The Prince of Earth


Fiction - Horror
148 Pages
Reviewed on 11/21/2020
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

I've been a horror / fantasy fan since I was young, when I would routinely slip my imagination into the blood-baths of King or Barker, or shoot myself across the stars on Bradbury's words or when I would entertain the reality of paranormal phenomena with nonfiction books that spoke of things such as the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDui, in the Scottish Highlands -- the monstrous subject, or at least one of them, of "The Prince Earth." The idea was germinated when I was 13, incubated for over 15 years before finally budding and sprouting into the story it is now.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jon Michael Miller for Readers' Favorite

In The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson, we first meet Quincy Loverly in an internal crisis. Her fears cause her to cancel her day at work in a studio that produces video games around the “quest” scenario. Her emotional crisis is vague to the reader but powerful enough for Quincy to forget to pick up her son Andy on his third day of kindergarten. I was immediately curious about what is wrong with this woman who seems to have everything any woman would want yet who is disabled by what goes on sometimes in her head. Her problems have something to do with a hike she took when much younger up a mountain in Scotland. The plot of the book goes between her experiences on that climb and her current life, during which she has panic eruptions where unimaginable horrors occur; so unimaginable that they can only possibly occur in one’s mind. Nevertheless, these panic attacks are unraveling what should be an American woman’s idyllic life, domestic and professional. The question I kept asking as I read was, “What the hell is happening to poor Quincy?”

Mike Robinson’s storytelling skills are superb, mostly his poetic renderings of a particularly challenging but unnamed mental illness. At her first visit to a therapist, she says, “I feel as if someone is playing with my life.” Not only does she imagine horrific tortures from the Prince of Earth, a vision she has on the mountaintop, but memories of her own past are slipping away. She loses her family and the town where she grew up as if they never occurred. This phase of her illness was scarier for me than the horrendous physical torture she endures from the so-called Prince. Robinson’s book seems like an internal portrait of the onset of Alzheimer’s—memories and reality jumbled and slipping away. How horrible must that be? Robinson’s writing is exquisite in its ambiguity—like, perhaps, a long Wallace Stevens’ poem. It requires more than simply reading. It requires something even better; interpretation. It’s one of those wonderful works of art that demands you to meet the artist halfway. Yes, there’s mind-chilling horror here, but also, miraculously, a rare kind of beauty.

Carolina Restrepo

An adventurous young New Yorker goes on a solo European trip in 1988 for five weeks, during which she goes from Italy to Scotland. Her few days in Scotland may as well be the last normal days of the rest of her life. Her ascent through the misty trial of the Cairngorms leads her to the infamous Ben MacDui peak, where she will soon find herself struggling with her mental and physical strength. Fast forward to twenty years later, Quincy begins to experience similar haunting experiences as she once did when she was only a high school graduate traveling to Scotland by herself. The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson is a harrowing and gripping horror tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Mike Robinson is a true master of storytelling with an innate gift of writing horror. I am in no way inclined to horror-related literature or anything similar for that matter, but there was something about The Prince of Earth that pushed me into reading it in one single day. This is a mind-blowing book, which not only keeps you perplexed the entire way but it keeps your excitement and interest alive enough to devour the book as soon as possible. Extremely well-written, I sometimes felt I was there with Quincy and even wanted to help her figure out what on earth was going on! The Prince of Earth is a definite must-read. This is the type of book that makes you want to talk to the author afterward, ask a million questions, and just talk about the book forever.

Gail Kamer

The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson reveals the journey the main character, Quincy, takes through sanity/insanity. What is real? What is imagined? One minute she has a phone, the next she doesn’t. One minute she has brothers, the next she doesn’t, and what has happened to her son? Her husband? Her home? How can things be so unpredictable and so opposite? Also fascinating is the thought of what is making Quincy think the things she thinks. My mind took me in several directions as I’m sure yours will too.

