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The Dark Net
The Dark Net is real. An anonymous and often criminal arena that exists in the secret far reaches of the Web, some use it to manage Bitcoins, pirate movies and music, or traffic in drugs and stolen goods. And now an ancient darkness is gathering there as well. This force is threatening to spread virally into the real world unless it can be stopped by members of a ragtag crew:
Twelve-year-old Hannah - who has been fitted with the Mirage, a high-tech visual prosthetic to combat her blindness - wonders why she sees shadows surrounding some people.
Lela, a technophobic journalist, has stumbled upon a story nobody wants her to uncover.
Mike Juniper, a one-time child evangelist who suffers from personal and literal demons, has an arsenal of weapons stored in the basement of the homeless shelter he runs.
And Derek, a hacker with a cause, believes himself a soldier of the Internet, part of a cyber army akin to Anonymous.
They have no idea what the Dark Net really contains.
Set in present-day Portland, The Dark Net is a cracked-mirror version of the digital nightmare we already live in, a timely and wildly imaginative techno-thriller about the evil that lurks in real and virtual spaces, and the power of a united few to fight back.
Twelve-year-old Hannah - who has been fitted with the Mirage, a high-tech visual prosthetic to combat her blindness - wonders why she sees shadows surrounding some people.
Lela, a technophobic journalist, has stumbled upon a story nobody wants her to uncover.
Mike Juniper, a one-time child evangelist who suffers from personal and literal demons, has an arsenal of weapons stored in the basement of the homeless shelter he runs.
And Derek, a hacker with a cause, believes himself a soldier of the Internet, part of a cyber army akin to Anonymous.
They have no idea what the Dark Net really contains.
Set in present-day Portland, The Dark Net is a cracked-mirror version of the digital nightmare we already live in, a timely and wildly imaginative techno-thriller about the evil that lurks in real and virtual spaces, and the power of a united few to fight back.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2017
336 people are currently reading
4111 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Percy
807 books1,194 followersBenjamin Percy is the author of seven novels -- most recently The Sky Vault (William Morrow) -- three short fiction collections, and a book of essays, Thrill Me, that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. He writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, and the Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer's Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the iHeart Radio Award for Best Scripted Podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 458 reviews
August 5, 2017
This is a book that turned out to be different from what I expected it to be, it is more fantasy and horror than a straight forward technological read. Set in Portland, Oregon, Lela is a luddite workaholic reporter, with a remarkable dog, Hemingway, writing for The Oregonian, always looking for that exclusive story with the help of Josh. Her niece, 12 year old Hannah is blind but finds herself fitted with The Mirage, a trial experimental device that allows her to see, and gives her the gift of seeing the dark shadows of evil. Mike Juniper runs the homeless shelter, The Weary Traveller, he is a man who came back from the dead to became a lucrative evangelist, contracting terminal cancer only to be saved by Sarin. Derek is a cyber genius hacker, akin to Anonymous. Lela, Hannah, Mike, and Derek with the help of Sarin, Lump, Josh and Hemingway find themselves working together to battle demons and all the ancient evil darkness that spills out through the dark net to wreak horror in Portland.
Lela is investigating an odd company, Undertown, which has purchased The Rue Apartments, on which there is precious little information. Finding red right hands at a macabre murder scene, just like those at the crime scenes of serial killer, Tusk, but he is a dead man. Lela finds herself on a construction site taking pictures of the men working there, and escapes with the relic of a deformed skull. This brings dark forces on her tail, and endanger the life of her sister, Cheryl and Hannah. Roaming the streets of Portland are strange hounds. Lela, Cheryl and Hannah find themselves at Mike's place under the misplaced idea that they have found a safe place only to encounter death and destruction. In a story that takes in astral travel to fight demons and efforts to close the open doors that feed the never ending horror, we see Mike once again return from the dead, as this group of people, and Hemingway, are willing to die to put an end to all the overflowing darkness threatening to destroy the world through the dark net.
This is an entertaining read with a technological side that really comes to the fore in the latter stages of the novel. Benjamin Percy has put together a great set of eccentric and weird characters, along with the child, Hannah, wise beyond her years, adding a new and pivotal front to the ancient battle between the forces of light and dark in the world. There is plenty of suspense, tension and thrills to keep the reader enthralled and gripped. The epilogue sees the possibility for most of the characters to return in a potential sequel. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.
Lela is investigating an odd company, Undertown, which has purchased The Rue Apartments, on which there is precious little information. Finding red right hands at a macabre murder scene, just like those at the crime scenes of serial killer, Tusk, but he is a dead man. Lela finds herself on a construction site taking pictures of the men working there, and escapes with the relic of a deformed skull. This brings dark forces on her tail, and endanger the life of her sister, Cheryl and Hannah. Roaming the streets of Portland are strange hounds. Lela, Cheryl and Hannah find themselves at Mike's place under the misplaced idea that they have found a safe place only to encounter death and destruction. In a story that takes in astral travel to fight demons and efforts to close the open doors that feed the never ending horror, we see Mike once again return from the dead, as this group of people, and Hemingway, are willing to die to put an end to all the overflowing darkness threatening to destroy the world through the dark net.
This is an entertaining read with a technological side that really comes to the fore in the latter stages of the novel. Benjamin Percy has put together a great set of eccentric and weird characters, along with the child, Hannah, wise beyond her years, adding a new and pivotal front to the ancient battle between the forces of light and dark in the world. There is plenty of suspense, tension and thrills to keep the reader enthralled and gripped. The epilogue sees the possibility for most of the characters to return in a potential sequel. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.
July 29, 2017
Reading this book was like riding a somewhat shoddy rollercoaster. You get on, and at first it's exciting, but after a while you realise it's similar to one you rode a while ago, and that one wasn't very good. Then you decide that, since you can't get off the thing, you may as well try to enjoy it anyway. And in the end, although it's not a great experience, you have to admit that you had a certain amount of fun.
The Dark Net reminded me why I usually avoid this type of lurid fantasy-horror: to me it feels like the trashiest of trash, more intellectually bankrupt than a whole pile of identikit thrillers and chick lit. Books like this inevitably hook me at the start, when they're all about atmosphere and creepiness and establishing character, but when they begin their slide into the ludicrous, my interest wanes. That said, there's something inescapably compelling about such over-the-top tales, and as you might doggedly watch a daft horror film through to the end (while rolling your eyes at every new, ridiculous development) I did want to finish it.
In this particular case, gigantic hellhounds, possessed serial killers and a Portland secretly riven by turf wars between keepers of the 'Light' and 'Dark' are all thrown into the mix well before the dark net demons of the title make an appearance. (In fact, the blurb is kind of misleading – the dark net element becomes crucial in the last act, but prior to that, most of what happens has nothing much to do with the internet. The protagonist is a woman whose defining characteristic is that she's a technophobe who can barely send an email.) In a style that seems to be typical of the genre, actions are very kinetic in this book. Nobody ever presses or opens anything, they 'punch', 'snap' and 'thumb'; nobody ever writes, they 'scratch down notes' – a persistent detail that makes it sound like all the characters are using cheap fountain pens.
I hoped this novel would fulfil my cravings for clever, subtle digital horror, something like Alexander Weinstein's Children of the New World or Luke Kennard's The Transition with a little more of a horror edge. I've read some good short stories on this theme: 'Feature Development for Social Networking' by Benjamin Rosenbaum, 'The Game' by Joanne Harris, 'Friends' by Richard Crompton and (as mentioned in my newsletter) an episode of the podcast The Magnus Archives titled 'Binary'. But this has more in common with the likes of Joe Hill's NOS4R2, David Wong's John Dies at the End, and Grady Hendrix's Horrorstör – which is to say that it's entertaining, but too far-fetched and blood-spattered for my taste.
This would have been a two-star book, but a couple of things bumped it up for me towards the end: 1) there wasn't any romance in it, despite a fairly obvious pairing – kudos for that – and 2) I loved the epilogue.
I received an advance review copy of The Dark Net from the publisher through Edelweiss.
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The Dark Net reminded me why I usually avoid this type of lurid fantasy-horror: to me it feels like the trashiest of trash, more intellectually bankrupt than a whole pile of identikit thrillers and chick lit. Books like this inevitably hook me at the start, when they're all about atmosphere and creepiness and establishing character, but when they begin their slide into the ludicrous, my interest wanes. That said, there's something inescapably compelling about such over-the-top tales, and as you might doggedly watch a daft horror film through to the end (while rolling your eyes at every new, ridiculous development) I did want to finish it.
