Name: The Dark Game
ISBN: 9781787581876

Jonathan Janz

Ten writers are selected for a writing retreat with the most celebrated author in the world, the legendary Roderick Wells. They think they are signing up for a chance at literary prestige, but they are really entering The Dark Game - a lethal contest pitting them against one another in a struggle for their sanity and their lives.

The Dark Game

Becca Futrell

Thank you to Flame Tree Press for providing me with a copy of The Dark Game in exchange for an honest review.

4/16/2019: THAT ENDING THOUGH!! Review to come!

4/20/2019: I swear, Jonathan Janz is going to go down as a gosh darn horror legend. This is my second read from him — the first being The Sorrows & I am definitely not disappointed. Flame Tree Press has been republishing his works, month-by-month, but The Dark Game is a brand new release & I’m so thankful that I had the chance to read & review it!

Content Warnings: Pedophilia mention, Domestic Violence, Rape, Voyeurism, Abuse, Suicide (both hanging & pills).

“Point is, I was talking to Dallas and telling him how I get down on myself, and he shared two words that changed my life. I still haven’t gotten published, but I no longer write like I’ve got a gun to my head.” 
“I’m listening.”
“Fuck fear.”
She couldn’t suppress a laugh.

Y’all, I am a sucker for novels that center around authors — & I am even more of a sucker for horror novels that center around authors. Horrible things are happening all around & instead of cringe-y at death scenes, I’m over here being inspired to write my own damn horror novel. If your horror novel has an author as a character, consider me sold. My biggest mistake while reading The Dark Game, however, is that I read it at home, right after I got done working & listening to the Kill Creek audiobook — which is another horror novel featuring a cast of authors.

I am proud to say that I kept all of my characters separate, which is a major accomplishment seeing as there are too many characters to keep track of in The Dark Game. This, my ghouls, is my only The Dark Game complaint. Thankfully & I guess this is somewhat of a spoiler, the characters start dropping like flies. As for the characters who met an early demise, I barely remember them, but once they were gone, I had a much easier time connecting with the remaining characters.

What I’ve learned from The Dark Game & The Sorrows is that Janz tends to show the horrors of real-life & places it in a setting of supernatural horror. All of the writers at the retreat in The Dark Game are all a Hot Mess & have committed some extreme & heinous act in the past (i.e. voyeurism, murder, etc.). Due to how shitty some of these characters are, I found myself rooting for the antagonist — just as I had in The Sorrows.

Also, how many times have I mentioned my love for references? Jonathan Janz throws in a few horror movie references & even Easter eggs to his own works, such as The Siren & the Specter.

I absolutely loved The Dark Game. From it’s dark & gruesome tale to how inspiring I found it when it comes to writing & down to the references that appeared throughout the read. If you are a horror fan & are able to deal with the content warnings mentioned above, this is definitely a book that I recommend checking out.

Joana

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I’ve never read a book by Jonathan Janz before, but I’m always ready to discover new authors. Although I really had no idea the ride that was in store for me. The author grabbed me from the very first page, I felt hypnotised by his writing, I didn’t want to put the book down, and as I went far deep into the story, the hard it was to get out.

The characters are the central point of the story, and getting to know them all was addictive. I loved to read about the skeletons each of them had in their closets, the dark past and secrets they all wanted to hide, and these 10 authors had the worst ones!

So what happens when 10 authors and Rodrick Wells all live together under the same roof deprived of contact with outsiders? Blood, blood, and more blood. Every twist kept surprising me. I never knew what was going to happen next, who was going to die, or which of them would win (if any would). The story kept me on the edge of my sit, for the most part, creeping me out, frightening me, and even making me laugh. Between all the darkness and gory moments, there was time to laugh and even to get some justice.

However, I didn’t enjoy the book as much when all the supernatural elements took over the story. That is not my cup of tea, and it made me detached from the story. I would rather a tale of a maniac, of pure human evil with no influence from the paranormal world. That being said, I can appreciate how well thought all the supernatural parts were. Everything had a reason, nothing happened by chance, even if at first sight it doesn’t seem like it.

Even though supernatural horror isn’t for my taste, Jonathan Janz created an amazing story, spilling out secrets as well as guts, with a creepy atmosphere, full of murder, and finishing all off in a fast-paced tale of writers facing their demons.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.