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Stephen Gallagher
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Oktober Paperback – January 2, 2018

by Stephen Gallagher (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
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"Ranks among the best thriller/horror novels not just of this year, but of any year" (Mystery Scene)

An apparently fatal incident occurs when schoolteacher Jim Harper is skiing near a small research station owned by the giant multinational Risinger-Genoud. Even treatment with their new, untried and experimental superdrug cannot save his life.

Or so it seems. For Jim Harper, though left for dead, has survived. But in the long haul back to health and sanity, he begins to realise that something terrible has happened to him. Now the only way in which he can unravel the mystery in his mind is to go back to the point where it began to develop – back to Risinger-Genoud and their Oktober programme. And Risinger Genoud are going to be very interested to see him.

Oktober is a frightening journey into a world of greed and lies, a world in which the cover-up is not only a way of life, but something planned ahead of time. Step by horrifying step, Jim Harper unravels what has been done to him, and then designs the perfect act of vengeance, an act that teeters on the brink of madness...

The ITV miniseries adaptation of Oktober stars Stephen Tompkinson.

"In the best tradition of the international thriller and horror fields, Gallagher, author of the fine Valley of Lights, has created another blend of genres that shouldn't disappoint the deicated reader of either. Is it still paranoia when everybody really is after you? Gallagher answers that question with style, insight, and a riveting sense of suspense... Oktober ranks among the best thriller/horror novels of not just this year, but any year." (Mystery Scene)

"His prose is clear and diamond-sharp, his imagination dark and vivid... a beautifully crafted novel of paranoia and shadowy horror." (Starburst)

"If thriller reading were a sin, Stephen Gallagher would be responsible for my ultimate damnation. His work is fast-paced, well-written, infused with a sense of dark wonder, and altogether fresh." (Dean R Koontz)

"The finest British writer of bestselling popular fiction since le Carre." (The Independent)

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  1. Print length
    269 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 2, 2018
  4. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.68 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1999920724
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1999920722
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"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Brooligan Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 2, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1999920724
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1999920722
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.68 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

About the author

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Stephen Gallagher

Stephen Gallagher

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Beginning his TV career with the BBC's DOCTOR WHO, Stephen Gallagher went on to establish himself as a writer and director of high-end miniseries and primetime episodic television. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's CRUSOE, creator of CBS Television's ELEVENTH HOUR, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's THE FORGOTTEN. His fourteen novels include DOWN RIVER, RAIN, VALLEY OF LIGHTS, and NIGHTMARE, WITH ANGEL. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels beginning with THE KINGDOM OF BONES and THE BEDLAM DETECTIVE, continuing in THE AUTHENTIC WILLIAM JAMES.

Described by The Independent as "the finest British writer of bestselling popular fiction since le Carré ... Gallagher, like le Carré, is a novelist whose themes seem to reflect something of the essence of our times, and a novelist whose skill lies in embedding those themes in accessible plots." According to Arena magazine, "Gallagher has quietly become Britain's finest popular novelist, working a dark seam between horror and the psychological thriller.

The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Since Valley of Lights, he has been refining his own brand of psycho-thriller, with a discomforting knack of charting mental disintegration and a razor-sharp sense of place." Charles de Lint wrote in Mystery Scene magazine, "Gallagher is a master of abnormal psychology and he just gets better and better." Also in Mystery Scene David Mathew added, "never a writer to rest on his laurels, he has written good hard thrillers, some horror genre work (such as Valley of Lights), and a novel (Oktober) that might even qualify as a vague distortion of contemporary world fantasy... in places. You might go as far as to employ that overused phrase sui generis. He is, at any rate, one of the best writers of his generation."

Winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild awards.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
18 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Felicity A. Benton
    5.0 out of 5 stars oktober
    Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    loved the plot, the storytelling and the medical intrigue. a most enjoyable and suspenseful story. thriller lovers should go for this.
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  • Andrew McCaffrey
    2.0 out of 5 stars Oktober, in an off year
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2003
    Verified Purchase
    I read and enjoyed Stephen Gallagher's RED, RED ROBIN, so I was looking forward to getting into his OKTOBER novel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. RED, RED ROBIN did a much better job of placing us inside the heads and minds of its characters. OKTOBER seemed much more interested in moving its players around the European settings, and I felt that the book was the poorer for it.
    The story begins with an ordinary man being injected with an experimental drug. Literally brought back from death, Jim Harper is now dealing with the strange side effects. Along the way, he meets various characters loosely related to what happened to him as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the drug and the company that created it. He encounters various stock conspiracy scenarios, and none of them feel particularly inspired.
    OKTOBER is nominally a thriller, but it just feels like it's going through the motions. The book never lets us build up towards anything, as the characters are just drifting through the narrative. There are just too many aimless story elements present. There's a computer hacking subplot that goes nowhere. A possible blackmail scheme just fizzles. And the experimental drug side effects (greatly hyped by the back cover) are mere window-dressing, and, while some of the hints dropped about them are intriguing, they ultimately lead nowhere.
    While I can't say that I liked the book as a whole, there were definitely enjoyable pieces of it. Gallagher's prose is quite effective, and there are some passages that sparkle. In particular, a handful of dream sequences are shockingly vivid, and reminded me of why I liked RED, RED ROBIN so much. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of these to resurrect the book for me, yet there were enough of them for me to give Gallagher another chance.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Cherokee
    3.0 out of 5 stars The story line went back and forth into the past then present too much.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    The basic story was quite good and imaginative but I had to read a few back pages to orient myself each time I picked it up.
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  • Mr. G. Antonelli
    5.0 out of 5 stars oktober - another winner from stephen gallagher
    Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2012
    I first read this when it came out in paperback years ago. It was my second novel of Stephen's after the amazing Valley of Lights. This was the one that secured my admiration of his books.
    I loved the sense of place that he evokes and the rising desperation of a man out of his depth against a powerful pharmaceutical company.
    At the time I was studying Chemistry at university and it struck a chord. It is, if anything, more relevant in this day and age.
    Some people have criticised the ending for leaving matters in the air but for me it's the main thing I remembered prior to re-reading it. At the time it did what a good novel should and got me thinking. It certainly made me want to buy his next novel.
    Which is what I did - I'm proud to say I have read every novel he has published since.
    These new ebook versions mean I can have his whole back-catalogue in one easy place. One of the few authors I will make time to re-read!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Stephen Jordan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A very rewarding thriller
    Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2012
    I really enjoyed it. Oktober plays with an impressive cauldron of genres. While clearly paced and written like a thriller, the plot is backed up with a weight of scientific knowledge and a disturbing, beautifully-realised supernatural element. One Amazon reviewer mentioned that the only 'real danger' occurs when the protagonist 'tries to find out what happened to him', but I disagree. Jim is in constant danger from the outset, from others and his own personal demons. The world is out to get him, and something is always breathing down his neck. The use of multiple strands, following a wide cast of characters, allows the reader a glimpse of the broader effects of his actions (and of those pursuing him). Though there is some fairly substantial technical jargon to wade through and some of the characters that are not given enough page time to fully form, the book never becomes too complex or boring. It's tough, cool and definitely worth a look.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Keith Wines
    2.0 out of 5 stars No more
    Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2015
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    This is the third book by Stephen Gallagher I have read, and it will more than likely be my last. The first book of his that I read was 'Valley of Lights' and I strongly recommend that novel. The second was 'Chimera' and that one just plain old sucked. This one didn't suck as much.
    This book started off great, but I kept getting the feeling Gallagher was trying to make me of a story than was necessary. There was no flow and characters were randomly brought back for no apparent purpose. In the end, I had no idea what the 'company' did wrong to the main character.
    Probably one of the most confusing plots I've read on a very long time.
    One person found this helpful
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  • NoWireHangers
    2.0 out of 5 stars Below average thriller.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2007
    I enjoyed Gallagher's supernatural thriller "Valley of Lights" so when I found "Oktober" I decided to check it out. The plot, about a man, Jim, who is injected with a mysterious drug, sounded interesting, but the story was not well crafted at all. The first problem is that Jim never seems to be in any real danger. He's just having occasional nightmares. The only real danger is when he starts to try to find out what happened to him. The pharmaceutical company has some big conspiracy against him, but the potential of this plot is never fully realized, and the same is true for most of the subplots. The result is a mix of rather uninteresting, slow paced plot elements, leading up to a rather confusing ending. Not recommended.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Graeme from Preston
    5.0 out of 5 stars Superb thriller
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    What I love about this book is that although a thriller at heart, there is a nudge towards the supernatural albeit scientifically induced. The plot is well constructed and well told. A really excellent addition to my Kindle bookshelf.
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  • ManicMyna
    3.0 out of 5 stars oh well
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I seem to remember this being great, rereading it proved me wrong its just an ok tale.
    I just wonder if the tv miniseries of it holds up any better because I originally felt that wasn't enough like the book
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