In this particular case, gigantic hellhounds, possessed serial killers and a Portland secretly riven by turf wars between keepers of the 'Light' and 'Dark' are all thrown into the mix well before the dark net demons of the title make an appearance. (In fact, the blurb is kind of misleading – the dark net element becomes crucial in the last act, but prior to that, most of what happens has nothing much to do with the internet. The protagonist is a woman whose defining characteristic is that she's a technophobe who can barely send an email.) In a style that seems to be typical of the genre, actions are very kinetic in this book. Nobody ever presses or opens anything, they 'punch', 'snap' and 'thumb'; nobody ever writes, they 'scratch down notes' – a persistent detail that makes it sound like all the characters are using cheap fountain pens.
I hoped this novel would fulfil my cravings for clever, subtle digital horror, something like Alexander Weinstein's Children of the New World or Luke Kennard's The Transition with a little more of a horror edge. I've read some good short stories on this theme: 'Feature Development for Social Networking' by Benjamin Rosenbaum, 'The Game' by Joanne Harris, 'Friends' by Richard Crompton and (as mentioned in my newsletter) an episode of the podcast The Magnus Archives titled 'Binary'. But this has more in common with the likes of Joe Hill's NOS4R2, David Wong's John Dies at the End, and Grady Hendrix's Horrorstör – which is to say that it's entertaining, but too far-fetched and blood-spattered for my taste.
This would have been a two-star book, but a couple of things bumped it up for me towards the end: 1) there wasn't any romance in it, despite a fairly obvious pairing – kudos for that – and 2) I loved the epilogue.
I received an advance review copy of The Dark Net from the publisher through Edelweiss.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
December 31, 2017
Book reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com
The Dark Net was one of those books that I read the synopsis and was eager to read. Unfortunately, I got the book at the same time as I was reading another book to do with the cyber world and had to wait until I’d finished that one before I could start this one. I didn’t want to get the two muddled up.
Upon starting, I quickly realised that I wasn’t going to fly through it like I thought I would. I read the first two chapters twice as I found my mind drifting whilst reading and not taking the information in. This actually happened for the next couple of chapters too, but then something clicked and I became fully emerged in the plot. I suppose when the ‘dark’ finally arrived.
The book is certainly bang up to date when it comes to technology and the net. There are some techie words, but there weren’t that many that it made for uncomfortable reading. For me, the book started off slowly, a bit too slow for my liking. I also felt the start was a padded out with information that I didn’t need to know. Once it got going though the pace picked up and the book actually became very enjoyable.
The main character, Lela was likeable in her own way. Yes, she wasn’t perfect and had plenty of flaws, but that’s what made her likeable for me. She was a journalist with a ‘won’t take no for an answer’ attitude. She was always looking for the next big storyline that would propel her future and status in the journalism world, especially after her career hadn’t been that full on since she help expose a local serial killer named Tusk. I also found it quite amusing how a book about technology had a technophobe as its main character.
There were plenty of secondary characters too, some that were really quite interesting, like 12 year old Hannah, Lela’s niece. Some of the others did grate on me, but you can’t have a book full of characters that you will just like, there has to be a balance.
The combination between the cyber world and the supernatural is perfectly executed, there are also elements of the horror and thriller genres too. If you believe in the supernatural than this could feel very real for you. It is the old cliche of good vs evil, but done in a modern day manner.
If you like to read something a bit ‘out-there’ and over the top, then this is a book for you. The writing may not be perfect, but the book certainly has some great moments that are worth a read.
The Dark Net was one of those books that I read the synopsis and was eager to read. Unfortunately, I got the book at the same time as I was reading another book to do with the cyber world and had to wait until I’d finished that one before I could start this one. I didn’t want to get the two muddled up.
Upon starting, I quickly realised that I wasn’t going to fly through it like I thought I would. I read the first two chapters twice as I found my mind drifting whilst reading and not taking the information in. This actually happened for the next couple of chapters too, but then something clicked and I became fully emerged in the plot. I suppose when the ‘dark’ finally arrived.
The book is certainly bang up to date when it comes to technology and the net. There are some techie words, but there weren’t that many that it made for uncomfortable reading. For me, the book started off slowly, a bit too slow for my liking. I also felt the start was a padded out with information that I didn’t need to know. Once it got going though the pace picked up and the book actually became very enjoyable.
The main character, Lela was likeable in her own way. Yes, she wasn’t perfect and had plenty of flaws, but that’s what made her likeable for me. She was a journalist with a ‘won’t take no for an answer’ attitude. She was always looking for the next big storyline that would propel her future and status in the journalism world, especially after her career hadn’t been that full on since she help expose a local serial killer named Tusk. I also found it quite amusing how a book about technology had a technophobe as its main character.
There were plenty of secondary characters too, some that were really quite interesting, like 12 year old Hannah, Lela’s niece. Some of the others did grate on me, but you can’t have a book full of characters that you will just like, there has to be a balance.
The combination between the cyber world and the supernatural is perfectly executed, there are also elements of the horror and thriller genres too. If you believe in the supernatural than this could feel very real for you. It is the old cliche of good vs evil, but done in a modern day manner.
If you like to read something a bit ‘out-there’ and over the top, then this is a book for you. The writing may not be perfect, but the book certainly has some great moments that are worth a read.
August 9, 2017
I really think that the synopsis for this book is not up to scratch! Although, yes, the synopsis is what initially drew me to this book, after reading it I can say that the book is
WAY
better than the synopsis would make you believe!
This book tackles the subject of good and evil, with references to demons and black magic… which I didn’t get at all from the synopsis! I was expecting this to have a much deeper involvement with the dark net, what’s on it and how it’s used. While yes, there is that to the book, it’s not necessarily it’s main focus.
To begin with, this lack of talk about the dark net actually made me hesitant about the book. I was expecting something so much different to what I was reading, I felt really disappointed. But, that feeling didn’t last for long. This is so unlike anything I’ve ever read before and that made everything about this book really exciting. Not to mention, this is a super clever book! It uses real life scenarios that we can all relate to, or at least know about, and explains it with a black magic twist.
For example, when talking about demon possession, it explains how small demons can take over and that causes a man to plow a lorry through a busy crowd, or a school shooting – a one off awful occasion in history. But when a big, strong demon comes along, it can posses not only a person, but a nation. It uses examples of the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide, which I thought was really smart!
Characters in this book were excellent, but there were quite a lot of them that we needed to get to know. Juniper was by far my favourite of the bunch, Sarin coming in at a close second. I loved that there was a strong, bad-ass female character who wasn’t irritating (Lela, I’m looking at you!).
As for the story, I will say that it feels a bit all over the place at times. It’s not difficult to wrap your head around but there are a lot of things pulled in to the story at different times and this sometimes got a bit manic. This is classed as a horror novel, and for me, there definitely were some creepy bits. The hounds especially made my skin crawl.
Overall, I ended up really loving this novel. It was short and sweet (although it almost took me a whole 7 days to read), and it was exciting, creepy and fast-paced! A great novel for anyone who likes a darker thriller. Lots of gruesome deaths and bad-ass characters.
Thanks to BookBridgr and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book tackles the subject of good and evil, with references to demons and black magic… which I didn’t get at all from the synopsis! I was expecting this to have a much deeper involvement with the dark net, what’s on it and how it’s used. While yes, there is that to the book, it’s not necessarily it’s main focus.
To begin with, this lack of talk about the dark net actually made me hesitant about the book. I was expecting something so much different to what I was reading, I felt really disappointed. But, that feeling didn’t last for long. This is so unlike anything I’ve ever read before and that made everything about this book really exciting. Not to mention, this is a super clever book! It uses real life scenarios that we can all relate to, or at least know about, and explains it with a black magic twist.
For example, when talking about demon possession, it explains how small demons can take over and that causes a man to plow a lorry through a busy crowd, or a school shooting – a one off awful occasion in history. But when a big, strong demon comes along, it can posses not only a person, but a nation. It uses examples of the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide, which I thought was really smart!
Characters in this book were excellent, but there were quite a lot of them that we needed to get to know. Juniper was by far my favourite of the bunch, Sarin coming in at a close second. I loved that there was a strong, bad-ass female character who wasn’t irritating (Lela, I’m looking at you!).
As for the story, I will say that it feels a bit all over the place at times. It’s not difficult to wrap your head around but there are a lot of things pulled in to the story at different times and this sometimes got a bit manic. This is classed as a horror novel, and for me, there definitely were some creepy bits. The hounds especially made my skin crawl.
Overall, I ended up really loving this novel. It was short and sweet (although it almost took me a whole 7 days to read), and it was exciting, creepy and fast-paced! A great novel for anyone who likes a darker thriller. Lots of gruesome deaths and bad-ass characters.
Thanks to BookBridgr and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 24, 2017
thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.
Whoever wrote the synopsis for this novel may have done it a disservice as it was not what I expected. Within the first half there is a paragraph or two that has a cyberpunk flavor and seems to follow said synopsis, but on the whole the first half of this novel is dominated by more traditional Percy plot devices. In other words good old fashioned supernatural elements with a hint of creepiness.
Percy having matured and mastered his plotting, however steers the narrative back towards a techno thriller path. All in all the result is a suspenseful, exciting and entertaining read. The prose flows with self confidence but without cockiness and Percy whose characterizations may be his Achilles heel populated this title with memorable people.
Highly recommended if you can ignore or skip the summary and just dive in looking for a well paced story.
Whoever wrote the synopsis for this novel may have done it a disservice as it was not what I expected. Within the first half there is a paragraph or two that has a cyberpunk flavor and seems to follow said synopsis, but on the whole the first half of this novel is dominated by more traditional Percy plot devices. In other words good old fashioned supernatural elements with a hint of creepiness.
Percy having matured and mastered his plotting, however steers the narrative back towards a techno thriller path. All in all the result is a suspenseful, exciting and entertaining read. The prose flows with self confidence but without cockiness and Percy whose characterizations may be his Achilles heel populated this title with memorable people.
Highly recommended if you can ignore or skip the summary and just dive in looking for a well paced story.
August 20, 2017
In The Dark Net paranormal technology meets an evil-fighting squad.
The book is about unlikely characters coming together to fight evil. This evil comes in the form of technological threats as well as supernatural demons.
Yep.
I imagined the story would be completely different based on the description of the book, I thought it would be more of a technological thriller like Digital Fortress by Dan Brown but is more like a horror-fantasy book from Stephen King.
The book is narrated from different points of view. The characters are very different from each other and well-drawn by the author. The story is chilling and fast-paced.
The book is similar to The Stand and The Gunslinger, both books by Stephen King. I recommend the book if you like stories with elements of fantasy, technology and horror.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted on blog.
The book is about unlikely characters coming together to fight evil. This evil comes in the form of technological threats as well as supernatural demons.
Yep.
I imagined the story would be completely different based on the description of the book, I thought it would be more of a technological thriller like Digital Fortress by Dan Brown but is more like a horror-fantasy book from Stephen King.
The book is narrated from different points of view. The characters are very different from each other and well-drawn by the author. The story is chilling and fast-paced.
The book is similar to The Stand and The Gunslinger, both books by Stephen King. I recommend the book if you like stories with elements of fantasy, technology and horror.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted on blog.
October 9, 2017
Let's talk about truth in advertising.
When I first looked at the title, It seemed pretty self-explanatory. The Dark Net. I am quite aware of what the Dark Net means in relation to the internet. The blurb at the back of the book didn't sway me any other way. My expectation was one of a William Gibson influenced tech thriller mixing the perils of cyber culture with the terrors of the supernatural. Now THAT would be a novel!
It was not meant to be. Whenever a disappointment like this happens, I am well aware that the expectation of the reader and the goal of the writer can misalign through no fault of the other. But this is where truth in advertising comes in. My expectation is indeed what appears to be the promise of the promotion . The Dark Net just isn't the cyber thriller it is touted to be, supernatural or otherwise.
So once we get that out of the way, what is The Dark Net? Basically it is a supernatural tale of demons, possessions and the gates of hell. Percy sets his story in Portland . How well he incorporates Portland I will leave to others more knowledgeable about the city to sort out. As for this reader, It doesn't really feel different than any other city asides from a few mentions of landmarks like Powell Books. The plot centers on the emergence of persons or devils with dark designs planning for evil around a place called The Rue that appears to be a conduit for such evil. A not-so-keen-on-computers reporter is honing in on the situation and becomes a target for the evil entourage. Add in an ex-evangelist homeless shelter manager, a mysterious woman who may have had one too many lives, and a blind girl who has gained some ability to see due to a surgical apparartus and is now seeing strange shadows and you have the basis for the action to follow.
The problem is I've seen this all before. There really isn't much that is new here for any book featuring demons, psychics, and gates of hell. The dark net gets a mention at the beginning of the book then becomes a minor player. Finally in the last 50 or so pages it goes into play but for this reader it is too late. This may have worked if there were more involving characters but except for Hannah the blind girl we just don't get enough to care much about the rest. Hannah is the most interesting character but she seems to have been borrowed from a few other known horror epics and we do not get enough originality in her character to separate her from the slew of psychically gifted adolescents which have already graced the pages of many supernatural stories. I found Hannah's aunt Lela rather annoying as an aggressive reporter who is hopelessly incompetent with anything to do with the internet or computers. Luddite journalists may have worked in the 90s but not in the 21st century.
There are some nice moments and some good ideas here but they do not come together and eventually blend into the formulaic. it appears we will still have to wait for the successful marriage of Gibson-esque tech thriller and supernatural horror epic .
When I first looked at the title, It seemed pretty self-explanatory. The Dark Net. I am quite aware of what the Dark Net means in relation to the internet. The blurb at the back of the book didn't sway me any other way. My expectation was one of a William Gibson influenced tech thriller mixing the perils of cyber culture with the terrors of the supernatural. Now THAT would be a novel!
It was not meant to be. Whenever a disappointment like this happens, I am well aware that the expectation of the reader and the goal of the writer can misalign through no fault of the other. But this is where truth in advertising comes in. My expectation is indeed what appears to be the promise of the promotion . The Dark Net just isn't the cyber thriller it is touted to be, supernatural or otherwise.
So once we get that out of the way, what is The Dark Net? Basically it is a supernatural tale of demons, possessions and the gates of hell. Percy sets his story in Portland . How well he incorporates Portland I will leave to others more knowledgeable about the city to sort out. As for this reader, It doesn't really feel different than any other city asides from a few mentions of landmarks like Powell Books. The plot centers on the emergence of persons or devils with dark designs planning for evil around a place called The Rue that appears to be a conduit for such evil. A not-so-keen-on-computers reporter is honing in on the situation and becomes a target for the evil entourage. Add in an ex-evangelist homeless shelter manager, a mysterious woman who may have had one too many lives, and a blind girl who has gained some ability to see due to a surgical apparartus and is now seeing strange shadows and you have the basis for the action to follow.
The problem is I've seen this all before. There really isn't much that is new here for any book featuring demons, psychics, and gates of hell. The dark net gets a mention at the beginning of the book then becomes a minor player. Finally in the last 50 or so pages it goes into play but for this reader it is too late. This may have worked if there were more involving characters but except for Hannah the blind girl we just don't get enough to care much about the rest. Hannah is the most interesting character but she seems to have been borrowed from a few other known horror epics and we do not get enough originality in her character to separate her from the slew of psychically gifted adolescents which have already graced the pages of many supernatural stories. I found Hannah's aunt Lela rather annoying as an aggressive reporter who is hopelessly incompetent with anything to do with the internet or computers. Luddite journalists may have worked in the 90s but not in the 21st century.
There are some nice moments and some good ideas here but they do not come together and eventually blend into the formulaic. it appears we will still have to wait for the successful marriage of Gibson-esque tech thriller and supernatural horror epic .
January 9, 2018
Living on Mockingbird Lane in a haunted neighborhood, it is safe to say I am not easily scared. There was the time I heard a tap, tap, tapping in the wall of my house. I tore open the wall to discover the grinning skeleton of a walled-in construction worker--yawn. There was the time I took my date to Inspiration-Point and when I returned home I discovered the bloody hook from an escaped maniac’s hand dangling from the car door—ho-hum. And yet another time I was babysitting the Baumann twins when the police traced the threatening crank calls I had been receiving all night to the second telephone line upstairs—blah. And while Benjamin Percy’s The Dark Net is not all that scary to me, it was rather creepy.
This horror novel details the antics of a Mr. Cloven as he attempts to implement an evil plan to destroy the world as we know it. Cloven has leveraged the feral and untamed expanse of the dark web, using technology to bring the downfall of mankind. Armed with multiple hellhounds and a crew of poorly trained henchmen he implements his fiendish schemes! Luckily there is a ragtag collection of misfits willing to fight back. Elfin ginger (and ace reporter) Lela; bulky gym-rat (and former child evangelist)Mike Juniper; sassy blind kid (who with the help of Geordi La Forge’s visor can now see)Hannah; and a few assorted others (you may call them the cannon fodder) are all willing to fight back against this supernatural onslaught armed only with their divine goodness and a boatload of explosives and firearms. This may all sound silly (and there are moments that would make the Ministry of Silly Walks demand that we all calm down and just get a little more serious) but Percy can certainly build up the suspense. This guy is a solid writer who can convey creepy things through tight vivid prose.
And The Dark Net is very suspenseful and very creepy. Creepier than that fully dressed old guy at the YMCA trying to have a conversation with you in the showers as you are cleaning up. Creepier than Slappy, my ventriloquist’s dummy sitting on the rocking chair over there who is now slowly turning his head to stare at me. Creepier than an Elf on the Shelf. Truth.
Percy streamlines his story to make a massive bombogenesis of startling scenes, high suspense, and alarming moments. This results in an extremely powerful and bone-chilling story that will no doubt leave many readers on the east coast without power and having large quantities of snow to shovel.
