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A Light From the Nether
Molly Dowd Sullivan marks her debut with a thrilling urban fantasy novel that grabs you and won't let go. Dark elements of psychic infection, body horror, trauma, and tragic love play against the backdrop of a compelling murder mystery.
Liam O'Connor is special. When a Fissure opens in someone's mind, he's the one who sews it up again. When a parasite creeps through that Fissure, Liam is the exterminator who purges it. And when Liam loses everything, he's the coward who runs. But when he moves to an old house in coastal New England, hoping for isolation, something from his past follows. Fissures start tearing open; minds are devoured. People die. It's not long before Liam realizes a murderer has come to Shoalport, and he's the only one who can stop them.
Well, him, and the man who keeps haunting his dreams.
Praise for A Light From the Nether:
"...the vibes of classic 1970s Stephen King horror but with wild worldbuilding and a hell of a lot more character development." - Jacquelyn Benson, author of the Raiders of the Arcana series
"At its heart, A Light From the Nether is a story of life, trauma, adoration, and survival, told with uncanny precision, rhythm, and emotional depth. Empathy walks alongside disdain. Devotion stares at its mirror desolation. This is no fairy tale." - The Subtext Review
Liam O'Connor is special. When a Fissure opens in someone's mind, he's the one who sews it up again. When a parasite creeps through that Fissure, Liam is the exterminator who purges it. And when Liam loses everything, he's the coward who runs. But when he moves to an old house in coastal New England, hoping for isolation, something from his past follows. Fissures start tearing open; minds are devoured. People die. It's not long before Liam realizes a murderer has come to Shoalport, and he's the only one who can stop them.
Well, him, and the man who keeps haunting his dreams.
Praise for A Light From the Nether:
"...the vibes of classic 1970s Stephen King horror but with wild worldbuilding and a hell of a lot more character development." - Jacquelyn Benson, author of the Raiders of the Arcana series
"At its heart, A Light From the Nether is a story of life, trauma, adoration, and survival, told with uncanny precision, rhythm, and emotional depth. Empathy walks alongside disdain. Devotion stares at its mirror desolation. This is no fairy tale." - The Subtext Review
352 pages, Paperback
Published June 15, 2025
About the author
Molly Dowd Sullivan
7 books19 followersMolly Dowd Sullivan is the author of the genre-bending, dark, queer sci-fi novel, A LIGHT FROM THE NETHER (now a SPFBO 11 Finalist).
Molly holds an MSc in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, though she credits slash fanfiction with teaching her how to write.
While she has lived in Vermont, Italy, Scotland, and New Zealand, she now shares a little house on the New Hampshire Seacoast with her husband, who is a smoke show, and Indiana Bones, who is a dog.
To stay up to date on releases and more, visit:
mollydowdsullivan.com
Socials:
instagram
tiktok
Molly holds an MSc in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, though she credits slash fanfiction with teaching her how to write.
While she has lived in Vermont, Italy, Scotland, and New Zealand, she now shares a little house on the New Hampshire Seacoast with her husband, who is a smoke show, and Indiana Bones, who is a dog.
To stay up to date on releases and more, visit:
mollydowdsullivan.com
Socials:
tiktok
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
April 8, 2026
So, my thanks to Teru for bringing this book to my attention and to Shaunae for reading it with me.
Goodness, it's hard to put into words without giving anything away...
For fans of C.G. Drews, I think this book would be a great fit.
I really liked it; it has an eerie atmosphere and several cringe-worthy moments, but I still felt very comfortable with this story. What I didn’t like was the amount of alcohol consumed here. It’s understandable and fits the narrative to a certain extent, but I think it could have been reduced a bit earlier.
But if you can handle the fact that the main character, Liam, suffers immensely, drowns everything in alcohol, and doesn’t place much value on the way he lives, then it’s truly a great book.
The world-building, the magic, all the characters, the mystery—everything is fantastic.
There’s virtually no romance here—you’ve been warned. Yes, it would have been nice to get just a tiny bit more at the end. The little bit we’re given here is, however, sugar-sweet.
Anyway, the romance develops very, very late and isn’t the focus of this book. Instead, it’s all about those nasty things that take possession of people and destroy them. And poor Liam has to save them—or maybe not, depending on...
The mystery in this story is completely tangled up, and for a long time I couldn't figure out who the villain was. And even though my guess turned out to be right, the way everything fits together and which characters are involved still felt completely bizarre. I'm not even sure if I understood everything correctly; maybe I'll have to read the book again someday and analyze it down to the smallest detail.
Anyway, wow, toward the end... all those emotions, the heartbreak, and pulling my hair out...
❝
He’s a third of the way through a bottle by the time the sun tucks beneath the horizon. Some things go numb. Others are cast in stark relief.
He is so very sad.
And he pities himself. And that pity makes him hate himself. And when he hates himself, he pities himself. The cycle revolves—a rolling, buffeting tide. 🥺🥺🥺
❝
“Who is Sherlock?” he says.
“Jesus, are there any references you do get?”
“Your objective this evening was to gather information relevant to our case, not drink to excess. I feel as if I’ve been consuming alcohol just by being in your mind.” 🤭🤭🤭
❝
She owns a healthy Monstera deliciosa, Jasper says. Her areca palm needs more consistent misting, however. And … oh, my. Is that an orchid? In a north-facing window? It’ll be dead within a fortnight.
Liam clenches his teeth. You’re not helping. 🤭🤭🤭
Goodness, it's hard to put into words without giving anything away...
For fans of C.G. Drews, I think this book would be a great fit.
I really liked it; it has an eerie atmosphere and several cringe-worthy moments, but I still felt very comfortable with this story. What I didn’t like was the amount of alcohol consumed here. It’s understandable and fits the narrative to a certain extent, but I think it could have been reduced a bit earlier.
But if you can handle the fact that the main character, Liam, suffers immensely, drowns everything in alcohol, and doesn’t place much value on the way he lives, then it’s truly a great book.
The world-building, the magic, all the characters, the mystery—everything is fantastic.
There’s virtually no romance here—you’ve been warned. Yes, it would have been nice to get just a tiny bit more at the end. The little bit we’re given here is, however, sugar-sweet.
Anyway, the romance develops very, very late and isn’t the focus of this book. Instead, it’s all about those nasty things that take possession of people and destroy them. And poor Liam has to save them—or maybe not, depending on...
The mystery in this story is completely tangled up, and for a long time I couldn't figure out who the villain was. And even though my guess turned out to be right, the way everything fits together and which characters are involved still felt completely bizarre. I'm not even sure if I understood everything correctly; maybe I'll have to read the book again someday and analyze it down to the smallest detail.
Anyway, wow, toward the end... all those emotions, the heartbreak, and pulling my hair out...
❝
He’s a third of the way through a bottle by the time the sun tucks beneath the horizon. Some things go numb. Others are cast in stark relief.
He is so very sad.
And he pities himself. And that pity makes him hate himself. And when he hates himself, he pities himself. The cycle revolves—a rolling, buffeting tide. 🥺🥺🥺
❝
“Who is Sherlock?” he says.
“Jesus, are there any references you do get?”
“Your objective this evening was to gather information relevant to our case, not drink to excess. I feel as if I’ve been consuming alcohol just by being in your mind.” 🤭🤭🤭
❝
She owns a healthy Monstera deliciosa, Jasper says. Her areca palm needs more consistent misting, however. And … oh, my. Is that an orchid? In a north-facing window? It’ll be dead within a fortnight.
Liam clenches his teeth. You’re not helping. 🤭🤭🤭
August 10, 2025
I am going to start my review with a little side bar about how annoyed it makes me with publishers slip in massive comps on debut books which are, realistically, inaccurate and set expectations to a standard that, an otherwise decent piece of work, cannot match. This book is being comped to ‘Song of Achilles’, ‘C S Pacat’ and ‘Stephen King’ and that is forcing it to walk in some HUGE footprints, which I don’t believe it ultimately achieves. Trust me, if you want to say ‘for fans of star crossed, queer horror stories’ your audience will come, we are a hungry, feral lot.
I can say that the world building in this story is some of the most unique and creative I have experienced in some time. It’s a low fantasy story set primarily in New England and includes a complex magic system that had me glad for the author including a glossary (and at the start no less HALLELUJAH). I don’t think I can even begin to try and explain this magic system but I will say trypophobics beware cause even I felt some discomfort at times for the state the corpses were left in.
The vibes of this story were very dark, although at times seemed to skirt a little to close to the absurd, however, it was always hard to tell what was real and what was impacted by our unreliable protagonist, Liam. I thought the murder mystery was engaging, although some of the investigation elements felt a littler weaker ant times and I did find that there was a few portions of the book the dragged for me a bit.
Liam was an interesting main character to experience this story through, although not an easy one. As I mentioned above he always had an air of unreliable narrator to him and I found that his hurt, grief, trauma and alcoholism made for a heavy character to inhabit. Not to say that his pain wasn’t justified (it very much was) but at times it just started to feel like the reader was holding this heavy weight of his depression and despair for huge portions of the book, but then also was conveniently put to the side when he needed to take action?
