Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Robbie and Christy and the other inhabitants of Walden awake one morning to find that the world has gone dark. It isn't merely a case of the sun going dark, but it seems that there is a blackness-- a darkness-- between them and the rest of the world. There are no stars in the sky to be seen, no breeze to blow, no rain falls, and no can enter town. People can leave town, but the sound of screaming soon follows after they pass through the darkness surrounding the town. The darkness also seems to bring out the worst in people, and soon terror fills the streets.

This is my...fourth, I think...Brian Keene novel. The first, Castaways, I was not impressed with. The second book, The Rising, I loved. The sequel to The Rising, City of the Dead, I enjoyed a little less, but still enjoyed. So I thought I'd give this one a shot, while I wait for Stephen King's Under the Dome to be released in paperback.

First let me say that I've read that this book is not a "rip off" of Under the Dome, and in fact was released as a novella before Under the Dome, but has now been released after expanding the story to stretch it out into a novel.

This story just sort of fell flat with me. I keep finding that I enjoy much of his storytelling until he brings in the 'darkside' and black magic and such. Anyone who has read The Rising and City of the Dead is familiar with Ob, and Ob has a part to play in this book as well. I'm tired of Ob. I don't find him creepy. I find him and the lot of them somewhat lame.

And I'm getting tired of the hopeless tone of Keene's stories. They are dark and bleak and I'm left with little hope when the story is over. That's not what I like. I love a happy ending. An ending of possibilities and good things. An ending with a solid closing (I hate when they leave them open-ended. I don't want to imagine how the story might have ended. I like to be told how it did end.)

So this was one of those stories which started out developing all nice and fat, and then just deflated disappointingly for me.

This is my second time reading this one from Brian Keene's electric first run of paperback glory.
I enjoyed reading it for the first time in 13 years!!!
Holy crap, how has it been that long?

A darkness surrounds the town of Walden. A cast of neighbors try to figure out how to survive while trying to figure out what is really happening.

This one has an open ending for the reader to decide what happened at the end. I remember not liking that originally, but now, I really dig the way Keene didn't tie things up all pretty. Think City of the Dead. He's never been afraid to mess with the readers expectations. He serves the story and that's admirable.
I can't wait to revisit another of his Leisure Books titles a little later this year.

I give DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN 4 shiny stars.