Big thanks to Tony (with a Y) at Grey Matter Press for providing me with a copy of the Book in return for my review.
About The Book
John F.D. Taff’s apocalyptic novel, The Fearing, continues in Book Three: Air & Dust as Adam and Jelnik make their way to a prophetic meeting and a mysterious darkness is creeping inward from the horizon, further threatening the lives of all who remain.
Amid the devastation of his Georgia church, a Baptist minister comforts an orphaned girl suffering from amnesia. All she knows is her name. Together they confront the darkest of fears as they make their way to a gathering point for the remnants of society.
After a disastrous night of attacks at an abandoned airfield, a group of survivors plans its exodus. But their hopes are dashed when an autocratic leader arrives to seize control. Fears are one thing, but could this man represent something far worse?
- Paperback: 120 pages
- Publisher: Grey Matter Press (1st October 2019)
- ISBN-10: 1950569020
- ISBN-13: 978-1950569021
Get your copy here
Dark Reads Review
Air & Dust is a change of mood from the first two parts of The Fearing and I loved it!
This was a really nice section of the story in which we got to know some of the characters better, especially Monday and Mark. I’m fascinated by the way her story is unfolding and the realisation (I think) of her part in the overall story arc, I’m very excited to see what is to come next for her.
There was also some really good insight into Adam’s reasoning and his dark plans. This part does give some answers but raises a whole lot of questions too.
A large chunk of Air And Dust was based at Camp Straggalot, where a group of survivors are camped out, as expected there are a real miss match of people that ordinarily wouldn’t have crossed paths all trying to survive together. I enjoyed the sharing of stories about the horrific things the different groups of people had experienced since this began. It soon becomes clear that there is no safety in numbers especially when a whole new fear arrives at the camp.
I remember thinking to myself at one point that Taff could really let go and have fun with this book, there is no end to the unimaginable horrors that can be inserted into this story, he seems to have certainly done that so far!
The concept of this ominous darkness slowly closing in on everyone is great, as a reader it gave me a real feeling of claustrophobia and that things are really coming to a head. I have a feeling of impending doom and I love it! This penultimate part of The Fearing has perfectly set up the final part and I can’t wait to get started! Bring on the Fear!!
Air & Dust was a cleverly written blend of scene setting, realisation and of course another tonne of terror from the King Of Pain!
Ok, I’m off to make a start on the final part of this epic story right now!
If you haven’t already you can check out my reviews of the first two parts here –
If for whatever reason you haven’t started your journey into this serialized novel as yet, go get yourself copies, this is a MUST for all Horror and Dark Fiction fans!
About The Author
From The Authors website
John F.D. Taff is a Bram Stoker Award®-Nominated author with more than 30 years experience, 90+ short stories and five novels in print.
His first fiction collection, Little Deaths, was named the best horror collection of 2012 by HorrorTalk. Jack Ketchum called his novella collection, The End in All Beginnings, “one of the best novella collections I’ve read.” His new fiction collection, Little Black Spots, will be available from Grey Matter Press in the Spring of 2018.
Look for more of his work in anthologies such as Cutting Block Book’s Single Slices, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, The Beauty of Death, Shadows Over Main Street 2 and Behold: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders.
Taff lives in the wilds of Illinois with three pugs, two cats and one long-suffering wife
Dark Reads & Deck Reviews 
I have an earlier Taff story on my TBR, looking forward to reading it!
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