Because of the projects I've had going on the last several days, I couldn't give this book the full attention it deserved. Under other circumstances, this would have been one of those books I couldn't put down. Every evening when I had to do other things at the time I would normally be reading, I actually missed this book and yearned to get back to it.

The majority of the action in this novel takes place right here in Nashville. That was a big draw for me, plus I've made it a goal to check out more local authors this year. I'm glad I did - this was an awesome book. Another review mentioned _The Stand_ - it definitely has shades of that, but on a smaller scale in terms of the focus. The author gives us just enough locations and characters to provide a full cast without seeming overambitious. Clocking in at around 315 pgs (it was an ebook, that's a rough conversion to pages), it is just the right length to tell the story. There was never a lull - even the quiet moments were filled with tension or apprehension.

There were some WTF moments, definitely, because the author was not afraid to do bad, unimaginable things to good characters to add impact to the story. He doesn't hesitate to pull the rug out from under you - and it works to great effect.

There are some really awesome things about this book that I can't describe without spoilers, but trust me, they're there. All in all, a fun read, a terrifying premise, a book I'm very glad I read.
( )

It was alright but im really not a big fan of post apocalyptic tales. This was one of the better one's that I have read though and the ending was quite good. ( )

Because of the projects I've had going on the last several days, I couldn't give this book the full attention it deserved. Under other circumstances, this would have been one of those books I couldn't put down. Every evening when I had to do other things at the time I would normally be reading, I actually missed this book and yearned to get back to it.

The majority of the action in this novel takes place right here in Nashville. That was a big draw for me, plus I've made it a goal to check out more local authors this year. I'm glad I did - this was an awesome book. Another review mentioned _The Stand_ - it definitely has shades of that, but on a smaller scale in terms of the focus. The author gives us just enough locations and characters to provide a full cast without seeming overambitious. Clocking in at around 315 pgs (it was an ebook, that's a rough conversion to pages), it is just the right length to tell the story. There was never a lull - even the quiet moments were filled with tension or apprehension.

There were some WTF moments, definitely, because the author was not afraid to do bad, unimaginable things to good characters to add impact to the story. He doesn't hesitate to pull the rug out from under you - and it works to great effect.

There are some really awesome things about this book that I can't describe without spoilers, but trust me, they're there. All in all, a fun read, a terrifying premise, a book I'm very glad I read. ( )

Wow. What a book. This is the first book I've read by this author and I did like it. I am used to reading Stephen King,or Robert McCammon. Bryan Smith's writing reminds me a bit of them but he adds much more violence and sex. (I don't mind ;) ) I am going to check out his other books on amazon. I want to read more by this author and I recommend it if you like a bit of , okay a lot of violence, sex and horror. ( )

In Bryan Smith's latest novel, "Darkened" (Formerly titled: “Deadworld,” Bitter Ale Press, February 2011), Yin and Yang are having an earth-shattering domestic dispute—literally. The primordial forces of good and evil, light and dark, God and Satan, however you label them, have ripped through the fabric of reality and entered our world to vie for dominance.

Flying reptilian demons, disease, and the general sociopathic nature of humanity combine to eliminate all but a handful of survivors—and even they are distilled down to two by the end of the novel.

Smith successfully weaves humor, horror, suspense, and revulsion in this gothic gross out, achieving what eventually becomes a dark social commentary. And Smith is no amateur when it comes to writing good stories in pulp fiction. He has nine other novels to his credit including "Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies" and "The Dark Ones," but "Darkened" is the first put out by his own publishing company, Bitter Ale Press, and unlike his other books this one is available only through Amazon as a Kindle e-book.

Regardless whether it's in print or e-ink, I found myself wishing I could see a movie based on this story. Smith's brilliant hell-on-acid descriptions of the world's demolition belong up on the big screen in modern CG. But inasmuch as this novel surpasses the shock and horror of William Blatty's, "The Exorcist," moviegoers may not be ready to dig into the popcorn for this one just yet. It's a bit too x-rated for Cinemark.

Not only is there a lot of blood and guts, but the sex is pretty much in your face and in all five senses as well—most of it in the form of rape. In fact the book borders on a theatre of the misogynistic. Granted, a balance is struck by the brutal treatment of Zeke the newscaster at the hands of the psychopathic femdom Mary Lou, but even that sex-and-violence fest may be just another way of placing women in a bad light.

Yet in spite of the violence, graphic sex, and people eating their own appendages, a truly disturbing truth is revealed as the pages flip by. We are never given a reason why all the buildings, cars, and non-organic objects of the world are deteriorating at an accelerated rate once the action begins, but in a statement the evil god character makes near the end of the book to Emily (the songwriter/bartender), the mystery is revealed.

In one of the more viscous gore/sex scenes, he thunders at her when she won't submit to him saying, "I am the destroyer of worlds and the lord of the wastelands! You will not mock me!" This is an obvious reference to the Bhagavad Gita where Arjuna begs Krishna to show him his universal form, and Krishna says, "I have become Time, the destroyer of worlds."

Thus in Smith's story we read a hidden parable showing us the evil humanity constantly battles is really time, and time is in fact the destroyer of all worlds—eventually. Just as in the end, when the narrator questions his reason for even writing a book chronicling the events of a dead world, so we must question our daily reason for doing anything in the face of advancing time, which ultimately destroys us all.

Given the deep theme, moral, and symbolism inherent in "Darkened," it would have been nice to see a master storyteller like Smith treat it more literarily instead of as a voyeuristic sex and violence pulp show. Nevertheless, you get what you pay for when it comes to "Darkened."

If you want suspenseful, fast-reading gothic gore, you've got it. If you want to contemplate the story for its deeper allegorical meaning, you've got that too. Either way, you'll be holding your breath for his next novel and reading all his others while you wait.

Reviewed by Edward Gordon
The Gordon Composition Gothic Novel Review ( )