Review: Darkness Beckons, By Nicholas Woode-Smith
Kat Drummond, book #5
Several months and a different URL ago, I reviewed Nicholas Woode-Smith’s Kat Drummond series. Specifically, I reviewed Part-Time Monster Hunter and Blood Cartel.
Then I read the next two books—because I had purchased a collection of four books for a $0.99. Then book three went along at a good clip, but went off the rails by the end with a muddled motivation for a vaguely defined villain. Book four ended with a cliffhanger I do not believe that the author earned. I still recommend the first two books, and I even liked the majority of book three before it went off the rails.
Then the next four pack came out of books five to eight. It was $2.99. And I really did like the amount of work and the obvious effort put into designing the world. I wanted it to work. So I dove into book #5.
It works.
The Story
The last Kat Drummond novel ended with an attack on Kat’s apartment during a friend’s business presentation.
Her friend’s brother attacked him.
Then her ex-boyfriend turned out to be a werewolf, and attacked with his pack.
Then a vampire nest attacked, taking revenge for the events of Blood Cartel.
And in the middle of all that, Kat was kidnapped by her archenemy, a necromancer who had been dogging her since book one—the necromancer being a fourteen year old girl.
It was a very busy ending.
Now, the Necrolord holds Kat hostage for her own purposes, trying to make Kat an ally against a supernatural conspiracy.
Meanwhile, her fellow monster hunters Brett and Guy are going full Jack Bauer on the vampire community in an attempt to save Kat, assuming the vampires took her. Will Kat escape, or will she give into the darkness? Can Brett and Guy survive long enough to save her? Or will they be swallowed up by darkness of their own?
If you like shootouts every other chapter—and who doesn’t?— you’ll enjoy this. If you want a novel driven by character and their interpersonal (and yes, even internal) conflicts, you’ll still enjoy this. I’ll discuss this more in the next section, but the action sequences are all tight and well-written, and shows just how bad the monsters can get. The monsters here are on par with anything in horror or urban fantasy.
In the overall narrative, Darkness Beckons does for Kat Drummond what Spectre tried to do for Bond films—tie all the stories into an overall narrative arc. Unlike that film, Darkness Beckons succeeds. Kat Drummond’s South Africa seems to have it’s own demonic Illuminati, and someone is going to have to be James Bond.
Kat may have to be it.
The Characters
A superficial view would dismiss this as being a very fluffy plot. One part is Stockholm syndrome and one part is a series of shootouts. The events and action doesn’t change the world. But the characters drive this book, and they change and multiple levels.
In previous novels, Guy and Brett seemed to be shooters with backgrounds that were just fleshed out enough to give them depth. Darkness Beckons clearly proves otherwise. Both characters have in-depth biographies, their own traumas, and are more than being professional badasses. Even Kat’s agent, Conrad, turns out to be more than he appears. Welcome to Babylon 5, no one hear is precisely what they appear to be.
I even liked the exchange with Kat’s ghost mentor, Treth, and his line,
“Pinky swearing? Is it some sort of binding ritual?”
The most interesting character here is, surprisingly, Candace Evergreen, the necromancer. Candace also has a history that parallels Kat’s, without being trite or cut-and-paste about it. It’s not a forced mirroring of events. In fact, Candace witnessed her own parents murder by a necromancer… but he made the mistake of not killing her before she repeated his killing spell right back at him. Oops. That’s not a spoiler, that’s the first chapter
Candace creepy as Hell, and sympathetic enough to be interesting. She wants to “tame the darkness” for noble purposes, and it seems like she might even be able to do it … if she can keep her sanity and not become a world-destroying monster. Unlike a lot of authors who try to make the villain more interesting than the hero, “Because evil is more interesting” Candace is interesting because she’s actively trying to not be a monster.
On the other hand, she read Frankenstein and concluded the Doctor’s sin wasn’t hubris, it was a lack of conviction.
The World
As always, this world may be the best part of the Kat Drummond series. This world is exceptionally well detailed. And it’s nice to have a well drawn world set somewhere distinct. The setting is very much a character. It’s not even necessarily that it is South Africa, because Woode-Smith has built this world from the ground up. The entire planet had been so traumatized by the cataclysmic introduction of magic and monsters, the world is basically “before” and “after.” This universe has a distinct feel and flavor to it because it’s rebuilt.
Again, Woode-Smith has a talent for weaving world building in with both events and character. Kat’s desire for revenge comes with a thought that werewolves weren’t a protected species—unlike vampires, they were considered more beast than human. Both Guy and Brett’s childhoods sketch out more of the world’s history, and it’s about what you’d expect from a world that had a rampaging resurgent Zulu empire. Oh look, child soldiers are still in vogue, even in 2036.
The Necromancer Candace offers an interesting great change of viewpoint on the world, not just because she takes over the narration for parts of Darkness Beckons, but Woode-Smith takes the opportunity to show off more aspects of how necromancy and magic works. Candace also knows things that Kat doesn’t, and they’re integral pieces of the world that are probably going to impact the entire series.
The Politics
This is going to be the strangest, most bizarre advertisement for home-schooling EVER.
Also, as usual, this series supports and encourages ownership of personal weaponry. A lot of weaponry.
If you think that religion and the possibility of redemption is political, then that’s half the plot. If you think it’s political to find evil and cut it’s heart out, then that’s the other half of the book.
Content Warning
This is described as a Young Adult novel. Nothing is really particularly gruesome. But there are zombies, impaled birds that are still moving through necromancy, and ripping out human organs for use in arcane rituals. So you’ve been warned.
Who is this for?
This is on par with, if not surpassing early Anita Blake novels, and easily on par with Kim Harrison’s Hollows novels. The in-depth world building may be the best part, but the characters are deep and sympathetic, with clear lines that one Does Not Cross… even if the lines are a touch deep into Jack Bauer territory.
Why buy it?
Buy this one for an interesting world, good action, and some surprisingly good character studies that may have carried this book on their own.