Cover Image: The Essence of Darkness

The Essence of Darkness

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Member Reviews

DNF'd. I tried several times to read this, but it just didn't land with me. The premise sounded interesting and right up my alley, but it wasn't executed well, but then again it could be the translation.

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I was interesting but just didn't do it for me unfortunately. I prefer more fast paced thrillers/crime books. Thanks for allowing me to read it tho!

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This was beyond chilling and having it be a new author for me I wasn't sure what to expect but this was fantastic! Dark, twisted, and mysterious I couldn't stop reading, it got me scared and I'm sure I was sitting at the edge of my seat for a good portion of it. LOVE IT

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I love a good murder mystery/thriller, but this book just didn't do it for me. The main character is so hyped up by the author that it feels more like wish fulfillment rather than a person who could exist in real life. As for the supporting characters, I don't know if they would exist in real life because they are so narrowly written and are never fleshed out. I suppose this is to keep the focus on the main character, who were are supposed to love but just comes off as a "bro" type who is supposed to be handsome "but not know it." Believe me, he knows it. The character is not nearly as charming a the author things, so we the readers have nobody to root for since the other characters are mostly just warm bodies with no real personalities. This book gets two stars, one for effort and one for some of the scarier scenes, which are actually well written. If Tom Clearlake had just put half that effort into character development, this would have been a decent or maybe even good thriller. Sadly, it is not even mediocre.

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I really did try to get into this book - but alas, the writing style just made it too difficult and so my attention span was short with this one. The synopsis made it seem interesting but it just didn't deliver for me.

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This book dragged. I swear, half the chapters seem like they could be cut. It jumped all over the place.
The premise sounds good. 5 kids go missing, and a race against the clock to get them back alive. That sounds like something I would like. But this book is not it. It's weird and supernatural, and I just did not like it.

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The premise of the story was what drew me to the book in the first place. Children go missing, evil forces are at play and it is up to FBI agent Eliot Cooper to figure out what is going on in this small community. However, what I wasn't expecting was the very supernatural twist this book took. It was intriguing, at first, but then I fell like it just all fell apart.

Eliot Cooper accepts his mission and proves to be one of the best in his fields, that is until he stumbles upon a sacred ritual in the woods which leads him to transform into something no one expected. Cooper becomes unrecognizable to his colleagues and himself. He finds himself alone and battling the evil that is surrounding him, until he relies on a former lover and friend. It is through her aide, the reader is introduced to a secret society, rituals and the fight between good and evil.

While I appreciated the beginning of the book, I felt as it progressed, the story became extremely disconnected and I found myself wondering how we got from point A to Point B. The last few chapters left me scratching my head and reading fast just to get it over with. It all just fell apart and felt as though it could've really been two stories but instead were two stories stitched into one. I felt like the original premise of the missing children and what started the story was just an afterthought.

The characters were not relatable and had no true depth to them. Some of the situations they found themselves in seemed forced. They also were very predictable and while the author attempted to add some romance to the novel, it fell extremely short and wasn't well thought out. There was too much emphasis on it for not being a well developed thought.

While I had a hard time getting through the story, liking the characters and basically following along, I do have to credit the author with the grisly descriptions provided. It added to the horror aspect of the book and at times, gave me goosebumps. If not for these descriptions, I probably would've given this book a lower rating, if none at all.

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I received this as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Moonlight for giving me access.

Where do I find the words to express my opinions on this?

I am a big horror/thriller/mystery/paranormal fan. The premise of this book is what drew me in, child disappearances in a small town? Sign me up!

Now, there was child disappearances and all that, but the execution on the story was lacking. The dialogue jumped around a lot and it seemed like the author even forgot his thought of what the MC was doing mid paragraph.

Very choppy and not at all what I was hoping for. Maybe something was lost in translation for me, but if you can read French, then this may be the book for you if you read the original French translation.

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FBI Special Agent Eliott Cooper Is sent to the town of St. Mary. There has been five unexplained child disappearances that Eliott must investigate and solve. He ends up in going to the forests to see what he can find. He discovers that there is a very old evil in the forest. Could that be the cause of the children disappearances?
Will any of the children be found alive?

This novel was originally written in French an then translated into English. As I read the story, I held my breath in what was happening. Some of the scenes in the story were excellent. I wished that it had been shorter in length ass it sseemed a tad too long. It’s a good horror thriller novel.

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I received this book through NetGalley

This is a strange beast of a book.. A Horror/Sci-fi novel with thriller/police procedural/romantic elements.

The horror/Scifi is graphic, strange and interesting . The thriller aspects can be a little too drawn out, though the information is generally interesting, but it is more secondary.

I like this book. The horror is poetic and it reads like movie. I recommend it.

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While this book touched on some favorite themes there were too many technical flaws for full enjoyment. Much of the dialogue was stilted, and maybe a lot of this had to do with the limits of translation. I was, in the end, able to maintain emotional investment with the main characters, and the story flowed well enough with some nice imaginative ideas. I wonder if the setting was changed for the english language version, but it's nice to imagine ancient strongholds hidden in the mountains of PA., near where I spent many a summer.

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Essence of Darkness is a supernatural horror story that will have you wondering what sick and twisted mind conjured these truly terrifying words. Tom Clearlake is a French author so this book was a translation which was actually pretty good compared to other experiences I’ve had.

