Darkfall

Rating:
Summary: DON'T READ DURING A THUNDERSTORM...
Review: ...or you just find yourself wetting yourself!!! Laws has concocted a highly original nightmarish tale of Darkfall, a phenomenon that will chill you to the bones. On Christmas Eve, a fourteen story high rise is filled with joyous revelers, partying in their various offices. The grumpy maintenance man is in the basement and all of a sudden, his boiler acts up, there is a tremendous clap of thunder..and everyone (except this bloke) has vanished! Where in the world have they gone?
Segue to the dependable Jack Cardiff, a police inspector, who is sitting at his desk while his fellow officers likewise party. But Jack is looking at a gun he keeps hidden in his right-hand drawer---suicidal, it seems. Jack lost his wife and son in a horrendous accident years earlier and has never fully recovered his joie de vivre.
Back to the high-rise: the janitor found a severed hand on the fourteenth floor. Whose is it? What is this going on with the carnivorous "bag lady"? Whose body falls through a suburban couple's greenhouse? Who is this mysterious Rohmer who suddenly takes over the investigation?
Suffice to say, the resuls are horrifying...this is one scary book, and it'll make you give pause the next time a storm crops up. Take my advice---stay away from the walls!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: Big Storm, Monsters Galore and More, Oh My!
Review: Alec Beaton, janitor for the fourteen story Fernley House, is drinking alone on Christmas Eve down in the boiler room, listening to the sounds of the office parties above as they bleed on down. He is resentful as all get out and the thunderstorm outside isn't doing anything to make him feel any better. Then he hears mucho booming and fears the boiler may be defective, so he goes up to tell the revelers they have to leave the building, only he discovers the building is empty. The people have vanished.

Before long detective Jack Cardiff is on the scene to investigate the disappearances as all the while the storm is building, ever building. Then some of the people start coming back, only they are different now, not so happy any more, monsters by God, as scary as the storm of the century outside.

Frightening stuff in this book. Good characters and a well told story that stayed with me for days after I finished the book. I really liked this one, but then I'm a girl that appreciates a good scare every now and then.

Rating:
Summary: Darkfall Fell Flat
Review: Darkfall was a disappointment indeed! It was 384 pages of mostly "When does this end?" The characters were not particularly likable because nearly all of them were bromides! Besides that overwhelming detail, none of the characters were developed at all. I know next to nothing about any of them. One of the characters had a tragedy in the family and another was imprisoned for some time. Beyond that, no other developments were made.

The story itself is about a severe electrical storm (called a "Darkfall") that, with the right circumstances, causes transmogrifications . Interesting enough alone, but the problem with Darkfall (the book) is that the beginning, middle and end of the story is transmogrified itself!! Firstly, there is no "middle" of the story! The "beginning" is just 304 pages long. And the end is 80 pages long, yet somehow manages to drag on longer that the lengthy beginning. The story just did not flow well at all. Laws tried to explain the "Darkfall" in the story through scientists and such, but I was just not convinced by his explanations. The story would have been better if the building was just plain old "haunted" instead of this "Darkfall" malarkey. On the positive side though, I was actually tweaked at one point in the book. But that was when I thought the building was just haunted. The "fear" fell flat once the Darkfall explanations began.

Darkfall was not a quick read for me; it took just over 3 weeks to read it because of its tediousness! I would recommend only the first 100 pages or so, but after that, I would just tell you the ending. So skip it if you want to read something convincing. However, if you are just too curious to skip it, you won't be *dreadfully* disappointed; but be warned that you might be at least *somewhat* disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Darkfall Fell Flat
Review: Darkfall was a disappointment indeed! It was 384 pages of mostly "When does this end?" The characters were not particularly likable because nearly all of them were bromides! Besides that overwhelming detail, none of the characters were developed at all. I know next to nothing about any of them. One of the characters had a tragedy in the family and another was imprisoned for some time. Beyond that, no other developments were made.

The story itself is about a severe electrical storm (called a "Darkfall") that, with the right circumstances, causes transmogrifications . Interesting enough alone, but the problem with Darkfall (the book) is that the beginning, middle and end of the story is transmogrified itself!! Firstly, there is no "middle" of the story! The "beginning" is just 304 pages long. And the end is 80 pages long, yet somehow manages to drag on longer that the lengthy beginning. The story just did not flow well at all. Laws tried to explain the "Darkfall" in the story through scientists and such, but I was just not convinced by his explanations. The story would have been better if the building was just plain old "haunted" instead of this "Darkfall" malarkey. On the positive side though, I was actually tweaked at one point in the book. But that was when I thought the building was just haunted. The "fear" fell flat once the Darkfall explanations began.

