I tried to get through this book but, I'll be honest, I had to skip through chunks of it to get to the end. The main character was completely unlikeable to me and I found the writing overly descriptive and the dialogue stilted. I might have powered through for a shorter book, or for the book described by the blurb, but this stops being about the missing kids very early and switches to a weird SFF plot I wasn't expecting. As a huge SFF/fantasy fan, that should have improved things, but I found the plot a bit ridiculous and couldn't get into it.b

It also felt like there hadn't been any research done on FBI or police procedure, which constantly jolted me, but really that was a small thing.

If you are a big fan of the X Files, especially Mulder, this might well appeal to you. The author does have a knack for writing decent gory horror scenes that deliver some genuine chills, buried among the verbiage, and there are some interesting ideas hinted at, but this one was not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy I was given to review for free.

When I read the description of The Essence of Darkness, I imagined this book would be a horror with supernatural aspects. And I guess it is, in its own way. However, I only made it 15% of the way through before I gave up. 15% of the way through got me to Day 16 of FBI Agent Eliot Cooper's investigation into the unexplained disappearances of 5 children in rural Pennsylvania.

This book is a translation from French to English.,and French is clearly the author's first language. Though the actual translation may be correct (I've read some say its well translated), the syntax is way off. The conversations Cooper has with colleagues as well as his internal dialogue feels stilted, and it's where it is most obvious that this is a translation.

Cooper's thoughts, recollections, and investigation bounce around a lot, and that makes the story hard to follow. There's not a fluid flow, and the transitions just don't make a lot of sense. I think cutting out some of Cooper's repetitive actions (going back and forth to the same spot) and some really good editing from an American publisher could help this story.

An ancient darkness in rural Pennsylvania does sound like a great plot. I tired to keep reading even when I got to the monstrous creature and the resulting gore. But when I got to the part where Cooper is trying to explain what he''s seen to his FBI "rival", I just couldn't keep going.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing this book free in exchange for my honest review which I've given.

This book wasn’t what I thought it was, but it was still interesting. I’m not into the sci-fi horror and that’s what this was to me. It was an okay book and it didn’t scare me at all. It’s just not the kind of horror/thriller I like. But I did like it enough to continue reading because it was written well and I was interested in what would happen next. But I did not like how it ended. At all. That’s all I’ll say. Don’t want to give anything away. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review #TheEssenceofDarkness .

The premise of this book really intriguied me, but actually reading it was a struggle. I love a mystery/thriller but The Essence of Darkness was not the book for me. I found the language odd but that is likely due to the translation from French to English, I'm sure the original was more palatable.

It took me a long time to finish and the only reason I did finish was because I was granted an advanced copy by #Netgalley and the publisher. 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 stars.

I made it to 10% of the book and I just could not keep reading this. The writing is so convoluted and repetitive. I was unable to get into the story either. I rarely do not finish a book. Especially one provided by NetGalley for review. I just couldn't continue. This was just very challenging. It makes me wonder if the essence of the book got totally lost from the translation from French to English.


I received a copy of this book by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the premise for The Essence of Darkness was a great one, but this book did not deliver.
I know the book was translated from French and maybe that was part of the problem.
It started off okay, but it took some strange turns that I couldn't wrap my head around.
The characters were flat.

Loved the beginning of this book. FBI agent Elliot Cooper is an expert at his job. He starts by investigating missing children in the small town of St. Mary's. His life and activities are explained in detail, and you start to get a sense of a story- it's going to be a paranormal procedural. But then, BAM!- all hell breaks loose. I had some trouble holding on to the story- it became a mystery, horror, sci-fi and romance all at once. Then nuclear missles and a pandemic are thrown in.
I see the vision the author had in writing this book. It is just a bit too big for its britches. I appreciate the chance to read it. Thanks Netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

Like Horror with a bit of Mystery/Thriller thrown in? Then The Essence of Darkness by Tom Clearlake should be on your to-be-read shelf. The novel was translated from French to English and the translation reads smoothly.

FBI Special Agent Eliott Cooper is assigned to investigate a series of disappearances in an otherwise peaceful town. Agent Cooper begins his investigation as he does all others, but is soon contemplating bizarre evidence. Are the strange revelations related to his original case or is there something else at play here?

The Essence of Darkness is billed as horror but is just as much mystery/suspense. The horror elements are very vivid and appropriately terrifying. The rest is still interesting, though there are unnecessary details. The characters are confusing at times, not their development, but their actions in relation to the story. The scenery is vividly detailed and positively adds to the overall feel of the novel. The plot is good, if not necessarily what I expected. Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. I give it 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it to readers who like horror with a bonus.

My thanks to Moonlight and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

This was an interesting read, though much different from what I expected from reading the synopsis. It centers around Elliot, an FBI agent sent to figure out a string of child abductions in St Marys, PA. While exploring the woods surrounding the town, he awakens an ancient evil and the rest of the story moves fully into the supernatural genre.

The first part of this book, when Elliot is in the woods, is a little boring. It was extremely descriptive, going though everything he was doing in extreme detail, and used lots of adjectives and metaphors. The word "macabre" showed up so much that I started highlighting it. Once Elliot stumbles upon the ancient ruins and the evil that accompanies it, the whole story changes and becomes pretty fast paced for the duration.

Though I wasn't expecting the story to veer this direction, I did find it interesting, though I feel that some of it went over my head- there is much talk of the supernatural, the occult, ancient religion, and the like, which are things I don't know much about. Overall, you really have to suspend your disbelief when reading it.

