Sick. Demented. Delightful. Three words which can easily sum up my reading experience with this relatively new work from Tim Waggoner.
Eat the Night begins with Joan Lantz waking from a nightmare that was so real, it was more like a memory than a dream. A dream of a charismatic singer turned cult leader and the lyrics of a song with the refrain...
Eat the night, eat the night, eat the night, we're gonna—Eat the Night!
This is also the story of an ultra secret organization simply known as Maintenance with Surveyor's, Analysts, Intervention Teams, all serving a Calling to keep entropy at bay. And then there's the Durg. It wasn't merely a carrion eater. It was an everything eater, a thing whose sole purpose was to break down existence as swiftly and efficiently as it could. It was a servant of the Gyre, perhaps in a way even a part of it, an avatar of sorts. That meant the creature was diametrically opposed to everything Maintenance stood for, and it had to be stopped—even if killing it ultimately increased entropy too.
As is the case with many of Tim Waggoner's original works, Eat the Night is incredibly complicated and assuredly less than believable, but somehow the author manages to have it make complete sense in the end. Although, brutally merciless at times, there are a few chuckles along the way, and the result is escapism of the highest order.
There were several moments while reading Eat the Night where I got a Douglas Adams vibe. It could be because I've been watching Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency in BBC America, or it could just be me. Either way a Douglas Adams vibe is a good thing.
This is a quick read I can solidly recommend.
Eat the Night is published by DarkFuse and is available in paperback and e-book formats. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge. Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.
Tim Waggoner’s first novel came out in 2001, and he’s published over thirty novels and three collections of short stories since. He writes original fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Scribe Award, and his fiction has received numerous Honorable Mentions in volumes of Best Horror of the Year. In 2016, the Horror Writers Association honored him with the Mentor of the Year Award. In addition to writing, Tim is also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College.
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