Released: July 2019
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 336
Rating: 3.5/5
A sequel continuing the story of one family’s dark history with alien abductions and the government that is trying to silence them.
Set fifteen years after William Chance was abducted by aliens as a child, he is now living under the radar to protect not only himself but his family. The government is dedicated to keeping the general public from the truth and will go to any lengths to keep William and his family quiet.
His tenuous existence is shattered when media outlets finally find him, but it’s not just news cameras that swoop in. Black helicopters and men with guns descend on his trailer and now with a young girl with terrifying abilities by his side, he has to go on the run. He is soon joined by others who have dedicated their lives to exposing the reality of aliens and together they will have to save the world from destruction before the secret government agencies can stop them.
Before I go any further, I’d like to point out that I haven’t read the first book, The Darkest Time of Night. I think this put me at a major disadvantage because the first hundred pages or so of The Dark Above made it pretty clear that I really needed to have read the first book to understand what was going on. If I had been familiar with the backstory and the characters I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more, but because I had only read the synopsis I was fairly lost at first and couldn’t get into what I was reading. Eventually some of it was explained but I found myself having to keep reading detailed reviews of the first book to come to grips with the story.
The opening chapters are mostly dialogue and inner monologues among characters that the reader is supposed to have already been introduced to, but because I wasn’t I was a little lost and (sadly) bored. Luckily, though, after a few chapters things really started to kick off. There were some blockbuster movie levels of action going on and I finally found myself utterly sucked in.
The best parts of this book are those that include an enigmatic, almost mute young girl named Lily who seeks out William. This girl deserves her own book series. She has powers reminiscent of Eleven from Stranger Things and I absolutely adored her despite her violent tendencies. Much like how I feel about Eleven now that I think about it.
Aside from the above mentioned issues I had with the book, there was a lot of dialogue that I don’t think needed to be there. It got tedious after awhile and occurred the most with William’s grandmother and other family members, so I found myself getting a bit disinterested during those chapters. It’s a shame because his grandmother in particular seems like a very cool lady I’d love to have a Tom Collins with.
I can’t necessarily fault the author for most of what I didn’t like, so please don’t think I’m saying this is a bad book. It definitely isn’t. The awesome descriptions of the action scenes alone were enough to make me want to keep reading. If I had read The Darkest Time of Night I would probably be raving about this follow up. Aliens, shadowy government agencies, cover-ups and things that go boom? Sign me up!
It was all similar to some of the long-running storylines we had with one of the best shows of all time, The X-Files. I imagine anyone not familar with The X-Files would feel similarly if they were watching scenes and dialogue that weren’t from the “Monster of the Week” episodes.
I feel like I’ve mostly had negative things to say about The Dark Above, but please understand I did enjoy reading this alien abduction tale. I also love the stunning cover that fits perfectly with the story. I just think anyone who wants to read it should read the first book beforehand so they can get the most out this sequel. It’s my own fault really, so don’t let me scare you off.
The moral of the story here is: don’t read book series out of order unless otherwise instructed or you probably won’t have as much fun.
Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Buy on Amazon.com
A Little Nerd Told Me is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission. There is never any extra cost to you.
A Little Nerd Told Me 
1 thought on “The Dark Above by Jeremy Finley (William Chance & Lynn Roseworth #2)”