A broken hearted father that cannot cope with the death of his son steals a Peruvian skull from a relic thief in order to set up a ritual which might bring his Daniel back to life. The ritual takes place during an Amtrak night ride from Chicago to New Orleans, where accidentally there is also a demon hunter and an ex-Army mom, and it unleashes dark creatures thirsty for blood.
Like in an old Russian movie, most of the action takes place during the train ride, and the action succeeds very fast, and some of the images described can be quite strong for the faints of heart. Imagine a Stephen King story with a touch of spirits invasion, the kind of stories I am reading only once in a while. Even if you don't like such genre, there is a lesson to learn from it mainly that conjuring the dark forces, even for a good cause, it always can have dramatic consequences.
The story is the result of an extraordinary collaboration between 4 authors, part of a series of novellas set in different American cities, each written through different collaborations.
Although I enjoyed the story and the writing, I've found that very often I would have love more focus on the actions - when it comes to fights, with monsters of all things - the more descriptions the merrier. In one case, I've found a small inconsistency: the character Blake cut his hands deeply to have enough blood to make the required signs for the ritual on the walls, but it doesn't look as he is really affected by the loss of blood. I keep thinking that novella was too limited for this kind of topic and a bigger amount of words would have been much better for the sake of the story telling.
Despite this, the book is enjoyable and has some interesting developments. The kind of book to keep you company on a long train ride, unless you are not too faint of heart.
Rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by one of the authors in exchange for an honest review
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