The Darkening Dream [Tapa blanda]

Think of Salem, Massachusetts and you would think of the Salem Witch Trials, but we aren't in the 1600's. The year is 1913 and tales of witches are long gone, substituted by those of the vampires. Aside from them being called vampires, what do these vampires have in common with those that we know of in today's world? Absolutely nothing. When Andy Gavin went back in time with The Darkening Dream, he not only brought us to old traditions but to old rules. Farewell to the vampires that sparkle and fall in love with teenage girls and hello to the vampires who burn in the sun, sleep in a coffin and attack for pleasure.

Having received an email from Andy to review his novel, I was a bit hesitant at first. Vampires aren`t generally on my reading list, but how many spoiled apples did I have to go through before I finally gave up? With each word he typed though, I became more and more curious. He revealed the fact that he was co-creator of Naughty Dog, and when I finally saw the cover for the novel I just couldn't turn it down at all. How could this man, this creator of games such as Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, create a novel about vampires to hold my attention. Not to mention he added Egyptian gods to the mix. A weird mix but yet I set off on the journey.

The Darkening Dream treats us to a dark story about a girl named Sarah who stumbles into some trouble because of these visions she's having. With the help of Alex, a Greek Immigrant and her twin friends, Anne and Sam, she sets off on this terrifying adventure against an elderly vampire, a demon-loving Puritan warlock, Egyptian gods, all in the name of saving the holy trumpet of the Archangel Gabriel. While the plot-line might seem a bit of random and something on the path of comedy, it is the complete opposite. Never have I seen such an odd group come together so well and truly terrify me and the characters.

I absolutely loved the characters both the good and the bad. They were all written so well, with each of their personalities shining through on the pages brightly. From the very beginning, the story, the writing, the characters all seemed so fresh and new. From the very beginning, you become connected to these characters and yearn to learn more. They're all written with secrets behind them that makes you want to bring out your shovel and dig a little deeper than what the author has given. He made me connect to each and everyone of them in their own little ways. Of course the credit is given to the way he writes.

Like I said before, Andy Gavin gave me this refreshing new story that seriously set out against serious competitors and set the table for them. I was completely surprised at how amazing the writing was for someone who was only a debut author. I immediately connected to the words and could not let go. I grabbed each and every word and let it sink in as the story formed. Everything from the characters, to the way they spoke, to the way he narrated their actions was just perfectly written to the dot. The mixture of the Egyptian gods in the end actually made sense and made one think that anything is possible and can be taken seriously. Even after being finished with the story, it still amazes me how well it was written.

To go a little deeper into the characters, I'd have to focus on the vampires because after all this a vampire novel. The way they were shown simply amazed me. I longed for a novel where I would get killer vampires who attacked for blood and kept to their old traditions of turning into fog and bats, of sleeping in their coffin and staying away from the sun. Knowing that these vampires had a rows of sharp-fanged teeth got me excited for who their victims would be. But when the excitement went down I realized, this put the fear I had of vampires back in its place. Reading in the dead of night with only a book light on and no type of noise whatsoever, I found myself extremely uncomfortable during one part where the 900-year-old vampire torments the characters outside of their home. Knowing that he couldn't get in but wouldn't leave them alone seriously set me on edge and even writing about it now I'm getting that feeling again. The fear of how I felt when I was younger had suddenly hit me and I had to put the book down for a few minutes and turn the lights on.

I've always been afraid of vampires when I was younger, all the thanks should be given to my sister, but with current vampire novels it became sort of a joke. So I thank you, Andy Gavin, for making that fear return again and for reminding me why years ago I had to sleep with two beanie bag babies tight on my neck. A simple childish phobia that had long gone is beginning to return and I couldn't be more happier to welcome it with opened arms. Let's just hope that there's a sequel, especially with that killer ending.

The Darkening Dream is meant to be sipped like a fine wine. Too much at one time and you'll be overwhelmed by the vast amount of horror while simultaneously enlightened about historic information concerning multiple religions, Greek history, and the culture of America in the 1910s. If you'd like just another vampire tale, move along. The author narrates this story like a tour guide narrates a tour. He takes you through every little, forgotten path so that by the last page you have a full appreciation of the events that occurred.

There are two things that may bother some readers (three if you dislike horror). One is that religions play a huge impact in both the story and in the characters' daily lives. This is the first book I've read in a few years that has a Jewish main character, so I did appreciate the fine details in how being Jewish separates Sarah from the other characters. The second thing is that the characters in this book do come off as sexist at times. But considering this book is written before Women's Suffrage, where females have less rights and freedoms than males, this is completely normal for the time period.

I do not read too much historical fiction. In fact, the only time I do it is when it is tied tightly to the horror genre. I can tell that the author put a lot of energy into making this book historically and religiously accurate. At times, this does make the scenes "wordy". Plus both Alex and Sarah are well versed in Greek history, among other things, so there are quite a few facts mentioned throughout the story. As all of the information is relevant and the horror happens often, it never does feel like a "info dump", which I appreciate.

One thing that did confuse me at times was trying to keep track of what language the characters were speaking. Several of the characters are fluent in a couple languages, so they'd switch between Greek, Latin, English, and Hebrew depending on who was involved in the conversation. I would of liked more foreign words to have been used in the dialogue (instead of it being written entirely in English) so that I wouldn't have to pay such close attention to the dialogue tags to figure out what language was spoken and to allow my brain to not digest the dialogue as if it were English.

I was pleasantly shocked by the ending. I should have guessed that the horror wouldn't have given the characters a break even in its last pages. Knowing the ending, I do want to go back and reread, since now I know the motivations behind all the characters. This is one book that I'm sure upon rereading I'll see all the hints leading up to the end and be like "OMG, how did I not see that coming!" If you're interested in a horror novel that will haunt you over the course of weeks, The Darkening Dream is a perfect fit for you. But if you're looking for a quick scare or a vampire novel with more romance than bite, you should pass.

(I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.)

I recieved a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Darkening Dream was sent to me by an author who had previously worked in making games so I thought well this will be a nice book light fun though the cover had so much depth so I thought hmm that's interesting but no the covers just the cover the book should be game like. Hahahahahaha oh I have so much to learn.

The Darkening Dream is so rich in story I am blown away that it was written by a first time author. First time! Damn Andy that's like someone painting like that white guy on PBS with the afro right off and not crappy stick figures. Even my stick figures suck so I'm sitting here in envy right now.

A vampire book so dark and gritty yet with religious both Christian and Jewish elements and supernatural all mixed to create a masterfully woven and detailed, rich entertaining story.

Four friends work to cut off a vampire in search of a religious artifact for well nothing good of course in the process lives are lost, mysteries revealed and much death throughout small town Salem, Massachusetts in 1913. The historical details add an addition element to the already rich story.

This book is packed with characters and story and I am impressed by what a first time author has created. It's much darker than what I was expecting but very, very good. I highly recommend checking it out