tied up and it ended leaving me with as many, if not more, questions that I started with which was disappointing. I hope this means there will be a second installment.

This book was very different from my usual. Overall, the bulk of the book is confusing and at times challenging to keep track of the time frame. The ending helped piece together the story line without providing all the answers. The author doesn't give much away, just a few tidbits to enhance the mystery and confusion of the reader. Very well done.
I couldn't put it down - the creep factor is 5/5, suspense 5/5, interest 5/5. Seriously - the creep factor.
I love the cover - definitely grabbed my attention and heightened my slight obsession with this book.
I gave it 4/5 due to my struggle at times to understand and keep up with the story line.

This is LITERALLY one of the most unique novels I have ever read. While the unanswered questions didn't necessarily sit well with me (I like things wrapped up in a neat little bow) I think the atmosphere was spot on. I do hope the author writes a sequel (for selfish reasons like I won't be able to stop thinking about this book without answers), but can totally understand NOT having one. This book IS enough even if it keeps us hanging by threads!

Did you read Borne? Read Borne. Then read Lesath. They both fall into that "weird" genre, which is becoming an actual genre for books. I'm finding that I'm drawn to this weirdness. Maybe it's because I'm weird, I don't know. ANYWAY, Lesath starts out with guy who is being imprisoned because he looks like another prisoner who escaped and also looks like him and could he take the place of this guy so no other prisoners know there's been a breakout. Honestly, what the hell is that?

It's a damn good book is what!

Lesath is creepy, kept my pulse up and all out just messed up. There's all these twists and turns and some of them make sense and some don't and man, I loved this book.

Get to reading!

Whew, what a story. All I can say about this book is that it definitely is a horror story that goes above and beyond what most authors write about. It is not for the faint or those who want their stories tied with a pretty bow. I loved this book but also love movies like it so this one was perfect for me. It is not a very long story so surprisingly the author was able to condense it in a way that what needs to be said is said.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

What the f*** is happening??? This is what I found myself thinking for the majority of the time while reading this book, understanding virtually nothing and not even taking a guess as to what could be going on within this story. For a book that started of relatively normal, normal compared to rest of this book, this book then took a super weird turn. But one that I found myself needing to keep reading.

The confusion added to the overall creepiness of the story, the not knowing what was happening and what could be lingering within, behind or around every corner. The paranoia from the characters leaks off the page, making you question the credibility of the characters and what they're experiencing. Mixed with the creepiness and the goriness that started to take place within, the writing both saved and ruined this book for me. The writing was both great as I was seriously creeped out in parts, reading more and more, devouring this book within 24 hours, but the unknown and unanswered confusion was just straight up disappointing and was my biggest and one of my only let downs of this book. 

Thank God there's a sequel coming out!

This was a really good read, totally not my usual genre, but I do like to read outside the box ever now and again just so I can discover what I am missing. I'm very glad I chose Lesath as my feeler this time around. It's a horror novel, a psychological one, that gets so deep into your psyche that you will end up questioning everything. That's what happened to Greg who travelled into the mountain to investigate rumours her had heard about an abandoned building. in which prisoners are detained, help captive, questioned and even tortured. A case of mistaken identity results in Greg himself becoming one such detainee. His time there, in captivity leads to him questioning his sense of reality. Many times I wanted to shout at Greg and tell him to get the hell out of there, so invested was I in the plot and its outcome. I really enjoyed this read and would highly recommend it.

This book was weird. After a while I thought I was going insane because I never knew what was going on completely.

Then I realized, that's the point. So I just sat back, got sucked in, and enjoyed the weird, messy, and creepy ride.

This book is definitely not for everyone, but it was for me. If you like speculative twists, unreliable narrators, and gore, this may be for you as well.

This was such an interesting read. I loved the atmospheric setting and premise. I found myself getting a little confused as to who was who, but that may have been my problem focusing and not the books problem. Perfect creepy vibe and story. If you enjoyed stories like Shutter Island or Stonehearst, you will like this!

Great cover. Great plot. Both really grabbed my attention. I wanted to love this book, but unfortuantely I had a lot of difficulty following the story. However, that's probably because it's a little too much of a mind-bender for me (and I wasn't in the right headspace while reading it). I imagine a lot of readers will enjoy the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!