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When Darkness Falls
Fourteen-year-old Blake Walker is the “weird kid” at school. As an adopted foster child, he has never forgotten what his birth mother put him through because of his psychic abilities. Because of that, he’s determined not to let anyone get close enough to him to discover what he can do.
But keeping his distance from Faith Carlisle isn’t easy. A new girl at school, Faith doesn’t seem to care what people say. She persists in trying to get to know him. When he gives in and becomes her friend, Blake discovers that Faith has abilities as well. And she’s not the only one; Eli Tyler, one of the popular jocks, is gifted, too.
With his surprising new friends, Blake discovers a a dark presence occupying an abandoned house in town. Through a website he finds Topher James and Callie Monroe, two older teens who have fought this darkness before. With their guidance, Blake must defeat the dark entity before he and Faith are lost forever.
But keeping his distance from Faith Carlisle isn’t easy. A new girl at school, Faith doesn’t seem to care what people say. She persists in trying to get to know him. When he gives in and becomes her friend, Blake discovers that Faith has abilities as well. And she’s not the only one; Eli Tyler, one of the popular jocks, is gifted, too.
With his surprising new friends, Blake discovers a a dark presence occupying an abandoned house in town. Through a website he finds Topher James and Callie Monroe, two older teens who have fought this darkness before. With their guidance, Blake must defeat the dark entity before he and Faith are lost forever.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2011
6 people want to read
About the author
Jo Ramsey
37 books41 followersJo Ramsey has been telling stories since she could talk, and has been writing them down since age five, when someone finally showed her how to make those funny little squiggles on paper. Out of desperation to keep Jo occupied, her kindergarten teacher encouraged her to write stories based on books in the classroom library, and the writing addiction was born.
When Jo was a teenager, she started writing young adult fiction, and still has some of the stories she wrote during junior high and high school. And no one else will EVER see them! Many of her stories involved “normal” teenagers who ended up doing or seeing extraordinary things. Her main influences were Susan Cooper and Madeleine L’Engle.
Although Jo never stopped writing entirely, real life interfered for a while after she graduated college. She worked as a special education teacher, married, and had two offspring. During that time, writing was both an escape and therapy. Continuing the themes from her earlier stories, Jo wrote for the teens she knew who were struggling with academics and with their lives, hoping that someday they and others like them would read and find encouragement from those stories.
Jo’s first young adult novel was published in 2010. Although her books vary widely in plot and characters, they all have one thing in common: The belief that anyone is capable of being a hero, whether to others or in their own lives, no matter who they are or what they’ve been through.
Jo lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats, one of whom, like Jo, has refused to grow up.
When Jo was a teenager, she started writing young adult fiction, and still has some of the stories she wrote during junior high and high school. And no one else will EVER see them! Many of her stories involved “normal” teenagers who ended up doing or seeing extraordinary things. Her main influences were Susan Cooper and Madeleine L’Engle.
Although Jo never stopped writing entirely, real life interfered for a while after she graduated college. She worked as a special education teacher, married, and had two offspring. During that time, writing was both an escape and therapy. Continuing the themes from her earlier stories, Jo wrote for the teens she knew who were struggling with academics and with their lives, hoping that someday they and others like them would read and find encouragement from those stories.
Jo’s first young adult novel was published in 2010. Although her books vary widely in plot and characters, they all have one thing in common: The belief that anyone is capable of being a hero, whether to others or in their own lives, no matter who they are or what they’ve been through.
Jo lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats, one of whom, like Jo, has refused to grow up.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 22, 2012
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This is the second book in a series, but When Darkness Falls could easily be read alone as its own book. I had not read the first book and was able to follow the story without any trouble at all.
The plot was good and the characters well developed, this was the case in some places more than others. The attention to detail of how someone who had gone through Child Services would feel and react to their surroundings was in some places unique and true, in others a little overused, mostly when plot points were needed to explain away why something was happening that may have felt out of place otherwise. Once you know why someone is closed off, the repetition becomes a little much, but is still manageable.
The story is your typical teenage saga of fighting evil that is trying to take over your town. The difference here is that everyone has some kind of psychic power or is given the power by the evil entity that is out to get the hero. It would have been a little easier to believe if a handful of people had these gifts, but every few chapters another would pop up and it began to feel somewhat out of the realm of possibility. Not really a problem either, since a story of fighting evil with psychic powers is considered to not really be in the realm of possibility anyway.