How can you tell what is really happening in your life? Do you live in a fishbowl being manipulated by someone outside the bowl? Or are you just not ‘all there’? The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson reminds me of a tale I viewed years ago on perhaps the Twilight Zone. Today the storyline can be associated with those written by Stephen King and Dean Koontz. This storyline is totally believable and totally horrifying. Mr. Robinson writes in such a fashion that the reader is completely immersed in the tale. His turn of phrase was fascinating and provided such vivid descriptions for me.

Since The Prince of Earth is a short book, it’s a quick read which is wonderful because the reader simply cannot put the book down. I spent one afternoon doing nothing but concentrating on what happened next as I just had to know. If you are looking for a book to entertain you with a new storyline, or a book to make you think, I highly recommend Mike Robinson’s The Prince of Earth.

Lesley Jones

In The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson, it has been twenty years since Quincy Redding last felt similar dread and panic inside her soul. Was her worse fear returning? It was in 1988 that young Quincy's torment first began as she traveled from the US to the Scottish Highlands. The myth of The Grey Man on the Ben MacDui mountains in the Cairngorms was legendary and Quincy wanted to discover the truth behind the stories for herself. All alone in the mountains, Quincy begins to feel a strange and sinister presence watching her. She is soon at the creature's mercy and unable to escape. However, Quincy's nightmare is only just beginning, even when she manages to release herself from the grip of the sadistic entity. Years later, he seems to have returned. Now back in California, Quincy senses that strange and sinister presence again. Is her traumatic past playing tricks on her mind or has the entity called The Prince returned?

The descriptive narrative throughout the story is so visually vivid, I immediately was drawn into the sinister, strange world of Quincy. I was unsure if her experiences were caused by the stress of her work and family or the horrendous event that occurred on her birthday, but the reality was far more shocking. The twists and turns of the plot will absolutely play with your mind and imagination. The scenes as Quincy was in the mountains were chilling; you knew something awful was going to happen. When Quincy was at the mercy of The Prince, his actions towards his victims was far worse than I could have imagined. I loved how The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson. skipped back and forth from the trip to the Cairngorms to the present day. I felt Quincy's frustration really deeply as she tried to figure out the difference between her imagination or reality. The plot is extremely unusual and cleverly executed and the characters and situations will stay with you long after you have read the final page. The Prince is devoid of any compassion, a complete degenerate, and you do not want to allow him into your dreams. A superb read but a book that must be read with all the lights on.

Susan Sewell

Bordering between the supernatural ether of the netherworld and the edge of sanity, The Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson is a blood-chilling, hair-raising horror story. After graduation, Quincy backpacks across Europe to the small Scottish village of Ballater that lies at the base of the Cairngorms. As Quincy traverses the hills through the eerie and chilling fog to reach the peak of Ben MacDui, the myth of the Gray Man haunts her. Once she arrives at her chosen destination, Quincy encounters a sinister being who forever alters her life before she makes it off the mountain. Twenty years after her traumatic holiday, Quincy once again starts experiencing frightening incidents that contain disturbing elements tied to that hellish trip. These supernatural occurrences are affecting her mental state and are now wreaking havoc with her family, friends, and job. Are the Gray Man and the Prince of the Earth one and the same? And after all these years, has he come to claim her soul?

Tiptoeing on the high-wire of reality, Prince of Earth by Mike Robinson is a bone-chilling horror story imbued with the ethereal aura of supernatural elements. Hidden beneath a shadowy façade, the substance of the cleverly written plot blurs the aspects of reality with the mists of illusion, creating feelings of intense apprehension and dread. At first, the italicized portions of the story seemed ambiguous and confusing, but as I continued to read, I ascertained they were dysfunctional musings of a traumatized or delusional mind. From start to finish, an unearthly atmosphere pervades throughout the unsettling story, creating an unforgettable tale from which nightmares are born. With complex characters and a convoluted plot that fluctuates and distorts reality, it is a scintillating horror novel that will most certainly thrill fans of The Twilight Zone and Hitchcock thrillers.