The Architect, by Brendan Connell

The Korn Society, a group that follows the teachings of Dr. Peter Korn, has decided to build a meeting place for the Society. They discuss various architects, and finally decide that Alexius Nachtman has the vision and passion needed to design a meeting place the Korn cultists deserve.

But Nachtman is a bit of a madman, and the meeting place he designs not only uses brick and mortar, but quite literally the lifeblood of its workers and worshipers. As the building rises to the sky, Nachtman grows crazier and more frenzied about how the building should look and feel.

By the time the building is on the verge of completion, all of Nachtman’s craziness and ruthlessness comes to a head, and those around him will pay the price.

I wasn’t too sure about The Architect throughout the first few chapters. It was slow, and I wasn’t quite sure what was going on. But then I got it - and I was hooked. Nachtman’s eccentricity was written so well, that although some of his decisions were gross and horrifying, they weren’t very surprising. Indeed, those decisions fit the story perfectly.

I was fascinated by the building of the cult’s meeting place. The level of dedication to Korn and Nachtman was scary, but reminded me of cults such as that of Jim Jones’s back in the 70s, when they committed mass suicide by drinking poison.

The Architect is an amazing story of dedication and tenacity, and how regular people can get caught up in someone else’s madness. Don’t miss out.