For the most part I enjoyed reading. The section where I assume they are rehashing the previous book was a little difficult to get through, since a lot of that interaction felt forced onto the readers, as if every action and reaction, every thought and word had to be explained away and given excuses for. There were many very well described moments within the pages as well, mostly dealing with the feelings left behind after being given up by an abusive parent and what it is like to grow up with those feelings. Overall, I enjoyed reading because I was interested to see how the story would turn out.
Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it.
This is the second book in a series, but When Darkness Falls could easily be read alone as its own book. I had not read the first book and was able to follow the story without any trouble at all.
The plot was good and the characters well developed, this was the case in some places more than others. The attention to detail of how someone who had gone through Child Services would feel and react to their surroundings was in some places unique and true, in others a little overused, mostly when plot points were needed to explain away why something was happening that may have felt out of place otherwise. Once you know why someone is closed off, the repetition becomes a little much, but is still manageable.
The story is your typical teenage saga of fighting evil that is trying to take over your town. The difference here is that everyone has some kind of psychic power or is given the power by the evil entity that is out to get the hero. It would have been a little easier to believe if a handful of people had these gifts, but every few chapters another would pop up and it began to feel somewhat out of the realm of possibility. Not really a problem either, since a story of fighting evil with psychic powers is considered to not really be in the realm of possibility anyway.
For the most part I enjoyed reading. The section where I assume they are rehashing the previous book was a little difficult to get through, since a lot of that interaction felt forced onto the readers, as if every action and reaction, every thought and word had to be explained away and given excuses for. There were many very well described moments within the pages as well, mostly dealing with the feelings left behind after being given up by an abusive parent and what it is like to grow up with those feelings. Overall, I enjoyed reading because I was interested to see how the story would turn out.
Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it.
December 14, 2011
Interesting twist to the “Good vs Evil” stories.
Blake was severely abused by his natural mother as a child. Luckily a wonderful woman took him and adopted him, treating him as her own.
Because of what had happened when he was young, his natural mother making everyone think he was crazy, he learned how to be happy alone and shut out the rest of the world, even blocking his mind from others.
While at school he meets a new girl, Faith, who lets him know he is not alone with his abilities. He makes a few new friends and learns what evil things are happening at “The Shack” and that it has happened before.
His new friends help him learn how to battle the evil that is at the shack and the mysterious disappearances that have been happening.
Lots of twists and turns along the way. Loaded with suspense and action.
Blake was severely abused by his natural mother as a child. Luckily a wonderful woman took him and adopted him, treating him as her own.
Because of what had happened when he was young, his natural mother making everyone think he was crazy, he learned how to be happy alone and shut out the rest of the world, even blocking his mind from others.
While at school he meets a new girl, Faith, who lets him know he is not alone with his abilities. He makes a few new friends and learns what evil things are happening at “The Shack” and that it has happened before.
His new friends help him learn how to battle the evil that is at the shack and the mysterious disappearances that have been happening.
Lots of twists and turns along the way. Loaded with suspense and action.
January 12, 2012
I won this book on Library Thing, so I'll be posting this review there as well.
When Darkness Falls started off good, but my main problem with it was that there was too much exposition through dialogue (and a lot of it was repetitive). Consequently, I felt detached from the characters because they weren't individual; they lacked a voice of their own. They all seemed to talk the same way and felt more to me like cardboard cutouts than actual people.
The concept for this book was a good one, but more showing, less telling, and better fleshing out of the characters would have given it the depth it deserved.
When Darkness Falls started off good, but my main problem with it was that there was too much exposition through dialogue (and a lot of it was repetitive). Consequently, I felt detached from the characters because they weren't individual; they lacked a voice of their own. They all seemed to talk the same way and felt more to me like cardboard cutouts than actual people.
The concept for this book was a good one, but more showing, less telling, and better fleshing out of the characters would have given it the depth it deserved.
October 28, 2012
Blake Walker has an idea of what his mind can do to some extent and has had a rough life because of it. He tries to hide his abilities so much that he hasn't experienced everything it can do. He also has a difficult time finding friends and people to trust and let in. He finally find's Faith a new girl in school that he feels close to and he finds out why. In their quest of finding each other they find a shak that has quite a bit of darkness around it. They later understand why and try to defeat it. A very good fast paced read. Highly recommended.
April 26, 2015
I liked the first book in this series, but the second is even better. The author introduces new characters and builds the storyline while seamlessly folding in the characters from the first book in a believable way. The story has good depth and character development, and is entertaining to read. I wish the next two books were not out of print, because I really want to read them!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews