We are the Night Vigil.The run-down convenience store, the all-night diner, the last-ditch shelter, or seedy motel, the redneck bar and the emergency room, and all the other places open on the graveyard shift—they’re Hell’s hunting grounds, full of easy marks and desperate souls, prey for evil things out there in the dark.We keep the Vigil, looking for the ones who can still be saved, the ones … saved, the ones who aren’t too far gone. We’re the misfits and the muck-ups, unwanted by Heaven or Hell, given one last chance to atone for all the mistakes and missed chances, the pain we’ve caused others and ourselves, the good things we were afraid to do, and the bad things we embraced with open arms. We work the night shift because that’s when evil walks. We’re the clerk in the all-night liquor store, the server in the 24-hour diner, the long-haul trucker who only drives at night, the counter person in the convenience store, the dog shift nurse. We recognize the evil when we see it, and we use the skills we honed with blood and fire to stop it, whatever it takes.
Unfinished business ties us to the mortal world, to make atonement, find absolution, satisfy retribution, get things right. You won’t find a sorrier group of halfway house heroes. No illusions left—about ourselves, humanity, or what’s really out there in the darkness. Just a purpose, to go down fighting the good fight. Because this is our last chance.
One final chance to make it right, the thin red line of humanity against the evil that goes bump in the night, your best hope to make it through the hour of the wolf
When a series of disappearances, suicides, and vengeful spirits cause havoc and death along a remote interstate highway, demon-hunting ex-priest Travis Dominick teams up with former special ops soldier and monster-hunter Brent Lawson to end the problem with extreme prejudice.
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About four decades ago, I read The Stand by Stephen King and thought, “Wow! This is my writer!” But the decades passed by and I moved on to other things, namely those writers who promise the readers a happy ending. Yes, life can knock a person around enough that they simply MUST have a happy ending when investing their money and time in the escape that is reading non-fiction books. I thought something was lost in the translation to those books guaranteeing a happily ever after so I took only minor notice until lucking upon “Sons of Darkness” by Gail Z. Martin.
After saturating myself in a related series (Badlands series by Morgan Brice), I was primed for “Sons of Darkness”. I wanted to know more about the demon-hunting ex-priest Travis Dominick who teams up with the demon-magnet former special ops soldier Brent Lawson to stop a series of disastrous occurrences, terrifying phenomena, and monstrous manifestations on a 50-year repeating cycle. They discover that the nexus of the incidences stem from a reasonably sentient malignant presence that feasts on the psychoemotional misery of the citizens living within a fifty miles radius of a defunct mine in Pennsylvania. Travis Dominick joins with the others of the Night Vigil to put an end to the feasting of horror before the final event that always culminates in a widespread conflagration.
The members of the Night Vigil will fight on two fronts with some preventing the huge fire that will decimate the surrounding communities and others seeking to confine the entity behind the rift from which its effects escape every 50 years. Needing ghosts to help to confine the entity from behind the rift while they work to bind it from without, Brent’s dead brother Danny volunteers for his own special ops mission. They are successful, they are battered and bloodied literally and figuratively but they are successful! Knowing there will be a happy ending doesn’t remove the level of anticipation, fear, thrill, and excitement a reader will experience in reading this remarkable story.
While Travis and Brent investigate the phenomena, the readers are treated to an introduction to the members of the Night Vigil. Talk about a creepy cast of totally human characters! Bound together by guilt and remorse, the members have each had their personal battles with the darkness that make them uniquely qualified to tackle the truly monstrous in all its forms. From the medium who was a Catholic priest well-used by The Church in hunting demons to the necromancer who works in the coroner’s office to the hospital pharmacist hiding the soul of her 13-year-old dead sister to the special ops soldier whose family was killed by a demon when he was away at football camp, each story is personal and absolutely scary–and this is just book one! Readers aren’t given a full treatment of Travis’s experiences as a medium ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church. That The Church wants him back “on the job” is compelling enough–that they suffered a medium is beyond disturbing and promises plenty to keep readers wide awake. In addition, there has to be something about Brent that IS attracting demons as there are several instances of him encountering them throughout the narrative. In addition, a government agency named Charon (In Greek mythology he is the ferryman of Hades who carries the souls of the recent dead across the river Styx) is interested in ‘hiring’ Brent. There has to be a reason for it and it is hoped that readers will be able to gain insight as to the series progress.
All in all, the novel is an amazing first book of a very promising series that has elicited the same impressive, yet unnerving reaction I had to Stephen King’s work from the late seventies to the late eighties! Gail Z. Martin is especially gifted in giving readers a complete story without the complete picture–there’s plenty for the writer to tell her audience about the past experiences and the current work of the Night Vigil’s members. In addition to striking world-building and impressive character building, the writer provides perfect pacing (the rate at which the writer introduces key elements in the story) and beautiful balance (the distribution of varying types of elements in the narrative) to an extraordinarily compelling storyline! Very well done, Gail Z. Martin!
Could be the best paranormal thriller I’ve ever read!
*** NO SPOILERS ***
This is my first read of this author’s work. I’m a little surprised at some of the complaints in other reviews. As Jules from Pulp Fiction said “Allow me to retort”
I like paranormal thrillers. Like my headline says, this either the best, or darn close to it, of all that I’ve read. I could easily see this playing on the big screen inside my mind and I think it would render itself well if converted to film. But I digress.
