Book 2 of A Bit of the Dark world
by
Pages: 274
Size: 6.00 x 9.00 in
Pages: 272
Two-year-old Robbie Chambers has a problem.
Since he was born, creatures no one else can see have appeared to him. They speak in a secret language, and lately what they say is disturbing, especially the entity calling itself Robbie's father.
Robbie isn't aware of how he was conceived to bring imprisoned beings from another dimension into this world. He doesn't understand of the love triangle existing between his mother, Dr. Daniel Walker's, and Drexl von Dorff, nor of how his mother has left their Georgia home in an attempt to save him from his heritage.
Lisa Chambers believes she's at last found happiness with Daniel Walker, and protection for her son. Robbie loves his mom and his new stepdad but "Daddy" says Dr. Daniel Walker is dangerous. He has to die.
Is Mommy going to become a widow for the second time?
Publisher: Independently Published
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Setting: Arkham, Massachusetts; island off the coast of Georgia (state)
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Setting: Arkham, Massachusetts; island off the coast of Georgia (state)
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Robbie was alone in his room, nearly asleep, that spark of resentment smoldering in his subconscious…
…that was when they came to him…the brightness in the air, visible in the glow of the nightlight by the door. They were moving things…living…not mere dust motes as his mother thought.
They’d been absent for a few weeks, and he was glad they were back. Robbie wasn’t afraid of the things. Unknown to Lisa, they’d been with him all his life, even while he lay in his bassinette in the hospital nursery. They called themselves the Old Ones, and spoke to him…needed him, they said. At first, he’d been frightened by their presence, but they soon assured him…
We were sent by your father. He wants you to help us.
READ MORERobbie had only the faintest idea what father meant, thinking it had something to do with the tall man, but if that was so, why didn’t the man simply tell him, instead of sending the things to speak in his place? Nevertheless, they made him feel secure also, and enabled him to realize his father was someone other than the man with his mother…and he knew he had to do as that unknown creature called father wished. He had to help them.
Though they didn’t speak as his mother and the tall man did, he understood them. They taught him their secret language, their words evolving in his mind. He was a good pupil, learning so thoroughly in his childish eagerness to please that he almost forgot how to speak to those in the human world. He’d started to shut everyone out, but they told him they didn’t want that.
When his mother put Robbie into the car and they drove away from the place he called home, the Old Ones went quiet. The first night in the apartment, they reappeared, overjoyed to see him.
We searched. She took you away, but now we’ve found you again. You’ve come to us and we’ve brought someone to meet you.
…the new being appeared…larger than the others, a glowing sphere moving and swelling…reforming and changing until it was vaguely man-shaped… It was tall and frightening because, unlike the others, it had features…Robbie felt he should recognize them and he sensed the thing did also. When he didn’t, the thing flamed with disappointment. He had an awareness of a corona of hair as red as his own, flaming and crackling around that familiar-unfamiliar face as the creature hovered over Robbie’s bed.
Don’t be afraid…it hurried to reassure him as if it understood his fear, though he tried not to show it. The creature moved what might’ve been a hand, vaporous inside the flames. Robbie dodged, then submitted to a gentle caress to his cheek. I’d never hurt you…you’re very dear to me, my son…
He looked up at the thing, eyes meeting startling green within the fire, and the voices in his head quieted so only one remained and that one told him what he had to do…
You have to stay in the world. You must help us return, so we can be together, my child…
…Robbie promised he would.
He learned to keep the secret language even more secret, speaking it only when no human was around. He had a vague understanding that his mother worried about him. He tried to tell her, to teach her this new language was nothing to be afraid of…if she wanted, she could learn it, too…but he’d now forgotten so much of her own words, he couldn’t make himself understood.
Before, when the tall man was there, the things hated him, feared him, in fact…the flaming creature most of all, as well as the little stone he wore around his neck. They were happy when he was gone.
Now that the man was back, they were unhappy again.
He has to be driven away, they said. He must be rendered harmless.
Why? Robbie asked, mentally. How can he be a danger?
The voices didn’t explain. All they did was repeat…he’s a threat.
Uncertain how to act, Robbie grew quieter. Nevertheless, when Dan was near, his pleasure at his stepfather’s attention made him momentarily forget what the Old Ones said.
When that happened, they, and the creature, became very angry…
COLLAPSEMichael D. Smith on Amazon.com wrote:After having read the first book, 'A Bit of the Dark World' (which I heartily recommend to all horror fans, especially ones with a fondness for Lovecraft) I was eager to read this sequel. I’ve read quite a few of Toni V. Sweeney’s works (a talented author who writes in many genres) and I recognized her psychologically complex, believable characters and well realized backdrops which in this tale make for engaging reading whilst the supernatural element waits in the shadows.
