Devouring Dark by Alan Baxter - Spooky Reads Review!
I have heard Alan Baxter’s name for a while and though some of his work had been on my radar for a while I’d just never got around to reading any of it. Finally, I picked up Devouring Dark and now I’m kicking myself for not reading this and everything else he’s written sooner.
At its heart, Devouring Dark is a story of power and the way in which power can be used to abuse depending on the person who wields it. Regular guy Matt and equally regular though somewhat-connected woman Amy have an ability to hold and collect the dark lives in everyone. While Matt can pull the life from someone very quickly, Amy takes the dark from those who are already dying and delivers it to people she deems less than worthy. Within a year, those people are dead. In each case, Matt and Amy use the power they possess to rid the world of people with very few redeeming qualities.
Vince Stratton is a local mob boss who is just the type of person both Amy and Matt would make a victim of their other-worldly powers. But Stratton has worldly power, and it turns out to be just as effective in ending lives as his supernatural foes. While Amy and Matt use their power for good, Stratton uses his power to maintain his lifestyle and influence. The stories of these three people become intertwined as the narrative grows and flows at an increasingly faster pace.
No matter which character you look at, the theme of power is in the forefront of the entire story. Baxter does a phenomenal job of showing the power and lack of power that each character has over others at various points in the story. Through his examination of power, Baxter continues to create and build tension and each time the climax appears to be in sight, Baxter builds even more tension, forcing the reader through the book, making them read “just one more page” until the whole thing comes to a head in an explosion of action and violence. It’s rare that I finish reading a horror book and feel as though I’ve just sat through a great action movie, but this book gave me that same feeling. Fans of horror will love it but so will fans of crime or fast-paced action thrillers. In Devouring Dark Alan Baxter proves he is a master of dark, gritty, noir-horror that is unlike anything else you will read.
The title is fitting because I absolutely devoured this book. Strong 4/5 from me on this.
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Written by Joe
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