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Matt Drabble

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Gated Kindle Edition

by Matt Drabble (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 828 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Gated

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"Matt Drabble is a name that will one day be as widely recognized as Stephen King & Dean Koontz" - READERS FAVORITE

Gated is a UK & US Horror Chart Top 10 best seller, the 2015 Readers Favorite Gold Medal Winner for Horror Fiction & the 2014 Full Moon Awards Horror Book of the year.

Michael and Emily are a happy and contented English couple, a writer and a school teacher. Their lives are complete when Emily falls pregnant, however their dreams are shattered one cold winter night by a car accident that robs them of their happiness.

To overcome their loss they up stick and move to Eden Gardens, a US gated community that offers "Heaven on Earth and Twice as Nice".

The people are warm and friendly and welcome them with open arms. The town is a beautiful throwback to a bygone age, where the sun always shines and the sky's always blue.

As they settle into their new perfect lives, the circle is complete when Emily falls pregnant. The town is perfect, the weather is perfect and their lives are perfect.

But are the stares from their neighbours a little too intense, is the town a little too interested in their happy news, and is Eden all that it seems.

They are about to find out that paradise comes at a cost, and when you sign a lease, you should always check the fine print.

Selected other works by Matt Drabble:

ABRA-CADAVER - The 2017 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction. Winner of a prestigious Indie Book of the Day Award, a 2015 Kindle Book Review Award Finalist and is the 2016 Book Excellence Awards winner for Horror Fiction. (FREE KINDLE version available)

THE ASYLUM TRILOGY - an Amazon US Horror Chart #5 best seller, voted #5 on The Horror Novel Review's Top 10 Books of 2013, a 2014 Readers Favorite Gold Medal winner & the 2016 Readers Favorite Silver Medal winner for Anthology Fiction.

THE LAST RESORT - The 2019 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction & The 2019 Kindle Book Review's Winner for Horror/Suspense.

To find more information:
Website: mattdrabble.co.uk
Twitter: MattDrabble01
Facebook: matt.drabble.3
Instagram: mattdrabble01

From the Publisher

Career Highlights

The Gated Trilogy

2015 Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Horror Fiction & 2014 Full Moon Awards Horror Book of the Year.

The Asylum Trilogy

5th on The Horror Novel Review's Top 10 of 2013 & 2014 Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Anthology Fiction.

Abra-Cadaver

2017 Readers Favorite Silver Medal for Horror Fiction & 2016 Book Excellence Award Winner.

The Last Resort

2019 Readers Favorite Silver Medal for Horror Fiction & 2019 Kindle Book Review's Winner for Horror/Suspense.

Multi Award Winning Author of Dark Fiction

Born Bath, England in 1974, a self-professed "funny onion", equal parts Metal-Head Sport Loving Jock and Gaming Comic Book Geek. An A.S sufferer who took to writing full time after being forced to give up work.

A prolific multi award winning author of dark fiction. These are stories with a horrifying beating black heart & a vicious twist in the tale. A firm believer in three dimensional character driven tales and the fact that every character, no matter how small, must always live and breathe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a page turner. An absolute thriller that keeps the reader engaged to the very last page." - I Read a book once.com

"I cannot praise this book enough. It is one of those books that stays with you long after you have read it the imagery is that powerful." - Soozy's Horror Page

"The description in this book is amazing, it's like he has pulled it out of his head and right into the book. I'd definitely recommend reading it." - Rebbie Reviews

"An eerie and sinister plot that draws you in from the start. A book I can recommend to all readers for the love of Horror and thrillers." - Lynelle Clark

"Surprises are in store, and good ones. Think along the sadistic lines of John Saul and VC Andrews. Not everyone is getting out of this story alive." - Examiner.com

About the Author

Born in Bath, England in 1974, a self-professed "funny onion", equal parts sport loving jock and comic book geek. I am a lover of horror and character driven stories. I am also an A.S sufferer who took to writing full time two years ago after being forced to give up the day job.