Cloven’s henchmen are extremely incompetent and disposable (imagine the minions from Despicable Me and then give them frontal lobectomies and you have the level of intelligence we are dealing with here). The story suffers somewhat from an over eagerness to just get to the good parts. At 251 pages this book really needs an additional 200 more pages to fully flesh out the characters and build reader involvement. I can only imagine that his editor was some rosy checked kid fresh out of college and overeager to trim trim trim the pages. But if the biggest complaint you have reading a book is that there should be more of it, than it must be a pretty good book!
This horror novel details the antics of a Mr. Cloven as he attempts to implement an evil plan to destroy the world as we know it. Cloven has leveraged the feral and untamed expanse of the dark web, using technology to bring the downfall of mankind. Armed with multiple hellhounds and a crew of poorly trained henchmen he implements his fiendish schemes! Luckily there is a ragtag collection of misfits willing to fight back. Elfin ginger (and ace reporter) Lela; bulky gym-rat (and former child evangelist)Mike Juniper; sassy blind kid (who with the help of Geordi La Forge’s visor can now see)Hannah; and a few assorted others (you may call them the cannon fodder) are all willing to fight back against this supernatural onslaught armed only with their divine goodness and a boatload of explosives and firearms. This may all sound silly (and there are moments that would make the Ministry of Silly Walks demand that we all calm down and just get a little more serious) but Percy can certainly build up the suspense. This guy is a solid writer who can convey creepy things through tight vivid prose.
And The Dark Net is very suspenseful and very creepy. Creepier than that fully dressed old guy at the YMCA trying to have a conversation with you in the showers as you are cleaning up. Creepier than Slappy, my ventriloquist’s dummy sitting on the rocking chair over there who is now slowly turning his head to stare at me. Creepier than an Elf on the Shelf. Truth.
Percy streamlines his story to make a massive bombogenesis of startling scenes, high suspense, and alarming moments. This results in an extremely powerful and bone-chilling story that will no doubt leave many readers on the east coast without power and having large quantities of snow to shovel.
Cloven’s henchmen are extremely incompetent and disposable (imagine the minions from Despicable Me and then give them frontal lobectomies and you have the level of intelligence we are dealing with here). The story suffers somewhat from an over eagerness to just get to the good parts. At 251 pages this book really needs an additional 200 more pages to fully flesh out the characters and build reader involvement. I can only imagine that his editor was some rosy checked kid fresh out of college and overeager to trim trim trim the pages. But if the biggest complaint you have reading a book is that there should be more of it, than it must be a pretty good book!
October 8, 2017
Silly me, I thought this was supposed to be about the dark net.
2.5
2.5
October 23, 2018
In the future the fight between good and evil will be over the internet. Demons will lurk there in order to capture your soul. This is the entertaining premise of the latest novel by Benjamin Percy . The author has also written for DC Comics in the past and he uses that experience to good effect in the description of his larger than life characters. I loved all of them ,Cloven in particular. What a nasty, creepy and evil piece of work. A slim novel but a big book ! You'll see what I mean when the carnage ensues ; all of it's described with a cinematic flourish .Excellent Halloween reading!
October 12, 2017
Boy I really really wanted to like this book. There were a couple reasons for this. For one thing, I really enjoyed the interview with the author on the "This is Horror" Podcast. I found Percy to have lots of interesting takes on writing and the plot to this novel sounded interesting. I thought the concept was one that could be really cool. The fact that it was set in Portland a city I miss didn't hurt either. I WANTED to like this book, and yet I didn't. Now there are levels to disliking a book. I finished this book. Making it to the end says something.
As a novelist myself I know the huge amount of work involved in researching,writing, editing and marketing a book. I don't root against books but I felt like I was riding a fancy bike with the chain falling off every time we got some speed.
This book was alot of things going on but not exactly the book I was hoping for. The idea that a great supernatural evil is using the Dark Net - ie the underground unregulated internet is a fascinating one. What was needed to tell this story is a a really technologically oriented point of view that combines the feel of early William Gibson with the supernatural feeling of the Exorcist or The Omen. My favorite Horror film of all time Prince of Darkness is a great example of science fiction meeting supernatural even religious horror. Lets face it the evil in this story has demonic judeo-christian feel to it. One of the negatives to this book is I felt like I understood more about the real life Dark Net than Percy did.
The Dark Net is the story of many characters but our main point of view character is Lela a Technophobic Journalist, others include her niece Hannah who is blind but receiving experimental surgery, Her sister, A hacker named Derick and a former evangelist turned homeless advocate. Lela is investigating a murder that is connected to an apartment building that has a tenuous connection the other characters. There is a story line involving Hannah and the experimental treatment leading to her ability to see creatures that exist somewhere between a technological and spiritual realm.
None of these story elements really worked for me. Lela's murder investigation felt like a totally different story, and once the elements started coming together it I didn't feel anymore convinced. The Mike Juniper story on the surface sounded interesting, with a former believer just wanting to help the homeless but his chapters didn't stand out. Hannah and mother were the characters I found most interesting and even though they open the novel they felt under used.
My biggest problem with the writing were events that seemed to happen randomly just because the author wanted them too. The best example was in the first 100 pages. Look as a ex-Portlander who shopped at and loved Powell's city of Books on paper the idea of a suspense filled horror-action scene taking place in the store is cool. However in order to put Lela a reporter who doesn't work into the store alone Percy set-up a ridiculous scene where a Powell's employee just leaves her in the rare books room after the store closed. This would never happen. So it took me out of the book.
This is just one example but there were several times things happen without any logic except to advance the story. Lela's inability to use technology while it fits the author's narrative it is impossible to believe. So as reader in the first 100 pages there are several major strikes against the book. I can suspend disbelief about demons, but a reporter for the leading newspaper in the state being clueless with technology enough so that she can't download a picture takes me straight out of the story.
Once we get into the third act I feel the title concept of the Dark Net is only touched on in minor ways, and considering it was the subject of the book I wanted more than a wikipedia entries worth of knowledge on the topic. The best techno-thrillers make me feel like the author is in touch with information about the subject I can't understand. The story often meets in the middle. I read this book mostly thinking of ways evil could travel through the dark-net and thinking that Derick was the only character we needed. Then again I didn't believe him as a hacker anymore than Lela as a Luddite reporter in the 21st century.
I wish I could tell you this is an awesome book worthy of your time. It has blurbs from really smart authors Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Chuck Wendig and Paul Tremblay. Percy is a much more successful writer than I am but I just don't see it here. I wanted a smart techno-thriller in the vein of Cyberpunk meets horror instead the third act contains a chapter that felt more like Maximum Overdrive. It was good enough to finish I may give Percy another chance but thumbs down on this one.
As a novelist myself I know the huge amount of work involved in researching,writing, editing and marketing a book. I don't root against books but I felt like I was riding a fancy bike with the chain falling off every time we got some speed.
This book was alot of things going on but not exactly the book I was hoping for. The idea that a great supernatural evil is using the Dark Net - ie the underground unregulated internet is a fascinating one. What was needed to tell this story is a a really technologically oriented point of view that combines the feel of early William Gibson with the supernatural feeling of the Exorcist or The Omen. My favorite Horror film of all time Prince of Darkness is a great example of science fiction meeting supernatural even religious horror. Lets face it the evil in this story has demonic judeo-christian feel to it. One of the negatives to this book is I felt like I understood more about the real life Dark Net than Percy did.
The Dark Net is the story of many characters but our main point of view character is Lela a Technophobic Journalist, others include her niece Hannah who is blind but receiving experimental surgery, Her sister, A hacker named Derick and a former evangelist turned homeless advocate. Lela is investigating a murder that is connected to an apartment building that has a tenuous connection the other characters. There is a story line involving Hannah and the experimental treatment leading to her ability to see creatures that exist somewhere between a technological and spiritual realm.
None of these story elements really worked for me. Lela's murder investigation felt like a totally different story, and once the elements started coming together it I didn't feel anymore convinced. The Mike Juniper story on the surface sounded interesting, with a former believer just wanting to help the homeless but his chapters didn't stand out. Hannah and mother were the characters I found most interesting and even though they open the novel they felt under used.
My biggest problem with the writing were events that seemed to happen randomly just because the author wanted them too. The best example was in the first 100 pages. Look as a ex-Portlander who shopped at and loved Powell's city of Books on paper the idea of a suspense filled horror-action scene taking place in the store is cool. However in order to put Lela a reporter who doesn't work into the store alone Percy set-up a ridiculous scene where a Powell's employee just leaves her in the rare books room after the store closed. This would never happen. So it took me out of the book.
This is just one example but there were several times things happen without any logic except to advance the story. Lela's inability to use technology while it fits the author's narrative it is impossible to believe. So as reader in the first 100 pages there are several major strikes against the book. I can suspend disbelief about demons, but a reporter for the leading newspaper in the state being clueless with technology enough so that she can't download a picture takes me straight out of the story.
