Unveiled

the fear factor

What do Joe Saunders, Mark Stone, Rob Shields and Mike Dellosso all have in common? They are nice guys who have encountered monsters the rest of us hope to never have to face. And the first three would not exist were it not for the tangible monsters author Mike Dellosso has battled in the real world. Dellosso’s newest thriller, Darlington Woods, returns to some of the themes the author explored in his debut novel, The Hunted. Once again we have an isolated little town with dark secrets and an everyman hero desperately searching for a family member. And, as in Scream, we are given a villain to be remembered. But Darlington Woods takes things up a notch with its sheer fear factor and for lack of better words – sanctified creepiness.

When Rob Shields shows up to claim a house left to him by an aunt he never met he finds her home town of Mayfield a bit odd. But when he begins to have dreams that his supposedly dead son is still alive and a local waitress tells him about a place in the woods called Darlington, Rob’s journey escalates from strange to bizarre. The single narrow road that leads to the dead end village of Darlington should be clue enough; this is not the kind of place one picks for a Sunday afternoon ride. To reveal any more would only spoil the fun and the impact of one fine thriller.

Everyone has monsters of the soul: things they fear, people they cannot face, situations beyond their control. And like the people of Darlington many spend their life just trying to keep those “Darklings” at bay. But in this story, one man learns the power of light over fear and what it means to face his monsters in spite of the terror they bring to the soul. Over the last couple of years, Dellosso has helped to shape what to some seems a contradiction – Christian horror. As with his other novels, Darligton Woods is powered by its strong themes of light and darkness, hope and fear, good and evil. All explored by an increasingly powerful voice.

Once again Mike Dellosso has managed to shine the light of God’s grace into the darkest crevices of the human condition with amazing clarity.

Reviewed by Tim George
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Realms
Publication Date: May 2010