✨slightly spoilery for discussion on the romance element✨
I thought that the concept of the romance was interesting and held a lot of potential, but found the execution to be kind of wanting. The chemistry between Liam and Jasper was so mild and subtle that it wasn’t until like 60 to 70%, when the story was spoon feeding information to the reader, that I realised finally that the love interest in the story was actually meant to be Jasper, and not Liams partner Makoto, as it had seemed for significant portions of the first half of the book to me that Liam was unknowingly in love with him and desperately grieving his loss.
And while a story including a newly awakened queer character in no ways has to address the character processing their sexuality, I did find it a little strange that at no point did Liam, a grown man around his 30s with an ex-girlfriend from a long term relationship, stop to question if he experienced attraction to men and could by bi/gay or pan?
For those that are curious, this is also a no spice book (not even a fade to black) so be aware of that if you are someone who needs that physical connection between characters to solidify an intimate connection and for it to resonate with you cause you wont find it here.
I think ultimately, whilst not without its weaknesses, that this is an example of impressive low fantasy world building, spooky atmosphere and a very solid effort for a debut. This was a 3.5 star read for me and while it would at times would fluctuate up to a 4 star read earlier on, by the end my gut instinct is to rate down. (I reserve the right to come back and change my if me feelings change after sitting on it a few days lol)
I can say that the world building in this story is some of the most unique and creative I have experienced in some time. It’s a low fantasy story set primarily in New England and includes a complex magic system that had me glad for the author including a glossary (and at the start no less HALLELUJAH). I don’t think I can even begin to try and explain this magic system but I will say trypophobics beware cause even I felt some discomfort at times for the state the corpses were left in.
The vibes of this story were very dark, although at times seemed to skirt a little to close to the absurd, however, it was always hard to tell what was real and what was impacted by our unreliable protagonist, Liam. I thought the murder mystery was engaging, although some of the investigation elements felt a littler weaker ant times and I did find that there was a few portions of the book the dragged for me a bit.
Liam was an interesting main character to experience this story through, although not an easy one. As I mentioned above he always had an air of unreliable narrator to him and I found that his hurt, grief, trauma and alcoholism made for a heavy character to inhabit. Not to say that his pain wasn’t justified (it very much was) but at times it just started to feel like the reader was holding this heavy weight of his depression and despair for huge portions of the book, but then also was conveniently put to the side when he needed to take action?
✨slightly spoilery for discussion on the romance element✨
I thought that the concept of the romance was interesting and held a lot of potential, but found the execution to be kind of wanting. The chemistry between Liam and Jasper was so mild and subtle that it wasn’t until like 60 to 70%, when the story was spoon feeding information to the reader, that I realised finally that the love interest in the story was actually meant to be Jasper, and not Liams partner Makoto, as it had seemed for significant portions of the first half of the book to me that Liam was unknowingly in love with him and desperately grieving his loss.
And while a story including a newly awakened queer character in no ways has to address the character processing their sexuality, I did find it a little strange that at no point did Liam, a grown man around his 30s with an ex-girlfriend from a long term relationship, stop to question if he experienced attraction to men and could by bi/gay or pan?
For those that are curious, this is also a no spice book (not even a fade to black) so be aware of that if you are someone who needs that physical connection between characters to solidify an intimate connection and for it to resonate with you cause you wont find it here.
I think ultimately, whilst not without its weaknesses, that this is an example of impressive low fantasy world building, spooky atmosphere and a very solid effort for a debut. This was a 3.5 star read for me and while it would at times would fluctuate up to a 4 star read earlier on, by the end my gut instinct is to rate down. (I reserve the right to come back and change my if me feelings change after sitting on it a few days lol)
June 9, 2025
Woah, what a book. What a debut, even!
First of all, what the hell even is the story? Urban fantasy coupled with a thrilling serial murder mystery, with some horror elements (atmospheric and body horror mostly) and historical aspects woven in. Add in coastal small-town vibes, two creepy Victorian mirror houses, a love story spanning many decades, and you’re set for a very ambitious ride.
Is your mind spinning yet? In a good way, I hope!
Guys, the world-building, holy shit. Insanely interesting and elaborate with its own terminology (thank the author for the glossary included). Imagine mindscapes and different types of parasites that feed on trauma, and people with abilities to deal with these parasitic infections - and with more. Because there’s something even worse lurking around, beyond our ordinary sight, that can feast upon human minds.
And Liam O’Connor is the best person to deal with the threat, his abilities the most outstanding. He’s also an almost thirty-year-old anxious hot mess battling grief and depression, and very much doesn’t want to be the best person. I think some readers could find him frustrating but I found Liam’s struggles very relatable. A gifted kid molded into a tool whose job slowly whittles away at his mental health. And when he finally arrives at the conclusion he doesn’t want to do this anymore, he simply can’t do this anymore... people refuse to let him go, making him feel responsible for everyone.
I couldn’t help but feel for this very reluctant hero. His unraveling state of mind, his doubt and self-hatred, created an uncomfortably cloying and claustrophobic atmosphere for most of the story.
Then there’s Jasper Knox. Oooh but Jasper is lovely. I won’t say much about him, but look - tall, dark and handsome, deliciously snarky and sarcastic, standoffish, brusque... wears an ascot. He’s also, possibly, maybe, not really alive? Who knows, I certainly won’t tell 🤭
And calling the book a romance wouldn’t fit, so definitely don’t expect that, but there IS a heartbreaking love story, with a soulmate situation that worked incredibly well for me. No instant lovesickness, just a connection both Liam and Jasper are befuddled by.
One more warning, though: don’t expect any kind of steam. None. Not even fade to black, sorry!
The mystery and suspense really propelled the story forward. It took me quite a while to read just because my brain wouldn’t shut the hell up, throwing theories at me left and right, and generally being a nuisance - although it did make for an engaging reading experience. It’s been a while since I’ve had so much fun being suspicious of everything (and my main theory ended up being correct and it was so satisfying!)
The book isn’t perfect though, the first twenty percent is a bit slow-paced, and there are definitely a few logical inconsistencies and unexplained details - but it’s not hard to just go with the flow. I was insanely inquisitive because the world-building truly caught my attention, I can imagine it being expanded upon in a series!
The writing also took me a bit to get used to; it consists mostly of shorter, sharp sentences that are usually effective for creating tension, but the overuse can affect the flow of the story. Nevertheless, I feel like it either got better, or I truly got used to it.
Despite some flaws, I don’t think I’ll forget how this book made me stare at the wall and contemplate, shout at my e-reader, and even shed a tear. I’m itching to pre-order a physical copy so I can one day do a proper reread and annotate because my mind is still spinning. Seriously - what a treasure of a debut! ❤️
Thank you to Netgalley and Wendelton Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc, it’s been a pleasure!
First of all, what the hell even is the story? Urban fantasy coupled with a thrilling serial murder mystery, with some horror elements (atmospheric and body horror mostly) and historical aspects woven in. Add in coastal small-town vibes, two creepy Victorian mirror houses, a love story spanning many decades, and you’re set for a very ambitious ride.
Is your mind spinning yet? In a good way, I hope!
Guys, the world-building, holy shit. Insanely interesting and elaborate with its own terminology (thank the author for the glossary included). Imagine mindscapes and different types of parasites that feed on trauma, and people with abilities to deal with these parasitic infections - and with more. Because there’s something even worse lurking around, beyond our ordinary sight, that can feast upon human minds.
And Liam O’Connor is the best person to deal with the threat, his abilities the most outstanding. He’s also an almost thirty-year-old anxious hot mess battling grief and depression, and very much doesn’t want to be the best person. I think some readers could find him frustrating but I found Liam’s struggles very relatable. A gifted kid molded into a tool whose job slowly whittles away at his mental health. And when he finally arrives at the conclusion he doesn’t want to do this anymore, he simply can’t do this anymore... people refuse to let him go, making him feel responsible for everyone.
I couldn’t help but feel for this very reluctant hero. His unraveling state of mind, his doubt and self-hatred, created an uncomfortably cloying and claustrophobic atmosphere for most of the story.
Then there’s Jasper Knox. Oooh but Jasper is lovely. I won’t say much about him, but look - tall, dark and handsome, deliciously snarky and sarcastic, standoffish, brusque... wears an ascot. He’s also, possibly, maybe, not really alive? Who knows, I certainly won’t tell 🤭
And calling the book a romance wouldn’t fit, so definitely don’t expect that, but there IS a heartbreaking love story, with a soulmate situation that worked incredibly well for me. No instant lovesickness, just a connection both Liam and Jasper are befuddled by.
One more warning, though: don’t expect any kind of steam. None. Not even fade to black, sorry!
The mystery and suspense really propelled the story forward. It took me quite a while to read just because my brain wouldn’t shut the hell up, throwing theories at me left and right, and generally being a nuisance - although it did make for an engaging reading experience. It’s been a while since I’ve had so much fun being suspicious of everything (and my main theory ended up being correct and it was so satisfying!)