I have a career high position of 5th on Amazon's Horror Author Rank of which I am immensely proud.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AHW1VW2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ DarkScore Publishing (December 25, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 25, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 13553 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,160,972 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #774 in British & Irish Horror
- #1,231 in British Horror Fiction
- #1,962 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 828 ratings

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Matt Drabble

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Born in Bath, England in 1974, a self-professed "funny onion", equal parts Metal-Head Sport Loving Jock and Gaming Comic Book Geek. I am an author of Horror/Dark Thrillers usually with a twist in the tale and always character driven stories. I am also an A.S sufferer who took to writing full time after being forced to give work.

Some of my career highlights to date include:

GATED TRILOGY a 2015 Readers Favorite Gold Medal Winner, a UK & US Horror Chart Top Ten Best Seller & winner of the Full Moon Awards 2014 Horror Book of the Year.

ASYLUM - 13 TALES OF TERROR TRILOGY a US Horror Chart Top 10 Best Seller, voted 5th on The Horror Novel Review's Top 10 Books of 2013 & the Readers Favorite 2014 Gold Medal Winner for Anthology Fiction.

ABRA-CADAVER the 2017 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction. It is also an Indie Book of the Day winner and the 2016 Book Excellence Award Winner for Horror Fiction.

THE LAST RESORT is the 2019 Readers Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Horror Fiction & The 2019 Kindle Book Review's Winner for Horror/Suspense

Website: mattdrabble.co.uk

Twitter: MattDrabble01

Facebook: matt.drabble.3

Instagram: mattdrabble01

or to sign up for a newsletter: http://mad.ly/signups/95503/join

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

828 global ratings

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Hillel Kaminsky

Believe the Hype

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2023

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Matt Drabble has been compared in reviews to Stephen King and Dean Koontz; high praise indeed. Here’s one instance where the hype is accurate – this was a fantastic horror novel with great characters, an interesting plot and a style of writing that kept me turning pages far into the night. I suppose the ultimate praise is to say that I bought the next two books in the series immediately after finishing this one and started reading immediately.

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Alison Piccalo

I liked it, but . . .

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2013

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I really liked the premise of the story and after reading the summary, I decided to get it. It was a good book, but could have been better. It was just kind of shallow to me and not a whole lot of depth. The characters were described, but you didn't feel like you "knew" them. I'm not a big fan of Stephen King because he gives too much detail, but if this same idea would have been written by Dean Koontz, I'm sure it would have been incredible. Although the story was engaging and I DID enjoy it, I felt like Mr. Drabble wrote this in a hurry. The ending was predictable. For an entertaining, light read that might take an average reader maybe 2 days, it wasn't bad.

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KelliStL

Good book worth a read!

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2012

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Gated is an interesting take on a story usually reserved for Europe or the northeast US (where there is "more" history). This tale never goes blatantly pagan, which is also cool. The antagonist remains in the dark to the origin of his powers never understanding that he is not who he thinks he is. Psychosis is an interesting element, making him more believable than most power-hungry megalomaniacs gracing stories such as these. There are no happy accidents to culminate in the happy ending here; just people who struggle to survive to the end. Most charming is its self-awareness of genre. You'll see--no need to spoil that. This is interesting indeed. What I didn't like was that there are words missing and the punctuation is disconcerting at times. Better editing will make this a much smoother read. I hope that can happen because this book deserves a better edition. READ IT! :)

2 people found this helpful

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J. Cohen

A tonne of fun!

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2013

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I read the first edition of "Gated".

Ok, there isn't anything incredibly new here...the theme of unsuspecting individuals moving into a creepy town with a sinister past is nothing new. But then again, what is new these days? Isn't there only like 5 major motifs upon which most stories are based?

Ok that all being said, the book was a tonne of fun!

Matt Drabble writes with an enjoyable combination of levity and edge. His words drip off the page like hot butter. Also, he has an incredible knack for developing characters within a relatively short period of time, making his stories rich and engaging from the get-go.

I could not put the book down and thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

N.B.

I have started reading Matt Drabble's "Fangland", and although, nothing new here in terms of story either, it is a lot of fun too!

Matt is a talented writer and i hope to be reading much more from him in the future.

27 people found this helpful

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R. Leigh

Good story, horrendous editing

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2013

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This is a fun book, if not terribly original. A well-thought-out, entertaining take on the classic idea of evil lurking in seemingly perfect suburbia. If I were rating it on story alone, it would easily get 4 stars.

