Job Abrams is cursed by the Holy Father. Ever since childhood, sleep has been a fight for survival. While his body finds solace in the refuge of his bed, his spirit faces unthinkable horrors in a satanic realm known as the Void. Doctors had diagnosed these experiences as night terrors, but Job has always known they were wrong. How could they be right? What doctor could identify such supernatural afflictions? No, his nightmares are something more. Somehow, they’re real, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Death in the Void means death in the waking world, leaving a spiritless corpse to be discovered by loved ones. Job has seen it firsthand, and so he’s learned how to fight. He’s learned how to kill the demons that stalk his spirit. He’s learned how to wage war, and he’s joined the efforts of others just like him.
Recruited by a covert task force, Job is now a Dagger, and each assault on the Void and its abhorrent monsters has served to sharpen his edge. But is he sharp enough to face the challenges ahead?
Satan’s greatest creation is coming, and only the recovery of the full Armor of God can bring the hope of victory.
This author is a great friend of mine. I'm gonna get that out there straight away. So, there is bias for this review. I got to read this when it was still stewing in Phil's creative juices. It was originally published as part of the SNAFU: Holy War anthology, but the rights reverted back to my pal. The blurb describes the tale fairly well. Job and his brother Daniel grew up going to Hell every night in their sleep. They thought they were just horrible nightmares, but it turns out they are not. They are found by a secret organization that is actively participating in a transdimensional battle of good and evil. The group wants the armor of God discussed in Ephesians and Second Timothy so that they can battle the devil and his minions. But evil has its own crew searching for the organization that Job is a part of so they can kill the dreamers.
It's a neat story with some elements of Black Farm, but the characters are more fleshed out, and the gore isn't as over the top. The writing is pretty good, as is most of Phil's writing, and I recommend reading this as an introduction into his soon to be expanding catalog. He's a great author, and he's doing some interesting things with his work. He did my cover by the by and some covers for other stuff I'm working on... anywho! He's gonna be releasing another horror story soon called Pelts, and it's gonna be a banger. So read this one so you can get an idea of his style. I don't think you'll be disappointed.