Rating: 
Summary: Descent
Review: I began this book with amazement, unable to stop turning pages as the characters were introduced through crazy scenes which seemed amazingly tight for being so far-fetched. As the book progressed, it seemed to bring up far more quesations than it answered, or even adressed. It seemed like a tease, always hinting at something grander than it ever produced. For isntance, they spent so much time discussing the possibilities of the Hadal society decline, but they never came to any conclusion about it. why did they die off? This book also lifted ideas from other novels, most notably "Childhoods End" by Clarke. that book had a very similar idea, except the devils came from space, instead of underground.. i would have been happier if this book was 400 more pages, if Jeff Long had gone into detail about things. I do like his style a lot though, and look forward to seeing what else he can do. I live in the same city as this guy too : boulder, colorado. Peace!
Rating: 
Summary: Descend Into Hell
Review: This novel caught my interest from the first page. I love togo into caves and this book was right up my alley. Evil,lurking deepunderground, right under our feet. Mr. Long takes the reader on an adventure straight into Hell and the depths of our fears.Follow Ike Crockett, a one time hadal captive, as he leads a team deep underground into the myriad tunnels criss- crossing the Earth. Become afraid as you discover what dwells there. This is a great adventure story with well written characters. You will enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: I loved this book. Please write more Mr. Long! A very intriguing concept and a suspenseful storyline make this book a real page turner. I usually pride myself in figuring out the ending of a story, but this ending was a complete surprise. I'm hoping for a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: What a trip! I feel like I have gone to the center of the earth and back! Jeff Long did a wonderful job of taking the reader on a descent into hell. Read this book if you like your books to be like thrill rides!
Rating:
Summary: Downhill
Review: As you read the very first chapters of Jeff Long's The Descent, you might well paraphrase Kevin Spacey's line in American Beauty and say to yourself: "this is the highlight of this book. It's all downhill from here." The Descent begins well. The author establishes his own personal pace, and he has a tremendously firm narrative voice. The first chapters are exceendingly well thought and superbly executed. But then, so to speak, the descent begins. Real desperation surfaces when the reader notices there are so much tension building, so many questions unanswered (what about the little boy? The witches? Will Ali get Paget's disease?) - and so few pages remaining. What a cruel deception. A paced descent ends in such an indecent rush.
Rating:
Summary: hope it becomes a movie!
Review: The cover captured my imagination. The first chapters terrified me to the deepest levels of my soul.Long conceives a brilliant sparkling gem which plays on man's innermost fears. The literal not figurative existence of hell. The character development was high and I identified with them. As others have said the book was difficult to set aside for work , for eating . Long lets us look inside to see that hell is what we make it. The hadals are frightening boogey men and the discovery of hell leads to its exploitation. A little weak on the scince but my belief was suspended. Four stars Jeff ! I only hope my novel AMRA-SITE ALPHA is 75% as good.
Rating:
Summary: An awesome read!
Review: What an incredible novel! What I enjoyed most about TheDescent, apart from the breadth of the writer's imagination and thebrilliance of its concept, is the development of its two key characters, Ike and Ali. Without giving away too much, I have to admit I was surprised by the level of their...interaction...later in the novel, but Ike's character is as unique as they come. And Ali? Wow! What a heroine! There isn't a moment throughout the entire novel when either lose their dignity, and that in itself is an accomplishment. Admittedly, I feel that the novel could have used another 100 or so pages, particularly towards the end when describing the assemblage of hadal clans and other surrounding factors. But this is its only shortcoming (if it can be called that). In conclusion, what I found most unsettling about The Descent was that it left me questioning the differences between man and monster, in particular the morality beyween the two. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the scariest part of all. An epic, mind-blowing read - well deserving of every success!
Rating:
Summary: A good idea mishandled
Review: The idea of a world deep in the crust of the earth seemed promising to me, and the novel started out ok. But my progress had slowed by page 225 under the weight of unanswered technical questions (like how to breath deep in the earth and why does going down in the earth cause knobs to grow on your head). And then came the Shroud of Turin passage, in which we find that the image on the shroud is that of Satan himself. In a playful mood it seems Old Nick sprinkled himself with some radioactive fairy dust, which projected, from some distance, a permanent and coherent image on the fabric. Thus no radioactive residue and etc. Well, at this point, I realized that the contents of my sock drawer really needed some rearranging, so I'll probably never know how Mr. Long's opus ends.
Rating:
Summary: The darkest descent...into your soul
Review: A truley fantastic book filled with horror, wonder, amazement, and compassion. Far more moving and stirring are the subtle sub-plots insued throughout the story revealing the horrors not necessarily in "hadal hell", but within our own human selves. It has been a long time since a book could has been written with a sense of realism that is both gratifying...and horrifying!
Rating:
Summary: Yes, Virginia, There IS a Hell.
Review: Yes, Virginia, there *IS* a Hell. And Jeff Long takes you there. The Descent was one of the best books I have read in quite a long time. It is a page-turning thriller that reads like a good Michael Crichton, Robin Cook or Preston/Child novel. The Descent takes you down into the bowels of our Earth, where we discover that we are not alone, and not necessarily safe on our planet. Living within a huge system of caves and caverns and passageways is an entire race of man-like creatures whose appearence and demeanor make you realize where all our superstitions of devils and demons and boogey-men came from. They are there, and they are real, as you discover "first hand" as you follow along with the expedition of semi-willing people journeying down into the depths of the Earth; many of whom have their own personal agendas. And not all of them are necessarily on the same side. This is one of those books you find yourself thinking about when you aren't reading it, longing to pick it up again as soon as possible to read another chapter or 5, and remembering it long after you have closed the back cover. It kept me awake well into the early morning hours while I was reading it, totally unaware of the passage of hours, and I have recommended it to many people. The Descent is not what you would call "light" reading. It is what you would call intensive reading. And well worth it.
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