Ink

I received an e-Galley ARC of Ink, authored by Jonathan Maberry, from NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin’s Press; below follows my honest review, freely given. I am thankful for the opportunity. I rated this novel 4.5 stars. This is a standalone novel, but connected to the Maberry universe. First time readers can crack this open without fear of being lost from starting with this work, while regulars will not feel bogged down with filler chapters dedicated to catching everyone up. But as a reader returning to Pine Deep, let me just say, I was doing the happy dance all the way into town. I usually feel pity, sympathy, or some indescribable emotion that serves as conflict towards my final judgment of the antagonist in any given story; not this time. I despised Minor the whole novel, and Maberry wrote him in such a way that I felt unclean reading the sections primarily on him or from his view. There is a clear divide between the good and the bad here, the good shining with an almost unbelievable purity. I waffled quite a bit on if the characters being so easily defined should be viewed as a weakness in the storytelling; but then I thought about how the story made me feel, and I needed one where the good guys were just… good. Not to say they had easy lives, because you will find that Maberry will run his creations through the emotional, and physical, torment wringer, and then do it again and again. 2020 has not been the easiest year for anyone, and for me, reading has been the one hobby I can still do easily, most of the time. So yes, this may have halos on the heroes and horns on the villains, but I was swept up in a novel where I felt better after reading it, does that make sense? I got sniffly at the very end, I was on a journey with people I wanted to see make it, to succeed, to all live to the end, because they were good people fighting the good fight. I did remove a half star because I felt there were two dropped strings in this woven tale. Not big ones, not enough to change the story I’m sure, but enough that I noticed and it bugged me. One was an interaction between two characters that was started, cut away from, but then never finished. The other was more of someone’s life being presented in one way, but them not living like it for most of the book without consequence. It’s done a lot in television shows as well, so it’s not uncommon. But it irks. I think this is a great read for anyone looking to revisit Pine Deep, see what new terrors await, see who is up for the fight, but also anyone that likes dark fiction with extra kick.