Once we get into the third act I feel the title concept of the Dark Net is only touched on in minor ways, and considering it was the subject of the book I wanted more than a wikipedia entries worth of knowledge on the topic. The best techno-thrillers make me feel like the author is in touch with information about the subject I can't understand. The story often meets in the middle. I read this book mostly thinking of ways evil could travel through the dark-net and thinking that Derick was the only character we needed. Then again I didn't believe him as a hacker anymore than Lela as a Luddite reporter in the 21st century.
I wish I could tell you this is an awesome book worthy of your time. It has blurbs from really smart authors Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Chuck Wendig and Paul Tremblay. Percy is a much more successful writer than I am but I just don't see it here. I wanted a smart techno-thriller in the vein of Cyberpunk meets horror instead the third act contains a chapter that felt more like Maximum Overdrive. It was good enough to finish I may give Percy another chance but thumbs down on this one.
December 23, 2018
Ask someone in Portland where the Hadal District is, they’ll look at you funny, say they don’t know. Every city has a place like this. A place unmapped. A place where the GPS goes dark. A place people don’t go, except by accident, and then they’ll drive fast to escape it.
Horror is not one of my favourite genres, and The Dark Net is unlikely to satisfy those who crave it; the chill-factor here is low and unlikely to rob anyone of sleep. It tell of an ancient war of dark forces, named “Shadow People” by the Multnomah tribes of the Northwest, trying to overcome the light - championed by eccentrics - and the current battlefield is the internet, used to spread a virus/plague.
Set in Portland, Oregon, in the build up to Hallowe’en, (Zero Day) skeletons are excavated at a construction site, sold to a company named “Undertown”, which harvests data from the internet. First to protest is tech-averse journalist Lela Falcon, as the building that once stood there, “The Rue Apartments”, was home to Satanist Edward Tusk. Lela goes on site to investigate and seizes a skull…
She does not text. She does not Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or any of that other digital nonsense, the many online whirlpools that seem to encourage boasting and bitching. She doesn’t care about your crazy cat, your ugly baby, your Cancún vacation, your Ethiopian meal, your political outrage and micro-complaints and competitive victimhood. She doesn’t want social media eroding her privacy or advertisers assaulting her with customized commercials. There’s too much noise and too little solitude in the world. Everyone should f__ up and get back to work.
Drawn into the plot to thwart the release of a demon on an unsuspecting city, are Lela’s 12-year niece, Hannah, losing her eyesight to retinitis pigmentosa, and now equipped with technology that allows her to see through electrical impulses; former Evangelist priest Mike Juniper, who runs a homeless hostel in the city; and GEEK Derek, a hacker who crusades against, well everything. With Derek’s expertise, Hannah the innocent, becomes the foil.
At first she feels that she is spiralling along a drain rainbowed with color or maybe funnelling through a tornado that carries millions of LEGO blocks in its wind. There is no up or down or left or right, no depth or design, only a whirring sense of pieces that don’t fit together.
Author Benjamin Percy strikes a fine balance between graphic violence and gorefest, with entertaining characters, (hard not to relate to Lela with thousands of unread emails: “who has time???”). The subplot here is how society has become so entrenched in social media, leaving it ripe for exploitation, for good or evil. I was a bit disappointed in the ending as I like tidy solutions.
Verdict: an entertaining ride.
Horror is not one of my favourite genres, and The Dark Net is unlikely to satisfy those who crave it; the chill-factor here is low and unlikely to rob anyone of sleep. It tell of an ancient war of dark forces, named “Shadow People” by the Multnomah tribes of the Northwest, trying to overcome the light - championed by eccentrics - and the current battlefield is the internet, used to spread a virus/plague.
Set in Portland, Oregon, in the build up to Hallowe’en, (Zero Day) skeletons are excavated at a construction site, sold to a company named “Undertown”, which harvests data from the internet. First to protest is tech-averse journalist Lela Falcon, as the building that once stood there, “The Rue Apartments”, was home to Satanist Edward Tusk. Lela goes on site to investigate and seizes a skull…
She does not text. She does not Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or any of that other digital nonsense, the many online whirlpools that seem to encourage boasting and bitching. She doesn’t care about your crazy cat, your ugly baby, your Cancún vacation, your Ethiopian meal, your political outrage and micro-complaints and competitive victimhood. She doesn’t want social media eroding her privacy or advertisers assaulting her with customized commercials. There’s too much noise and too little solitude in the world. Everyone should f__ up and get back to work.
Drawn into the plot to thwart the release of a demon on an unsuspecting city, are Lela’s 12-year niece, Hannah, losing her eyesight to retinitis pigmentosa, and now equipped with technology that allows her to see through electrical impulses; former Evangelist priest Mike Juniper, who runs a homeless hostel in the city; and GEEK Derek, a hacker who crusades against, well everything. With Derek’s expertise, Hannah the innocent, becomes the foil.
At first she feels that she is spiralling along a drain rainbowed with color or maybe funnelling through a tornado that carries millions of LEGO blocks in its wind. There is no up or down or left or right, no depth or design, only a whirring sense of pieces that don’t fit together.
Author Benjamin Percy strikes a fine balance between graphic violence and gorefest, with entertaining characters, (hard not to relate to Lela with thousands of unread emails: “who has time???”). The subplot here is how society has become so entrenched in social media, leaving it ripe for exploitation, for good or evil. I was a bit disappointed in the ending as I like tidy solutions.
Verdict: an entertaining ride.
November 27, 2017
This book was okay. The entire book reads like a movie but I found it really hard to connect with the characters. I felt nothing for them so when a few of them died I just didn't care TBH.
I loved the gore though. The book did creep me out a couple times but I kept losing track of what was happening. Maybe it's because the entire book reads the same way.
I felt that there was no buildup to a scene and no change of pace everytime something creepy happened. Which is why it took me a month to finish it. I just didn't want to go back to it.
I loved the gore though. The book did creep me out a couple times but I kept losing track of what was happening. Maybe it's because the entire book reads the same way.
I felt that there was no buildup to a scene and no change of pace everytime something creepy happened. Which is why it took me a month to finish it. I just didn't want to go back to it.
December 5, 2017
I don’t usually read horror. This was horror with a technological bent. I couldn’t take it seriously but I did enjoy it.
September 5, 2017
The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy is an imaginative, fast paced, paranoia fueled ride!
Mr. Percy jumps right in at page one. He knits together a mish-mash band of characters to save the world. A do-or-die for the story kind of reporter, a 12 year old blind girl, a man on his second life, and a woman who has lived hundreds of lives all come together to fight the big bad. An evil so dark and deep it will give you the willies. The violence is gory and brutal, but also rather cold and detached. We are told about most of the events happening when the sh*t hits the fan. We’re not really in them. I don’t want to go into too much detail. I feel like not knowing adds to the suspense for some reads. This book is one of them. Just jump in and read!
The action does lose some of its charisma along the way. I felt like the story limped to the end due to some down-for-the-count injuries and casualties. And some of the details and points will feel pretty familiar to anyone who has dabbled in the sci-fi world. But it’s still an entertaining read filled with kickass characters—the good, bad, and in-between kind. I love the in-betweens! Sarin was my favorite. Actually Sarin and Mike Juniper’s interactions were my favorite. They gave the book its snap!, crackle! & pop!
“Something’s happened,” he says. “I need your help.”
“Been awhile since something happened. Is it wrong for me to feel excited?”
Recommended read. Pick it up if you’re looking for a quick thrill.
My favorite line...
“Believe in light.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means there’s plenty of good in the world to offset all the ugliness. But you can’t just sit back and expect someone to take care of you. You’ve got to fight for it.”
February 6, 2017
I wouldn't call this terrifying, but it was very good entertainment. A good mash up of techno thriller and supernatural thriller with a nod to zombie novels. Dryly humorous in it's knowing use of horror and comic books narrative structures. Glad to have stepped outside my comfort zone to read this one.
July 19, 2017
Cleverly horrific. Full review to follow in a featured post near to publication.
August 16, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
A modern take on the classic demon / horror / apocalypse story.
So, I went merrily diving into this book, expecting it to be a thriller about the more sinister side of the Internet. Not so! In fact, it's a horror story, filled with nasty demons, satanic rituals, and plenty of blood and guts. Not my usual thing - but why not, I thought? Let's give it a go.
For the most part, this was an entertaining read. Hannah is a twelve year old girl who is blind, until the docs fit her with glasses that allow her to see 'bad' people. Lela is a hard-assed journalist, determined to uncover the truth about what's happening at The Rue. And Mike Juniper once died, and now he's on a mission to beat every demon out there.
