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The Dark Ones
From the acclaimed author of "Cruel Winter" comes a terrifying page-turner in which the resurrection of a long-buried evil sparks an epic battle between darkness and light. Original.
- GenresHorror
373 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
4 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Izzo
55 books25 followersHello, my name is Anthony Izzo and I'm the author of over 40 horror, thriller, and fantasy titles.
I love to write, but when I'm not writing I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, playing guitar, and drawing fantasy and horror art. I've been told my drawings are as twisted as my fiction, but I'm actually pretty normal. Well, mostly.
Looking forward to hearing from you and discussing books.
I love to write, but when I'm not writing I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, playing guitar, and drawing fantasy and horror art. I've been told my drawings are as twisted as my fiction, but I'm actually pretty normal. Well, mostly.
Looking forward to hearing from you and discussing books.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 19, 2010
So the story started out interestingly enough. It's about a 16 year old, named Sara, who discovers that her dad lied to her about her mother dying when she was born. So she sets off to find her. Meanwhile her father and another guardian who have a special ability called the light, discover that the dark ones are once again roaming the land and that the head demon Engel has escaped his prison that Sara's grandfather put him in 16 years ago. Sara has also inherited this power and is sought after by the dark ones and their master Engel because she is a threat to them.
I thought it was a pretty interesting story line, although I find the whole they use the 'light' to defeat the 'dark' a little corny. I also found that he would end a paragraph telling us something and open the next paragraph saying the same thing. Or describing something the same way twice. I found myself saying to myself 'you already told us that!" so many times! I tried to get past it but it got really annoying after awhile.
The thing that urks me the most though (and here is were spoilers to the story will come) that we learn randomly that the everlight will also possible heal, even mortal wounds, some guardians. I just think it could have been brought to our attention differently. The guardian who is the only other person besides Sara's grandfather to know that it has this power, tries to heal the mortal wound of the biker guardian. It fails. I could get past the randomness of it except for a bit later on, Ruby another guardian also receives a mortal wound and he doesn't even TRY to heal her! He just continues to talk about how she will be missed etc! I mean you HAVE the everlight with you and you were with her when she dies so why not try and use it! Soo annoying! It wasn't even a consideration! It's even more annoying when at the end of course the main character dies and he puts it on her and a little while later lo and behold she is alive again. Ugh! Then he goes on about how it's only the stronger guardians that can be healed with it and that he tried to heal the biker but it didn't work. No mention of Ruby at all. I think that bit that he can heal strong guardians also should have been mentioned before.
I also really hate how it ended so suddenly. I guess we can use our imaginations as to what happened after except for the fact that one of the non guardian characters wounds is healed completely but not this other non guardian character. I mean what? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me other then the fact that the author didn't want him to die. There is no explanation as to how it happened since Sara never put the Everlight on him. So if he was healed why not the other one?
So all in all an interesting premise but I just don't think it was carried out well. I was going to give it a 3/5 stars but now ranting about it I realize for me its' more of a 2/5.
I thought it was a pretty interesting story line, although I find the whole they use the 'light' to defeat the 'dark' a little corny. I also found that he would end a paragraph telling us something and open the next paragraph saying the same thing. Or describing something the same way twice. I found myself saying to myself 'you already told us that!" so many times! I tried to get past it but it got really annoying after awhile.
The thing that urks me the most though (and here is were spoilers to the story will come) that we learn randomly that the everlight will also possible heal, even mortal wounds, some guardians. I just think it could have been brought to our attention differently. The guardian who is the only other person besides Sara's grandfather to know that it has this power, tries to heal the mortal wound of the biker guardian. It fails. I could get past the randomness of it except for a bit later on, Ruby another guardian also receives a mortal wound and he doesn't even TRY to heal her! He just continues to talk about how she will be missed etc! I mean you HAVE the everlight with you and you were with her when she dies so why not try and use it! Soo annoying! It wasn't even a consideration! It's even more annoying when at the end of course the main character dies and he puts it on her and a little while later lo and behold she is alive again. Ugh! Then he goes on about how it's only the stronger guardians that can be healed with it and that he tried to heal the biker but it didn't work. No mention of Ruby at all. I think that bit that he can heal strong guardians also should have been mentioned before.
