When I read the description of the book I was excited. It sounded like my kind of book. A mystery/thriller with a touch of supernatural. So I was pretty disappointed when at the 16% park, the story pretty much abandoned the mystery aspect and dove heavily into the supernatural horror. Now I love a good horror book, but I was sad that the book didn't deliver on the promise of a mystery.

For me, once Agent Cooper encounters the three witches performing their ritual (at around 16%!) the story became boring for me. I was really enjoying it up til that point. Then, suddenly I lost interest. I tried to keep reading, but after putting the book down for the night, I couldn't get any enthusiasm to pick it up again. So, regrettably, I decided to bail on the book. I just feel like it could have been so much better.

I received a free review copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Let me begin by stating that my review will not be published on Amazon or Goodreads, however, I wanted you - the publisher - to know that I did finish the book and did not find it suitable for the genres into which it was suggested. I read a lot of suspense/thrillers/horror books and have for over four decades. I cut my teeth on Stephen King when he was first beginning to write and I was very young. My point is that I adore horror. This book was not that. It was a mish/mash of gore, someone's bad acid trip and extremely faulty character development. There was far too much Bad vs Good, Evil Witches killing children, Bad women and Good women. For the record, I am a practicing witch. I didn't appreciate my beliefs being portrayed so absurdly. If it were any other belief system being portrayed in this manner, you would be crucified - pun intended. Bottom line, the book is not on par with other Indie books that I have read and is a far cry those that are edited - and this book definitely could use major editing and proofreading.

FBI agent Eliott Cooper is tasked with finding 5 children who have disappeared in similar circumstances in a dark and mysterious wooded location. What starts out as a simple detective story explodes in the most unexpected way introducing elements of horror, science fiction and ancient rituals culminating in a human crisis…”a secret that has remained hidden for thousands of years”…A very enjoyable first novel, with an excellent translation from the original French, and boasting some stand out snappy dialogue….”The scent of the woods that filled his lungs was intoxicating and he relished it”…..”Evil took root and spread in the night. The moon rose majestically” ……”All life seemed to be missing from the woods as if death itself held these places in the palm of its hand and was blowing macabre silence from its withered mouth”……..

Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

I thought the premise of this book sounded so intriguing and had high hopes. I’m not sure if it was the translation but it felt disjointed and incredibly wordy. The original version seemed to get so many great reviews but I read to 50% and could not read anymore.

Thank you Netgalley and Moonlight for a free e-copy for my unbiased review.

It started with a standard FBI investigation into the disappearance of children and then became much, much more. Not your usual, run of the mill, story of the Apocalypse. Well written, carefully translated and very enjoyable.

I really wanted to like this book. The synopsis was good and had piqued my interest. The story has potential. It just didn’t deliver. The story lagged in a lot of places. The main character wasn’t very likable. I had trouble connecting with him. There were some contradicting scenes and or parts in the story. There are some good scenes. Just not enough to keep my interest. I had to DNF (did not finish) at 22%. This book wasn’t for me but it may be for someone else. If it catches your interest, check it out for yourself. I give this 2 stars.

The premise for this book is really intriguing but the overall execution was lacking for me. Could be a simple lost one translation, but it was unfortunately riddle with errors which would distract me and take me right out of the novel. Still the overall idea was clever and enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this book.

I received a free copy of this story through NetGalley from the publishers and would like to thank them for that. The following is my voluntary and honest review.

This is supposed to be a horror/mystery/thriller. I had a bit of a hard time with it. I was really excited when I first picked it up but I couldn't get into it. The story premise sounds fantastic and there are parts that are excellent however the story is not consistent. The characters are not very realistic and I was unable to connect with them, their dialogue was off-putting and sometimes things just didn't make much sense.

This was originally a French novel and has been translated into English. It's possible it just got a bad translation as the French version is highly rated.

Simply could not put this material down. Gripping characters and situations. It did take me a little while to get into the story but once I did, I was HOOKED!

Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for possibly writing a review.

This book is a translation from the original French version. I usually try to read a book in its original form but since I don't speak French, I can only hope the translation matches up to the original.

I thought this would be sort of a standard FBI procedural about some missing children. Boy, was I wrong! Maybe the title or the cover should have given it away, but I was not expecting the occult angle. I'm not considering that a spoiler because it is revealed pretty early on. What happens after that was an adventure I would not have predicted. There were also some very steamy bits that you usually don't encounter in this type of book. Chock full of surprises!

Bonus points for the cat love!

