“Shorty” is no stranger to darkness. Even before the earth swallowed him up it was
a familiar companion in Haiti. Now,
after the quake, trapped under the rubble, it is all he has. But when he hears a voice in the darkness it
is not one he knows, but one that stretches across two hundred years of the past
to reach him. It is Toussaint
L'Ouverture, a slave, a leader, a man that died in darkness like Shorty is
certain he will die. What is the hero of
Haiti telling Shorty, and can it save him?
I picked this up because the cover is gorgeous and I
love Nick Lake’s Blood Ninja series. To
call this a departure would be understatement.
This is a dark book about darkness and about how evil, poverty, and
tyranny can destroy souls and entire nations.
The blend of contemporary Haiti and that of the past really works well
to show the timelessness and universality of the message of the novel: that in
the greatest darkness there is still hope even if it remains unseen. I was very pleasantly surprised that an
author that excels at action-horror could write such a serious and moving
work. I felt the fear and hopelessness
in Shorty’s life and the darkness encroaching.
It’s rare that a writer can transport you to a place so different from
your own life and Lake pulls it off remarkably.
I was really impressed that the jump between modern day and the past
didn’t feel gimmicky; it really adds something to the book and makes it
special. I recommend this to fans of both contemporary and historical fiction,
because it handles both so well. In Darkness may not be a “fun” read, but
it is one you’ll be glad you read.
You can check our catalog for In Darkness here.
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