I also really hate how it ended so suddenly. I guess we can use our imaginations as to what happened after except for the fact that one of the non guardian characters wounds is healed completely but not this other non guardian character. I mean what? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me other then the fact that the author didn't want him to die. There is no explanation as to how it happened since Sara never put the Everlight on him. So if he was healed why not the other one?
So all in all an interesting premise but I just don't think it was carried out well. I was going to give it a 3/5 stars but now ranting about it I realize for me its' more of a 2/5.
June 29, 2008
The plot/premise were good, but it was so poorly executed. I like demon-induced death and dismemberment as much as the next urban fantasy reader... but this got so repetitive. The "roadblocks" to achieving the good guys' goals were so predictable and overdone.
Once upon a time, Laura was a 19 year old single mother. Her six month old daughter, Megan, is abducted and never seen again. Laura (with the support of her father, Charles) focuses on college and medical school and is now an ER doctor. Megan, who has been raised by David, is known as Sara. Turns out she was abducted BY Charles and given to David to raise, because she is a Guardian, a force of light who is able to battle demons. She's now 16. She learns (because she found some photos and letters) that her real mother did not die when she was a baby, and that her mother is, in fact, Laura. She runs away to go find her. Simultaneously, Charles's efforts to keep an old brewery in Buffalo from being demolished fail, and the demon leader he'd buried there 16 years ago rises, because the magical stone atop his grave is disturbed.
Demons abound. Violence grows, towns are devastated, and all the Guardians try to gather so they can once again send the demons back to hell. Sara, it turns out, is the most powerful Guardian in centuries, so the demons really want to eliminate her.
It reads like a bad made-for-TV horror movie, though.
Once upon a time, Laura was a 19 year old single mother. Her six month old daughter, Megan, is abducted and never seen again. Laura (with the support of her father, Charles) focuses on college and medical school and is now an ER doctor. Megan, who has been raised by David, is known as Sara. Turns out she was abducted BY Charles and given to David to raise, because she is a Guardian, a force of light who is able to battle demons. She's now 16. She learns (because she found some photos and letters) that her real mother did not die when she was a baby, and that her mother is, in fact, Laura. She runs away to go find her. Simultaneously, Charles's efforts to keep an old brewery in Buffalo from being demolished fail, and the demon leader he'd buried there 16 years ago rises, because the magical stone atop his grave is disturbed.
Demons abound. Violence grows, towns are devastated, and all the Guardians try to gather so they can once again send the demons back to hell. Sara, it turns out, is the most powerful Guardian in centuries, so the demons really want to eliminate her.
It reads like a bad made-for-TV horror movie, though.
July 29, 2011
This is the first Anthony Izzo book I've read and I don't think it will be the last! I've been stuck in a rut with my reading and I found this book at a second hand store, picked it up and I couldn't put it down from there. I liked the non stop action. There was no lulls in the storyline. No "OMG when will this end" moments. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. Don't get me wrong, it was a good ending but it just stopped with no follow up on the aftermath. Usually a book leaves you with an explanation of what happens after but this one doesn't. I found myself wanting at least 10 more pages just to see what the characters did after. I guess you can say that there was no closure in this book. Although it was a great read. I'd definately read this book again and I'd recommend it to others to read.
August 5, 2020
If Mr. Izzo doesn't write scripts for horror movies, he should. This feels almost as if it could go direct-to-screen as a thriller.
The author was inconsistent when the point of view changed. Sometimes there was a line of asterisks (***) to denote a demarcation; more often, it was just next paragraph and continue.
