The Sound of The Dark by Daniel Church
I would like to thank Angry Robot for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Angry Robot
Published - Out Now
Price - £9.99 paperback £6.70 ebook
In 1983, artist Tony Mathias began work on a new installation – a collage of visuals and sounds, exploring the history of the abandoned RAF base on Warden Fell.
Tony was a gentle soul, a devoted family man. But after visiting the site to tape-record the sounds there, he killed his wife and children, set their home on fire, and turned his gun on himself. The closest thing to a reason why were two words, scrawled on a fire-blackened wall: WORLD’S END.
Decades later, true-crime podcaster Cally Darker begins researching the murders, aided by Tony's actress sister Stella. When she finds Tony’s recordings, she thinks she has a fantastic exclusive – perhaps even a chance to solve the mystery. But Warden Fell, for centuries the focus of folklore, mysteries and fearful legends, has a far older and more terrifying story to tell.
Cally’s about to learn what turned Tony Mathias into a killer. But it might be too late to save her.
The occult novel has had a few incarnations over the years. The novels where strange forces impinge upon our world often wrecking havoc. Phil Rickman was an author who had many tales where strange things happened to the unwary mixing old folk tales with a contemporary feel. More recently I’ve really enjoyed those by Catherine Cavendish who has delivered several with a weird edged theme, Now Daniel Church delivers a really interesting twenty first century spin on this genre creating an unusual mix of the occult, conspiracy thriller and supernatural mystery that hugely enjoyed.
Cally Darker is at a crossroads. Struggling with depression, a relationship with an unsympathetic boyfriend that is increasingly nearing its end and a dwindling supply of cash. Her one bright spot is her true crime podcast which is steadily building an audience despite her partner’s Iain’s grimaces. A subscribed suggests a new crime to investigate a horrific murder suicide that acme out of the blue in 1983 known locally as the Eagle Mount Murders. A promising very well thought of artist named Tony Mathias brutally shot his wife and children before himself. Cally is led to believe there is more to this than meets the eye. Her investigation alerts her to where Tony was working on his next project a deserted army base known as Warden Fell. A place with a strange history for centuries and Cally soon finds Warden Fell still has power to change people and if she’s not careful the entire world.
Now it’s a sign how impressed I got with this story that I got past a true crime podcast being one of the cornerstones of the plot. I loathe most true crime shows which have very little interest in victims and instead just enjoy a drama to make their viewers salivate and excited that can see who did it even though all the clues here are known in advance. No what maade this work is this is more the story of how a true crime podcaster goes down the rabbit hole and finds out the supernatural is real and also incredibly dangerous.
What works is the first half build up of the world and also Cally. We get to read first the witness statement which does not sugarcoat at all what happened and that this is a dark subject matter. We meet Cally and as mentioned earlier she is a fascinating character very much stuck in the life she is supposed to want and intriguingly a fairly honest and accurate portrayal of someone with depression. Her podcast is her lifeline as we can see she does possess a strong journalistic instinct. A more sympathetic patter who accepts depression is real would help her but as we see Iain is definitely not that and actually this case is catalyst for Cally to accept it’s time to start her life again from the ground up. Church makes her a fascinating character with a troubled family life, a series of bad relationships and yet she’s intelligent funny and as we find very capable.
The case gets fascinating once Warden Fell enters the story and here I do note Church has captured a great feel of the Welsh and North West landscapes. From the beautiful are of Bala, Cumbrian caravan parks or the mysterious areas around Pendle Hill that Warden Fell nears there is a sense of the world underneath our modern one throughout. I’ve always liked the idea of thin places where the supernatural and natural worlds meet and we get the sense slowly Warden Fell is another but this time what enters is a very malign force.
Neatly linking back to the podcast idea this is a story where witness testimony is important be they in a cafe as Tony’s regal actress sister relates her last contact with her brother, a truly greasy and repellant Caraven park owner to Tony’s own voice from long ago found recorded. Sound here is a key feature of the plot and for a novel Church handles differences in voice very well and also knows how to use background sound to create havoc. Increasingly the story alluded to the veil thinking again and there are a series of nighttime interludes where nightmarish creatures and body horror get released. The way the story shifts from crime to supernatural to historical mystery to 21st century conspiracy take to occult magic all the time and really keeps the pace up and it’s become a much bigger and more menacing story as things get worse and worse for Cally.
My one issue is the story possibly gets a bit too big for one main character in the middle act. We also get a conspiracy angle and Cally gets very thinly spread with multiple forces at once. The resolution that actually we have three main characters could have taken place a little earlier - I love Stella (Tony’s sister) and also Ellen a young smart policewoman that Cally has just the hint of a new relationship starting. They all come into the story in the final act and a little more time for them to breathe and work out what’s happening would have really allowed the bigger story to not feel squashed in that middle act. Happily the very tense, monstrous and strange final act used them really well and easily makes up for this small issue I had.
I really enjoyed this story and it’s has its own final ending but Cally and her new friends are fascinating and I wonder if we could visit them again to see what happened next? It’s a dark and mysterious story full of gruesome body horror, mysterious secrets and when needed lots of violence but it’s a very satisfying horror read indeed. Church is continuing to develop as an author and this was a welcome new and exciting new direction. I look forward to seeing what they deliver next but in the meantime this is highly recommended!
