ARC Review: The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin

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Author: Andy Gavin

Title: The Darkening Dream

Source: Author

About the Book: 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.

 

My Thoughts: 

Too much of a good thing....

Rounded down to two stars. This book felt like a potentially delicious meal that was spoiled by having to many spices in it. It could have been very good, but there was simply too much going on for me to enjoy it very much.

Sarah Engelmann, daughter to a Jewish rabbi, is having an afternoon picnic with her Christian friends along with Greek newcomer Alex, when she sees a corpse who was tortured before he was murdered. The next day, when she sees selfsame corpse walking through the village fair, she knows something is up, because it is weird, to say the least, to have a dead body walking about in broad daylight. The book details the adventure Sarah, Alex, Sam, and Anne have in getting to the bottom of this dead-man-walking issue.

The time, effort, and research that Mr. Gavin put into his book is very evident, and so I am sorry to say that it did not work for me, but there you have it.

The characters were sensible, but they behaved completely wrongly for their setting. I could not believe these were teens from 1913, and that threw me out of the flow of the story several times. They acted like 21st-century kids, and not ones I'd expect from 1913. At all.

The writing was good, but again, there was too much going on, too many characters in the midst. Sarah's POV, Alex's POV, Emily's POV, Pastor Parris' POV, al-Nasir's POV..... too many narrators.

Additionally, the mythology didn't work very well for me. I loved the vampiric mythology, but the mix of religions just did my head in. One moment Christian thought and philosophy, the other moment, Jewish, the next, Islamic, all along with I believe, Greek mythology and ancient Egyptian religion. I think there was a succubus in there as well (at least that is what I understood Betty to be). It was just too much, and I reiterate that it did not work for me. Just one or two of the elements mentioned would have led to a much tighter story, I believe, instead of the melange we got. Getting towards the end, I did find myself skimming some parts, because I couldn't be bothered anymore. The ending threw me for a loop. The twist was brilliant, but I was not impressed with Sarah's decision  because it seemed very out-of-character.

An overabundance of good elements, brought this book down.

Too many spices messed this broth up for me big time. It could have been really awesome though. :(
I would like to know more about what happened to Sarah, but if ever there is a sequel, and if it does read like this, I might opt not to read it.

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