The Thing That Darkness Hides

by Robert Morgan

Teddy London faces the greatest challenge of his career when he is hired to retrieve millionaire George Collins's soul, which Collins is convinced he has sold to the devil. Original.

Genres: Paranormal

Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Robert Morgan is a pseudonym of C.J. Henderson.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Rachel Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was different! A sort of thriller crossed with a horror. A man sells his soul to the devil and asks detective Teddy London for his help in getting back. Honestly, this was so much fun and graphic in parts. Given the fact this book has been sat on my shelves for about two decades, unread, it was about time I read it and glad I did! Great characterisation and loved Teddy Londons sarcasm!

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third novel in CJ Henderson's (Morgan is a pseudonym) Teddy London series of Lovecrafitan hardboiled detective novels is something of a letdown from the previous two titles in the series. In some ways this is not surprising; Henderson had received a contract to produce several of the novels at a time when unusual mystery titles were trendy, and he produced the first six novels in the series in just two or three years. There should be no surprise that the quality of the work is uneven and sometimes uninspired. Still, and in spite of the greatly improved quality of the prose itself, this volume doesn't quite live up to the promise of its predecessors. What Henderson gets right is in line with what made the first two novels so powerful: his ability to link PI Teddy London's struggles against evil both to (1) a magic-inflected reality in line with HPL's vision of the universe as well as a line of esoteric traditions going back thousands of years (in the case of this novel, represented by London's growing power over the "dream realm"), and (2) a _material_ manifestation of humanity's collective greed, hate, anger, despair, and downright evil acts and feelings. This most definitely is _not_ a fiction that is OK with overlooking our _social_ responsibility for the welfare of others ("There is no such thing as society;" "Society can best be served by greedy self-interest at the expense of those at the bottom"). Henderson makes it crystal clear in this novel that conservative, libertarian ideology is ultimately damaging to all but the powerful and the wealthy. We need to enter the struggle against evil together, not alone.

What makes this novel not quite what it should be, however, is the general lack of a plot. This would have made a fine short story; however, there's just not enough action to sustain a full novel. There is an awful lot of padding going on here, and it's too obviously going on. The other main problem is the gratuitous homophobia (avoiding spoilers; just let me say that, at one point in the work, part of what London is fighting is said to be a "homosexual"). This element is inserted into the story and, quite literally, forgotten by everyone in the story immediately after. So why even include it? It's senseless.

This novel feels more like a semi-necessary bridge to the works that come after it than a fully-formed work in its own right.

[Trevlix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Teddy London series. The book takes our hero, Theodore London - supernatural detective, into a battle against the devil himself (don't worry - this isn't a spoiler as you find this out on page 3).

I liked this book, but not as much as the first two. In this one you don't have as much character development and by halfway through the book you can guess whats going to happen. However, this is a very quick read (took me 2 days) and still a very good book. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.