(Editing oversights found in the Kindle text:
Page 23, The Mc-Crearys and the O'Laughlins / The McCrearys and the O'Laughlins (no hyphen) ; 25, Word's getting around Michael / Word's getting AROUND, Michael ; 27, she knew he snuck in here / she knew he SNEAKED in here ; 29, workers who may have to set foot / workers who MIGHT have to set foot ; 33, They don't know that they're doing / They don't know WHAT they're doing ;
Page 85, lay low until the whole thing blew over / LIE low until the whole thing blew over ; 87, just try and explain / just try TO explain ; 89, hurtling one of the Hoolihans' kids' bikes / HURDLING one of the Hoolihans' kids' bikes ; 94, helping the one with the gunshot. / helping the one with the gunshot WOUND. ; 102, a couple times a week / a couple OF times a week ; 113, she snuck glances at Sara / she SNEAKED glances at Sara ;
Page 117, A couple times / A couple OF times ; 134, It's what she's going in to that worries me / It's what she's going INTO that worries me ; 146, Would you just go up there with Gertie. / Would you just go up there with GERTIE? (a question) ; 148, He would call a meeting, tonight making them able / He would call a MEETING TONIGHT, making them able (move comma) ; 148, Sara sucked in breath / Sara sucked in A breath ;
Page 151, He would have to try and convince her / He would have to try TO convince her ; 151, I have to try and stop this / I have to try TO stop this ; 153, Don't let the mist touch you. Lest you want to lose your skin. / Don't let the mist touch you. UNLESS you want to lose your skin. ; 156, "It was for
her protection," Frank said." / "It was for her protection," Frank SAID. (omit ending quote after "said") ;
Page 157, He came up on heavyset guy / He came up on A heavyset guy ; 157, with a auburn-haired woman / with AN auburn-haired woman ; 161, Oh, hey Jenny / Oh, HEY, Jenny ; 162, would try and steal it / would try TO steal it ; 182, Charles had supplied them her address / Charles had supplied them WITH her address ; 188, A throng of cameramen point their lenses / A throng of cameramen POINTED their lenses ;
Page 188, one of his children will bring her / one of his children WOULD bring her ; 189, Something has gone wrong / Something HAD gone wrong ; 189, staircase that lead to the hallway / staircase that LED to the hallway ; 194, he were deciding to continue reporting / he were deciding WHETHER
to continue reporting ; 199, that Al Quaeda or some other group / that Al QAEDA or some other group ;
Page 199, Outside the deep thrum of a car engine / OUTSIDE, the deep thrum of a car engine ; 202, with all manners of beer cases / with all MANNER of beer cases ; 208, I'll try and find a first-aid kit / I'll try TO find a first-aid kit ; 210, Hey man, you okay? / HEY, man, you okay? ; 220, a gust of wind
snuck under the truck / a gust of wind SNEAKED under the truck ; 220, back at the Warlord's clubhouse / back at the WARLORDS'S clubhouse ;
Page 225, an ax with a curved edged and a spike / an ax with a curved EDGE and a spike ; 223, were they sweetheart? / were THEY, sweetheart? ; 238, They must've all ran from the bars / They must've all RUN from the bars (They must have ... run) ; 246, Let's try and get some rest / Let's try TO
get some rest ; 248, the creature hit something major / the creature HAD hit something major ;
Page 250, she may have a chance / she MIGHT have a chance ; 255, What you do fella? / What DO you DO, fella? ; 256, Anything you try and put in my mouth / Anything you try TO put in my mouth ; 259, He hated to try and scare her / He hated to try TO scare her ; 260, Here we go kiddo / Here we
GO, kiddo ; 265, sealing him a cave / sealing him IN a cave ; 274, had broken out across is forehead / had broken out across HIS forehead ;
Page 275, David said." / David SAID. (omit quote marks after "said") ; 295, The smell hit Laura / The smell hit SARA ; 296, He turned his head and Laura thought / He turned his head and SARA thought ; 296, "Huh," she managed / "HUH?" she managed ; 299, Just me far as I know / Just me AS far as I know ; 303, right Tim? / RIGHT, Tim? ; 305, try and block out the man's / try TO block out the man's ; 307, Well boss / WELL, boss ;
Page 308, They split in two groups / They split INTO two groups ; 318, play nurse maid to your mother / play NURSEMAID to your mother ; 319, a couple hundred yards / a couple OF hundred yards ; 323, Yes I would / YES, I would ; 324, How had she miss it earlier? / How had she MISSED it earlier? ; 330, he folded her hands best he could / he folded her hands THE best he could ; 331, How you doing? / How ARE you doing? ;
Page 332, Hey Milo / HEY, Milo ; 349, a couple hundred yards away / a couple OF hundred yards away ; 351, "Looks like we're getting a welcome," / "Looks like we're getting a WELCOME." (end sentence with period) ; 355, God her gut hurt / GOD, her gut hurt ; 356, if there were time Frank would have / if there were TIME, Frank would have ; 356, and told her yes he would / and told her YES, he would .)