The book isn’t perfect though, the first twenty percent is a bit slow-paced, and there are definitely a few logical inconsistencies and unexplained details - but it’s not hard to just go with the flow. I was insanely inquisitive because the world-building truly caught my attention, I can imagine it being expanded upon in a series!
The writing also took me a bit to get used to; it consists mostly of shorter, sharp sentences that are usually effective for creating tension, but the overuse can affect the flow of the story. Nevertheless, I feel like it either got better, or I truly got used to it.
Despite some flaws, I don’t think I’ll forget how this book made me stare at the wall and contemplate, shout at my e-reader, and even shed a tear. I’m itching to pre-order a physical copy so I can one day do a proper reread and annotate because my mind is still spinning. Seriously - what a treasure of a debut! ❤️
Thank you to Netgalley and Wendelton Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc, it’s been a pleasure!
June 1, 2025
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Light From the Nether is a contemporary urban fantasy that blends aggressively millennial references with Victorian-era forbidden romance and a dash of immaculate body horror, all wrapped up in a mystery. The story opens with Liam, barely an adult and already wrung out by his career, suffering a cataclysmic breakdown after a job goes wrong.
First off, I have to say how grateful I am for the inclusion of a glossary *at the start* of the novel, making sure it's spoiler-free and a safe reference point. I think I would have been completely lost without it, even if the narration did a good job explaining the finer points while the reader discovered them, it was just a lot to hold onto! As for the story itself: from the very beginning, the atmosphere just leaps off the page. The humor is witty and so dry, perfectly matching the somber mood. The body horror elements are deliciously creepy and work incredibly well.
For about 60% (or more?) of the book, I was absolutely in love with the novel and what it was going for. The buildup is strong, and the red herrings keep the mystery compelling. However, some of the final twists ended up being either predictable or disappointments. There were a few cop-outs that weren’t foreshadowed enough, and some details unravelled under scrutiny. Without getting into spoilers, I feel like the author fell into a trap of wanting to tie up too many threads together and ended up with something a bit messy, a bit shaky, and which left a few plot holes behind since there was *so much* already.
Even with my lukewarm feelings about the final reveals, I still had a fantastic time reading this book. The characters were touching, and I loved the bond they shared (I also appreciated the character art at the end!). The worldbuilding is rich and genuinely unique, something I haven’t seen before, and the writing is competent and engaging. In the end, I’d rate this novel at a 4.25-4.5 stars, but I’m rounding it up to 5. I’d recommend it to (hear me out) Destiel aficionados (don’t judge me) and fans of Victorian whodunnits. The marketing compares the book to C.S. Pacat, but for me, it was much closer to a K.J. Charles!
A Light From the Nether is a contemporary urban fantasy that blends aggressively millennial references with Victorian-era forbidden romance and a dash of immaculate body horror, all wrapped up in a mystery. The story opens with Liam, barely an adult and already wrung out by his career, suffering a cataclysmic breakdown after a job goes wrong.
First off, I have to say how grateful I am for the inclusion of a glossary *at the start* of the novel, making sure it's spoiler-free and a safe reference point. I think I would have been completely lost without it, even if the narration did a good job explaining the finer points while the reader discovered them, it was just a lot to hold onto! As for the story itself: from the very beginning, the atmosphere just leaps off the page. The humor is witty and so dry, perfectly matching the somber mood. The body horror elements are deliciously creepy and work incredibly well.
For about 60% (or more?) of the book, I was absolutely in love with the novel and what it was going for. The buildup is strong, and the red herrings keep the mystery compelling. However, some of the final twists ended up being either predictable or disappointments. There were a few cop-outs that weren’t foreshadowed enough, and some details unravelled under scrutiny. Without getting into spoilers, I feel like the author fell into a trap of wanting to tie up too many threads together and ended up with something a bit messy, a bit shaky, and which left a few plot holes behind since there was *so much* already.
Even with my lukewarm feelings about the final reveals, I still had a fantastic time reading this book. The characters were touching, and I loved the bond they shared (I also appreciated the character art at the end!). The worldbuilding is rich and genuinely unique, something I haven’t seen before, and the writing is competent and engaging. In the end, I’d rate this novel at a 4.25-4.5 stars, but I’m rounding it up to 5. I’d recommend it to (hear me out) Destiel aficionados (don’t judge me) and fans of Victorian whodunnits. The marketing compares the book to C.S. Pacat, but for me, it was much closer to a K.J. Charles!
August 3, 2025
I’m slightly speechless….this was so good!!! The writing and story got me instantly hooked. The story was very unique (I’ve personally never read anything like it) I also loved the horror elements in this.
I’ll definitely be on the look out for when this author comes out with more books!
I’ll definitely be on the look out for when this author comes out with more books!
July 17, 2026
It was a pleasure to read this SPFBO finalist and this a strong atmsosphere effort.
October 26, 2025
This book is a hidden gem that I need everyone to find so we can scream about it together. I went into this mostly blind, and was pleasantly surprised by how perfect this was for me. No seriously, this is what I’m always searching for. The vibes were so unique I don’t know how to explain them without spoiling everything, but I’m gonna try. A man running from his past ends up in a small town hoping for a new start and instead ends up back in business trying to solve a new string of murders. A Light from the Nether has everything I could possibly want in a fantasy book: a realm that only the main character can traverse, lost memories, murder mystery, a ghost love interest, and my favorite niche trope: mind communication. I immediately connected with the main characters and the romance had me on the edge of my seat. I wasn’t prepared for this book to break my heart and put it back together again but I was smiling ear to ear by the end so definitely read this if you want to feel every emotion possible. A Light from the Nether is a standalone that wraps up perfectly, but the author is writing a spicy bonus story that I am going to be feral for once I get my hands on it. I think you will love this book if you also liked The Corruption of Hollis Brown, A Study in Drowning, Evocation, When Among Crows, and Sorcery and Small Magics!
February 24, 2026
New concepts are hard to pull off, we tend to like what we have already seen. This novel breaks the mold. It is gritty fantasy, set in the real world and with familiar tropes. It is also different than anything I have ever read and managed to be engaging and credible. This feels like the sort of book that will be on my mind for a long while.
May 18, 2025
I received an ARC copy of what is, without a doubt, the best book I’ve read. Molly Dowd Sullivan has created pure magic with this creepy, delightful, and gorgeous mystery. It is equal parts thrilling, hilarious, heart wrenching, and eerie. I genuinely cannot wait to read this again (and again).
July 22, 2025
"Perhaps your sense of responsibility for the lives of strangers is crippling you."
"Funny, I thought that's what made me a good person."
★★★
A cool blend of murder mystery with some mindfuckery which I am always here for. As other reviewers have pointed out already, the worldbuilding is really where this book shines. Liam our unfortunate protagonist has the ability to delve into minds in order to extricate what are essentially mind parasites. In fact, he's one of the best at it and uses this impressive talent in order to solve crimes. I have encountered similar setups like this before across different forms of media, but that doesn't stop this book from being as crazy as it sounds. Even though there's a lot of random jargon being thrown around, once you get a grasp on them you realize that they're really just shiny terms for some easily graspable concepts.
The murder mystery also heavily ties in with the supernatural elements of the plot and, while the two often worked great together, I found the mystery to be a bit lackluster given the identity of the murderer being pretty clear after a short while. I never had an "aha" moment. The author has a lot to say here about trauma and self deprecation and while there are certain moments that really hit you in the feels, a lot of it came across as a bit heavy-handed to me.
The romance in A Light from the Nether was subtle, complete with . Normally I would absolutely be EATING this up though, but here everything just ended up being a bit meh as well and I can't pinpoint exactly why. I think it boils down to the fact that there was just too much going on outside of the romance for us to get invested in it fully.
Some of the character voices also rubbed me the wrong way. Like these people who end up being good friends with Liam are just like "no way man we're cool, just a bunch of chill nerds who like nerdy things like studio ghibli and sit around and play board games man not like these other people." 🙄🙄🙄 There's a lot of humor used in an attempt to balance out some of the dark stuff, but the author's sense of humor isn't my cuppa tea. Just an example: Sadly, instances like this really prevented me from totally falling in love with this debut.
— ♩♫♩ ~ Sean's Theme
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September 23, 2026Read for SPFBO11 RE: Finalist pick from Tali’s Library
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June 16, 2025
A Light From the Nether is a new queer fantasy novel that has some truly incredible and creative world-building. It's largely set in our world, but there's a horrifying mirror world that can occasionally leak into ours. That world is called The Nether, and it is full of parasitic monsters called Flukes that feast on human souls. When those come through fissures and attack humans, it is Liam's job to destroy the Flukes and close up the breach.
