Review: paranormal thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2011
DARKER THINGS starts with an explosive opening. Craig Lockman finds out he has a teenage daughter. That same daughter has unwittingly led commando vampires to his door. Lockman accepts Jessie immediately, never questioning whether she really is his daughter. By the time they escape the vampires a few pages later, they are already solidly a team. They are very appealing characters--Lockman tries his hardest to be tough while Jessie completely flummoxes him by being herself. The two of them battle vampires and other creatures of the night in a cross-country chase that takes them from California to Detroit and forces Lockman to examine a past he thought he left behind.DARKER THINGS is a true cross-genre novel, combining the best of thriller and horror conventions while being a slave to neither. If I had to pick one, I would call it a thriller because of the pacing. The heroes are rarely out of danger for long and the reader is breathless while pages fly. While it's a foregone conclusion that Lockman will vanquish evil and win back the love of his life, I was constantly guessing how it would happen through the book's many twists.The reading experience was smooth, with only a few editing hiccups. (Twice the author used the word "conscious" when he meant "conscience.") Overall, there were no major problems to pull me out of a fast-paced, enjoyable read.