Fear the Darkness: Anderson Psi Division #1

By the year 2126, atomic war has decimated humanity and the world is a bleak wasteland, inhabited by mutants and freaks. Most people live in vast, walled cities. Boredom, unemployment, and crime is sky high. The authorities must use an iron fist to keep the 400 million citizens in check. Justice is upheld by the implacable Judges. They are empowered to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Radioactivity has given some people dangerous talents: telekinetics, pyromaniacs, telepaths, and more. It is the Psi Division's task to do what the regular judges cannot: deal with supernatural phenomena and hunt mutant psychics down. Its ranks are comprised of telepaths and psychics, able to scan minds, even those recently deceased. Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson is the best in the division. For unknown reason power is briefly being shut down at random times within Sector House 12. Upon regaining power a felon is found burned to death in a holding-cube. Those first on the scene find the word "Judged" written upon the wall with the victim's blood. However, when others arrive on the scene, the bloody word has disappeared and forensics cannot find any evidence that it had ever been there. Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson is sent to investigate. Judge Anderson soon realizes that a malignant psychic presence is at work. This dark presence can possess normal civilians and even some judges. But what this entity wants is worse than anyone could possibly imagine. ***** This is Psi-Judge Anderson's debut novel. It combines futurisic sci-fi and horror in such a way that I had chills traveling down my spine often. I strongly recommend that you not begin this novel until you have lots of spare time. I absolutely could not force myself to stop reading; therefore, I ended up reading the entire book in a single sitting. I eagerly await the next Judge Anderson episode! OUTSTANDING! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Over the past few years the Black Library from Games Workshop has put out a number of books featuring the longtime 2000 AD hero Judge Dredd. But now, finally, they are giving Psi-Judge Anderson her own series and Fear the Darkness is the debut novel. You know whenever Anderson is involved, that the supernatural elements are going to be ratcheted up a few notches. The opening chapter serves to introduce Anderson, should anyone need it, and gives us a quick glimpse into her powerful psychic powers. She and a rookie Judge named Whitby have to descend down into the depraved world of the Undercity of Meg One to locate a young boy who was kidnapped by Satanic cultists. Whitby is quickly getting skittish as the growing number of cannibalistic trogs that are massing while Anderson admonishes him to be quiet so she can get a psychic trace on the boy. They locate him in an abandoned church and rescue him just as he is about to be sacrificed but they're not getting out so easily as the pair soon find themselves battling a demon who has come through the door opened by the cultist's leader. The opening chapter helps new readers get acquainted with Anderson's powers and personality and while long-time readers certainly need to introduction, it was still an exciting little mini-adventure. Anderson gets little time to rest however. She is summoned to Sector House 12 to investigate the death of a convicted man who was being kept in one of the holding cells. The man was burned to death yet oddly no other part of the cell was burned. Futhermore, a message scrawled in blood reads "judged". But when Anderson investigates the holding cell she is surprised to find there is not a trace of phychic aura. An investigation of the body itself ends up the same way. Such a trauma would have left psychic residue but the victim seems to have been completely erased from existence leaving only an empty shell. There is no trace of memory whatsoever! Anderson soon learns that this is the sixth such murder that has taken place at the Sector House, all beginning with a power outage, followed by the victim being burned alive. Tom complicate matters, the SJS (Special Judicial Squad) the group that judges the Judges, has become involved in the investigation as they think the murderer may be one of the Judges. They are not happy when a Psi-Judge becomes involved, especially when that Judge is the well known Anderson. The chief of the SJS investigation, Hass, does everything he can to slow Anderson's investigation but even he cannot deny some supernatural activity being involved when a veteran Judge seems to go insane, and attacks other Judges. Anderson soon detects the presence of a malevolent entity within the Sector House but what may be worse is that the entity is aware of Anderson as well. Fear the Darkness works well not as just a sci-fi story set within the futuristic society of Mega City One, but also as a dark horror tale. Anderson proves she's every bit as t