Review - This Brilliant Darkness

My Score: 3.5/5

This Brilliant Darkness by Red Tash is a dark, pretty scary, quite original, and wholly unpredictable horror novel.  It's so chock-full of unconventional characters and truly weird plot elements that it's almost impossible to summarize, but I'll try.

Christine Grace is an American college professor.  A whole batch of weird things happens to her in short order.  A strange unmoving star appears in the sky, and it's only visible over Bloomington, Indiana.  A dark immortal creature is hunting her.  A man she's never met but has long felt connected with has come to Bloomington.  A mysterious young religious pilgrim is seeing her in visions.  And one of her students is exhibiting strange powers.  It's all connected, and somehow Grace is at the heart of it.

I liked the complete absence of familiar tropes.  I couldn't tell you what book this book compares to.  It's startlingly original.  It's also pretty well-written.  There is mystery, romance, rising tension, complex and compelling characters, and an ever-present sense of dread.

Some things I didn't like.  It's almost too weird at times.  Two of the characters are so deeply odd that the scenes written from their point of view are nearly incomprehensible.  Also, I must warn you - this book has some pretty gross imagery.  It's not TOO bad, but there is a scene early on, I'll just say that it involves a blood clot and leave it at that.  Not really a problem, but you should know that this book is not for the squeamish.

There is brilliance in This Brilliant Darkness.  If you're tired of the same old paranormal cliches, this will knock your socks off.

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