Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson
01/11/2003 . Source: Katie McGivern 
pub: Gollancz. 266 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-075460-5. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check
out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
Will Barbee is a journalist waiting
at an airport for the arrival of a group of explorers. However, this
is no ordinary assignment, he was kicked off of this team with no
explanation several years ago.
Matters are further complicated by the arrival
of a rival reporter, April Bell, who seems to be the catalyst for the death of
the party of explorers and for Will's battle with himself.
 As
he struggles with nightmares and the search for the Child of the
Night, the slow dawning of who he actually is leads Will down a
dark spiral of evil and destruction As readers, we travel a similar
spiral.
The novel starts off at a leisurely
pace but slowly and inexorably, the tension of the novel builds up to a fantastic,
explosive and unusual ending. The style and characterisation of the novel contributed
to this leisured start. Williamson wrote this novel in 1948 and I found
it quite hard at first to connect with the way that the novel is written. However,
the fast pace of the novel sweeps away any reservations and coldness towards the
characters that I had and was soon immersed in the downfall of Will Barbee.
It is a subtly sinister novel, with the evil pervading your brain like
fog into your bones on a cold day. The effect is pervasive and it is only when
you finish the book and you think about what you have read that the chills start
to creep up and down your spine. It is a book that will linger round your brain
for some time.
I started off being intoxicated by the period style
of the novel, almost patronisingly laughing at the fashion and culture depicted
by Williamson.
Until, imperceptibly, I started to realise how well
crafted the novel is. How Williamson has taken me on an exhilarating journey that
twists and turns and flows and ends up at a destination that I hadn't even considered.
This is a novel that stood up to the test of time and is a darkly enjoyable read.
Katie
McGivern 
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