Of Darkness and Light

Paul Kane

2009

Thunderstorm Books

Paul Kane has written an interesting short novel with a twist on the light versus dark, good versus evil battle. He crafts some fine characters, which is essential if the book is not to degenerate into some sort of light fantasy. The characters carry the tale rather than the events.

Lee Masterton has always been afraid, no, terrified, of the dark. There is something there, watching him. It’s a common enough phobia among the young, but Lee is now in his late teens and he hasn’t grown out of it. He simply KNOWS there is something or someone there watching him. He is right. There is.

He is going through a bad time. He has just been dumped by his girlfriend. His mother is throwing the usual inane sayings at him – “plenty more fish in the sea”, “Some day somebody’ll come along ..” and so on. His Dad has turned into a nasty money hungry bully. Even his grandmother is losing her marbles. His best mate, Scott, can only offer solace through large amounts of beer. Lee is about to lose his unemployment benefits.

The housing estate on which he lives is run down and appears to have lost its soul. The people are mean and getting meaner, more interested in gossiping about other people than improving their own increasingly miserable and spiteful lives. Vandalism is becoming a major problem. There is a redevelopment going on and Lee is sent there to apply for a job. It turns out to be night watchman, hardly a good job for someone afraid of the dark, but it’s that or lose his Unemployment benefit.

That night he finds out that there is indeed something to be afraid of. In what appears to be a battle between the light and the dark, some local graffiti painters are swallowed up by a darkness that seems to have arms (or tentacles) and legs. Lee now knows the darkness is evil. He couldn’t be more wrong.

The estate is set to become the battlefield between good and the all-pervading evil that has turned taken the estate’s spirit and turned it into a depressed slum. The battle is focused on Lee since he is the only one who can see the dwellers in the dark and the light. Is he up to it? There will be many surprises for him as his world is reversed. So many people are not what they seem.

Kane’s skilful writing carries the estate’s mood of depression well and sets the stage for the action that follows. It’s a great story and Lee’s mood is the thread that carries it through. He is a reluctant hero pushed into prominence because of the one “talent” he would rather do without - his fear of the dark.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No.2 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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