Darkfall was not a quick read for me; it took just over 3 weeks to read it because of its tediousness! I would recommend only the first 100 pages or so, but after that, I would just tell you the ending. So skip it if you want to read something convincing. However, if you are just too curious to skip it, you won't be *dreadfully* disappointed; but be warned that you might be at least *somewhat* disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Think of an angry This Old House on steroids.
Review: I am new to the horror genre and rely upon the reviews I read to help guide me in my initial selections. I'm beginning to wonder if some of the "top reviewers" are hired by publishers to write glowing reviews of their books. This book is NOT horrorific or scary. There wasn't a single moment in the entire 358 pages that caused me the least twinge of fear. "Darkfall" refers to the mother-of-all electrical storms. Lots of rain, wind, snow and lightning. Living through a severe storm is scary; reading about a severe storm is boring. If detailed descriptions of severe weather scare you then this is definitely the book for you. Personally I'd rather watch the weather channel instead. Somehow, the electrical storm animates a 14 story office building such that the building absorbs or assimilates anyone who comes into contact with the building. Lean against a wall and zap . . . the wall absorbs you. Touch a handrail and poof . . . you're part of the handrail. Think of it as an angry This Old House on steroids. Some of the poor unfortunates who get sucked in by the building get expelled by the building. They return in various states of physical deformity embodying different elements of the architecture. A human being with carpet for skin or part muscle part wallboard. Oooh . . . how scary is that? Stephen Laws is a good writer. He develops the protagonist, Jack Cardiff, well. Laws has an annoying penchant for using the word "juddering" a lot. The storm judders, the building judders the people judder. I have a long standing rule that I always finish a book I start. I really regretted that rule with this book. The last 50 pages seemed twice as long as the first 300 pages. I found the book so boring that I started another while I was struggling to finish Darkfall. This is not a book I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty darn cool
Review: I didn't start off expecting a great deal from the book, but it really started to cook very early on. By the time I got to the half-way point of the thing, I was really enjoying the read.

It's well-written, has some pretty good characters, and it has a really cool premise. I can't believe a movie hasn't been made from it yet.

Rating:
Summary: Just barely decent
Review: I was not frightened by this book. The first few hundred pages are interesting despite the constant shifting POVs, but the end is a chore to reach: long and drawn out and just plain dull. The explanation for the Darkfall effect is confusing and not very scientific, so much as a horror novel can be scientific.

Publishers Weekly's claim that "this absorbing tale is also a spot-on allegory for the quiet horrors of cubicle life" is completely and utterly ridiculous. Whoever wrote that statement hasn't read Darkfall, hasn't worked in or even seen a cubicle, or is smoking crack.

I felt that I wasted my money buying this title new. It's worth about $1.00 at a used bookstore, however. Just don't expect to be scared, even reading it at night in an empty office building.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT JOB, LEISURE BOOK. ANOTHER TELENT PUBLISHED...!
Review: I will start with this. What is it with all books [well, at least 2 ] that start with 'Ghost'. 'Ghost Story' by Straub is 'THE' Horror book. You read it and after that it is in your mind for days. 'Ghost Train' by Stephen Laws is having same effect. This is just an intro of Stephen Laws. Now about 'Darkfall'. It is [ and I am not saying this is as blurb!] one book where you will be hooked right from the first chapter! You know, there is something new about this author [ WO WO!,Read carefully, I DID not say new author, Ghost Train was published in 198....] which blends Stephen King,Straub, and H.P. Lovecraft. Leisure book, I request you to publish more [ all of!] his book. Leisure did a GREAT job in bringing 'Simon Clark', INTRODUCE 'LAYMON', and some of 'Graham Masterton's books.

Rating:
Summary: Eh
Review: Is this a bad book? No. Is it a scary book? No.

The book starts off w/ a fairly creepy and original premise--a thunderstorm is sucking people into the wall so that they become two dimensional shadow creatures haunting a skyscraper.

It starts off w/ this. It doesn't end w/ this.

By the end, it's a typical Lovecraftian horror monster slasher tale, w/ a rather cheesy supervillain w/ a redundant and predictable psychosis. The original premise is forsaken in favor of same old same old. I bought this book because of the originality of the premise, so I guess I'm disappointed. The story begins to break down w/ the confusing explanation of the phenomenon. It seems like there may be some fascinating pseudo-science behind it, but it's just all over the place in its speculative fiction.

The characters are mediocre and typical--the tragic character, the redemption character, the New Age chick, the power-mongering human who predictably becomes evil incarnate (Heaven forbid these authors shake things up, how about the person who becomes the conduit for evil incarnate be the tragic character? Or the redemption character, who thinks he can harness the evil energy for good?). The other secondary characters are indiscernable, and its hard to keep track of the characters getting butchered.

There are some creepy moments 150 pages in, but 350 pages in, it's anticlimactic.

Rating:
Summary: Laws has a great imagination
Review: It is Christmas Eve, and all of the businesses housed in the fourteen story Fernley House are gearing up for an alcohol soaked series of office parties the participants will not soon forget. On the third floor, an architectural firm pours down drinks with reckless abandon. One of the junior partners in the firm decides after a few drinks that he must marry the senior secretary. The fourth floor shindig occurs in an accounting firm, with the bean counters dancing to Bruce Springsteen while somebody spikes the punch with vodka. The employees at Magnus Shipping, Inc., on the fourteenth floor, dance wildly to the sounds wafting up from the other parties, although they would have had their own music if one of the office girls had remembered to bring a tape player. Vincent Saville, one of the employees in the firm, stays back and silently clucks his tongue at the unfolding shenanigans. He feels that upper management should not condone such earthy fraternizing amongst the rabble, but keeps his thoughts to himself lest it should harm his career. Moving amidst all of this tumultuous cheer is the building maintenance man, Alec Beaton, a retired tar with a bad attitude towards the building's inebriated tenants. Not one of them offered Alec a drink, let alone a tip for keeping the building open and the boilers heated up for the parties. Grousing in the basement, Beaton casts aspersions on the jolly souls on the floors above. Outside, a massive storm full of lightening, sleet, and snow lashes the building and the surrounding area.

Things take a turn south when an eardrum shattering series of clangs assails Beaton's senses. Nearly knocked senseless by this mysterious event, the janitor suspects the boilers are about to blow and heads up to warn the people still in the building. Oddly, he discovers everyone has suddenly disappeared, although music still plays, lights still blaze, and drinks still sit on tables. It looks as though everyone except Beaton just melted away into the atmosphere, and in way, that is exactly what happened. Deeply disturbed, Alec phones the police and sets into motion what will soon become a massive investigation into what appears to be a supernatural event of tremendous proportions. Over eighty people suddenly vanished without a trace and the authorities want to know why. They do eventually discover what goes on in the deep recesses of Fernley House, although the truth is enough to send the hardiest souls fleeing from the building in terror.

Some will stay, of course, to make a stand against the evil fast enveloping Fernley House. Foremost of these brave souls is Detective Jack Cardiff. A veteran cop wrenched away from his desk and the memories of his deceased wife and child on a miserable Christmas Eve, Cardiff soon experiences some of the same eerie events Beaton described on the phone. Moreover, he and several of his officers discover a severed hand on one of the upper office floors, a hand neatly severed at the wrist with no signs of violence to explain its presence. When some ominous government agents led by a man named Rohmer show up, Cardiff and his fellow officers begin hearing enigmatic references to darkfalls, returners, and events that explain such supernatural events as the Bermuda Triangle, hauntings, and mysterious disappearances. It seems that the powerful storm raging away outside has a lot to do with what is going on at Fernley House.

I give British author Stephen Laws high marks for coming up with an enormously imaginative idea in "Darkfall." Originally written in 1992 but only hitting our shores within the last year, this book does a great job marrying eerie atmosphere with gory violence and lumbering beasts. Fernley House quickly becomes a closed, claustrophobic trap as Cardiff, a local thief named Devlin, a returner (read and understand), and the government agents move through the building in search of a way to escape the emerging horrors brought into existence by the storm. And what horrors this building births! What starts out as a simple tale of disappearing people turns into an expansive exposition on the unknown qualities of electricity, the pursuit of spiritual power, and the discovery of hidden realms beyond the knowledge of mankind that change those poor souls who experience them in decidedly unpleasant ways. Toss in a splash of Zoroastrianism and you have the essence of "Darkfall." Laws ably puts it all together in a way that, by the time you reach the conclusion of the book, you can look back and see you have traveled quite a distance from page one.

"Darkfall" hits a few road bumps along the way. Jack Cardiff and Agent Rohmer are about the only characters Laws bothers to develop in a significant way. The other police officers, Jimmy Devlin, and a few of the government agents who really know what is going on are mere cardboard cutouts who serve as cannon fodder for the monstrosities pouring out of the building or as actors who explain the plot to the reader. I found the burgeoning romantic connection between Devlin and the returner contrived and not at all compelling. I guess a romance is an easy plot device to fall back upon, even in a supernatural horror story, but "Darkfall" would have worked just as well without it. Despite these minor difficulties--including some iffy scientific theories about electricity--Laws's book is a great read that moves with mach speed from beginning to end. If you enjoy highly imaginative horror, "Darkfall" should definitely provide you with a few hours of entertainment.