The Darkening

Rating:
Summary: great horror
Review: The world is changing as the forces of darkness begin to get stronger. Billions of people have disappeared, only their clothing left behind. Many of those who remain are changed into reptilian beasts who only want to kill the normals. There is no more power and the food and water have a taint to it. Cities collapse and the landscape of the planet undergoes a rapid change but this is not the Rapture or its aftermath. The Old Ones, beings who live in another dimension, are returning to destroy Earth before they return to their own realm.

An ancient organization known as the Rex Deux frantically try to find the chosen ones who like the others before them will be the saviors of mankind and keep the portal between the dimensions closed. Lucy Deveraux, who has always been a loner, hides from the Qedem Melech, the organization who helps the Old Ones and their minions. She along with Dylan Barnes, fighting his own demons and grieving the loss of his wife, is the ones who must fight the old ones. From separate parts of the country, they and their allies meet on the sacred ground of The Keep, hoping to find the knowledge that will help them defeat mankind's enemy.

There are many great horror novelists writing today including King, Koontz, and Barker, but Chandler McGrew proves with THE DARKENING he is their equal. The protagonists don't want to be world saviors but when push comes to shove they find the courage to try. Readers will empathize with their predicament and sympathize with their doubts and root for them as they go against an enemy more powerful than they could imagine.

Harriet Klausner