Overall,. if you are expecting a police procedural or a realistic mystery, you may be disappointed in this book, but if you go in with an open mind, it's a decent read, and definitely brings something different to the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**I received this complimentary book from Net Galley for review purposes. The review is my own thoughts, words, and opinion of the book and has not been coerced or compensated.**
I LOVE a good mystery, I love a good thriller, I like Sci-Fi, I am not a big fan of romance books but can tolerate it when it enhances the story…
This book, whether intentionally or not was a confusing hodge-podge of ALL those genres, and not a good mixture either. This book threw together witches, aliens, science, ancient sects, missing children, kidnappers, Frenchmen, German men, FBI agents, Secret agencies, sex, and gore as if the writer was confused about what genre he was writing in. The synopsis was intriguing and I wanted to like the book. However it took me forever to finish reading this book (more than a month!). At times I just put it down and would come back to it after a few days…or a week. The book was excessively verbose, longwinded and rambling in some parts, but then very sparse in other parts. Taking 2 or 3 chapters to over-describe things like a forest or a cabin, but giving no logical detail or background on major characters.
The book was confusing and overly complicated. There was no clear flow of thought or sequence of happenings that made the reader want to keep reading. Character development was lacking. The main character, Elliott was supposedly the best agent in the FBI with carte blanche, however, in a matter of minutes he was most wanted enemy #1. His love interest, Lauren, also an FBI agent decided to go off-grid to find him and becomes involved in his case, becomes part of the resistance, has an alien baby, and then goes off to live in the woods with her mother (who was never mentioned before)! The missing children were “mentioned” maybe two or three times in the entire book.
The way the writer jumped scenes, from Germany, the US, woods, caverns was confusing and unnecessary. Even worse were the jumps in time. There were passages that would start a scene and the next page we were literally 4-5 months ahead in the story. No seamless transitions, just irritating and illogical jumps. The events in this book spanned about 2-3 YEARS! Even the way the book concluded was ridiculous! This book was an absolute mess in terms of story and flow, and a nightmare in terms of editing. But hey, Everything Isn't For Everybody, and this book just was not for me!
I wish the author luck in future endeavors and no, I will not read another of this author’s books nor recommend this book to anyone.

What a fascinating and chilling premise! Nearly non-stop action, and enough twists and turns to guarantee a wild ride. Loved it, and highly recommend.

*My thanks to the author and publisher (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. It's greatly appreciated!*

I found this book to be very hard to enjoy. It starts out with an investigation into 5 missing children and then in my opinion just goes off the rails. What I thought would be an enjoyable suspense or thriller turned into a paranormal/sci-fi.

I found the transition to be confusing and the acceptance by the main characters (FBI agents) to be unrealistic and too quick.

Overall I had a hard time finishing this one and felt the reason to be that the author seemed to cram way to many elements into a single book and therefore none of them felt complete.

I had a very difficult time getting into this book. It’s very stilted, with no real flow to the words, to the characters. Truth be told, I had to discontinue reading after about twenty to twenty -five percent into the story.

This book is one helluva thrill ride. The characters are fear inducing and disturbing. This is a book best read while not alone. You will remember the story long after you have read it. I loved it. If you are a fan of the macabre, I definitely recommend this book. It is a must read in the horror genre.

This one is hard because I can’t really review the writing as I feel like there is something lost in the translation. I like the premise of the story but I think I’m missing something. It would probably be amazing in its original French.

This is a book which I did not enjoy and would not recommend to others. The storyline was too disjointed and the story had minimum suspense. I read a lot of books and this is the only two-star rating I have given this year. In addition to what I said above, I found the ending totally flat.

I would describe this book as a sci-fi thriller about a small town in PA where children disappear. FBI takes over the case and comes in to investigate the kidnappings. Strange and unusual things start happening during the case and they stubble into supernatural events. It was an ok read that was translated from French to English, so you need to take that into consideration. I couldn't get into it totally and this is why I can only give it three stars. If you are looking for an out there read this is right up your alley.

The world as we know it is going to hell in a handbasket. It all started with the abduction of five children from the town of St. Mary's. They disappeared without a trace. The FBI has been called in. The agent investigating the kidnappings is one of the best. As he tries to track what may have happened, he discovers that there is more going on then kidnappings. There is a dark evil surrounding the area. There are no bird or animal sounds. There are strange rock formations. Then one night he sees the most frightening thing he could ever have imagined.
But, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Forces that are dark and deadly and dangerous are trying to overtake him. He most get the information out to someone before he succumbs to the darkness.
A thriller that will take you on a horror ride. Scary good!

Five unexplained child disappearances have plagued the small town of St. Marys all within the span of four months. While tracking the children deep into the woods, FBI agent Elliot Cooper uncovers an ancient hidden evil. This is a book of horror, mystery, and supernatural. Interspersed are hints of religious orders and secret organizations making this quite the thriller.
The Essence of Darkness follows a gripping subject matter but the main character along with the writing did not keep my interest. Perhaps it is in part due to the fact that it is a French translation.
This is a good book,but not for this reader.

The Essence of Darkness by Tom Clearlake
This book begins at a pretty good pace, which got me interested and kept my interest until I was almost half way through. The main character, Agent Eliott Cooper is introduced a little at a time so I felt like I got to know him as the story went on. The story begins as multiple child murders over a 2 month time period, indicating a serial killer. When the FBI is called in to take over the case, Agent Cooper becomes the primary investigator. What he slowly uncovers during his investigation over the deep forests of Pennsylvania becomes more than anyone could imagine with evil, powerful and wealthy people in control…creatures made from the lives of others. Although this book starts out good, I had a hard time staying interested as I read further. Some of the characters and relationships confused me and some of the most fascinating ones were quickly snuffed out. There is FBI and Interpol involvement, but I can not classify it as an FBI book. There is witchcraft, archeology and ancient beings, but it is like a web reaching in too many directions.
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC and the opportunity to read and review this book.