This is horror writing at it's finest. You see nothing but shadows.
You hear nothing but whispers.
And all the while, you know that there is something is coming out of the darkness... coming to claim you.
On the one hand, playing to the ideas that we all have a debt to pay to our Gods, and mixing it with themes that our government agencies do not work for us, The Call of The Black River is one of the rare stories that played as a movie in my mind as I read it.
The touches of humor (The X-files reference was just spot on) were dark and well-timed. The description of Adam Cannon's and Tom's shared tattoo seemed so well described that it could only be based on reality, as is much of the story (Proxmire, Wow, Sagan), and the reference to The Demons of Emily Eldritch was a great touch.
The universe of The Spirals of Danu is so well described, and so shadowy and engaging, that I'll be getting this for my family for their Christmas stockings. ( )

This is horror writing at it's finest. You see nothing but shadows.
You hear nothing but whispers.
And all the while, you know that there is something is coming out of the darkness... coming to claim you.
On the one hand, playing to the ideas that we all have a debt to pay to our Gods, and mixing it with themes that our government agencies do not work for us, The Call of The Black River is one of the rare stories that played as a movie in my mind as I read it.
The touches of humor (The X-files reference was just spot on) were dark and well-timed. The description of Adam Cannon's and Tom's shared tattoo seemed so well described that it could only be based on reality, as is much of the story (Proxmire, Wow, Sagan), and the reference to The Demons of Emily Eldritch was a great touch.
The universe of The Spirals of Danu is so well described, and so shadowy and engaging, that I'll be getting this for my family for their Christmas stockings. ( )

An intriguing book with some powerful descriptions and characters I quickly cared about. Fast moving and a great read. It captures the time of tension between the US and the USSR very well.

The downsides... it's short, very short in fact. I'm a fast reader but even so this took me less than an hour and the ending, when it came, felt very abrupt. Not exactly unfinished but it left many questions unanswered. I'd love to see a sequel that explores and explains more of the subjects (deliberately vague to avoid spoilers). The other main complaint I had was that perspective had a habit of shifting between characters mid-scene which I found distracting.

Despite the downsides I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.
( )