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.

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.

A young FBI agent is sent to the peaceful town of St Marys to investigate a series of child abductions/murders. It goes downhill from there.

Evil spirit possessions, a good guy turned evil but still trying to be good; a romance (while possesed by evil) with another agent that ends in pregnancy; violent, explicitly gruesome beginning, middle and ending; and an epilogue that leaves you scratching your head.

Nope, this was not for me.

Thank you, NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book.
I have been a thriller reader for ages and read all types of tropes but this book really kept me on edge. It has it all, a thriller, a little bit of sci-fi and a touch of romance. It is very intriguing and at some points dark and captivating. Take a look and you will not regret it.

Let’s just get this over with...this was, honestly, the worst thing I’ve read so far this year. I probably should have DNF’d this, but I held out stubbornly because I thought maybe it would just be bad like the way bad horror movies are while still being fun to watch/read. What a mistake.

I was drawn to Essence of Darkness because the description suggested a child abductor plotline where the investigator realizes that something even more sinister is going on. Honestly the child abduction takes second stage at best, it’s rarely mentioned after the beginning of the story and only gets picked up again at the end. This story essentially becomes a tale of a man discovering ancient monsters and centuries long secrets that go ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP.

This would all have been bearable for me for the most part because, like I said, I love horrible horror movies. But the writing was just so bad. The biggest offense to me was when the author finally brings in a female character (who ends up being a primary focus for the entire story), only to spend the whole book blatantly disrespecting her and using her character in increasingly degrading ways. This female main character is never fully fleshed out. She basically serves as a sounding board for misogynistic views and poorly formed ideas about what a strong female character should read like. There is even a scene in the book where the author has this character use her “femininely wiles” to get information from a man by quote, “acting a bit like a slut” to achieve what she wants. While I live for femininely wiles, this was not a case of the woman being in charge of what she wants, as evidenced by the fact that she then proceeds to have sex with this character just because it was expected.

Along with all of this, towards the end of the book the story just continues to devolve into something catastrophically outlandish. As much as I love horror and even bad horror sometimes, I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief and excuse the poor character development throughout this story. I hate feeling this way about any book, but this book just wasn’t for me at all.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review !

The Essence of Darkness
by Tom Clearlake

This book starts out great. Interesting plot, good characters a real page turner. The problem began when the story seemed to take a turn into the fantastical. I am giving this book 3 stars because it was well written however, I didn't connect with the turn of events towards the conclusion. It is a fairly quick read and it is an interesting book.

What started out as a child abduction mystery quickly went off the rails into a supernatural, complicated, convoluted story. I almost didn’t finish this one. I would not recommend 👎🏼

I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

A highly experienced, intelligent FBI agent is sent to a small town in Pennsylvania to find and bring back, alive, some very young children that have gone missing without a trace of evidence. They were not seen or heard; nor had they been left alone and yet they were gone. It is Agent Elliot Cooper’s job to find out what happened and bring the abductor to justice. A job he is entirely capable of completing. Until the perpetrator dissipates into thin air transforming into a black swirl enveloping Cooper.

This frightening tale of Hominum Primus claiming the right to possess earth because they were first to inhabit it is the downfall of Cooper’s investigation. As the black swirl engulfed him, he became less and less human. The investigation into the disappearance of the children was now in danger of remaining unsolved. Or was it? Could Cooper continue in his humanity or would he be lost to the influence of the ancient humans? Where would it end? Could Cooper save humanity?

This book was amazing! Edge of your seat! Read in one setting because I just couldn't put it down! This was my first book by Clearlake! Im not disappointed and can't wait to read more from him! Thank you netgalley for the free e arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was an ok book for me with a good premise. I never fully engaged with the main character because I just did not like him and I think that took away from my enjoyment of the story. I’m sure other readers will feel differently. The story had a good concept however.
Many thanks to Moonlight and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. A very interesting story that was definitely a page turner. Kept me up all night.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Tom Clearlake and Moonlight publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book has been translated from the original French text. I will say that I found the writing to be more verbose than I enjoy but this may be a style of writing more commonly used in French books. The first half of the book included a lot of detailed and lengthy descriptions that almost made me give up on the book. Once that background information was laid down and we got into the nitty gritty of the book I didn’t want to put it down.

So, if I had given up before reaching the halfway mark, I would have given this book one or two stars. However, the second half receives four stars as it was exciting, fast paced, and kept me interested in learning what would happen next. Which is why I am giving this book three stars as the overall rating.

This is a terrific story that takes you as the reader in such a different direction than you've anticipated. I didn't mind that, but I would think that many readers want the plot summary to at least lead them in the direction of what they are getting into before picking up the book. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. It is a mixture that should appeal to a broad audience, if marketed correctly.
Thank you for the early copy for review.
#ThrillerMysteryHorrorSuspenseFantastiqueDarkRomanceTomClearlake #NetGalley #Moonlight

After reading the description of this book, I thought that it would be a good read. I like to read books that are a bit off the norm but I quickly found out that it was not really a book for me. It was well written and kept me reading to the end only because I’m someone that has to finish my book. If you’re into witchcraft, vampire type books than you might enjoy this book more than I did. The ending was also left open so I’m guessing another book may come along. Kudos to the author for a well written book even if it wasn’t my kind of read.

I couldn't get into this one. The premise seemed intriguing and the blurb really caught my attention. However, this one just seems to jump too many genres. I don't know if it's because this is a translated version, but the story is so disjointed it didn't work. I wasn't invested in the characters. I skipped around only because I wanted to know what happened to the missing kids. I'm sorry to say I wouldn't recommend this book.

I feel terribly sorry. I know I'm not with most of those who read this book, but when I read a book and take my time to evaluate it, I believe I must be honest. And honestly, it didn't work for me!
I was attracted by the cover and synopsis of the book. But I was thinking of something more like witchcraft, black magic, obscure cult. But this was just a small part of it.
We have some witchcraft, some cult-like thing, abducted children, an FBI investigation (this would already have been a great story!), and then we have some alien-like creatures overtaking the world (which would have been another great story), and a "messiah" to save the world.
I could see a lot of influence from great fantasy/horror authors, which is good!
And I think I would really have enjoyed two different books, each one with its own plot. But with the story mixed as it is, unfortunately, it didn't work for me.

While this novel has some great ideas, the storyline seems awkwardly constructed and executed. I'm wondering if it would be a smoother read in the original French. Interesting premise, less than elegant execution.

I know that writing a book is a huge accomplishment and one that I will never be able to do myself but in all honesty this book just did not work for me. It was as if the author could not decide what genre he wanted this book to be so he threw in every genre for good measure which turned the entire story into a mess. There is probably an audience for this book but it was not me.

A unique story line with so many surprises, it's hard to say exactly what genre this book would fit into. I'm with other reviewers who thought this would be an FBI procedural type story, not so. It is a very dark, almost spell binding story of how the investigation of missing children turns into an FBI investigator's discovery of another community of beings that takes him into a unforgettable search. This is clearly the first of many books I will read by this author.

Thank you to Moonlight and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
In reading the summary of this book, I was expecting a novel about a serial killer with some type of supernatural angle. The story started off in that direction, if not somewhat slowly, and quickly entered into the realm of bizarre. I probably should have seen that possibility since it was labeled as a horror/ mystery & thriller. This book had more of a feeling of demonic possession with an undercurrent of alien invasion for me and though the book had some great action in some parts, there was a lot of the story that was either too slow moving or scenes that ended abruptly. This left me feeling a little disconnected at times, as if I was missing some important part of the plot and resulted in poor connection with the characters.
Even though this wasn't a great read for me, I would be interested in trying more books by this author.