What follows is mostly a conventional horror. Demons plot to over-run the city, through sinister activities and murderous deeds. However, the twist that I really appreciated was the link to the 'dark net' - that nightmarish underbelly of the internet which is terrifying enough in real life, let alone in this book. In this version of the dark net, demons plot to use code to possess humans - and when hell breaks loose, it literally does just that.
So, what was good about this book? It was a rollicking good read, which kept me wanting to continue, which is always a good sign. The characters were gutsy and well-defined, and the setting (Portland) was easy to imagine. I liked the modern twist of the internet link, and felt that the writing was compelling and ballsy.
The not so good? The whole demon thing (like bloody vampires) feels a little hackneyed these days. If we're going with demons, why not make them a little more than fire-spewing, murderous creatures? It's a weeny bit yawn. Also, as someone with a relatively good level of knowledge of Aleister Crowley - just to emphasise, his religion was NOT satanic. I'm not saying he was a good guy (to all accounts, he was quite an irritating, arrogant man) but his rituals were nothing to do with Satan. The suggestion that he was a Satanist is inaccurate and I was a little irritated (sorry author - probably most people wouldn't have noticed, it's only geeks like me who pick this stuff up!).
But overall, I did enjoy this, despite me probably not being the target audience. If you love horror and want a fresh, modern twist, this is a good read.
A modern take on the classic demon / horror / apocalypse story.
So, I went merrily diving into this book, expecting it to be a thriller about the more sinister side of the Internet. Not so! In fact, it's a horror story, filled with nasty demons, satanic rituals, and plenty of blood and guts. Not my usual thing - but why not, I thought? Let's give it a go.
For the most part, this was an entertaining read. Hannah is a twelve year old girl who is blind, until the docs fit her with glasses that allow her to see 'bad' people. Lela is a hard-assed journalist, determined to uncover the truth about what's happening at The Rue. And Mike Juniper once died, and now he's on a mission to beat every demon out there.
What follows is mostly a conventional horror. Demons plot to over-run the city, through sinister activities and murderous deeds. However, the twist that I really appreciated was the link to the 'dark net' - that nightmarish underbelly of the internet which is terrifying enough in real life, let alone in this book. In this version of the dark net, demons plot to use code to possess humans - and when hell breaks loose, it literally does just that.
So, what was good about this book? It was a rollicking good read, which kept me wanting to continue, which is always a good sign. The characters were gutsy and well-defined, and the setting (Portland) was easy to imagine. I liked the modern twist of the internet link, and felt that the writing was compelling and ballsy.
The not so good? The whole demon thing (like bloody vampires) feels a little hackneyed these days. If we're going with demons, why not make them a little more than fire-spewing, murderous creatures? It's a weeny bit yawn. Also, as someone with a relatively good level of knowledge of Aleister Crowley - just to emphasise, his religion was NOT satanic. I'm not saying he was a good guy (to all accounts, he was quite an irritating, arrogant man) but his rituals were nothing to do with Satan. The suggestion that he was a Satanist is inaccurate and I was a little irritated (sorry author - probably most people wouldn't have noticed, it's only geeks like me who pick this stuff up!).
But overall, I did enjoy this, despite me probably not being the target audience. If you love horror and want a fresh, modern twist, this is a good read.
March 11, 2017
This wasn't really the book I expected, but it's not the book's fault. And it was fast-paced and entertaining enough in the end. But I expected a dark techno-thriller and instead got an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink set of elements wrapped up into a messy thriller that didn't seem certain about what it wanted to be.
February 17, 2018
Erros vários à parte (devem ter-se esquecido da parte da revisão), o livro tem um ritmo bastante bom. Tão bom que o li durante dia de hoje. Mas isso também se deve ao facto de estar bastante constipada, portanto não estive para fazer muito mais durante o dia.
Dark Net não é uma história perfeita e houve partes que não ficaram muito bem explicadas (por exemplo, o que é que aconteceu ao certo à Hannah?).
Também não adorei as personagens, mas achei piada à coisa do “technology meets religion”, a ciência e o sobrenatural a misturarem-se na história.
Enfim, 3,5 estrelas, arredondadas para 4, por me ter entretido e distraído enquanto curo mais uma constipação.
Vocês sabem lá o quanto me dói o nariz.
Dark Net não é uma história perfeita e houve partes que não ficaram muito bem explicadas (por exemplo, o que é que aconteceu ao certo à Hannah?).
Também não adorei as personagens, mas achei piada à coisa do “technology meets religion”, a ciência e o sobrenatural a misturarem-se na história.
Enfim, 3,5 estrelas, arredondadas para 4, por me ter entretido e distraído enquanto curo mais uma constipação.
Vocês sabem lá o quanto me dói o nariz.
August 2, 2019
This book is a hot mess. I don’t even really know where to start with it.
The Dark Net is a horror novel with the basic premise what if demons took over our computers? It’s a mediocre take on the idea that our dependence on networked devices, our proclivity for screen-time, leaves us vulnerable—in this case, to possession, psychic hacking I guess. They do say that the eyes are the windows into the soul, right?
One of the problems with The Dark Net right out of the gate is that there are quite a lot of viewpoint characters, not all of whom stick around. The description of this novel, and the opening chapter, would have you believe that 12-year-old Hannah, who is going blind but has a technological novum that might allow her to see, is a main character. Yet after that first chapter we flit around to others, including a character who shortly thereafter gets killed off, returning to Hannah much, much later and briefly.
This has the detrimental effect of making it difficult to get to know our protagonists. The two we learn the most about are Lela and Juniper. One is a technophobic journalist in a stereotypical mode (though it’s useful and justified, I suppose, given what’s happening in the book). The other is a man who has left behind his old life to do the most good the best he knows how, except he also knows how to use a gun, if you know what I mean. Maybe we’re not supposed to get to know our protagonists too well, given how many of them end up dead, but then again, that’s why I don’t usually read horror.
The way in which Percy combines the supernatural element with the technological is not particularly clever. There is a lot of explanation of how hosting, servers, the dark web and deep web and TOR, etc., actually work. That’s cool. And I understand what he’s trying to drive at with the forces of Dark infiltrating the dark net (ha ha ha) and using it as a vector for a supernatural virus of sorts. But the execution just feels stunted, a total missed opportunity to do something truly cool. Instead we get something intense and gory and miasmically chaotic, but it isn’t that exciting.
Similarly, as Percy kills off characters for dramatic effect, we get a lot of hand-wringing from some of the survivors about how so-and-so’s death changes everything and now they have to step up and do something differently with their life. I mean, yeah, the death of someone you know should affect you and inspire some character development. But the development sometimes feels forced and pushy, like it’s trying to get characters to mature and grow faster than they are capable of doing.
In the end, The Dark Net is a gloriously messy ride that is fine if you want some nonsensical horror but is (a) not creepy enough if you want to be creeped out by your horror and (b) not deep enough if you want to investigate the psychology of our relationship with technology. I’d like to say it’s “missing the mark,” but I honestly don’t know where Percy might have been aiming with this one.
The Dark Net is a horror novel with the basic premise what if demons took over our computers? It’s a mediocre take on the idea that our dependence on networked devices, our proclivity for screen-time, leaves us vulnerable—in this case, to possession, psychic hacking I guess. They do say that the eyes are the windows into the soul, right?
One of the problems with The Dark Net right out of the gate is that there are quite a lot of viewpoint characters, not all of whom stick around. The description of this novel, and the opening chapter, would have you believe that 12-year-old Hannah, who is going blind but has a technological novum that might allow her to see, is a main character. Yet after that first chapter we flit around to others, including a character who shortly thereafter gets killed off, returning to Hannah much, much later and briefly.
This has the detrimental effect of making it difficult to get to know our protagonists. The two we learn the most about are Lela and Juniper. One is a technophobic journalist in a stereotypical mode (though it’s useful and justified, I suppose, given what’s happening in the book). The other is a man who has left behind his old life to do the most good the best he knows how, except he also knows how to use a gun, if you know what I mean. Maybe we’re not supposed to get to know our protagonists too well, given how many of them end up dead, but then again, that’s why I don’t usually read horror.
The way in which Percy combines the supernatural element with the technological is not particularly clever. There is a lot of explanation of how hosting, servers, the dark web and deep web and TOR, etc., actually work. That’s cool. And I understand what he’s trying to drive at with the forces of Dark infiltrating the dark net (ha ha ha) and using it as a vector for a supernatural virus of sorts. But the execution just feels stunted, a total missed opportunity to do something truly cool. Instead we get something intense and gory and miasmically chaotic, but it isn’t that exciting.
Similarly, as Percy kills off characters for dramatic effect, we get a lot of hand-wringing from some of the survivors about how so-and-so’s death changes everything and now they have to step up and do something differently with their life. I mean, yeah, the death of someone you know should affect you and inspire some character development. But the development sometimes feels forced and pushy, like it’s trying to get characters to mature and grow faster than they are capable of doing.
