Review: Black Creek by Dan Kemp

Black Creek by Dan Kemp 
Self-Published

Publication Date: June 11th, 2018

Ebook. 459 pages

About Black Creek:

"The year is 1890, and a small town mayor is trying to hold his community together, while seeking revenge for his wife's recent murder. 

The year is 1972, and a small time crook is in way over her head as a deal goes very wrong. 

The year is 2020, and a homicide detective is on the trail of a serial-killing vigilante. 

On the eve of the 2020 presidential election, these characters, their stories, and more collide in cataclysmic fashion. 

The world will never be the same again, in an often grim, sometimes hopeful, modern fantasy that spans across the ages."

Black Creek is an ambitious and unpredictable fantasy quite unlike anything I've ever read.

The most important thing to know going into this book is that you might be a little confused at various times, but just hold on because I promise everything rights its eventually in some of the most creative ways. As you can see in the synopsis, the story switches between multiple timelines and casts of characters, but maintains a very important tie throughout all them that works to bring the story together.

After a rather life-altering event occurs in the 2020 storyline, the world is sort of thrown into a survival state that reminded me a bit of some post-apocalyptic books I've read in the past. The cause of this 'crisis' is is due to the fallout of a monumental conflict that occurs and also one that I found myself immediately drawn into. As a result, things start to get a bit dangerous and unpredictable for people on their own in this world and it was particularly interesting to see how all of these components played out for different people: for instance, some fall into a sort of cult following of a man they think is all-powerful, James, some create their own safe haven, and some just try to live where they can. I loved how Kemp explored these ideas and developed such an interesting world with so many different types of people.

The characters are all compelling in their own right and have some interesting storylines that all work together to explore more aspects of this world. I'm not sure how much I can say about each of them without getting too deep into plot details, but the main characters seem be Dorian, Jess, Skye, and James. James is easily one of the more fascinating characters I've read lately and I was entranced by his entire life story as portrayed in the book. Dorian, Jess, and Skye all come from vastly--and I mean vastly--different situations in this novel and I enjoyed seeing how they handled each situation that was thrown at them. My only sort of 'negative' is that I do think they could have been developed a little more, as their characters felt slightly stilted and similar at times.

This book is hard to sort of succinctly 'sum up' in a review because there are so many different ideas and experiences that occur within it. It's a wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed and sped through much quicker than I expected to, which I think speaks well of Kemp's pacing. This story does have its slower moments, but nothing ever really dragged and I found all aspects and plot points equally compelling due to a steady pacing and consistent prose style. There is a constant sense of unpredictability and the knowledge that anything could happen at any moment that makes this is a book that's hard to put down.

Overall, I've given Black Creek 4.25 stars! This was such a fascinating and unexpected surprise and I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to read it. If you're looking for something new, I implore you to check out Black Creek!

*I received a copy of Black Creek courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment of the novel.*

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