Matt McLeod is a man plagued since childhood by a malevolent darkness that threatens to consume him. Following a lifetime spent wrestling for control over this lethal onslaught, he’s learned to wield his mysterious paranormal skill to achieve an odious goal: retribution as a supernatural vigilante.

When one such hit goes bad, McLeod finds himself ensnared in a multi-tentacled criminal enterprise caught between a corrupt cop and a brutal mobster. His only promise of salvation may be a bewitching young woman who shares his dark talent but has murderous designs of her own.

Alan Baxter was kind enough to put out a call on Twitter awhile back for more book bloggers to review his books. I reached out to him, and he generously offered to send me some of his books. Many thanks to the Alan for the opportunity, with apologies for the delay!

I decided to go with Devouring Dark for my first Alan Baxter novel. It sounded right up my street, with a horror/crime/urban fantasy mashup sort of vibe! And goddamn, this was a super badass book…it hooked me in straight away, and the last 100 pages (or so) of this book were OFF THE FUCKING RAILS!!

When we meet Matt McLeod, he’s on a stakeout in a grimy London alleyway. We learn quickly that Matt is doling out vigilante justice, but in an extreme & unusual way: Matt thinks of it only as “the darkness,” a malevolent force that he can channel through his body. When he makes skin to skin contact with someone, they begin to almost burn up from the inside out, leaving only charred bones behind. It’s…pretty fucking gnarly, is what it is. Additionally, using this power leaves Matt weak for days, if not weeks afterwards. And he is convinced that it’s slowly killing him. So he chooses victims very carefully, tracking down the worst of the worst.

Unfortunately for Matt, his secret vigilantism isn’t going to stay secret for long, and he soon finds himself being used as a pawn by a vicious mobster named Vince Stratton.

To further complicate things, Matt has a chance encounter with Amy Cavendish. Upon meeting, they both know right away that they share a very dark secret: Amy has a power similar to Matt’s, but it doesn’t consume her in quite the same way…it’s almost a more peaceful process for Amy.

Matt & Amy play well off one another as characters…although they both possess this dark gift, Matt is like a bottomless well of guilt, and he does what he does almost as a form of penance. There’s more spirituality to the way Amy does things.

Baxter does great work balancing multiple POVs, and he also has an excellent ear for dialogue. Devouring Dark is incredibly dark, violent, & brutal on occasion, but there are also some lighter, funnier moments as well. The book is ridiculously fast paced, and it’s the kind of story you just want to consume all at once. As advertised, Devouring Dark draws on elements of multiple different genres, and bends them them into some wicked new shape. This feels like it could be a great first book of a series (though I have no idea if that’s the case)…I know I would love to see more of Matt & Amy and their supernatural brand of vigilante justice!

Again, massive thanks to Alan Baxter & Grey Matter Press for the copy!!!