Liam is a Trypanon, an extremely rare person who can move between our world, known as The Walking World, and The Nether. This isn't an exciting and fun portal-hopping fantasy career, though! The Nether is traumatizing, and the Flukes inflict gruesome damage to their hosts. If Liam could, he would abandon this draining and dangerous job for good, but he's quickly pulled back into the fray when a series of strange deaths start occurring.
This book genuinely had one of the best prologues that I've read in ages. In just a few pages, it introduces the world and the main character expertly. I was hooked immediately, which is so rare for me with a fantasy novel.
The characters in this are flawed and complicated. Liam, in particular, is struggling at the beginning of the book. He's been exposed to some truly horrific scenes, and he's also repressing a childhood trauma. He is not in a good place. Liam meets Jasper in an unusual way, and the two strike a deal to help each other solve the mystery of what is going on in their town.
The love story that develops between them is epic and a very slow burn. There's no spice, and the romance is only one aspect of the plot, but it's wonderfully done; I got so emotionally invested in this pair! It's also a really unique relationship. I don't want to give anything away, but their dynamic is very different than the average romance. There are some big twists and reveals with them that blew me away, too!
The mystery part of the plot is engaging and well-plotted. There was never a moment in this where I felt bored or wished the story moved faster. It was paced perfectly with bits of information being revealed regularly. Every thing comes together in shocking and satisfying ways.
There were points when I seriously couldn't put this book down! A big part of me really wanted to slow down reading this book so I could really savor it, but I absolutely had to know what was happening next! I was up far too late reading this because I truly couldn't stop reading!
This book is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I had no expectations when I sat down to start reading this. The blurb sounded interesting, and I thought I might like it, but this is a debut with under 10 ratings on Goodreads (at the time I started reading it). To say I was unprepared by how much I would end up loving this is an understatement!
A Light From the Nether is utterly unique and captivating, and I genuinely loved every second of reading it. This is one of my favorite books I've read in recent years, and it's a strong contender for my best book of the year! I very highly recommend it to fans of queer stories, mysteries, and dark fantasy! It has some gore and some dark content, but if you can handle it, you will be rewarded with a phenomenal love story and an incredibly well-written, emotional, and surprising book!
* I received an advanced copy of this book for free, thanks to NetGalley & the publisher. *
Liam is a Trypanon, an extremely rare person who can move between our world, known as The Walking World, and The Nether. This isn't an exciting and fun portal-hopping fantasy career, though! The Nether is traumatizing, and the Flukes inflict gruesome damage to their hosts. If Liam could, he would abandon this draining and dangerous job for good, but he's quickly pulled back into the fray when a series of strange deaths start occurring.
This book genuinely had one of the best prologues that I've read in ages. In just a few pages, it introduces the world and the main character expertly. I was hooked immediately, which is so rare for me with a fantasy novel.
The characters in this are flawed and complicated. Liam, in particular, is struggling at the beginning of the book. He's been exposed to some truly horrific scenes, and he's also repressing a childhood trauma. He is not in a good place. Liam meets Jasper in an unusual way, and the two strike a deal to help each other solve the mystery of what is going on in their town.
The love story that develops between them is epic and a very slow burn. There's no spice, and the romance is only one aspect of the plot, but it's wonderfully done; I got so emotionally invested in this pair! It's also a really unique relationship. I don't want to give anything away, but their dynamic is very different than the average romance. There are some big twists and reveals with them that blew me away, too!
The mystery part of the plot is engaging and well-plotted. There was never a moment in this where I felt bored or wished the story moved faster. It was paced perfectly with bits of information being revealed regularly. Every thing comes together in shocking and satisfying ways.
There were points when I seriously couldn't put this book down! A big part of me really wanted to slow down reading this book so I could really savor it, but I absolutely had to know what was happening next! I was up far too late reading this because I truly couldn't stop reading!
This book is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I had no expectations when I sat down to start reading this. The blurb sounded interesting, and I thought I might like it, but this is a debut with under 10 ratings on Goodreads (at the time I started reading it). To say I was unprepared by how much I would end up loving this is an understatement!
A Light From the Nether is utterly unique and captivating, and I genuinely loved every second of reading it. This is one of my favorite books I've read in recent years, and it's a strong contender for my best book of the year! I very highly recommend it to fans of queer stories, mysteries, and dark fantasy! It has some gore and some dark content, but if you can handle it, you will be rewarded with a phenomenal love story and an incredibly well-written, emotional, and surprising book!
* I received an advanced copy of this book for free, thanks to NetGalley & the publisher. *
October 6, 2025
I’ve been longing and yearning for so very long for a mature, non-YA, genre/fantasy novel with complex plot alongside an mlm romance and I’m absolutely delighted to have found it in A Light from the Nether. I don’t usually write reviews but this is one of the best books I’ve read in years so I’m making an exception in hopes that it helps this story get some more traction because gosh, I really need more people to rave over this with (and fic to read…). It has literally everything I’ve been searching the physical and online bookshelves for. The writing is smart, distinctive, and has so much depth. The Victorian historical elements combined with the modern setting are an honest delight. And the worldbuilding is so cool: the whole psychic system of Fissures, Sophonts, Trypanons, Wedges, and Splints was so fun to learn about and the author mixed them into real-world history so completely that you feel it’s almost an alternate-history story despite taking place in 2018. There is not a lot of exposition despite the complex psychic system the author has created; rather, the reader learns the system in more and more detail as the tale progresses (with help from a glossary of terms). And finally the queer romance…by the end of the book I was genuinely weeping over it and the revelations about these characters (recommend going in with no spoilers!). I loved that the romance served the plot rather than the other way around, and there were no “spicy” scenes shoehorned into a situation in which they would honestly be unnecessary. I don’t read romance for smut so this was refreshing for me.
In any case, highly recommend for anyone who likes Eldritch-ish fantasy/horror, Victorian and Northeast Coastal history, ghosts stories, “haunted” houses, detective cases (got some Agatha Christie vibes!), mature adult characters (in/near their 30s), tragic backstories, ANGST ANGST ANGST, and soulmate-level romances. I hope you love it as much as I did!!
In any case, highly recommend for anyone who likes Eldritch-ish fantasy/horror, Victorian and Northeast Coastal history, ghosts stories, “haunted” houses, detective cases (got some Agatha Christie vibes!), mature adult characters (in/near their 30s), tragic backstories, ANGST ANGST ANGST, and soulmate-level romances. I hope you love it as much as I did!!
June 13, 2025
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started to read this book and boy was not not disappointed. What a marvelous debut urban fantasy!
Liam is what's called a Trypanon, he can walk where others cannot and can open/close Fissures. He has spent his whole life being "special" and also being used by FUSE for his talents. These skills wear on him mentally and physically and one day he's not sure what will be left of him.
After a tragic incident he travels back to the seaside town that the used to spend with highly religious grandparents. He hopes to be left alone but the town has other plans as local law enforcement/FUSE pull him back into a serious of unexpected events that pulls him back into work he wanted to leave behind.
This story is full of unexpected twists, especially after Liam starts having nighttime visitations from the mysterious Jasper that he seems to have a connection to.
This is an exciting mix of urban fantasy, romance and murder mystery. I was guessing until the end who the real culprit was and who was/was not on Liam side. This was a story of confronting what you fear, overcoming grief and allowing yourself to open up to others. I spent a lot of this story wanting to give both Jasper and Liam a big old hug.
The burn is extremely slow and feels earned once you get there. I do with the epilogue has been a tad longer. And if anything would have happened to Kermit there would have been riots on my end!
Although I obviously couldn't understand fully Liam struggle he was incredibly relatable in the face of grief and allowing yourself ot heal. I'd read so many other stories in this world! This was a creative story and I couldn't put it down!
Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Liam is what's called a Trypanon, he can walk where others cannot and can open/close Fissures. He has spent his whole life being "special" and also being used by FUSE for his talents. These skills wear on him mentally and physically and one day he's not sure what will be left of him.
After a tragic incident he travels back to the seaside town that the used to spend with highly religious grandparents. He hopes to be left alone but the town has other plans as local law enforcement/FUSE pull him back into a serious of unexpected events that pulls him back into work he wanted to leave behind.
This story is full of unexpected twists, especially after Liam starts having nighttime visitations from the mysterious Jasper that he seems to have a connection to.
This is an exciting mix of urban fantasy, romance and murder mystery. I was guessing until the end who the real culprit was and who was/was not on Liam side. This was a story of confronting what you fear, overcoming grief and allowing yourself to open up to others. I spent a lot of this story wanting to give both Jasper and Liam a big old hug.
The burn is extremely slow and feels earned once you get there. I do with the epilogue has been a tad longer. And if anything would have happened to Kermit there would have been riots on my end!
Although I obviously couldn't understand fully Liam struggle he was incredibly relatable in the face of grief and allowing yourself ot heal. I'd read so many other stories in this world! This was a creative story and I couldn't put it down!
Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 21, 2025
i am CRAZY about this book, it has been buzzing around my skull all week and i've been racing to finish it and now that i have, i couldn't be CRAZIER for it!!!
THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS is what my sci-fi, cop drama, small town big problem, supernatural mental monsters, 'genius who drinks himself silly' character loving, adhd meets autism pairing enjoying, supernatural mental monsters, butt wanted!!!! AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I GOT!!! everything about this book drove me wild.
okay, so, when i saw it was a 300+ page book with a glossary at the start, i got scared, but after doing a little googling and finding out that the author is a fanfic author, i felt a little more safe to keep reading. and boy, am i glad i did. by page 20 i was intregued, by page 50 i was interested, by page 150 i was hooked, and by page 277 (miss molly dowd sullivan how could you DO THAT TO ME) i was locked in and refusing to move until i finished the book.
this book feels familiar to me in a way i can't explain - the mechanics of this world are a little overwhelming at first, but as the story unfolds and envelops these unknown terms, they come to me like remembering to learn a bike, like i've always known what a fluke and a wick are. familiar, recognisable, but in an entirely new way that had me, an autistic person who loves to guess the ending and find the twist, with not a SINGLE clue of where this would end up.
i honestly can't and won't shut up about this. it's getting five stars and it's going on the favourites shelf. mwah. mwah mwah mwah mwah.
THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS is what my sci-fi, cop drama, small town big problem, supernatural mental monsters, 'genius who drinks himself silly' character loving, adhd meets autism pairing enjoying, supernatural mental monsters, butt wanted!!!! AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I GOT!!! everything about this book drove me wild.
okay, so, when i saw it was a 300+ page book with a glossary at the start, i got scared, but after doing a little googling and finding out that the author is a fanfic author, i felt a little more safe to keep reading. and boy, am i glad i did. by page 20 i was intregued, by page 50 i was interested, by page 150 i was hooked, and by page 277 (miss molly dowd sullivan how could you DO THAT TO ME) i was locked in and refusing to move until i finished the book.
this book feels familiar to me in a way i can't explain - the mechanics of this world are a little overwhelming at first, but as the story unfolds and envelops these unknown terms, they come to me like remembering to learn a bike, like i've always known what a fluke and a wick are. familiar, recognisable, but in an entirely new way that had me, an autistic person who loves to guess the ending and find the twist, with not a SINGLE clue of where this would end up.
i honestly can't and won't shut up about this. it's getting five stars and it's going on the favourites shelf. mwah. mwah mwah mwah mwah.
June 28, 2025
Wow. This book is awesome. I legitimately couldn't put it down. The story is captivating and original - I've never read a book like this before. I haven't felt this excited about a book since Harry Potter. This is easily in my top 5 favorite reads of all time. I will definitely be reading this again.
June 29, 2025
Absolutely fantastic. The author captivates the reader from the get-go. The author’s effort that went in to ensuring alignment with real-life mental health struggles and the depth human connection can go is clear. Well done.
October 5, 2025
When I started this book, I immediately knew this could be a solid 4, even 5, star read for me. The world building was unique and immersive from the very first page; the characters seemed right up my alley - quirky, clever, emotionally repressed; plus, it’s a murder mystery. It literally has everything I wish for in a story and yet, by the end, I can only give it 3 stars.
I had two major problems with this book:
1. There was too much exposition. Especially after the 70% mark where the plot twists begin arriving one after the other, the revelations that tie the mystery together are delivered through a dream sequence that feels rushed and overly told. With barely any time to digest what’s going on, I was constantly feeling confused and underwhelmed.
2. The romantic subplot, which ultimately becomes crucial for the resolution of the case, fell flat for me. ****SPOILERS AHEAD**** For all the “we loved each other in another life” melodrama (and believe me, I’m ALL for that kind of twist), I struggled to connect the characters from the past and the protagonists in the present. Liam has more chemistry with Makoto (whom I adored from page one; imagine my face when the Prologue ended) than with Jasper, if only because he spends the majority of the book mourning him. I’m mad that the tragedy of Jasper and William’s story didn’t reach me as much as it was supposed to, but the execution didn’t leave much room for attachment.
That said, this was still a nice October read, thanks to its increasingly disturbing descriptions of the victims physical and psychological states. The mystery was engaging enough, so while it didn’t quite reach the emotional heights I hoped for, I would recommend this as a spooky, original read.
I had two major problems with this book:
1. There was too much exposition. Especially after the 70% mark where the plot twists begin arriving one after the other, the revelations that tie the mystery together are delivered through a dream sequence that feels rushed and overly told. With barely any time to digest what’s going on, I was constantly feeling confused and underwhelmed.
2. The romantic subplot, which ultimately becomes crucial for the resolution of the case, fell flat for me. ****SPOILERS AHEAD**** For all the “we loved each other in another life” melodrama (and believe me, I’m ALL for that kind of twist), I struggled to connect the characters from the past and the protagonists in the present. Liam has more chemistry with Makoto (whom I adored from page one; imagine my face when the Prologue ended) than with Jasper, if only because he spends the majority of the book mourning him. I’m mad that the tragedy of Jasper and William’s story didn’t reach me as much as it was supposed to, but the execution didn’t leave much room for attachment.
That said, this was still a nice October read, thanks to its increasingly disturbing descriptions of the victims physical and psychological states. The mystery was engaging enough, so while it didn’t quite reach the emotional heights I hoped for, I would recommend this as a spooky, original read.
August 16, 2026
3 1/2 Stars
Please note: This book is a finalist in SPFBO 11, an indie fantasy contest led by Mark Lawrence. I have read this book as a judge with Fantasy Faction, a panel of people who form one of 10 groups offering critiques. My opinions of this book may not match those of my fellow judges or the final opinion of the group.
***
Whoa, what a head trip.
The small things in our past, the passing comments that turn into cruelties that, in turn, become festering wounds in our psyche— most of us shy away from those memories, unsure that anyone else would see or understand the *totally reasonable* gaping wounds we carry. Or perhaps worse, validate them.
I can see why this book was chosen as a finalist. The writing, plotting, and the reveals … exquisite. The world-building on both timelines was amazing.
Despite that, there were misses for me. For one, I named the culprit in the middle of the book. The reveal took a bit of a different turn, but it was an easy person to identify, mostly by the way they appeared so innocuous.
As well, the pacing was too start/stop as we dived into memories, wallowed in Liam’s pity-party, investigated the spooky island, and interacted with humans who (mostly) weren’t jerks like the protagonist seemed to be.
Other characters felt a bit off or rang hollow. Captain Hamley and Officer Sloane were too immediately angry, and there didn’t seem to be a reason for the latter character. Cedra was pushy while being labelled as chill - I think the author missed the mark with her.
Still, A Light From the Nether is a decent read, and I may recommend it to others, but for now, I’m going to try to actively not think about things that go bump in my brain.
Please note: This book is a finalist in SPFBO 11, an indie fantasy contest led by Mark Lawrence. I have read this book as a judge with Fantasy Faction, a panel of people who form one of 10 groups offering critiques. My opinions of this book may not match those of my fellow judges or the final opinion of the group.
***
Whoa, what a head trip.
The small things in our past, the passing comments that turn into cruelties that, in turn, become festering wounds in our psyche— most of us shy away from those memories, unsure that anyone else would see or understand the *totally reasonable* gaping wounds we carry. Or perhaps worse, validate them.
I can see why this book was chosen as a finalist. The writing, plotting, and the reveals … exquisite. The world-building on both timelines was amazing.
Despite that, there were misses for me. For one, I named the culprit in the middle of the book. The reveal took a bit of a different turn, but it was an easy person to identify, mostly by the way they appeared so innocuous.
As well, the pacing was too start/stop as we dived into memories, wallowed in Liam’s pity-party, investigated the spooky island, and interacted with humans who (mostly) weren’t jerks like the protagonist seemed to be.
Other characters felt a bit off or rang hollow. Captain Hamley and Officer Sloane were too immediately angry, and there didn’t seem to be a reason for the latter character. Cedra was pushy while being labelled as chill - I think the author missed the mark with her.
Still, A Light From the Nether is a decent read, and I may recommend it to others, but for now, I’m going to try to actively not think about things that go bump in my brain.
October 17, 2026
A Light From The Nether gave me everything I wanted in an urban fantasy. It has a very cool magic system based on our deep psyche and memories, a murder mystery spanning decades and era's and finally, it has characters that really touched me. Our main character, Liam, is a giant mess and we do spend a lot of time watching him struggle and rage against that which haunts him. He doesn't get everything right, none of the characters do and that felt so real. There was only one hero in my eyes and that was Macoto.
This is dark and violent but the darkness doesn't overshadow the heart that glows from the plot. I was truly rooting for Liam and Fraser along with the superb cast of side characters. Give me all the Kermit!
Definitely does not read like a debut, Molly Dowd Sullivan's writing is crisp and detailed. This is imagination on high, all while giving us a beautiful slow burn queer romance and deep friendships. There is a moment near the end where I actually teared up. It was a scene so perfectly written and full of emotion.
Well done!