There are two protagonists, starting out working from opposite ends at the same problems on their own. There is friction because each feels the other is an interference with their work. Their different histories, backgrounds and skills makes seeing eye to eye that much more difficult. Eventually the forces they are facing are of such a magnitude that for them to succeed, they must work together. Still, it is an uneasy alliance. The plot lines of individual problems with paranormal forces begin to converge indicating something much larger than they realized. As they and their associates continue to deal with the individual problems popping up, their collective research provides clues as to what is happening and how little time they have to counter it. Worse, unlike the individual problems they’ve been handling, there is no clear path to follow on whether their approach is correct, or if correct will be in time. Win, lose, or draw, there’s no guarantee whether any or all of them will walk away unscathed, or even at all.
I found the intertwining of classic folklore from the area, myths and legends from the old country, postulation about institutional forces that may play a role, and the various individual abilities of friends of one of the protagonists to be interesting and I thought it worked quite well. No individual piece could do much on their own, but the sum of their contributions results in a greater than expected result. I thought the character development did what it needed to do to convey the story and did that successfully, though some others wanted more.
I did have one disappointment, though it does not affect the five stars of my review. This tale is listed as Book one of one. I think there is great potential for some or any combination of the leads and supporting cast members to carry additional paranormal stories, and I sincerely hope the author considers giving us readers more.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in paranormal thrillers. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
I am a huge fan of the author so I decided to try this new series and read this ARC I received from StoryOrigin. Really, Ms Martin proved again why she is one of the best creating amazing and complex plots, full of mystery and danger, in a mix of mundane and supernatural. I don’t want to spoil anything for you but this book is a must read for any fan of fantasy thrillers and of course for any fan of the author. I enjoyed a lot all the action, the twists and turns in the story and the wonderful characters. Simply WOW!
I received a copy of this from the author for review and I am glad to have reviewed it. Gail Z. Martin nailed the gritty urban fantasy with this book. It combines the best of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and S.M. Reine’s Preternatural Bureau. The action is enthralling and well-paced. The characters and the procedure read like those from JD Robb’s In Death novels. I think this could translate well onto the small screen. I am looking forward to book 2.
I was surprised at quickly and completely Gail Z. Martin’s Sons of Darkness pulled me in! Not going to lie, I was up past my bedtime to finish the entire book in one sitting. I couldn’t put this one down.
I’ve read several of Martin’s different series, both Urban and High Fantasy, and very much enjoy her storytelling and world building. It was so easy to slip into the Night Vigil world.
Travis and Brent are easy to identify with. Both have been touched by more than a little bit of horror and tragedy, yet they still work towards the greater good. They also both recognize the organizations trying to either, in Brent’s case, pull them in, or in Travis’, get them back.
I also love that Martin used actual folklore and monsters from a variety of sources. Many of them are classic tales and creatures that are typically used. Even the more common monsters, like vampires, have a totally different twist you don’t normally see, yet they are close to actual legends and folklore from a variety of different cultures.
I also liked the crossover Martin created with her other series. I’ve only ready a couple of them, so I didn’t have any trouble following this story, but it was interesting to see how she intertwined her different worlds.
I hope Martin revisits Travis and Brent again soon.
An intense action-packed fantasy adventure!
The story opens with Travis in a warehouse about to talk down a big bad vamp hybrid when out of nowhere some under educated over ambitious do-gooder sprouts from the woodwork throwing all his hard work down the drain – now he has to decide between saving the blonde, who is no longer holding his own, or continuing his mission. Darn if being a retired priest doesn’t mess up one’s morals.
And that was just the opening scene
Action
Conflict
Adventure
Monsters
Laughter
Angst
This has it all – I was drawn in from the opening scene and not once was I disappointed, made for an all-nighter read.
Copious twists and dotted breadcrumb trails lead our main characters on an intense trail to stop a dark entity before it strikes again and leaves us with clues as to the next adventure.
This was a first in series and I am excited to see where the author takes our heroes
I read a comp copy
Sons of Darkness by Gail Z. Martin is a well written story with badass characters that are well developed as are the creatures that go bump in the night. The plot and world building are spot on and excellent. Travis and Brent dislike each other but must work together to defeat the creatures and scary beings. I was drawn into the story and kept turning pages to see what was coming next. Am looking forward to the next book with these characters and in this world. A phenomenal read that I highly recommend. Received a copy from Hidden Gems and this is my voluntary and honest review.
Gail Z. Martin is a new author for me, but based on her Sons of Darkness: A Night Vigil Novel, I’m promising myself that we will become well acquainted. I loved the world-building in this book as it came off as totally realistic despite the paranormal / fantasy elements so intrinsic to the story. I also loved the whole concept of the Night Vigil, a loosely organized group of “misfits and the muck-ups”, each with psychic and or/magical gifts, who are atoning for past actions by taking on the evil infesting the back areas of society and preying on its easy marks and desperate souls. Add to that a couple of superb leads, Travis Dominick (a demon-hunting ex-priest) and Brent Lawson (an ex-special ops operator turned monster-hunter) and a superb cast and you’ve the makings for a superb and exciting thriller of a novel, which is cooked to perfection thanks to top-notch writing. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises – the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, it is easy to highly recommend and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Surprise, you can learn a thing or two from video games. Like how to fight a demon or a vampire. This story is excellent and scary as all get out. There is a great plot and the carters are awesome. Great book it keeps me on the edge of my sit and I can’t put it down. I know you will enjoy the story and this series also. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.