by Terrance Mc Arthur

Details on how to win a copy of Darkwalker at the end of this review.

Picture a disillusioned detective, haunted by memories of his past. Pair him with an ambitious young police officer, eager to prove himself and tired of a superior who does not care about his work. Place them in the Five Villages, a land from another time (somewhere between the medieval and the Victorian eras) and a place where peasant farmers live a short journey from elite salons of the upper class.

Add a green-eyed being, taking revenge on those who have done wrong to the dead. Mix in a series of grave-robbings and disappearances of nine-year-old boys. Layer with a society of nomadic outsiders with a strong fear of the magic they possess, looked down upon for their differentness and sought for their exoticness. For good measure, toss in a child of the streets, sneaking out of his orphanage-home to steal from merchants and passersby and to gather information for his favorite detective.

This is the world of E. L. Tettensor’s paranormal fantasy mystery debut, Darkwalker.

Nicolas Lenoir is the detective who bears a patch of dead flesh, inflicted on him by a creature in his homeland. His is a hero’s journey, rediscovering his desire for justice and facing the creature that has given him nightmares for ten years, nightmares that he has tried to suppress with nights of drinking and physical indulgence.

Sergeant Bran Kody is disgusted by his boss’ callous attitude. Every case is important to him and he is eager to find connections in the slimmest of clues. He has a lot to learn, but he fears he will never learn anything from Inspector Lenoir.

The Darkwalker attacks those whose actions have harmed the dead. The stolen bodies have brought him to the Five Villages, where he also finds one he sought a decade ago. Will that quest for justice divert him from his present work?

This book is wonderfully weird, fantastically far-fetched, and a riveting read. I suspect that there are glue-saturated pages, with more adhesive towards the end of the book, because I could not put it down! I had to finish it! (Your results may vary.)

To enter to win a copy of Darkwalker, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Darkwalker,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 18, 2014. U.S. residents only.

Check out more fantasy book reviews in our fantasy and fangs section.

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a California-born, Valley-raised librarian/entertainer/writer. He lives in Sanger, four blocks from the library, with his wife, his daughter, and a spinster cat.