In the end, The Dark Net is a gloriously messy ride that is fine if you want some nonsensical horror but is (a) not creepy enough if you want to be creeped out by your horror and (b) not deep enough if you want to investigate the psychology of our relationship with technology. I’d like to say it’s “missing the mark,” but I honestly don’t know where Percy might have been aiming with this one.
November 4, 2024
Disclaimer: I am totally obsessed with the TV series Mr. Robot. Not only is it sleek and mysterious, with incredible characters, but there’s something about it that always leaves me totally hooked (also yeah maybe Rami Malek is kinda of cute ahem). From that I ended up playing a couple of hacking-based video games, and then I was offered this book, which felt kind of like perfect timing.
I have read and reviewed work by Benjamin Percy before (Red Moon), and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, so I didn’t go in with super high expectations. However, to begin with I was quite surprised and was pretty intrigued and drawn into the story. Sadly this did not last very long.
When I picked up this book, I was expecting a high-paced hacker story, full of cool technology. What I actually got was more of a paranormal novel that happened to involve technology. I wasn’t really sure what to make of the supernatural element when it was introduced – basically a virus is being spread via any sort of screen that turns people hostile and incredibly violent, and pushes them to attack and kill anyone around them. There were times where I felt like the hacking and supernatural were completely unconnected plot devices. At this point, my interest in the book started to drop.
Whilst the blurb mentions four main characters, most of the book follows only two. Lela is definitely the main character of the bunch, and she was pretty unlikeable – bossy and selfish. I didn’t care what happened to her, which immediately removed any sense of peril from the book. I also had a bit of an issue with how many times the word ‘rape’ was used out of context. Not cool.
Whilst I may not have enjoyed The Dark Net as much as I’d hoped, it was definitely an easy read. Like Red Moon, Percy writes very well – it was just the story that fell apart for me, with a confused mix of technology and the supernatural.
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
I have read and reviewed work by Benjamin Percy before (Red Moon), and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, so I didn’t go in with super high expectations. However, to begin with I was quite surprised and was pretty intrigued and drawn into the story. Sadly this did not last very long.
When I picked up this book, I was expecting a high-paced hacker story, full of cool technology. What I actually got was more of a paranormal novel that happened to involve technology. I wasn’t really sure what to make of the supernatural element when it was introduced – basically a virus is being spread via any sort of screen that turns people hostile and incredibly violent, and pushes them to attack and kill anyone around them. There were times where I felt like the hacking and supernatural were completely unconnected plot devices. At this point, my interest in the book started to drop.
Whilst the blurb mentions four main characters, most of the book follows only two. Lela is definitely the main character of the bunch, and she was pretty unlikeable – bossy and selfish. I didn’t care what happened to her, which immediately removed any sense of peril from the book. I also had a bit of an issue with how many times the word ‘rape’ was used out of context. Not cool.
Whilst I may not have enjoyed The Dark Net as much as I’d hoped, it was definitely an easy read. Like Red Moon, Percy writes very well – it was just the story that fell apart for me, with a confused mix of technology and the supernatural.
I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my former blog, Rinn Reads.
August 14, 2017
More and more of my life exists online. I’ll not deny it, I’m an information junkie. When I wake in the morning one of the first things I do is check my phone. Not for missed calls, I never get any of those. No, I’m online checking my social media feeds and looking at the news. My job primarily involves working with software applications based in the cloud. I purchase my weekly shop via an online supermarket. I consume all manner of content, entertainment and otherwise, via a host of internet channels. Hell, my hobby is even virtual. You’re reading this review on my website or on Goodreads or on Amazon for goodness sake. The flip side to all this time saving convenience and loveliness is what is present on the underbelly of the internet. For all the good, there is so much bad. I’m sure we can all agree that there is evil in the world. You’ll have seen evidence of it no doubt. I’ve been using the web for decades now and sadly, even though I don’t seek it out, I’ve found myself confronted with it online from time to time. Benjamin Percy takes all that virtual nastiness, takes the next logical leap, and uses it for the basis of his latest novel.
"Anything nasty or forbidden. Anything people don’t want other people to know about. It’s the red-light district, it’s the torture chamber, it’s digital hell."
Of the characters, I think I found Lela, the journalist, the most intriguing. Naturally sceptical, she is mistrustful of just about all modern technology. An old story of hers, regarding a notorious serial killer, has resurfaced and there appears to be something sinister going on in his old killing grounds. Lela is a tenacious sort and she is determined to find out exactly what is going on. What’s the old saying? Be careful what you wish for? Lela finds herself becoming part of the story, discovering things she has difficulty accepting as real. There is a near perfect moment during the narrative where the entire foundation of Lela’s beliefs is abruptly shattered. Her actions and reactions after that point are pitched just right.
At times, The Dark Net can be quite unrelenting and bleak. Though dark, there is something compelling about Benjamin Percy’s writing. While this is a standalone novel, I think this could easily be viewed as the beginning of a far larger story. Based on the novel’s short epilogue, there is certainly scope for exactly that. I’d love to read it.
Overall, as a horror fan and a thrall to the internet, there is something delightfully disturbing about The Dark Net. Let’s be under no illusion here, though not overtly gory, The Dark Net is most definitely horror. There is an unsettling quality to the premise. The idea that something as innocuous as the internet is being used to subvert society. At first glance The Dark Net could be viewed as nothing more than a serial killer tale with some demons thrown in for good measure, but it is so much more than that. This is a modern-day parable regarding the dangers of handing over your entire life to something you have no control over. We’re almost into the realms of John Carpenter’s They Live here
"Anything nasty or forbidden. Anything people don’t want other people to know about. It’s the red-light district, it’s the torture chamber, it’s digital hell."
Of the characters, I think I found Lela, the journalist, the most intriguing. Naturally sceptical, she is mistrustful of just about all modern technology. An old story of hers, regarding a notorious serial killer, has resurfaced and there appears to be something sinister going on in his old killing grounds. Lela is a tenacious sort and she is determined to find out exactly what is going on. What’s the old saying? Be careful what you wish for? Lela finds herself becoming part of the story, discovering things she has difficulty accepting as real. There is a near perfect moment during the narrative where the entire foundation of Lela’s beliefs is abruptly shattered. Her actions and reactions after that point are pitched just right.
At times, The Dark Net can be quite unrelenting and bleak. Though dark, there is something compelling about Benjamin Percy’s writing. While this is a standalone novel, I think this could easily be viewed as the beginning of a far larger story. Based on the novel’s short epilogue, there is certainly scope for exactly that. I’d love to read it.
Overall, as a horror fan and a thrall to the internet, there is something delightfully disturbing about The Dark Net. Let’s be under no illusion here, though not overtly gory, The Dark Net is most definitely horror. There is an unsettling quality to the premise. The idea that something as innocuous as the internet is being used to subvert society. At first glance The Dark Net could be viewed as nothing more than a serial killer tale with some demons thrown in for good measure, but it is so much more than that. This is a modern-day parable regarding the dangers of handing over your entire life to something you have no control over. We’re almost into the realms of John Carpenter’s They Live here
July 31, 2017
Portland
The Rue
The Weary Traveler
Undertown incorporated
The Mirage
Spectrum
Aperture
Zero day
Trojan
Skulls
Relics
Blood Bank
Lock and Key
Human remains
The shadows
Rituals
The Red Priest
Spiritual warfare
Hitchhiker
Cheston
Cloven
Babs
Juniper
Sarin
Lela
Cheryl
Hannah
Hemingway
Eyes wide shut
Exorcist
The strain
Mr robot
The matrix
The ring
Sixth sense
You seen all these and then you will be prepared for this tale.
This author upon the page has created something that may bleed into the world, a take over of sorts, la Porte dell'inferno unleashed.
Midway, the momentum, the author, has you in his vice, and in a triage of thrill, horror and mystery, the sum of all fears contained within, many layers of darkness contained within these pages.
There are two hearts that are memorable within, Hannah a young special girl and Hemingway a courageous floppy-eared German Shepherd.
It's fall, and in Portland, October 31st is fast approaching with echoes of Dan Brown and Stephen king, Benjamin Percy, the author, has really delivered a great supernatural tale of urban legends, just be rooting for the good guys whomsoever they may be.
Please roll out the tv or movie adaptions screenwriters and directors.
"Cyberspace was a whirling codex, a living infinite."
"Right now there are thousands of transmissions streaming through our bodies. Emails, phone calls, text messages, Wi-Fi and radio and television signals. Right now there are billions of particles of dark matter swirling through this very room, millions of bacteria creeping across her hand, and she can’t see any of it. Right now there are thousands of smells that her dog perceives and she does not. Is it that much of a reach to believe that other forces might surround her? Not anymore. Not after what she has witnessed. This isn’t about chasing a story anymore. The story has found her. She is living the story. She is the story. Letters on a page don’t matter. Deadlines mean nothing. For the first time in a long time, she feels a singularity of focus. She isn’t researching old files and she isn’t dreaming up future headlines. She is firmly lodged in the blurred-edge present, where she is being hunted and her sister and niece are in danger because of it."
