Valley of Lights

Rating:
Summary: Fun stuff!
Review: I would also put this in a special category, cop vs. monster. It is solid, fun stuff...up there with that classic 1970's work by Leslie H. Whitten "Progeny of the Adder" and a small cut above the 'Repairman Jack' novels by F. Paul Wilson. Folks, this kind of classic, 'horror pulp' writing is long overdue for a comeback (maybe Harry Shannon's 2002 shriek-fest "Night of the Beast" is the harbinger; let's hope so) and in the meanwhile, we should all be supporting the genre by digging up these older, cooler novels and re-reading them. "Valley of Lights" is cool and classic. Go for it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent cop v.s monster story.
Review: The above pretty well sums it up. That's why I don't want to spend too many words on this book. Trust me, if you like cop procedurals and/ or demonic possession stories you're pretty safe buying this.

The cop versus monster story is a somewhat peculiar subgenre (in my opinion anyway). I myself like it and I can think of a few more examples besides VALLEY OF LIGHTS which will be more than worth your time. Think Gary Brandner's CAMERON'S CLOSET and DOOMSTALKER and movies like Denzel Washington's FALLEN and the more obscure, but extremely enjoyable SIXTH POWER starring, above all people; Lou Diamond Phillips.

Anyway, back to VALLEY OF LIGHTS. It's a fast, short read with an adrenaline rush of a pace and some pretty good plottwists. Stephen Gallagher shows that's he's more than capable with the horror and gore elements and you wouldn't know that he's British judging from this Arizona based and a 100 percent American cop story.
I can also understand why he's moved on to more mainstream thriller efforts like RED,RED ROBIN and DOWN RIVER. His style's really accessable. I like him, I like his writing, and not only because he used to be a staffwriter on the original DOCTOR WHO tv-series.

I'll be reading more of his work in the future, meanwhile VALLEY OF LIGHTS is an excellent starting point, if you want to be introduced to this more than excellent writer.