Genre City Review: Darkness Follows
Title: Darkness Follows
Author: Mike Dellosso
Publisher: Realms
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Date: May 2011
ISBN: 978-1616382742
Reviewed by: Jennifer AlLee
From the first page, Dellosso throws the reader into the middle of the action.
Sam Travis hears things that aren’t there, writes things he doesn’t remember writing, and is haunted by a tragic past he can’t shake.
While Sam fears he’s being devoured by darkness, his young daughter, Eva, is enveloped by light. She spends her time talking to an imaginary friend who gives her messages of love and life for her father. The question is can Sam still reach the life preserver his daughter is throwing him?
From the first page of Darkness Follows, Mike Dellosso throws the reader into the middle of the action. Short chapters keep the pace zipping along, making it a hard book to put down. Set against the backdrop of Gettysburg, Dellosso draws interesting parallels between contemporary times and the Civil War era. Most importantly, he creates characters who engage the reader.
As important information about them is doled out piece by piece, we become more invested in their stories and must know what makes these people tick. As Dellosso himself has said, this is primarily a story of the pure love between a father and his daughter. Overall, he provides a profoundly satisfying—and sometimes startling—reading experience.
Because some readers are more sensitive than others, you may want to know there’s a fairly high body count and readers who dislike any kind of cruelty to animals should proceed with caution. However, I wouldn’t let that stop you from reading this book.
Darkness Follows is a powerful portrait of the darkness that seeks to devour mankind and the only Light able to defeat it.