Read Interview from 2013 with the author @ http://more2read.com/review/interview-with-benjamin-percy/
The Rue
The Weary Traveler
Undertown incorporated
The Mirage
Spectrum
Aperture
Zero day
Trojan
Skulls
Relics
Blood Bank
Lock and Key
Human remains
The shadows
Rituals
The Red Priest
Spiritual warfare
Hitchhiker
Cheston
Cloven
Babs
Juniper
Sarin
Lela
Cheryl
Hannah
Hemingway
Eyes wide shut
Exorcist
The strain
Mr robot
The matrix
The ring
Sixth sense
You seen all these and then you will be prepared for this tale.
This author upon the page has created something that may bleed into the world, a take over of sorts, la Porte dell'inferno unleashed.
Midway, the momentum, the author, has you in his vice, and in a triage of thrill, horror and mystery, the sum of all fears contained within, many layers of darkness contained within these pages.
There are two hearts that are memorable within, Hannah a young special girl and Hemingway a courageous floppy-eared German Shepherd.
It's fall, and in Portland, October 31st is fast approaching with echoes of Dan Brown and Stephen king, Benjamin Percy, the author, has really delivered a great supernatural tale of urban legends, just be rooting for the good guys whomsoever they may be.
Please roll out the tv or movie adaptions screenwriters and directors.
"Cyberspace was a whirling codex, a living infinite."
"Right now there are thousands of transmissions streaming through our bodies. Emails, phone calls, text messages, Wi-Fi and radio and television signals. Right now there are billions of particles of dark matter swirling through this very room, millions of bacteria creeping across her hand, and she can’t see any of it. Right now there are thousands of smells that her dog perceives and she does not. Is it that much of a reach to believe that other forces might surround her? Not anymore. Not after what she has witnessed. This isn’t about chasing a story anymore. The story has found her. She is living the story. She is the story. Letters on a page don’t matter. Deadlines mean nothing. For the first time in a long time, she feels a singularity of focus. She isn’t researching old files and she isn’t dreaming up future headlines. She is firmly lodged in the blurred-edge present, where she is being hunted and her sister and niece are in danger because of it."
Read Interview from 2013 with the author @ http://more2read.com/review/interview-with-benjamin-percy/
June 3, 2017
The Dark Net is a mixture of tech-fi and horror that reads like a thriller. The premise; an undercurrent of evil existing in the bowels of the internet (the ‘dark net’) controlled by ancient demons who have long plagued mankind through manipulation and corruption has risen to the surface to watch the world burn. Separately these elements work very well, together – not so much. The book reads as if the author had a bunch of cool ideas he wanted to incorporate into a novel but didn’t have the heart to edit out any. Adding to this soupy mix of horror, gore, and the internet is a piece of cutting edge technology which essentially cures blindness, opening new visual and spiritual worlds for the users – the Mirage. This element in itself, coupled with the tech-fi components would’ve laid the foundation for a solid story.
*SPOILER WARNING*
Oddly it was the ending of the book which saved it for me. Lela, the journalist technophobe evolves into this kick-butt character who in the epilogue, along with her niece Hannah, hunts down demons across the globe in human form with the help of the dark net – albeit a lighter shade of darkness used for good. This kind of story has legs for a sequel; more action orientated with a splash of tech-fi.
The Dark Net is an ‘ok’ read which could’ve been much better had it not come across as suffering an identity crisis.
My rating: 3/5 stars.
*SPOILER WARNING*
Oddly it was the ending of the book which saved it for me. Lela, the journalist technophobe evolves into this kick-butt character who in the epilogue, along with her niece Hannah, hunts down demons across the globe in human form with the help of the dark net – albeit a lighter shade of darkness used for good. This kind of story has legs for a sequel; more action orientated with a splash of tech-fi.
The Dark Net is an ‘ok’ read which could’ve been much better had it not come across as suffering an identity crisis.
My rating: 3/5 stars.
December 25, 2019
GARBAGE!
Catharsis “to cleanse, purge, vent.”
That's why i write this it's therapy. I'm on page 128 halfway through. It's eating my insides, like the cancer that was in Juniper but i don't have Sarin to pull it out of me, so i have to do it myself by writing this review.
What is this book about?
Who are these people?
What's happening?
At the half way point of a book i should have the answers.
This book is a complete mess.
A cheap rip off of Stephen King's 'Cell'.
The epilogue was the best part.
That's what the book should have been about.
Poorly written and the characters are poorly developed.
Skip it!
Catharsis “to cleanse, purge, vent.”
That's why i write this it's therapy. I'm on page 128 halfway through. It's eating my insides, like the cancer that was in Juniper but i don't have Sarin to pull it out of me, so i have to do it myself by writing this review.
What is this book about?
Who are these people?
What's happening?
At the half way point of a book i should have the answers.
This book is a complete mess.
A cheap rip off of Stephen King's 'Cell'.
The epilogue was the best part.
That's what the book should have been about.
Poorly written and the characters are poorly developed.
Skip it!
May 5, 2021
One of the best books I’ve read all year. It was short, but it packed a major punch. I’m afraid to even look at the screen to write this. That’s how you know a book left its mark.
October 9, 2017
SCARY! Not like Percy's The Dead Lands!
*full review to come*
*full review to come*
January 28, 2018
I think this book was a little bit of published sleeper. It seems like there should have been a wider audience for it.
This book is Batman/Gotham City meets X-Files with an occult leaning. Although it is entirely possible that some of Percy's writing was tongue-in-cheek or comic book dramatic and I just missed that because the story scared me.
It was a shade or two too dark for me. I can always tell this when I look up from my book and the whole world seems just a tint darker.
Ultimately, it is a book where the light prevails. Thank goodness.
So, even though the story was too spooky for me, Percy's writing is awesome:
"She prays at an altar built from twenty-six letters."
"Good doesn't always look like how you imagine it. Sometimes it cusses and wears a leather jacket and motorcycle boots and chain-smokes. Sometimes it deals a little on the side. Sometimes it kills."
"Instead of uttering words from behind a pulpit, he is slinging from the streets a gun, a knife, his fists. This feels like a far more honest and effective way of living up to the same message - defending the light - which he supposes makes him a kind of ass-kicking version of the Great Commission."
"Every family has a terrorist-...an emotional terrorist.... [who] drains and upsets everyone with her pessimism and selfishness...."
"Books are like batteries, he says. And you grow a little stronger by reading them, surrounding yourself with them."
"Someone might see a ghost or a god where others see a shadow. Everyone is making sense of the unknown world with what limited, contradictory sensory equipment we have at our disposal. We're all to different degrees, blind."
"People fuss so much about what they eat.... But they don't worry as much about what they consume online. The people who are infected, their hard drives and their minds are now hosting something invisible, unwanted. Their bodies are processing it. You can think of this as a virus or a spell, an incantation, a collection of ciphers, a protest song that bring about change."
I will definitely be looking for more of what Benjamin Percy writes.
This book is Batman/Gotham City meets X-Files with an occult leaning. Although it is entirely possible that some of Percy's writing was tongue-in-cheek or comic book dramatic and I just missed that because the story scared me.
It was a shade or two too dark for me. I can always tell this when I look up from my book and the whole world seems just a tint darker.
Ultimately, it is a book where the light prevails. Thank goodness.
So, even though the story was too spooky for me, Percy's writing is awesome:
"She prays at an altar built from twenty-six letters."
"Good doesn't always look like how you imagine it. Sometimes it cusses and wears a leather jacket and motorcycle boots and chain-smokes. Sometimes it deals a little on the side. Sometimes it kills."
"Instead of uttering words from behind a pulpit, he is slinging from the streets a gun, a knife, his fists. This feels like a far more honest and effective way of living up to the same message - defending the light - which he supposes makes him a kind of ass-kicking version of the Great Commission."
"Every family has a terrorist-...an emotional terrorist.... [who] drains and upsets everyone with her pessimism and selfishness...."
"Books are like batteries, he says. And you grow a little stronger by reading them, surrounding yourself with them."
"Someone might see a ghost or a god where others see a shadow. Everyone is making sense of the unknown world with what limited, contradictory sensory equipment we have at our disposal. We're all to different degrees, blind."
"People fuss so much about what they eat.... But they don't worry as much about what they consume online. The people who are infected, their hard drives and their minds are now hosting something invisible, unwanted. Their bodies are processing it. You can think of this as a virus or a spell, an incantation, a collection of ciphers, a protest song that bring about change."
I will definitely be looking for more of what Benjamin Percy writes.
November 18, 2019
It was Okay. Seemes like it was full on Unoriginal Idea's. Alot of what he used was taken From Constantine and The Hellblazer Comics.
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