Reading Essence of Darkness felt like driving with your eyes closed- your heart is racing, you start sweating profusely, your mind starts racing with thoughts and you think you might throw up from the unknown!

Essence of Darkness begins with FBI agent Eliot Cooper investigating the disappearances of children in a small town in Pennsylvania. While you may immediately think you know what's going on….spoiler…..you DONT !

This novel really pushes the envelope of paranormal and covers a broad spectrum of themes from supernatural, cults, religion, thriller, suspense, drama with the barest touch of romance and self-discovery.

While Essence of Darkness is definitely outside of the realm of my usual reads, I do think it is a solid story with appeal to those who favor horror, murder and thrillers.

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I found “The Essence of Darkness” an extremely difficult book to read. The dialogue is unrealistic (no one talks like this) and the lack of research on the subject matter is shocking. I was barely through this novel and the amount of errors was on its way to becoming a mountain.

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Thank you to @NetGalley and publisher for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.

I was drawn to this book because of the description. And I have to say that it was disappointing. I DNFed this book about a quarter of the way through. I tried, but I found the book was slow, the theme was not believable and the dialogue did not sound regular. I wonder if there were a lot of things lost in translation.

I do not like giving a review like this, but this book was not for me.
Maybe it’ll be for someone else.

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FBI Special Agent Elliott Cooper investigates five unexplained child disappearances from a small town. He uncovers something beyond the FBI’s jurisdiction, something that literally changes him. Although this novel has a few inconsistencies, such as things working when the story requires them to work, it’s a fun tale of evils beyond the hand of man, the importance of loyalty, and astonishing graphically detailed descriptions of physical transformations and emotional turmoil. I recommend it for anyone who likes the stuff of nightmares born from the mind of a horror writer like Straub or Koontz. I was fortunate to receive a review copy from the publisher Moonlight through NetGalley.

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I really wanted to love this book as it fits together a few things that I enjoy reading, Horror and Mystery/Thriller. However unfortunately I didn't love it, I was only able to make it to 20% completion when I called it quits. I usually never quit reading a book once started as there's a chance it may get better, but I just couldn't get myself to continue this one. I wouldn't say it was bad, I just don't think this one was for me in the end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this free E-Book in exchange for my honest review.

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I had a difficult time reading this one. I really didn't read all of it. I skimmed a lot. I felt like the translation into English maybe muddied the story a bit.

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Hello Gemmies! I have a new book review to share with you today. Please note: I received a digital ARC of this book (via NetGalley) from its publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The Essence of Darkness by Tom Clearlake is a mystery thriller. I was very excited to get the chance to read this one, but unfortunately, it was a very difficult read for me and I had a hard time finishing it. The pacing was slow and the story was just not what I thought it would be. This book was initially written in French and was translated into English, maybe there was something lost in translation because the dialogue seemed very disjointed. The premise and horror elements are good, but they were not enough to help carry the book into the three star range for me. Thank you for the opportunity to review this story, but this one was not for me. I give The Essence of Darkness 2 out of 5 gems.

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I almost didn't complete this book as I found it extremely difficult to get into it until I was a little more than half way through. Honestly, I thought about putting this book down a number of times but since I had requested the book from Netgalley and it was granted to me, I felt an obligation to try to complete it.

I requested the book because of the synopsis of it sounded really interesting and right up my alley. I love to read murder mystery and thriller books, which is what this sounded like what it was. It has five unexplained child disappearances and the FBI is involved and trying to solve the case. However, once the main character starts to investigate it and gets into the forest that is around the city, things go from your typical mystery thriller book to more supernatural. Now don't get me wrong, also enjoy a good supernatural book but it has to be done right.

One of the hardest things that was really hard to get past was the way that Tom Clearlake writes, as it is not the way that people typically talk. Tom Clearlake also uses a lot of words that are not very common and I found myself having to use the dictionary function of my kindle app to look up the word. I consider myself to be quite smart, so this was not something that I was liking. Tom Clearlake also uses footnotes to explain things that he mentions in the story. I found that these footnotes distracted from the story taking place and was completely unnecessary. I actually just skipped over them in their entirety after reading the first few.

The setting of the story itself takes place in multiple places in the world. You have the U.S.A., Russia, Germany, etc. This is actually part of the story that I actually liked because it was using resources from multiple agencies across the globe to solve what turns out to be a lot huger issue.

As previously mentioned, there is a supernatural aspect to this book. You have grimoires, witches, cults, and cannibalism. Tom Clearlake takes a very unusual take on these topics in this story. I am still not sure what I think about it.

I was not very happy with the way that the story ended as it was confusing and left you guessing. I think I figured it out but I am not sure and I don't like that unknown. I guess it is possible that their could always be a second book and if there is than I am not quite sure if I would pick it up or not. I think it would depend on where Tom Clearlake would take a sequel. However, at this point in time I don't know of any sequel coming our way.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars. If the story had not picked up its pace and managed to draw my interest into it than I would have given this book 1 out of 5 stars.

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I love thriller and horror novels. The bar is set pretty high. This one was "meh". The protagonist had everyhting ring for him, was boring (Don't get me wrong. I also hate the haunted/handsome protagonist detective/agent with a traumatic past as well)... Maybe he wasn't fully fleshed out. Maybe he was too perfect. The horror bits were what kept me going. Trying to feel out what was going on. I'll still read books form the author. This one might just be a fluke.
Be aware that it was translated from French.
Thank you Netgalley for an arc.

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