Nocturnal Book Reviews

Unexpected and brilliant, - that's what comes to mind straight away. First of all, my inner fangirl of Cliff Nielsen loves the cover - it's beautiful and not too far from the book's meaning to lose its point.

Secondly, the writing is pretty mind-blowing. Dark fantasy, horror, Gothic literature, - call it what you like, but it has this old horror movies like Salem's Lot or Nosferatu feel, gore and creepiness.

Vampires here are not sexy or sparkly. They are ancient, utterly evil, twisted and surrounded by ghouls and Renfields. The book is soaked in mysticism, starting from the main heroine, Sarah, a learned daughter of Jewish rabbi, whose father is hiding a powerful religious artifact, the vampire is after; continuing with her friend Alex, a young Greek, whose rich grandad spent all his life hunting monsters and ending with a warlock-priest cavorting with demons...

People die badly here, get possessed or damaged. Don't expect a Happily Ever After in the end, but it's certainly intriguing enough for you to want to read book #2 straight away. There is also very little in terms of romance and NO love triangle. In fact most certainly, if you read a book written by a male author you wouldn't encounter a love triangle.

The Darkening Dream is full of action, powerful imagination and strong characters, but it's not for everyone. Unless you are a fan of horror, Gothic novels and dark fantasy, it might put you off. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.