Talk us through it
Glyn, Willie, and Davey are eleven-year-old mates who are eagerly looking forward to their summer break from school. On the last day of school farm boy Michael Reilly is acting weirder than usual and this is just a hint of the murder and madness about to descend on the boys over the next few days. The summer holidays are going to be coloured black and red as an ancient evil continues it's battle with the forces of light. For John Wallace and Hugh MacDougall the evil is something they have face before on the battlefields of Europe during the Second World War. For Toby Cartwright and Father Stephen it will be the second confrontation with an evil beyond description. Others will be dragged into the battle as the forces of light and darkness once again play a game of universal domination. Will anyone survive and what will be left of them? Madness, murder, and possession await the reader, ready to take one step beyond?
Review"Seeeee Yoooouuu Sssoooooonnn!" - Michael Reilly Seems I was slightly premature when I reviewed Keith Williams' novel The Finger of God and claimed that novel was Williams first, see what happens when you don't do any research and Editorial policy is inflexable! Dark Beckoning is the Author's actual first novel and shows surprising strength for a debut release, though it has to be admitted to get anything released in this country you need to have strength as a writer straight from the kick off. Through his first two novels Williams shows the sort of maturity you would expect from a Writer with a dozen or so published books in their bibliography. And even better, for those of us with a Celtic disposition, Williams is heavily influenced by his Country of his birth, Scotland. Let's get it on, bang a gong etc. I guess when looking at a novel with three eleven year olds as central characters you are meant to drag out the "coming of age" hook, polish it up, and throw it out there to see what sort of fish you might catch. Williams certainly manages to capture the world of his young protagonists, live for the day, the Adult world is incomprehensible, but besides showing a genuine ability to capture the thought processes of pre-teens doesn't delve into the obvious plot developments one would expect. By novel's end things aren't going to be tied up in a neat package and delivered via Federal Express to anything like a readership expecting a pre-ordained motif, the novel is simply a recounting of events that happened at the beginning of one summer, nothing more nothing less. That's not to say Dark Beckoning is overtly simplistic or shying away from the heavy themes horror readers expect, you get what you paid for here and the ride is a particularly well constructed haunted house attraction. Keith Williams serves up a novel that isn't quite what one expects, in a good way, and delivers on the promise we had going in. One of the great unsong books of Down Under horror fiction. For those after deeper thoughts in a novel, and let's face it there's only so much pop fiction you can read before it all blends together into a Disneyland attraction of fluff, Williams goes for the jugular on the religious front. If there is an ultimate good then there must be an ultimate evil, things remain in balance, standard Christian philosophy there. However the Author doesn't simply leave it to an extraction of pure metaphysics, organised religion comes under the spot light in a sort of amalgamation of thought. This isn't to say that Williams simply puts Christian thought processes on a pedestal and throws rotten tomatoes at them, he equates all organised religions as having a modicum of truth about them but implies that they no longer have touch with the fundamentals that gave rise to them. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to ley lines and the Celtic belief in fundamental powers inherent in the environment in which we live. Okay promise that's the last of the heavy stuff hitting this review, and for sure Keith Williams doesn't take the metaphysical golf club and brains the reader with it. Another one of those novels where you can take what you want from it without getting bogged down in the heavy heavy shakes. For those wanting comparisons Keith Williams with Dark Reckoning hits the styling of a particular fine James Herbert novel, say The Fog, while mix and matching a Stephen King style sensibility with character and situation. Williams knows how to write in that particular Brit style of proper novel construction but also knows how to create believable characters in the American naturalistic style. If I had to draw a direct parallel with a foreigner writer that writer would be surprisingly John Irving, but since Irving isn't on the recommended reading list of most dark genre fans you'll have to do some checking at your local library. You know the building with all the books and such. Perhaps slightly missing, given the Down Under setting, is a purely Australian voice in the novel. The flavour here is more Brit than colonial though I would argue that could be due to the novel being a first book and hence Williams is still developing his own voice. You won't be short changed by this at all as the Brits sure know how to construct a dark genre yarn without dropping the ball. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the Author develops from here, even establishing Horror writers are constantly refining their craft. Can Williams write the great Australian horror novel, possibly, will he pull out another great novel in the future, assuredly. Williams is an honest writer who not only delivers on a good book but gives the reader exactly what they paid for. I found Dark Beckoning easy to read but hard to put down, the narrative drags you in and keeps you locked to the page till the last paragraph. There's a sure hand at the helm here and it's easy to get immersed in the plot without having to consciously make a decision to start reading, with of course the associated danger of time slipping past as you read "just another page". On a couple of occasions I found myself glancing at the clock and being horrified that it was 2am, where did the time go, and then wondering if I would be any more dysfunctional at work if I simply read through to 8am or so. And yes before you ask the temptation was to ring the office, inform everyone I might have developed some highly contagious virus, and spend the day in bed reading to see how it all turned out. For those wanting to check out Dark Beckoning for themselves there are copies available on line from Poseidon's Website. Retail price there is $31.00 for a larger than normal paperback edition. Slightly pricey I know but well worth the investment if you enjoy a good scary tale of darkness and mayhem.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Another solid slice of Down Under literature to amaze and disturb, let the darkness entice you
to reading pleasure.
|