This is dark and violent but the darkness doesn't overshadow the heart that glows from the plot. I was truly rooting for Liam and Fraser along with the superb cast of side characters. Give me all the Kermit!
Definitely does not read like a debut, Molly Dowd Sullivan's writing is crisp and detailed. This is imagination on high, all while giving us a beautiful slow burn queer romance and deep friendships. There is a moment near the end where I actually teared up. It was a scene so perfectly written and full of emotion.
Well done!
September 3, 2025
Madre mía esta chica está loca.
Ha mezclado suspense, misterio, fantasía, psicología y romance en una misma historia y ha hecho magia!. La parte que más quiero destacar es la narración, es maravillosa! A momentos me daba cierto susto porque la narración está tan bien hecha que me ha hecho sentir, inconscientemente, justo lo que la autora quiere, ya sea miedo, tristeza o tensión. Creo que hace mucho tiempo que no leía una historia tan bien narrada y con un plot tan bien conjurado. La segunda cosa que destacó: el plot está perfectamente diseñado, donde los personajes principales tienen el mayor desarrollo y los secundarios, a pesar de no tener el mismo peso en la trama, encajan perfectamente con todo y le dan el toque final a lo que ya es una buena construcción del mundo. Todo encaja con todo. Al inicio puede parecer que está todo muy disperso, pero a medida que avanza la historia las piezas van encajando a la perfección, hasta formar un cuadro único.
Que bien me lo he pasado teorizando en mi cabeza quien es el asesino, descubriendo los pormenores del Nether y de la historia de los personajes.
Mis dieces!.
Ha mezclado suspense, misterio, fantasía, psicología y romance en una misma historia y ha hecho magia!. La parte que más quiero destacar es la narración, es maravillosa! A momentos me daba cierto susto porque la narración está tan bien hecha que me ha hecho sentir, inconscientemente, justo lo que la autora quiere, ya sea miedo, tristeza o tensión. Creo que hace mucho tiempo que no leía una historia tan bien narrada y con un plot tan bien conjurado. La segunda cosa que destacó: el plot está perfectamente diseñado, donde los personajes principales tienen el mayor desarrollo y los secundarios, a pesar de no tener el mismo peso en la trama, encajan perfectamente con todo y le dan el toque final a lo que ya es una buena construcción del mundo. Todo encaja con todo. Al inicio puede parecer que está todo muy disperso, pero a medida que avanza la historia las piezas van encajando a la perfección, hasta formar un cuadro único.
Que bien me lo he pasado teorizando en mi cabeza quien es el asesino, descubriendo los pormenores del Nether y de la historia de los personajes.
Mis dieces!.
October 23, 2026
Read (and rated) for SPFBO! Read our team reviews here: https://beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-re...
A Light From the Nether by Molly Dowd Sullivan turned out to be a great book for the lead-up to Hallowe’en! While the soft tones of its cover suggest a gentle paranormal romance, the book itself centres mystery and horror for most of the story, while its conclusion is all Gothic atmosphere and revelation after revelation. It’s a contemporary urban fantasy with its toes in a few genres, and though there are romantic elements, it doesn’t neatly conform to a Romance structure.There’s a slight sci-fi, anime-inspired videogame feel to certain worldbuilding elements and set pieces, and its opening especially reminded me of a few games I’ve watched my partner play (think Astral Chain, AI: The Somnium Files, and Slitterhead). If you’ve ever longed for a book in which an anime protagonist finds himself trapped in a Gothic, small-town horror story, this one’s worth a look. In terms of Nether‘s approach to character dynamics, I’d also recommend it to fans of Ian Haramaki’s Mercy, while the slick, sci-fi elements put me in mind of Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald’s Prophet.
Nether’s protagonist, Liam, is a Trypanon–an ultra-powerful psychic with the ability to identify and defeat mental parasites called Flukes that prey on people’s insecurities and flaws. While there are enough psychics (Sophonts) in the world that their training is regulated by the government so that they can be trained to solve psychic cases and close psychic tears inside people’s minds, Liam himself is an anomaly. Stronger than other Sophonts, and physically remarkable due to his “calico” hair, Liam stands out even in a world filled with special people. After Liam’s defeat of a dangerous Trypanon named Iris, he and his partner, Makoto, have become global celebrities. But when Makoto is killed during an operation, Liam’s depression overtakes him and he retires to the small New England hometown where his wealthy abusive family raised him. Embittered and self-centred, Liam hopes to drown himself in booze while letting the rest of the world pass him by, but everyone in his small town seems to want a piece of his fame, and when the fans (and haters) who orbit him start dying, Liam is forced by the local police force to join the investigation into a wave of psychic attacks. The appearance of a troublesome (if handsome) nineteenth-century ghost named Jasper, along with the reawakening of suppressed memories from Liam’s childhood, both further complicate the investigation.
The most compelling part of A Light From the Nether, was, for me, the mystery associated with the psychic attacks. From about the 15% mark to the middle of the book, Dowd Sullivan does a phenomenal job setting up several potential solutions to the mystery–each juicy and compelling in its own way. I’m someone who tends to figure out the answer to twists and mysteries fairly early, so I was especially excited to find myself shifting from possibility to possibility–was the culprit Makoto, somehow resurrected as a type of ghost? Was it someone related to a violent incident from Liam’s past who unfairly blamed him for an accident he can’t quite remember? Was it the shifty therapist who knew everyone’s secrets, or the suspiciously bumbling Sophont investigator downplaying her skills? Once the mystery got going, I was totally hooked, eager to keep reading long past when I’d planned to put it down.
The prose is also smooth and easy to read, with occasional passages that stand out due to their lyricism. Once I was past the initial chapter and the introduction of Nether‘s sci-fantasy terminology, it was easy to lose myself in the book. It isn’t prose that particularly stands out, but in this type of urban fantasy, it doesn’t need to. Pace, intrigue, and atmosphere are much more key to Nether‘s functioning. That said, Dowd Sullivan crafts some memorable images when it comes to the nightmarescapes of the killer’s psychic victims. Without going into too much detail, when a Fluke parasite is sent to invade someone, their inner world becomes distorted according to that individual’s mental trauma. To help those infected by Flukes, Liam must journey inside the victims’ minds, giving him a close-up look at the neuroticisms and personal torments of the town’s residents. There’s something of both Silent Hill, Tarsem Singh’s The Cell, and Se7en to the premise, and since I’m a huge fan of all three, I was really drawn to this aspect of the worldbuilding and story. Flukes are colour-coded to represent different types of inner turmoil, so that infection becomes a metaphor for mental illness and, often, religious trauma. Infected townspeople may loathe themselves due to their own flawed self-perception or religious background, damning themselves as sinners or regressing to a periods of childhood abuse. Whether describing the monstrous transformations and tortures that take place on the psychic plain, or the physical deaths of the victims, Dowd Sullivan is terribly effective at describing the horror Liam witnesses.
On an affective level, I didn’t especially like Liam. He clearly considers himself above the small-fry inhabitants of his hometown, and he has to be dragged kicking and screaming when he’s asked to help catch the murderer, despite the fact that he’s the only one capable of stopping them. I don’t see this as a flaw in Dowd Sullivan’s character work–Liam simply is that type of person and the author conveys his foibles well. That said, where the characterization does fall a little flat is in the construction of the rest of the cast, who all more or less seem to orbit Liam as caricatures who can be sorted into “good” or “bad” categories based on whether they like him enough/in the right way. Even though Liam is a celebrity, I never quite bought the readiness of practically everyone in the story to either fawn over him or berate him, and it leaned a little too much into super-special anime protagonist territory for me. Characters almost universally seem to refer to Liam as “Calico,” despite or because of the fact that he hates the nickname, and it never quite rang true to me. As suspects and victims in a murder case, the cast is perfectly serviceable, but there isn’t much to them if you’re looking for depth. Jasper the ghost, Liam’s clear love interest, has more meat on his literary bones, but much of that development comes at the end of the book and while I found these later passages emotionally affecting, I did wish more effort had been made in the first 2/3rds of the novel to differentiate him from Liam. Jasper is not only a ghost, he’s also possessing Liam’s body, with the pair able to have psychic conversations about the case and hang out with each other in the psychic plain. Part of the premise of Jasper and Liam’s connection is that Jasper has access to Liam’s modern knowledge, and the longer they’re together, the more Jasper picks up. Unfortunately, the result of this is that Jasper ends up sounding more-or-less like Liam for much of the book, as the two parry worldbuilding terms and theories back and forth. Once we get into some of Jasper’s past closer to the end, he becomes an intriguing character in his own right.
