Recently I've found myself branching out more and reading things I'd typically stay away from - such as military horror; this week's review is a good reason why I've started dipping my toe into things I haven't previously loved. Given the right storyline and characters, it can be wildly entertaining!
A WHISPER IN THE DARK by Guy Quintero
1. I’ll be honest and say that occasionally I found the storyline hard to follow. I’m guessing that’s because I have zero military experience/training, and this book is very heavily military based. Quintero is a former soldier himself, with substantial experience, so even though he did a great job of using both the rookie teammate and internal dialogue to provide additional details and explanations throughout the book, there is still stuff that was just lost on me. That’s completely fine, I understand why it happened and I still very much enjoyed the storyline; my naivety in military matters did not detract from said enjoyment.
2. Maybe because of point 1, I typically stay away from reading anything military-based, however in this series, the combat isn’t against other humans, it’s war against other-worldly beings and cryptids. Who doesn’t want to see an entire voodoo zombie underworld fall?!
3. There are some political undertones if you look for them, which I do. It’s not crazy evident nor did it feel like Quintero is taking any soap-box stance on anything, but if you enjoy a little political sprinkling in your reading, you can find the author taking on topics like racism and anti-Asian sentiment post-Covid as a slight undercurrent to parts of the story.
4. Potential Spoiler *Read with caution – You will fall in love with the characters and Quintero comes in and “Red Weddings” them. It’s straight up Game of Thrones level. I was so angry at Guy for making me feel all the feelings, but I realized it’s war, and that’s just what happens in war. I can’t be mad since these are fictional characters, not real people I’ve been through hell with, unlike what our military men and women experience. That said, I do need a slight break to mourn before going into book 2. I’m very curious to see who/what transpires in the next installment in the ‘Unholy Slaying Agency’ series, especially since I’m guessing it will need to be a whole new crop of characters.
Super entertaining, definitely recommend!