It must be said that Child of the Dark World is something of a slow burn but this in no way lessens the reading enjoyment. The first part is a compelling psychological study as we follow the emotionally scarred and damaged Lisa running from her old town, the only man who loves her, from herself, from everything and trying to begin anew as a simple Librarian at Miskatonic University. With her is her seemingly ‘autistic’ son, a terrible reminder of past experiences but also her comfort as well. What impressed me with Sweeney’s female protagonist is that she is both damaged yet also stronger than before and I found the dynamic between herself, Dr. Dan Walker and Robbie gripping reading especially as Drex and the Old Ones begin to make themselves known through the small boy.
Sweeney sets up the second part of the tale perfectly with Lisa, Dan and Professor Karl Engelhardt (Chief Librarian at Miskatonic University) setting off on a quest to stop the Old One’s evil plans. This element reminded me of Dennis Wheatley at his best, with Engelhardt in the role of Duke de Richleau - although nothing is quite as it seems it should be noted.
Without any spoilers all I will say is that everything I enjoyed about the first one (such as temples and tentacles) can be found in the last act of the novel as can the delicious melodrama that makes it so enjoyable.
Sherry Perkins on Paranormal Romance Guild wrote:We sensed something disturbing wrong even at the happy, satisfying ending of A Bit of the Dark World, the first book in this series, and here the unease inevitably festers and bursts.
Lisa Chambers, twenty four, flees from her old life in Temple, Georgia, with all it supernatural traumas as well from as a man who adores her, the part-Native American Dr. Daniel Walker. She regrets disappointing Dan, but after her disastrous paranormal relationship with the late demented Drexl von Dorff, Lisa isn’t sure she wants Dan or is good enough for him. As a psychic refugee, with no real prospects and the daunting task of caring for an autistic child, Lisa comes to a halt in Arkham, Massachusetts. Here unexpected good luck brings her a livelihood and home, but in retrospect, was she not in fact drawn to this witchcraft-drenched locale by some malevolent entity? Librarian Dr. Karl Engelhardt becomes her benefactor, but soon reveals an unholy interest in the supernatural events in Georgia detailed in the previous book.
Meanwhile, the autistic Robbie dwells in an ocean of the Other, and we soon realize that nobody can truly understand his inner life or his far-reaching abilities. Only the reappearance of Dr. Walker, now willing to settle permanently with Lisa in Massachusetts, offers any hope against the evil now encircling the child. Walker possesses a semi-conscious awareness of an ancient shamanic heritage and the vast powers for good he may be able to bring into play, yet is unsure how his vision might unfold and prevail.
The author’s versatile skill set allows her to developing her characters in full so that as terror begins peeking around the edges of everyone’s awareness, we are fully attuned to their hopes and fears. Child of the Dark World is a literate, people-oriented horror/romance--and of course there’s a final section in this book which points to more innocent, world-shattering mischief for Robbie to embrace in the future.
Second in the Dark World series, Spawn drags us clawing, kicking, and screaming into the consequences—both intended and unintended—from the demonic assault that had been perpetrated upon the unwitting main character of Book 1 (Chosen), Lisa Chambers. This is the kind of storytelling Tony-Paul deVissage does well. It’s creepy, violent, and filled to the brim with that most human of emotions: self-doubt. The what-ifs always make for interesting tales since it’s something all of us can appreciate and dread.
Lisa’s long list of what-ifs begins and ends with what if I’d have fallen for with Dr. Daniel Walker and not the crazed cult leader Drexl van Dorff. Now Drexl’s dead and Lisa’s got a son, an autistic toddler, named Robbie. Together, Lisa and Robbie are on the run from the people, places, and things she’d much rather forget—not to mention that she hopes will never find her son. Unfortunately, Dan gets left behind too, leaving Lisa with nothing but those what-ifs.
Lisa ends up in a New England village as far from the horrific happenings in Land’s End Island, Georgia as possible. Fortuitously, she lands a job at a small college there where they are in need of a librarian. It seems like the perfect job for Lisa. She has plenty of time to spend with Robbie once her day is done. As a bonus, the college has a department of supernatural studies, of which, her new friend (and boss) is the professor. Professor Engelhardt is more than helpful in seeing Lisa and Robbie get settled in. Until Dan shows up, that is. Then things take a delicious turn for the horrific once again because the tentacles of evil that threatened to drive Lisa mad are back. And they want Robbie.
A five-star read about what happens when your father is the conduit for the evilest of Ancient Ones, and your mother is in love with a shaman.
