Welcome to Dark Reads Review for the final instalment of The Fearing – Earth & Ember by John F D Taff.
Firstly apologies it’s taken so long for me to get this review up, I finished Earth & Ember before Christmas but life has been far too hectic lately!
Many thanks to Tony at Grey Matter Press for providing me a copy of the book in return for my review.
About The Book
John F.D. Taff’s supernatural epic, The Fearing, concludes in Book Four: Earth & Ember as maniacal leader Tim Jacoby solidifies his militaristic control over his followers by choosing who will live and who will die.
With a new destination in sight, survivors fleeing the encroaching darkness that’s devouring everything in its path arrive at Graceland to re-establish society. But it could also change it forever.
And as humanity’s extinction appears on the horizon, Adam and Jelnik contemplate their mysterious roles in the end of all things. Under a silver arch, they confront all that remains of humanity and, together, gather to face what waits within the darkness.
Everything ends here.
- Paperback: 170 pages
- Publisher: Grey Matter Press (11 Nov. 2019)
- ISBN-10: 1950569039
- ISBN-13: 978-1950569038
Get your copy here
Dark Reads Review
Well here it is, the finale we have been working our way towards over the last few months, the curiosity and anticipation has been real!
In this last installment we follow our group of survivors as they continue to face fear in the many ways it can manifest itself, I think I mentioned in my review for the previous installment, I love the concept of human fears confronting the survivors, it could take you anywhere and Taff has certainly done this in deliciously dark and horrifying ways.
The characterisation continued to be fantastic, all are so believable and relatable as they have been throughout.
It’s difficult to write a meaty review when I’ve reviewed the previous parts individually and I obviously don’t want to drop any spoilers, but all I can say is that book 4 did not disappoint, it was tense, brutal and mind-bending in places.
I often find with post-apocalyptic stories I enjoy the mid-section parts more than I enjoy the ending but I must say Earth & Ember was a satisfying close to what has been an epic journey and I can’t recommend highly enough that you read The Fearing immediately!
Check out my reviews for the previous installments if you want a more overall idea of my thoughts on the series as a whole
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.
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