The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh
Title: The Express Diaries
Author: Nick Marsh
Genre: Horror
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Available: Amazon
About the Book
EUROPE, 1925. The continent still licks its wounds from the devastating war that raged across it a few years before. Meanwhile, in London, an aging professor has uncovered the clues to the whereabouts of pieces of an ancient statue, all but forgotten by history.
When his investigations lead him to fear for his life, he enlists the aid of an unlikely group of allies; a retired colonel, a secretive academic, a magician’s wife, and a Yorkshire matriarch with her reluctant assistant. Together they will journey across Europe to recover the long-lost statue. They will travel in style, on the most luxurious train the world has ever seen.
Unbeknownst to them, however, their activities have already attracted the attention of a sinister cult, desperate to acquire the artifact for their own dark purposes, and now a terrible creature, trapped for centuries, senses that the opportunity for revenge has come at last… THE EXPRESS DIARIES is a tale of a journey into darkness and horror on the world’s most famous train.
Review
The Express Diaries is a horror novel. Taking place in 1925 London, the story follows Colonel Neville Goodenough, Professor Alphonse Moretti, Mrs. Betty Sunderland, her niece Mrs. Violet Davenport, and Mrs. Sunderland’s assistant Grace Murphy. After their friend Professor Julius Smith’s home is destroyed following a seminar, they get drawn into a quest to find the pieces of a statue known as the Sedefkar Simulacrum, which Professor Smith believes must be destroyed. Learning that the pieces are scattered across Europe, they board the Orient Express to hunt down the statue. Danger follows them everywhere and they must contend with both a cult and an ancient monstrous creature that may be a previous owner of the statue.
The Express Diaries is an interesting story. Rather than begin a 100% original, it is based on the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game campaign entitled Horror on the Orient Express. Specifically, it is based on the experience of the game of a group of role-players in England collectively called the Bradford Players, who are well-known for recording their games and posting them online. The Express Diaries are told from their characters’ perspectives, presented through diary entries of the characters involved. Some changes were made to the story that differ from the events of the Bradford Players’ game, for example the encounter with Baba Yaga is removed and one later character’s role is reduced to a cameo. The characters themselves are portrayed very well and match those played in the game.
Overall, The Express Diaries is an engaging story. The presentation of the diary entries is done very well, switching between the different characters with ease. Horror fans and fans of Call of Cthulhu will be sure to enjoy this book.
About the Author
Nicholas Marsh has never forgiven his parents for giving him a happy childhood, thus depriving him of the necessary angst and bottled-up rage to become a full-time writer.
Not only that, his genetic inheritance has so far thwarted every attempt to grow a beard to make him appear dark and brooding. Four weeks of strenuous effort only result in a near-invisible fluffy covering that even a student would quickly shave off in embarrassment.
Since his late teenage years he is proud that he had managed to maintain his height at a constant five feet ten inches. If only everything in life were that simple. He currently works as a veterinary surgeon in Plymouth, UK, and doesn’t think the job is all that bad really. On his days off he spends his time being cruel to pot plants, drinking cups of tea and, occasionally, writing.
