The Dreaming Field by Ron Savage

The Dreaming Field
(c)2013 Ron Savage
Published by DarkFuse
319 pages
Review based on paperback version.


This is my first venture into DarkFuse books and I discovered Ron Savages' The Dreaming Field, a very interesting tale of good and evil. Two boys from very different backgrounds are given gifts from different angels. The tale spans about 30 years, as one child rises in government and the other as an artist. At times, the angels appear to the boys as they grow up, bar one that loses track of time and the child grows up alone and near crazy. his parents try to help but his gift is like a curse.

It was a fast read of a book that seems to take on a lot more than it's size can handle and in doing so makes the ending kind of abrupt and hard to follow. There are some well executed ideas in this book, and you won't be asking for a refund. However a longer book would have built up the lives of the main charters a tad more fully, naturally extended the ending.

This is a horror novel but more along the lines of soft horror, tho there are a few scenes of (my words): "Neat-oh", and for the price, you get your money's worth.Be warned, the story does jump around a lot and i got lost a couple of times at the beginning, then you adjust to the jumping and the characters flesh out a lot more.

3 out of 5

Nightfall by Stephen Leather

Nightfall by Stephen Leather
Hodder and Stoughton
Uncorrcted Proof copy
369 pages

I got this book working at a bookstore in Wellington. It was supplied from a publisher looking to intrigue book sellers to order many copies (I guess). I never got around to reading it until last week (3 years after it was handed to me to read and review lol). Stephen Leather has 3 more books in this series available now. For me, this is good news. 

Let me explain: Nightfall was a good book. It is also a horror novel. It involves demons, devils, Satanists and an ex police negotiator. Jack Nightingale is hearing people tell him he is going to hell. Then he discovers he was adopted at birth and has a sister somewhere and that both of their souls were sold before they were born.

It is an excellent read. The story moved along at a good pace and we have characters we expect to encounter in such a novel. How awesome is that? Very.

I ripped through this book in a week (I'm a slow reader) and other fans to supernatural novels will find everything they expect and more. Nightfall is the first in a series. The second book is Midnight and a third and fourth are available. I have ordered Midnight.

If you like deals with a devil and a man trying to find answers and only encounters the recently dead, then you will like this book. The ending was predictable and that's alright, because the rest of the novel was great.  

4 out of 5 stars from me.