The War in the Dark
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A genre-defying page turner that fuses thriller and speculative fiction with dark fantasy in a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe.
Europe. 1963. And the true Cold War is fought on the borders of this world, at the edges of the light.
When the assassination of a traitor trading with the enemy goes terribly wrong, British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter must flee London. In a tense alliance with a lethal, mysterious woman named Karina Lazarova, he's caught in a quest for hidden knowledge from centuries before, an occult secret written in a language of fire. A secret that will give supremacy to the nation that possesses it.
Racing against the Russians, the chase takes them from the demon-haunted Hungarian border to treasure-laden tunnels beneath Berlin, from an impossible house in Vienna to a bomb-blasted ruin in Bavaria where something unholy waits, born of the power of white fire and black glass . . .
It's a world of treachery, blood and magic. A world at war in the dark.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Setchfield's clunky debut is a Cold War era spy thriller spiced up with demons and occult powers. Christopher Winter is an assassin for British Intelligence. When one of his assigned targets, a priest, declares himself "beyond flesh" and then erupts in a shower of insects, Winter finds himself dangerously in over his head. He is guided in occult matters by a mysterious woman, Karina, who fights with deadly grace, saves his life multiple times, and introduces him to her most secret contacts for no apparent reason except to propel the plot forward. Winter's adventures are meant to be dreamlike and horrifying, but they miss the mark, and his successes against foes more powerful and better informed seem farfetched, even when he has Karina's assistance. As he bounces from peril to peril, it becomes obvious that Karina is the more interesting character: she acts instead of passively reacting and uses her knowledge and skill to win the day while Winter bumbles along behind her. The writing is competent, but the novel as a whole is uninspiring, dragged down by a poor choice of protagonist.
