Darkfall

Alec Beaton, janitor for the fourteen story Fernley House, is drinking alone on Christmas Eve down in the boiler room, listening to the sounds of the office parties above as they bleed on down. He is resentful as all get out and the thunderstorm outside isn't doing anything to make him feel any better. Then he hears mucho booming and fears the boiler may be defective, so he goes up to tell the revelers they have to leave the building, only he discovers the building is empty. The people have vanished.Before long detective Jack Cardiff is on the scene to investigate the disappearances as all the while the storm is building, ever building. Then some of the people start coming back, only they are different now, not so happy any more, monsters by God, as scary as the storm of the century outside.Frightening stuff in this book. Good characters and a well told story that stayed with me for days after I finished the book. I really liked this one, but then I'm a girl that appreciates a good scare every now and then.

It is Christmas Eve, and all of the businesses housed in the fourteen story Fernley House are gearing up for an alcohol soaked series of office parties the participants will not soon forget. On the third floor, an architectural firm pours down drinks with reckless abandon. One of the junior partners in the firm decides after a few drinks that he must marry the senior secretary. The fourth floor shindig occurs in an accounting firm, with the bean counters dancing to Bruce Springsteen while somebody spikes the punch with vodka. The employees at Magnus Shipping, Inc., on the fourteenth floor, dance wildly to the sounds wafting up from the other parties, although they would have had their own music if one of the office girls had remembered to bring a tape player. Vincent Saville, one of the employees in the firm, stays back and silently clucks his tongue at the unfolding shenanigans. He feels that upper management should not condone such earthy fraternizing amongst the rabble, but keeps his thoughts to himself lest it should harm his career. Moving amidst all of this tumultuous cheer is the building maintenance man, Alec Beaton, a retired tar with a bad attitude towards the building's inebriated tenants. Not one of them offered Alec a drink, let alone a tip for keeping the building open and the boilers heated up for the parties. Grousing in the basement, Beaton casts aspersions on the jolly souls on the floors above. Outside, a massive storm full of lightening, sleet, and snow lashes the building and the surrounding area.Things take a turn south when an eardrum shattering series of clangs assails Beaton's senses. Nearly knocked senseless by this mysterious event, the janitor suspects the boilers are about to blow and heads up to warn the people still in the building. Oddly, he discovers everyone has suddenly disappeared, although music still plays, lights still blaze, and drinks still sit on tables. It looks as though everyone except Beaton just melted away into the atmosphere, and in way, that is exactly what happened. Deeply disturbed, Alec phones the police and sets into motion what will soon become a massive investigation into what appears to be a supernatural event of tremendous proportions. Over eighty people suddenly vanished without a trace and the authorities want to know why. They do eventually discover what goes on in the deep recesses of Fernley House, although the truth is enough to send the hardiest souls fleeing from the building in terror. Some will stay, of course, to make a stand against the evil fast enveloping Fernley House. Foremost of these brave souls is Detective Jack Cardiff. A veteran cop wrenched away from his desk and the memories of his deceased wife and child on a miserable Christmas Eve, Cardiff soon experiences some of the same eerie events Beaton described on the phone. Moreover, he and several of his officers discover a severed hand on one of the upper office floors, a hand neatly severed at the wrist with no signs o

Stephen Laws has a good reputation in the UK for his work and I was glad to see Dorchester exporting his work to the US. DARKFALL is a wild ride and I understand why UK fans are excited by his work. In this novel, an office highrise is struck by a kind of supernatural lightning storm that seems to bend reality. People vanish, some are sucked into the walls and spit out miles away and turned into superhuman crazies, and bizarre creatures are born of inanimate objects. A detective is on the case and finds a secret government organization on the scene investigating the events. These agents seem to be familiar with the phenomena but are unwilling to share what they know with the others. It is also becomes apparent that the evil behind it all cannot be tamed or controlled. The survivors find themsleves trapped in a house of horrors where anything is possible and the stuff of nightmares has collided with reality... Laws is an exciting export and my only fault with the book is that it is very British, seems kind of relentless (in an unbelievable way,) and the phenomena seems too incredible much of the time. All in all, I look forward to more of his work and think he is an author to watch. His imagination is a real stand out among many authors working in the genre today.

Its always rare to find a book that is original and as compelling as Law's "Darkfall" and this is one to read if you enjoy smart horror novels. Its Christmas Eve and the employees at an office building are dancing and drinking the night away during a thunderstorm. When the caretaker of the building begins to hear ear-splitting sounds, he rushes up to find everyone has disappeared and the only sign of trouble is a severed hand. Inspecter Cardiff, an unhappy suicidal man, is called to the scene and from there the story unfolds. He has heard this story before and he has police go find a thief bythe name of Jimmy Devlin to help unlock the mystery of what has happened.What none of them realize is that what is happening here is even more horrifying than thought. The thunderstorm isn't normal and the occupants of the building have been absorbed into the walls and floor. What is worse is that some of them are returning in monstrous form and its a struggle to survive the night. At the same time, they have to struggle with a team of secret agents being led by a madman bent on self-destruction and "enlightenment"This is the single best horror novel I've read in years and its sure to become a horror classic. There isn't a boring moment and its viceral horror at its finest.It doesn't get better than this.

...or you just find yourself wetting yourself!!! Laws has concocted a highly original nightmarish tale of Darkfall, a phenomenon that will chill you to the bones. On Christmas Eve, a fourteen story high rise is filled with joyous revelers, partying in their various offices. The grumpy maintenance man is in the basement and all of a sudden, his boiler acts up, there is a tremendous clap of thunder..and everyone (except this bloke) has vanished! Where in the world have they gone?Segue to the dependable Jack Cardiff, a police inspector, who is sitting at his desk while his fellow officers likewise party. But Jack is looking at a gun he keeps hidden in his right-hand drawer---suicidal, it seems. Jack lost his wife and son in a horrendous accident years earlier and has never fully recovered his joie de vivre.Back to the high-rise: the janitor found a severed hand on the fourteenth floor. Whose is it? What is this going on with the carnivorous "bag lady"? Whose body falls through a suburban couple's greenhouse? Who is this mysterious Rohmer who suddenly takes over the investigation?Suffice to say, the resuls are horrifying...this is one scary book, and it'll make you give pause the next time a storm crops up. Take my advice---stay away from the walls!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.