Although I loved the middle portion of the book and all the red herrings Dowd Sullivan throws the reader’s way, my biggest problem with Nether is that from around 60% in the story (and its mystery) go off the rails in some unpredictable ways. Structurally, that middle portion is so compelling that I was very surprised by what felt like a series of unearned revelations (some of them conveyed in such quick succession that they took place on the same page, only to be reversed a page later). Some elements of the mystery are satisfyingly grounded in the story that precedes the reveals, while others come out of nowhere, cheapening the impact of what ought to be emotional scenes. I couldn’t help but feel like possibilities were being thrown at the wall to see what would stick, or simply for the sake of having “more things” in the book. Tonally, the story also shifts very dramatically from a contemporary urban fantasy mystery to a full-on Gothic. I actually really loved some of these Gothic scenes and elements, and many of them made me feel for Jasper and Liam in a way I hadn’t previously, but it reads like the capstone to an entirely different book, one that’s Gothic from the get-go and focuses on the mystery of Jasper and Liam’s family histories. It’s not that that storyline was entirely absent from the first half of the book, but it’s not treated in much depth, and a lot of the important information related to it is conveyed through a series of flashback infodumps that could have hit harder if seeded earlier. My suspicion is that the author may have been worried that focusing on this storyline would have made the answer to the mystery too obvious too early on, and I am sympathetic to that impulse. Yet Gothic really flourishes when inevitability and dread are emphasized consistently, I think doing so would have made the overall book more coherent, cohesive, and satisfying. By the end, I was certainly convinced that the story of Liam and Jasper’s family histories was actually the one Dowd Sullivan was most interested in telling.
While large portions of the ending marred my enjoyment of Nether, there were also a few elements I genuinely loved, and there’s some strong character work built into the final few chapters. I enjoyed the middle portions of the novel tremendously–I’m a sucker for a mystery!–and I get the feeling that as Molly Dowd Sullivan’s career continues, she’ll produce some pacey and compulsive stories. A Light From the Nether is also a book that I can absolutely see forming part of a larger shared universe, whether that means telling stories from earlier in Liam’s Sophont career or following new mysteries. It has the feel of a story made for TV or animation.
A Light From the Nether by Molly Dowd Sullivan turned out to be a great book for the lead-up to Hallowe’en! While the soft tones of its cover suggest a gentle paranormal romance, the book itself centres mystery and horror for most of the story, while its conclusion is all Gothic atmosphere and revelation after revelation. It’s a contemporary urban fantasy with its toes in a few genres, and though there are romantic elements, it doesn’t neatly conform to a Romance structure.There’s a slight sci-fi, anime-inspired videogame feel to certain worldbuilding elements and set pieces, and its opening especially reminded me of a few games I’ve watched my partner play (think Astral Chain, AI: The Somnium Files, and Slitterhead). If you’ve ever longed for a book in which an anime protagonist finds himself trapped in a Gothic, small-town horror story, this one’s worth a look. In terms of Nether‘s approach to character dynamics, I’d also recommend it to fans of Ian Haramaki’s Mercy, while the slick, sci-fi elements put me in mind of Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald’s Prophet.
Nether’s protagonist, Liam, is a Trypanon–an ultra-powerful psychic with the ability to identify and defeat mental parasites called Flukes that prey on people’s insecurities and flaws. While there are enough psychics (Sophonts) in the world that their training is regulated by the government so that they can be trained to solve psychic cases and close psychic tears inside people’s minds, Liam himself is an anomaly. Stronger than other Sophonts, and physically remarkable due to his “calico” hair, Liam stands out even in a world filled with special people. After Liam’s defeat of a dangerous Trypanon named Iris, he and his partner, Makoto, have become global celebrities. But when Makoto is killed during an operation, Liam’s depression overtakes him and he retires to the small New England hometown where his wealthy abusive family raised him. Embittered and self-centred, Liam hopes to drown himself in booze while letting the rest of the world pass him by, but everyone in his small town seems to want a piece of his fame, and when the fans (and haters) who orbit him start dying, Liam is forced by the local police force to join the investigation into a wave of psychic attacks. The appearance of a troublesome (if handsome) nineteenth-century ghost named Jasper, along with the reawakening of suppressed memories from Liam’s childhood, both further complicate the investigation.
The most compelling part of A Light From the Nether, was, for me, the mystery associated with the psychic attacks. From about the 15% mark to the middle of the book, Dowd Sullivan does a phenomenal job setting up several potential solutions to the mystery–each juicy and compelling in its own way. I’m someone who tends to figure out the answer to twists and mysteries fairly early, so I was especially excited to find myself shifting from possibility to possibility–was the culprit Makoto, somehow resurrected as a type of ghost? Was it someone related to a violent incident from Liam’s past who unfairly blamed him for an accident he can’t quite remember? Was it the shifty therapist who knew everyone’s secrets, or the suspiciously bumbling Sophont investigator downplaying her skills? Once the mystery got going, I was totally hooked, eager to keep reading long past when I’d planned to put it down.
The prose is also smooth and easy to read, with occasional passages that stand out due to their lyricism. Once I was past the initial chapter and the introduction of Nether‘s sci-fantasy terminology, it was easy to lose myself in the book. It isn’t prose that particularly stands out, but in this type of urban fantasy, it doesn’t need to. Pace, intrigue, and atmosphere are much more key to Nether‘s functioning. That said, Dowd Sullivan crafts some memorable images when it comes to the nightmarescapes of the killer’s psychic victims. Without going into too much detail, when a Fluke parasite is sent to invade someone, their inner world becomes distorted according to that individual’s mental trauma. To help those infected by Flukes, Liam must journey inside the victims’ minds, giving him a close-up look at the neuroticisms and personal torments of the town’s residents. There’s something of both Silent Hill, Tarsem Singh’s The Cell, and Se7en to the premise, and since I’m a huge fan of all three, I was really drawn to this aspect of the worldbuilding and story. Flukes are colour-coded to represent different types of inner turmoil, so that infection becomes a metaphor for mental illness and, often, religious trauma. Infected townspeople may loathe themselves due to their own flawed self-perception or religious background, damning themselves as sinners or regressing to a periods of childhood abuse. Whether describing the monstrous transformations and tortures that take place on the psychic plain, or the physical deaths of the victims, Dowd Sullivan is terribly effective at describing the horror Liam witnesses.
On an affective level, I didn’t especially like Liam. He clearly considers himself above the small-fry inhabitants of his hometown, and he has to be dragged kicking and screaming when he’s asked to help catch the murderer, despite the fact that he’s the only one capable of stopping them. I don’t see this as a flaw in Dowd Sullivan’s character work–Liam simply is that type of person and the author conveys his foibles well. That said, where the characterization does fall a little flat is in the construction of the rest of the cast, who all more or less seem to orbit Liam as caricatures who can be sorted into “good” or “bad” categories based on whether they like him enough/in the right way. Even though Liam is a celebrity, I never quite bought the readiness of practically everyone in the story to either fawn over him or berate him, and it leaned a little too much into super-special anime protagonist territory for me. Characters almost universally seem to refer to Liam as “Calico,” despite or because of the fact that he hates the nickname, and it never quite rang true to me. As suspects and victims in a murder case, the cast is perfectly serviceable, but there isn’t much to them if you’re looking for depth. Jasper the ghost, Liam’s clear love interest, has more meat on his literary bones, but much of that development comes at the end of the book and while I found these later passages emotionally affecting, I did wish more effort had been made in the first 2/3rds of the novel to differentiate him from Liam. Jasper is not only a ghost, he’s also possessing Liam’s body, with the pair able to have psychic conversations about the case and hang out with each other in the psychic plain. Part of the premise of Jasper and Liam’s connection is that Jasper has access to Liam’s modern knowledge, and the longer they’re together, the more Jasper picks up. Unfortunately, the result of this is that Jasper ends up sounding more-or-less like Liam for much of the book, as the two parry worldbuilding terms and theories back and forth. Once we get into some of Jasper’s past closer to the end, he becomes an intriguing character in his own right.
Although I loved the middle portion of the book and all the red herrings Dowd Sullivan throws the reader’s way, my biggest problem with Nether is that from around 60% in the story (and its mystery) go off the rails in some unpredictable ways. Structurally, that middle portion is so compelling that I was very surprised by what felt like a series of unearned revelations (some of them conveyed in such quick succession that they took place on the same page, only to be reversed a page later). Some elements of the mystery are satisfyingly grounded in the story that precedes the reveals, while others come out of nowhere, cheapening the impact of what ought to be emotional scenes. I couldn’t help but feel like possibilities were being thrown at the wall to see what would stick, or simply for the sake of having “more things” in the book. Tonally, the story also shifts very dramatically from a contemporary urban fantasy mystery to a full-on Gothic. I actually really loved some of these Gothic scenes and elements, and many of them made me feel for Jasper and Liam in a way I hadn’t previously, but it reads like the capstone to an entirely different book, one that’s Gothic from the get-go and focuses on the mystery of Jasper and Liam’s family histories. It’s not that that storyline was entirely absent from the first half of the book, but it’s not treated in much depth, and a lot of the important information related to it is conveyed through a series of flashback infodumps that could have hit harder if seeded earlier. My suspicion is that the author may have been worried that focusing on this storyline would have made the answer to the mystery too obvious too early on, and I am sympathetic to that impulse. Yet Gothic really flourishes when inevitability and dread are emphasized consistently, I think doing so would have made the overall book more coherent, cohesive, and satisfying. By the end, I was certainly convinced that the story of Liam and Jasper’s family histories was actually the one Dowd Sullivan was most interested in telling.
