- Read my review of Dark Tyrant book 1, Canyon Shadows.
- Read my review of Dark Tyrant book 2, Consequence.
Disclaimer: I am friends with the author; I received a free ebook version of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
The post-apocalyptic mayhem continues as Dark Tyrant book 3 picks up almost immediately after the previous installment to the series. This time, however, we finally meet the organization prepared to take on a fight of this proportion. Agent Doyle isn’t just a crazy man in a duct-tape coat – he’s part of a multinational paramilitary organization trained to handle these sorts of situations. His protégé Thuli leads a strike team into the heart of the Salt Lake City area to assess the situation. (To be fair, Agent Doyle is still very much a crazy man in a duct-tape coat.)
Things go badly for Thuli’s team quickly, as Hell (and possibly other horror-style realms) continues to spill into Earth. The nonstop action of the previous book continues here, and Langille makes excellent use of visceral description to invoke a response in the reader without overwhelming with gratuitous gore.
Our paranormal special ops team makes an unlikely team-up with a group of semi-professional ghost hunters in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was less interested in their storyline, and especially Frank’s awkward crush on a coworker. Other evil supernatural entities are taking advantage of the crazy situation, which makes things all the more complicated for our heroes.
Thuli’s story shines during the epic climax of this story, as readers learn that the leaders of her organization might not have Earth’s best interests at heart. I appreciate the “realism” that Langille brings to his writing in the form of not every hero making it out of the fight unscathed. He also resists the urge to “info-dump” every bit of information about every intriguing character, though in some cases he could lean a bit further in the other direction. (For example, Jeremiah was probably the most fascinating character in this book, and I could have easily done with some more details on his unique situation.)
This book ends with all the demon-fighting drama I could hope for, but the story isn’t over here. I look forward to Thuli and Doyle’s showdown with the Dark Tyrant and his acolytes, especially now that I know they might be fighting a war on multiple fronts.
Rating: 4.5 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.