But. The. Editing. It boggles the mind how an otherwise literate writer could misuse apostrophes like this. It's not just a matter of a shoddy copyedit; it's not a typo to apostrophize a plural, it's a serious grammatical mistake.

I really want to like you, Matt Drabble, but how can I give my heart to someone who actually thinks the phrase is, "for intensive purposes"?

Edited to add: ten minutes later I'm revising my review. You get 4 stars, Matt Drabble. Though you need an urgent review of the rules of punctuation, this is a really fun story and very engagingly written. But, "intensive purposes" still stings.

One person found this helpful

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JKTaylor

A scary read that will keep you up at night to finish it.

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013

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I love a good horror novel, that being said I have a new favorite writer of horro fiction, Matt Drabble. His stories are good, creepy and you want to both finish and keep the lights on while reading his books. Gated is one of those. The story follows a British couple who move from their small apartmen in the UK to a gated community in the US called Eden after a tragic accident. Eden is the 'perfect' community, 'heaven on earth and twice as nice' is their statment. Well it all seems that way......... But nothing is ever perfect.
I don't want to post to much more and possibly give spoilers. Suffice it to say if you love a good horror story than Gated is a book you should check out. I'm really looking forward to Matt's next book and I have no doubt once again, I'll be keeping the lights one when I read it at night.

One person found this helpful

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Lisa Burdette

Kept Me Reading

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2014

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I gave four stars because I found some, of what I thought, to be grammar errors. However I did enjoy the book because I couldn't wait to read "what happens next". Mr. Drabble opens with 'nice read' feeling descriptions. Very subtle feelings of 'somethings not right' begins slowly, then appropriately paced, and starts to build. You know something creepy is just around the corner but you're just not sure of what. The characters are believable with realistic emotional responses. I enjoy writers who can evoke feelings & thoughts, whether creepy or outright horrific, without having to come right out and say it in print. I don't recall an exact geographical location disclosed but now I can see how that unspoken knowledge lends to the overall mystery. I definitely want to try another Matt Drabble book. Thanks Mr. Drabble.

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Euphie

Good book, if a bit weird in places

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2017

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I got this book as a free download for the Kindle, although I would have happily paid for it. I'd never heard of the author before, but I liked the sound of the book, and well, a free book is always a good thing!

The book centres around the idealistic town of Eden, who's motto is 'Heaven on Earth and twice as nice.' The town is isolated, somewhere in America, and the exact location is never revealed, just that it is a gated community, where outsiders are unwelcome, and everyone who lives in the town are there for some purpose, and the town all runs through the town manager, Caspar Christian. The sun always shines, there is no crime and everyone is friendly and welcoming. The town seems perfect, there are even no pesky insects to spoil the warm evenings. It all seems so perfect, too perfect...

Michael and Emily Torrance moves to this idyll after a personal tragedy in England, and their sorrow is soon replaced by joy at their new surroundings. That is until weird things happen, Michael loses an afternoon, and people aren't quite what they seem. Michael, being a horror writer by trade, wonders if this is just his overworked imagination and Emily is loath to spoil their joy, but when people disappear and some things appear too good to be true, as a couple, they begin to wonder who they can really trust... And the town's woodland festival, which everyone seems so excited about takes an unusual turn

The book isn't realistic, but it's a good escape for a few hours. Admittedly, I read it one evening when I had bad insomnia, and read the book in one sitting. The book has some strange turns, and some of the plot-lines can be hard to follow, but I thought it had a good ending, and everything seemed to tie in well. The characters were 3 dimensional, and while some of the plot lines were a bit beyond the bizarre, I enjoyed the book. It's easy to read, and each page left me wanting to read on, although the explanations aren't the most realistic, it's nice to lose yourself in a fantasy world for a few hours...