While large portions of the ending marred my enjoyment of Nether, there were also a few elements I genuinely loved, and there’s some strong character work built into the final few chapters. I enjoyed the middle portions of the novel tremendously–I’m a sucker for a mystery!–and I get the feeling that as Molly Dowd Sullivan’s career continues, she’ll produce some pacey and compulsive stories. A Light From the Nether is also a book that I can absolutely see forming part of a larger shared universe, whether that means telling stories from earlier in Liam’s Sophont career or following new mysteries. It has the feel of a story made for TV or animation.
Read
August 10, 2026This is a finalist in the 11th Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog Off, which I read as one of the judges for the Fantasy-Hive's reviewing team.
Our full collaborative reviews for the finalists will be posted on the Hive from late September onwards and I will update this review then with a link to the review and a rating.
In the meantime you can read more about SPFBO11 and access other reviews here
Our full collaborative reviews for the finalists will be posted on the Hive from late September onwards and I will update this review then with a link to the review and a rating.
In the meantime you can read more about SPFBO11 and access other reviews here
July 9, 2025
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: A Light From the Nether. // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)
*thank you to net galley and the author for an e-ARC of this novel*
While this is not a genre I typically read— A Light From the Nether was a surprising, dark, and exciting read. It’s a queer dark fantasy with heavy horror and sci-fi elements, and once I got past the dense opening, I couldn’t stop reading.
Fair warning: the first 10% throws a lot at you (terminology, world-building, and lore). It’s a little disorienting, so I recommend sticking around until at least this point, where the character stakes start to ramp up.
The writing is atmospheric, vivid, and at times deeply unsettling. There are moments of body horror that made my skin crawl—in the best way—and the way the author brings the mirror world of The Nether to life is unlike anything I’ve read before.
The story follows Liam, a rare person who can travel between our own world and The Nether (similar to the upside down from Stranger Things) where parasitic soul-eating creatures called Flukes lurk.
After a traumatic event, Liam tries to hide from destiny, ending up in a sleepy east-coast town. However, he quickly gets pulled back in when strange deaths, defying the known rules of the Nether, begin to occur. That's when he meets Jasper (their first real conversation is about 30% through the book), a mysterious man that seems to be haunting him-and is somehow tied to the murder mystery Liam must solve.
If you enjoy:
* low-spice, high-stakes queer romance
* body horror that will make your skin crawl
* sci-fi/horror blend
* mind bending portal fantasy
* characters that will make you laugh out loud
* soul-ties
—then A Light From the Nether should be on your radar. It’s quirky, deeply emotional, and beautifully written. I'm glad I went out of my comfort zone to try this book.
*thank you to net galley and the author for an e-ARC of this novel*
While this is not a genre I typically read— A Light From the Nether was a surprising, dark, and exciting read. It’s a queer dark fantasy with heavy horror and sci-fi elements, and once I got past the dense opening, I couldn’t stop reading.
Fair warning: the first 10% throws a lot at you (terminology, world-building, and lore). It’s a little disorienting, so I recommend sticking around until at least this point, where the character stakes start to ramp up.
The writing is atmospheric, vivid, and at times deeply unsettling. There are moments of body horror that made my skin crawl—in the best way—and the way the author brings the mirror world of The Nether to life is unlike anything I’ve read before.
The story follows Liam, a rare person who can travel between our own world and The Nether (similar to the upside down from Stranger Things) where parasitic soul-eating creatures called Flukes lurk.
After a traumatic event, Liam tries to hide from destiny, ending up in a sleepy east-coast town. However, he quickly gets pulled back in when strange deaths, defying the known rules of the Nether, begin to occur. That's when he meets Jasper (their first real conversation is about 30% through the book), a mysterious man that seems to be haunting him-and is somehow tied to the murder mystery Liam must solve.
If you enjoy:
* low-spice, high-stakes queer romance
* body horror that will make your skin crawl
* sci-fi/horror blend
* mind bending portal fantasy
* characters that will make you laugh out loud
* soul-ties
—then A Light From the Nether should be on your radar. It’s quirky, deeply emotional, and beautifully written. I'm glad I went out of my comfort zone to try this book.
September 4, 2025
The publisher set me up for a giant disappointment on this one. The publisher said for fans of Song of Achilles, C.S. Pacat and Stephen King. Those are some big claims.
So I expected a lot from this book.
I expected heartbreak and sweetness (SOA), and actual horror (Stephen King). My favorite trilogy ever is written by Pacat so I expected intrigue, enemies to lovers, sequel tension. Everything lifted above was not in there.
We didnt even meet the love interest until halfway through the book, and honestly, I didnt really see any development of interest or of their relationship, it just happened. The only horror there really was, was descriptions of the bodies taken over by Flukes. There was also no heartbreak. Nothing resembling the three things the publisher claimed.
The book itself wasn't bad. They did spend too long on Calico's depression and not long enough on plot progression, I also didnt really have any attachment to any of the characters. The idea behind the story was really unique though, and if the publisher didn't set my expectations so high, I might have enjoyed this book more than I did. This is in no way the author's fault though.
So I expected a lot from this book.
I expected heartbreak and sweetness (SOA), and actual horror (Stephen King). My favorite trilogy ever is written by Pacat so I expected intrigue, enemies to lovers, sequel tension. Everything lifted above was not in there.
We didnt even meet the love interest until halfway through the book, and honestly, I didnt really see any development of interest or of their relationship, it just happened. The only horror there really was, was descriptions of the bodies taken over by Flukes. There was also no heartbreak. Nothing resembling the three things the publisher claimed.
The book itself wasn't bad. They did spend too long on Calico's depression and not long enough on plot progression, I also didnt really have any attachment to any of the characters. The idea behind the story was really unique though, and if the publisher didn't set my expectations so high, I might have enjoyed this book more than I did. This is in no way the author's fault though.
August 28, 2025
**4.5/5 Stars** (Love that Goodreads won’t allow my Libra self to give half-stars…)
I looked forward to reading this book every day. I wasn’t ready for it to end so I took my time with it. Echoing other reviewers before me, WHOA, the WORLD BUILDING. Insane, impressive, and so creative (and well executed). The concept of the Nether and all the things that relate to it and inhabit it was captivating. Although the book was dark, deep, and full of emotion, the author’s engaging writing style offered opportunities for quirky, witty banter, which allowed for some levity. It worked seamlessly with this plot and set of characters.
Overall, I’d absolutely recommend this book. As a fantasy, romance, thriller, historical fiction, and character development reader, this checked every box.
Honorable mention: as a Millennial, I appreciated all the Millennial references in this book. They put a smile on my face every time I came across one.
I looked forward to reading this book every day. I wasn’t ready for it to end so I took my time with it. Echoing other reviewers before me, WHOA, the WORLD BUILDING. Insane, impressive, and so creative (and well executed). The concept of the Nether and all the things that relate to it and inhabit it was captivating. Although the book was dark, deep, and full of emotion, the author’s engaging writing style offered opportunities for quirky, witty banter, which allowed for some levity. It worked seamlessly with this plot and set of characters.
Overall, I’d absolutely recommend this book. As a fantasy, romance, thriller, historical fiction, and character development reader, this checked every box.
Honorable mention: as a Millennial, I appreciated all the Millennial references in this book. They put a smile on my face every time I came across one.
July 12, 2025
I was immediately drawn into the world of this book - hooked from the first page to the last. Reading something so close our world yet so different was surprisingly refreshing even in the midst of its complex layers of emotional trauma and graphic depictions of body horror. I'm a total horror lightweight but none of that felt extraneous or too out there for me to be able to enjoy/immerse myself in the world of this book.
A Light from the Nether was well written, engaging, and immersive - I highly recommend!
A Light from the Nether was well written, engaging, and immersive - I highly recommend!
November 15, 2025
4.5 extremely fascinating concept, and well realised with a few shortfalls as expected from a debut
The prose took me a while to get acclimatised to and now and then dialogue would come across awkward and like a thinly veiled plot segue rather than natural flowing conversation but it can all be excused by how unique and intriguing this was
When first opening this I was shocked by the length of the glossary but never did I feel like I was lost in the midst of the story and it was very easy to become endeared to Liam and Jasper
The prose took me a while to get acclimatised to and now and then dialogue would come across awkward and like a thinly veiled plot segue rather than natural flowing conversation but it can all be excused by how unique and intriguing this was
When first opening this I was shocked by the length of the glossary but never did I feel like I was lost in the midst of the story and it was very easy to become endeared to Liam and Jasper
December 6, 2025
conceptually, very cool but in execution i found it a little messy and confusing by the midpoint ish but i’d be happy to read another book by sullivan
also pacat is not at all a good comp for this the vibes are completely and utterly different
also pacat is not at all a good comp for this the vibes are completely and utterly different
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