The author was inconsistent when the point of view changed. Sometimes there was a line of asterisks (***) to denote a demarcation; more often, it was just next paragraph and continue.
(Editing oversights found in the Kindle text:
Page 23, The Mc-Crearys and the O'Laughlins / The McCrearys and the O'Laughlins (no hyphen) ; 25, Word's getting around Michael / Word's getting AROUND, Michael ; 27, she knew he snuck in here / she knew he SNEAKED in here ; 29, workers who may have to set foot / workers who MIGHT have to set foot ; 33, They don't know that they're doing / They don't know WHAT they're doing ;
Page 85, lay low until the whole thing blew over / LIE low until the whole thing blew over ; 87, just try and explain / just try TO explain ; 89, hurtling one of the Hoolihans' kids' bikes / HURDLING one of the Hoolihans' kids' bikes ; 94, helping the one with the gunshot. / helping the one with the gunshot WOUND. ; 102, a couple times a week / a couple OF times a week ; 113, she snuck glances at Sara / she SNEAKED glances at Sara ;
Page 117, A couple times / A couple OF times ; 134, It's what she's going in to that worries me / It's what she's going INTO that worries me ; 146, Would you just go up there with Gertie. / Would you just go up there with GERTIE? (a question) ; 148, He would call a meeting, tonight making them able / He would call a MEETING TONIGHT, making them able (move comma) ; 148, Sara sucked in breath / Sara sucked in A breath ;
Page 151, He would have to try and convince her / He would have to try TO convince her ; 151, I have to try and stop this / I have to try TO stop this ; 153, Don't let the mist touch you. Lest you want to lose your skin. / Don't let the mist touch you. UNLESS you want to lose your skin. ; 156, "It was for
her protection," Frank said." / "It was for her protection," Frank SAID. (omit ending quote after "said") ;
Page 157, He came up on heavyset guy / He came up on A heavyset guy ; 157, with a auburn-haired woman / with AN auburn-haired woman ; 161, Oh, hey Jenny / Oh, HEY, Jenny ; 162, would try and steal it / would try TO steal it ; 182, Charles had supplied them her address / Charles had supplied them WITH her address ; 188, A throng of cameramen point their lenses / A throng of cameramen POINTED their lenses ;
Page 188, one of his children will bring her / one of his children WOULD bring her ; 189, Something has gone wrong / Something HAD gone wrong ; 189, staircase that lead to the hallway / staircase that LED to the hallway ; 194, he were deciding to continue reporting / he were deciding WHETHER
to continue reporting ; 199, that Al Quaeda or some other group / that Al QAEDA or some other group ;
Page 199, Outside the deep thrum of a car engine / OUTSIDE, the deep thrum of a car engine ; 202, with all manners of beer cases / with all MANNER of beer cases ; 208, I'll try and find a first-aid kit / I'll try TO find a first-aid kit ; 210, Hey man, you okay? / HEY, man, you okay? ; 220, a gust of wind
snuck under the truck / a gust of wind SNEAKED under the truck ; 220, back at the Warlord's clubhouse / back at the WARLORDS'S clubhouse ;
Page 225, an ax with a curved edged and a spike / an ax with a curved EDGE and a spike ; 223, were they sweetheart? / were THEY, sweetheart? ; 238, They must've all ran from the bars / They must've all RUN from the bars (They must have ... run) ; 246, Let's try and get some rest / Let's try TO
get some rest ; 248, the creature hit something major / the creature HAD hit something major ;
Page 250, she may have a chance / she MIGHT have a chance ; 255, What you do fella? / What DO you DO, fella? ; 256, Anything you try and put in my mouth / Anything you try TO put in my mouth ; 259, He hated to try and scare her / He hated to try TO scare her ; 260, Here we go kiddo / Here we
GO, kiddo ; 265, sealing him a cave / sealing him IN a cave ; 274, had broken out across is forehead / had broken out across HIS forehead ;
Page 275, David said." / David SAID. (omit quote marks after "said") ; 295, The smell hit Laura / The smell hit SARA ; 296, He turned his head and Laura thought / He turned his head and SARA thought ; 296, "Huh," she managed / "HUH?" she managed ; 299, Just me far as I know / Just me AS far as I know ; 303, right Tim? / RIGHT, Tim? ; 305, try and block out the man's / try TO block out the man's ; 307, Well boss / WELL, boss ;