It didn’t take long to be drawn into this story. FBI Special Agent Elliot Cooper has been assigned to track down and find five children who have been abducted in a rural community in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania. It doesn’t take him long to find a satanic ritual being played out in the mountains. During the confrontation, Cooper is possessed by a monster.
Cooper’s love interest, Special Agent Lauren Chambers rushes to help him and together they attempt to try to find out more about this cult, what they are planning and a way to free Cooper from this demon.
This story grabs you by the throat and shakes you like an attacking dog. The horror is excellent, and the suspense is terrific, but then it morphs from a horror story to something entirely different. I will not say what it transforms into as it would mean releasing spoilers. It was a wild ride, but I would have preferred to see the story unfold within two or three books rather than told much of the end story, especially because the first 2/3 of the book was fantastically written.
Have said that I would still recommend this book.

I'm not really sure what I expected from The Essence of Darkness, I think more of a thriller-type of book. But this was much more a combination of thriller and sci-fi type novel. Translated from French, I think a little got lost in translation, and took away from what the story could have been. While I enjoyed the idea of the story, the writing was choppy, and it seemed like the first half of the book took place over a week or so, then the second half skipped weeks, then months ahead, leaving the reader feeling a little lost.
I liked the characters, but also felt their interactions lacked any real depth. Conversations were flat, and the only female agent in the story used seduction on her coworkers to get information she wanted. Based on how she had been portrayed up to that point throughout the story, this was a cop-out in order to add a completely unnecessary hotel room scene to the story.
While the story itself was completely unrealistic, the corruption on the part of every top level government was an interesting parallel to today's world.
Unfortunately, the story wasn't my favorite.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance eARC of The Essence of Darkness in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the summary of the book; I really wanted to like this one but it just didn't deliver for me.
It dragged on for a long time & some parts I felt were unnecessary. This was not the book for me, but I'm sure there are others who would enjoy it. Thank you Netgalley!

so this book is a different kind of animal. Starts off with an FBI agent who seems a little unorthodox. Maybe with strange talents.. His job is to seek out, arrest or kill the person or persons responsible for children that have been abducted.....then it descends into a sci-fi horror story that involves beings that intend to take over our world using humans as their food source.
It is a good read in that the plot is there. The writing is enjoyable to read.....story is a little too far for me.

My thanks to Tom Clearkake and Netgalley.
I remember thinking when I requested this book, how awesome it sounded. Nope. I have a 30% rule. Only on e-books. By 30%, I have to love it "the book." or leave it. Sometimes I'm undecided, so I read more. Those are usually the books I finish, and am often happy I did.
This! I can't even truly review this piece of work. I had to say nope! This was just too much nope. My spare bedroom could have been filled with all the nope!

This book certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I think it was too long, it was draggy at times and hard to follow. It had too much going on and some parts I felt weren’t necessary. I’m sure some will enjoy this book, I can’t say I did. Thanks to Netgalley for the early

I kind of wish I could have read this in the original French! The protagonist was standoffish, but honestly, a solid mystery!

The Essence of Darkness by Tom Clearlake is a great read! A real engrossing page-turner and worth the time of a read!!

I would like to thank NetGalley, MOONLIGHT, and author Tom Clearlake for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

I received an email from NetGalley about this book being available to download for a limited time, and I’m so glad I jumped on it! A sick mind is hard to find in novels, but this one did not disappoint. St. Mary’s, PA is maybe an hour away from me? So this story really hit home. This is a wild ride that involves facets of mystery, thriller, religion, suspense.. You name it! I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through, and didn’t want to put it down. If you enjoy Stephen King and the likes, I think you’ll enjoy this novel.

Thank you again to those mentioned above for the chance to read and review this ARC!

This novel was translated from its original French version and had a synopsis that was very intriguing. Missing children in the small town of St. Mary’s with the hint of an old and forgotten evil lurking behind the scenes. I couldn’t resist the temptation of this mystery thriller steeped in the genre of horror.

Unfortunately, what started as a captivating read quickly turned into a very in-depth rollercoaster that took too many directions. Missing children, romance, global war, viral pandemic, witchcraft and so much more than I can list without giving away the plot synopsis.

Personally, I could’ve followed this more if it stuck to the simpler small town abductions and tied that into a local evil instead of branching it worldwide. Even sticking with one type of genre would’ve helped because I did not see the romance and science fiction side of this novel coming and it just didn’t feel like a good fit.

I was highly captivated in the beginning. The writing can throw you off at times and I think that may be due to the translation. I just couldn’t connect with characters or follow the plot. There was just too much in one book for this reader.

I am thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel for an honest and unbiased opinion.