Yun

Netter Thriller, leider einige Fehler

Reviewed in Germany on February 13, 2014

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Von der Idee und der Umsetzung her ist dieses Buch wirklich nett zu lesen. Es ist nicht wirklich etwas Neues, aber etwas komplett Neues zu erfinden, ist auch nicht so leicht.
Dem Autor scheint Stephen King sehr zu gefallen, er bezieht sich nicht nur mehrmals auf den Autor, sondern verwendet auch Namen aus bekannten Büchern von King. Aber das finde ich gar nicht mal schlimm. Man könnte es als eine Hommage ansehen.
Das Buch lässt sich sehr gut lesen und man möchte auch bald wissen, wie es weiter geht, ob die Hauptcharaktere es schaffen, usw. Die Charaktere sind gut ausgearbeitet, man kann sich gut in sie hinein versetzen, auch wenn meine Alarmgglocken schon viel eher angingen - aber hey, mir war ja auch bewusst, dass ich ein Buch lese.
Leider braucht dieses Buch (immer noch) eine ernsthafte Überarbeitung, es fehlen diverse Wörter und auch Satzzeichen, was für Leser sehr irritierend sein kann. Letztlich geht man dazu über, die fehlenden Wörter einfach selbst in die Sätze zu setzen, damit sie einen Sinn ergeben. Glücklicherweise gab es keine ärgerlichen Schreibfehler, so dass sich das Buch gut lesen lässt.
Alles in Allem habe ich mich gut unterhalten gefühlt. Besonders schön fand ich den Einblick in die Geschichte von Eden, da hätte ich gerne auch noch ein paar mehr gehabt.

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J Bannion

Entertaining and absorbing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2014

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This was my first book from Matt Drabble and I found that the story was very interesting. A couple begin a new life in the town of Eden where everything is perfect, but of course things are never what they seem to be. I will not spoil the fun by disclosing more but there are many twists and turns to satisfy, as the author has a fertile imagination. Easy to read, this is a book that does hold your interest throughout, as the story unravels towards the climax. I will definitely be reading more books from this author as I liked his style and stoyline.

Talisker-book

Riveting book from a promising author

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2013

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It's been a long time since I've found a writer whose writing is so good that it compels me to buy all their other work. I read Asylum - 13 Tales of Terror and enjoyed the book so much that I decided to buy some more of his work. After reading Gated I'm definitely a convert and look forward to reading much more from the promising author. I read this book in a day, which is testament to how the story really drew me in, his work is well written and really keeps you invested in the story.

One of the strengths of the book is that you know things are going to take a sinister turn but you really don't know when. I felt genuinely hopeful that the protagonist of the story would have a happy ending (despite knowing that, given the genre, this would probably not happen).

I really enjoyed the way in which the author started the book, not a total red herring but certainly enough of one to shock me at the end. It's not a terrifying book by any means, but it certainly left me feeling uncomfortable and anxious, especially when you know that something is about to happen but you just can't tell what.

A small and (some would say) pedantic issue that I had with his character descriptors is that I didn't feel it necessary to describe every character's height. I know it sounds daft (and petty), but I found it unnecessary. Apart from that, I found the characters to be multi-layered and well developed.

Without a doubt this author has the ability to write with a subtleness that is sadly lacking in an increasingly gory and explicit genre. It's a rare talent for an author to make the hairs on the back on your neck stand on end and keep them there well after the book has been finished.

One person found this helpful

Rebecca Thompson

A Town That Seems Too Perfect.....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2013

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I downloaded this as a freebie and I did enjoy it but I have to admit I was put off by the numerous spelling mistakes and grammar errors within the book and it took away my enjoyment of reading as I was constantly trying to work out what the author was trying to write.
Although the book claims to be in it's 3rd edition and that all errors have been revised this wasn't the case with my book and I even looked at my kindle updates to see if there is one for Gated only to find that there wasn't. For that reason I have given the book 3 stars but had it been better proof read I would have given it 4.
The characters Michael and Emily are likeable and move from England to a gated community in America after Emily is hit by a car and suffers a miscarriage. The couple try to re-build their shattered lives but life in their new town seems too good to be true and they suspect that something is wrong with their perfect town.
A gripping thriller which is worth a read and hopefully the problems with it will be sorted and I will receive a kindle book update for it in the future.

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Gated Kindle Edition

From the Publisher

Career Highlights

Multi Award Winning Author of Dark Fiction

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Review

About the Author

Product details

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About the author

Matt Drabble

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