Page 308, They split in two groups / They split INTO two groups ; 318, play nurse maid to your mother / play NURSEMAID to your mother ; 319, a couple hundred yards / a couple OF hundred yards ; 323, Yes I would / YES, I would ; 324, How had she miss it earlier? / How had she MISSED it earlier? ; 330, he folded her hands best he could / he folded her hands THE best he could ; 331, How you doing? / How ARE you doing? ;
Page 332, Hey Milo / HEY, Milo ; 349, a couple hundred yards away / a couple OF hundred yards away ; 351, "Looks like we're getting a welcome," / "Looks like we're getting a WELCOME." (end sentence with period) ; 355, God her gut hurt / GOD, her gut hurt ; 356, if there were time Frank would have / if there were TIME, Frank would have ; 356, and told her yes he would / and told her YES, he would .)
February 8, 2010
i thought the plot of the book was good, but i didn't like the ending, and some parts were kinda boring... It's about a 16 year old girl(Sara) who finds out that her dad lied to her about her mom so she takes her dad's money and goes to Buffalo to find her mom (a successful doctor.) Her dad and his friend also go to Buffalo to find Sara and protect her from "the dark ones." Sara gets kicked off the bus and gets a ride from someone else. She spends the night at that persons house and the next morning she finds her dead in the kitchen, so she leaves. Later on she finds her mom, and learns about "the dark ones." Later on, Sara, Sara's mom, and Sara's dad all meet up. A huge gray cloud starts to form and it destroys everything under it so Sara has to stop it, but first she has to find 2 pieces of a stone (the stone destroys "the dark ones.") She finds the stone and defeats them.
March 3, 2010
This book was one of the worst books I have ever read! The author had no idea how to write and had an extremely irritating habit of using the word 'said' every other line... He said, she said, he said, she said, that was the whole book. There is this thing called a thesaurus, maybe I should send him one.
The writing style was simplistic at best, and it seemed as though he was trying to hard, or not enough to use elevated language. Do not read this book endless you are extremely curious about whether a book can truly be this bad... it can.
The writing style was simplistic at best, and it seemed as though he was trying to hard, or not enough to use elevated language. Do not read this book endless you are extremely curious about whether a book can truly be this bad... it can.
January 17, 2016
This is a story of good versus evil. The Guardians, humans living among us, have the ability to turn light into a weapon against demons, known as The Dark Ones. Sixteen years ago, Lars Engel, the leader of the Dark Ones, was buried beneath an abandoned brewery in Buffalo, NY, by Charles Pennington, one of the Guardians. Engel has now escaped. Not only is he out for revenge against Charles, but he desperately wants to destroy Charles' teenage granddaughter, Sara, a Guardian of intense power, who knows nothing of her true identity.
September 22, 2008
Well, I just finished reading this last night. It's the first book I've read by this author. It was really good, it actually left me scared if I were reading it while home alone. I'd have given it 5 stars but it ended so abruptly! I hate when that happens, I feel like it didn't finish properly but it was still worth reading and I look forward to reading Anthony's other two novels.
July 26, 2014
The writing wasn't too bad, I usually try to get through the style of writing if the story itself is good. A fun novel of good vs. evil. The ending could've been better, but I would be interested in reading more books by him.
August 3, 2008
The story idea was alright, but the writing got in the way. Reading it felt like slogging waist deep through mud, while a narrator described the scene in a precise and analytical method.
June 27, 2010
great horror novel, a page turner of the best sort :)
May 25, 2014
great read
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews