Darker

Rating:
Summary: Darker Takes Off Running and Doesn't Stop
Review: Darker is another of Clark's book filled with the right mix of action, suspense and horror that never gets boring.

Rosemary Snow meets the mysterious stranger, Michael, who is being pursued by something unknown, something dark. He leaves Rosemary and continues on until he meets up with the Young family, and this is where the book really takes off.

Darker is a blend of darkest fairy tale and the best sort of horror, the kind that makes you want to keep reading and reading without setting the book down. Clark once again creates believable characters who stick in the mind until the story is over. What was really interesting about this book is that the supernatural Beast is not the only horror in the story. Darker focuses on something much more horrific to me: the possible loss of a member or members of your family.

Originally published in 1996, Darker is one of the most sought-after books written by Clark. Kudos to Leisure for reprinting it and giving those of us in the U.S. the pleasure of reading yet another Simon Clark book.

Rating:
Summary: The Price of Power
Review: I'm so glad to have discovered this author. "Darkness Demands" was a phenomenal book as is "Darker". It weaves so many different elements of horror and fantasy together to create this wonderful story. Mr. Clark has the rare gift of being able to hook you from the first page until the very last. This one never gets boring nor slow. You literally sit on the edge of your seat until the last page.

The book starts off with a teenaged girl named Rosemary meeting up with a mysterious stranger named Michael after running away from home. This stranger seems so nice she allows herself to be sucked into his evil plans which is to try to control a brutal power he has unleashed.

After leaving Rosemary behind to face this force, he gets in a wreck near the home of the Young family and from there, Richard has to try to save his wife and daughter with the help of the battered Rosemary Snow. I won't tell anymore so as not to spoil the plot but this is one wild ride of a book. The characters are all very believable and are people you care about. The plot has all the elements of a great suspense novel as well as horror. You never know from page to page just how this one will turn out.

All in all, this is one of the best horror novels I've read recently. I can't wait to read what Simon Clark will write next. If you like being on the edge of your seat and enjoyed his other books, don't pass this one up.

Rating:
Summary: Another excellent book by Simon Clark
Review: I'm so glad to have discovered this author. "Darkness Demands" was a phenomenal book as is "Darker". It weaves so many different elements of horror and fantasy together to create this wonderful story. Mr. Clark has the rare gift of being able to hook you from the first page until the very last. This one never gets boring nor slow. You literally sit on the edge of your seat until the last page.

The book starts off with a teenaged girl named Rosemary meeting up with a mysterious stranger named Michael after running away from home. This stranger seems so nice she allows herself to be sucked into his evil plans which is to try to control a brutal power he has unleashed.

After leaving Rosemary behind to face this force, he gets in a wreck near the home of the Young family and from there, Richard has to try to save his wife and daughter with the help of the battered Rosemary Snow. I won't tell anymore so as not to spoil the plot but this is one wild ride of a book. The characters are all very believable and are people you care about. The plot has all the elements of a great suspense novel as well as horror. You never know from page to page just how this one will turn out.

All in all, this is one of the best horror novels I've read recently. I can't wait to read what Simon Clark will write next. If you like being on the edge of your seat and enjoyed his other books, don't pass this one up.

Rating:
Summary: Probably Clark's Worst Novel
Review: I've read most of Simon Clark's novels, even going so far as to order British hardcovers of the more recent ones, and most of what I've read has been very promising. Clark is one of the strongest writers to enter the horror field in a long time, maybe since Clive Barker first broke on the scene with his Books of Blood. That said, I have to say I was rather disappointed by _Darker_. This is a rather silly novel, with characters that are pretty one-dimensional. The whole "invisible force" that must be kept under control, lest it start to hammer people and objects flat, has to be one of the stranger plots for a horror novel. I can't fault Clark for his originality here. Unfortunately, he doesn't do much with this idea and the book just doesn't match up to the amazing heights of his other work. Check out _Vampyrrhic_ or _Blood Crazy_ first. Wait until you're a Clark fanatic and must read everything he's written before you try _Darker_.

Rating:
Summary: Probably Clark's Worst Novel
Review: I've read most of Simon Clark's novels, even going so far as to order British hardcovers of the more recent ones, and most of what I've read has been very promising. Clark is one of the strongest writers to enter the horror field in a long time, maybe since Clive Barker first broke on the scene with his Books of Blood. That said, I have to say I was rather disappointed by _Darker_. This is a rather silly novel, with characters that are pretty one-dimensional. The whole "invisible force" that must be kept under control, lest it start to hammer people and objects flat, has to be one of the stranger plots for a horror novel. I can't fault Clark for his originality here. Unfortunately, he doesn't do much with this idea and the book just doesn't match up to the amazing heights of his other work. Check out _Vampyrrhic_ or _Blood Crazy_ first. Wait until you're a Clark fanatic and must read everything he's written before you try _Darker_.

Rating:
Summary: The Price of Power
Review: Not Since James Herbert's "Magic Cottage" have I enjoyed a horror novel so much. Clark is a magnificent writer. He is one of few who can pull the reader in so completely and effortlessly. I liked all the characters, even the villian Michael, with those kind gentle down turned eyes. My favorite character was that of Rosemary Snow, a brave young woman who becomes more and more powerful as the story unfolds. I am new to Clark and I am looking forward to reading all his novels.

Rating:
Summary: A solid if not brilliant effort
Review: Simon Clark is one of my favorite authors in the horror genre. Blood Crazy, King Blood, and Vamphyrric are all superb, unique, and amazing works. Darker, like his first novel Nailed by the Heart, suffers from a certain vagueness that occasionally crops up in Clark's work.

The characters here must face an overwhelming evil force and though we grow to like our protagonists, I found it difficult to truly understand them. Every so often someone would do something I found completely out of character, merely in an effort to serve the story line. Clark shows his hand a bit too much in this one, though the novel remains a gripping read. You simply might be left with too many questions at the end of it.

Rating:
Summary: A solid if not brilliant effort
Review: Simon Clark is one of my favorite authors in the horror genre. Blood Crazy, King Blood, and Vamphyrric are all superb, unique, and amazing works. Darker, like his first novel Nailed by the Heart, suffers from a certain vagueness that occasionally crops up in Clark's work.

The characters here must face an overwhelming evil force and though we grow to like our protagonists, I found it difficult to truly understand them. Every so often someone would do something I found completely out of character, merely in an effort to serve the story line. Clark shows his hand a bit too much in this one, though the novel remains a gripping read. You simply might be left with too many questions at the end of it.

Rating:
Summary: A Crushing Tale
Review: Simon Clark writes stories that always entertain, and with Darker he does so smashingly. It seems that an invisible force exists, an entity of pure power that can be conjured to do ones bidding, if all the conditions are met.

"...it can be controlled but it can also be unleashed."

An interesting premise fleshed out by a story chock full of chaotic scenes of amazing brutality makes for great late night reading.

"Nothing can stop it and it must be appeased."

What price for power? To rule the world anything is subject to sacrifice.

Clark is one of the most consistently enjoyable authors working today, buy everything he writes and revel in money well spent.

Rating:
Summary: A bit disappointing...
Review: This book starts off with a bang, but doesn't sustain its pace. Before long, we're swept up into an endless, repetitive chase during which a lot of people get gorily squished by an evil Beast. Meanwhile, a transparently evil villain manages to charm the pants off an incredibly unsuspecting family, while plotting to use their innocent four-year-old daughter in his nasty plot to rule the world...

Clark writes well, and he's created an especially engaging character in teenaged Rosemary Snow, but this rather thinly plotted book starts running in place long before its climax.