The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin

The Darkening Dream

Author: Andy Gavin

Pages [ebook]: 382

favorite characters:
anne & sam

summary:

Even as the modern world pushes the supernatural aside in favor of science and steel, the old ways remain. God, demon, monster, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.
With the help of Alex, an attractive Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to the factory mills of Salem, on a midnight boat ride to spy on an eerie coastal lair, and back, unexpectedly, to their own homes. What can Alex’s elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah’s own rabbi father tell them? And what do Sarah’s continuing visions reveal?
No less than Gabriel’s Trumpet, the tool that will announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces that have banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling cast is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be herself.

review:

Okay, so I might have looked into this originally because the guy who wrote it helped create Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. Those games are just awesome, so all the applause for that. But I’m not reviewing them. The premise of this sounded just as good so I started it. And kept reading, and reading, and reading, and then hated when it was over.

At first I was afraid, I was petrified, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to keep the many characters, good and bad, straight, the motives behind everyone, the entities and who was faithful and who had demons working for them. Actually, it was surprisingly easy to keep each person distinct. I really liked all of them, although in the beginning I was starting to think the minor characters would fall flat. That definitely wasn’t the case; actually, Sam and Anne, Sarah’s friends, turned out to be two of my favorites.

And the villains! It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a unique array of bad guys. A centuries old vampire, a warlock who plots with demons, a gigantic dung beetle . . . Otherwise known as an Egyptian god. The things they would do to people are definitely the stuff of nightmares, so those with weak stomachs be warned.

I loved the writing style, not very formal but not lax enough for the time period this is set in to be forgotten entirely. I also liked the alternating viewpoints, providing a chance for every perspective to be shown. That doesn’t mean that every secret is revealed as there are several twists and turns along the way. Especially the ending! I love the ending. It makes me want a lot more, now.

I definitely recommend The Darkening Dream. It’s got a little of everything. Romance, vampires, magic, adventure, danger, suspense, horror, humor. I don’t think it’s possible for me to name everything; you’ll just need to go and see for yourself.

GRIPPING. 4/5 stars