The Dark by Jeremy Robinson - Eighth Book of the Infinite Timeline Series

 

 *** Stars out of 5

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THE DARK by Jeremy Robinson

Miah Gray is a twenty-seven-year-old, former Army soldier living in rural New Hampshire with his sister, mother, and her boyfriend. He is plagued by PTSD, finding solace, but not redemption, with the aid of prescribed cannabis. All he wants to do is get high, relax with a good sandwich, and watch a meteor shower with his neighborhood crush--Jen.

A brilliant flash of light fills the sky, leaving Miah changed, and an Old Norse death rune etched onto his forehead. He fears he has been marked for death until the neighborhood's parents start disappearing, and he's left behind. Leading Jen and a ragtag group of parentless kids, Miah hunts for answers and for their parents, while trying to keep his sister safe. He charges headlong down a path that will take him to the gates of Hell--and then straight through.

THERE SHALL COME OVER THE WHOLE EARTH, AN INTENSE DARKNESS LASTING THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS.

ALL OF HELL WILL BE LET LOOSE.

The Dark is based loosely on the premise of the mythical Three Days of Darkness prophecy. 

This book is a part of Jeremy Robinson's 12 book crossover saga and this review has been done based on the Kindle edition of the book available on Amazon. The book is available here -

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Jeremy-Robinson-ebook/dp/B093QKWM5D

Book Review of The Dark by Jeremy Robinson

This is Book 8 of the 12 book Genre Bending Infinite Series (not to be confused with the Infinite 1 and 2 books which are a part of this storyline) of Stand Alone novels weaved together by Jeremy in one fantastic storyline.

THERE SHALL COME OVER THE WHOLE EARTH, AN INTENSE DARKNESS LASTING THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS.

ALL OF HELL WILL BE LET LOOSE

The above last lines above seemed a great reason to pick up this book although I read most of Jeremy's books out of interest and am more often than not, satisfied with the story.

My bookshelf has been overflowing as has been my kindle...

And I keep adding to them.

Morbidly, I have been starting books of all types, experimenting with different authors, reading over 50 books parallelly which has been taking a toll. With C19 easing and work almost back to normal, books have gone back to being a hobby and not being able to dedicate many hours per day put me a lot behind. So from last month, I have been reading books with a zeal, targeting completing a book within a targeted timeline.

The Dark has been one such casualty and somehow Jeremy Robinson has been on the receiving end of my malady. His recent books are partially to blame especially Infinite2 which after what was for me a blockbuster Infinite is a sleeper, puts me on snooze mode. Very slow pacing and my eternal problem of not quitting even when the book *****. pardon my French as they say.

This book isn't but is not a great one either. I have had some great times with Jeremy's books and what with his recent ailment (we are seeing a lot of that reflected in his writings as he himself has mentioned in discussions and book blurbs) and books which are all over the spectrum and his massive 12 book Infinite timeline crossover, expectations are space high, sky is just the baseline.

What is great is that Jeremy has not been struck to just the subject of Kaiju of which he is the foremost master and has always pushed his boundaries from the technothrillers in the Jack Sigler thriller series or the space exploration stories like Exo-Hunter, the Infinite books, this one or the AI and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) like again Infinite and books like NPC, and stories of the forbidden like Forbidden Island, contemporary stories featuring numerous arcs.

About this book, The Dark.

How much is this book different from what I read recently - The Distance and Flux, post apocalyptic vs Marvel multiverse style portal backed into alien territories, hell on earth, invasion seemed so very Chitauri as in Avengers.

Not very much I say, despite the fact that the book is entertaining like most of Jeremy's books, slow for most part with meandering being a descriptive word.

Miah Gray the star of the show, a twenty-seven-year-old, former Army soldier with PTSD seemed an ideal foil for Jeremy's histrionics in this book and with his leanings for certain plant materials herbal extracts to tone down his histrionics and relax onsets of panic attacks. There was enough material on Miah to elevate him into bookish super stardom and we see in the initial pages of the book how it progresses and the fact that despite his history he is straight laced and does not have any deep rooted addictions or characteristics for violence.

But why in this Dark hell is he wearing a skirt? The description is about the meds being potent but when telling us that he is not addicted earlier, this is like la la land for Miah with Mary Jane. If he gets so into his fix then episodes later in this book how does he stay sane without his fix. All rational decisions coming to him are powers suddenly gifted by Jeremy to his star but is not in sync with the earlier images of him.

Did love cause the change....Love can do that ....

Did the dire situation???

I don't know.

Would have loved to see Jeremy exploring PTSD in the book, it is a serious issue and affects lots of people with serious side effects and lifestyle issues depending on the degree of their exposure.

The information about this malady to the character here in this book just acts as filler, unfortunately.

The book has its moments with the subtle romance between Miah and Jen, the acceptance of family by Miah when the shoe drops. The way he bromances his mother's lover Rich after the crisis and his genuine distress when he goes to his mothers room to sit in what he considered his chair. Sisterly affection, protective towards his family and dependents as they add up are an extension of his soldier background.

The harbinger of the crisis is an advert in the papers about the centuries old Three Days of Darkness prophecy, during which the legions of Hell will be unleashed on the Earth and the world will go dark. We are in a super store where we find out that the stores have been emptied by people wary of this prophecy.

No explanation for this event or WHY and HOW and WHO has brought this information to the public domain. It seems everybody except our star's family and acquaintances know about the event.

This leaves a big question...

But the moment changes when the sky goes dark, animals frenzy and flee and Miah sees the paper in his kitchen table and rereads the info he puts his family into fast forward mode to cover all external windows.

The book leaves a lot of portions unfulfilled and its pace and action are the only things that keep it going.

The first half of the book is slow and unhurried and the second half flees through.

The villains in this case demons are described well but somehow the book does not give the feeling of doomsday, maybe because we see the main characters all together and in not much distress.

The side story of the character they meet in one of the neighboring houses, is an unwelcome detour that brings almost nothing to the main story except fill some additional pages and give opportunities for the team to play amongst themselves - a sort of a dress rehearsal for the main show.

The neighbor has issues and we actually see someone who is troubled severely by PTSD and other psychological stuff in his character. He could have been a welcome participator in the final countdown, adding to the terseness of the story but Jeremy sees fit to end his tenure with a shortcut.

Humor is the one thing that is all pervading in this book and we see all sorts of banter between characters and it helps take this book forward though what is lost is the terror/horror/chill that a Apocalyptical or near apocalyptical story should have. Instead of giving one the heebie-jeebies, the book provides feel good vibes and this seems to happen even when people are being mowed down or ground into Steak tartare.

This is how I felt when in a race to complete the book.

The epilogue helps link this book into Jeremy's Infinite timeline crossover book. We already know because we are reading the books as it comes.

I will recommend this book to Jeremy's committed fan folk and those like me who are doing the Infinite timeline.

For everyone else this book is a standalone book that you can read without any back or forward stories. My rating reflects the gap between where I have put him (pedestal) and what this book achieves (mid level).

Adios.