A Bizarre mash up of horror, sci-fi and dark comedy
Jacob Miller, a teenager who has lived in the isolated and deeply religious community of New Hope all his life, never believed the old stories about how the devil and his demons would invade their town and carry away souls. Only a few surviving elders could claim to have witnessed these horrors first-hand two generations ago, yet nobody knows for sure what lies beyond the boundaries of New Hope. Everyone who has ever wandered beyond its limits was either never seen again or returned, frightened to death and claiming they’d seen the eyes of the devil himself watching over them from a darkened sky.
Over the generations, the once-pious population has become complacent, and it turns out that the old stories Jacob refused to believe are all too true. Hell is actually a thriving civilization with advanced technology that evolved from an ancient satanic and sadistic culture—with a hidden, and dark, connection to New Hope. With New Hope’s sins mounting—from Jacob’s elicit love outside his arranged marriage to a local pervert who peeps on women and fantasizes about abduction and murder—the next Reaping of Souls is imminent, and the citizens of New Hope will witness the true price of their transgressions.
Dark, edgy and compelling Dusks and Dawns proves an imaginative read for Supernatural Fiction fans with Ralph not only telling a superb story but ably managing to avoid the spectre of predictability which seems the blight of the genre. There’s no outlandish silliness that flat out annoys many of the genre’s readers … a tremendously entertaining read! Not only maintaining psychological tension but encouraging a little reflection on the true nature of evil. A powerful start to Ralph’s God-fearing People series, Dusk and Dawns with its nail-biting cliff hanger ending is highly recommended!
bookviral review
I enjoyed the way this story was not focused on any character in particular. Ralph skillfully highlights each character’s peculiarity as well as ensures to talk about their individual lives. I like the way this story was narrated in a vivid manner that made it so real. However, the book seemed too gory for me. I was not too fond of the horrific nature of the book. In fact, despite speaking of the author’s amazing writing skills, his ability to describe events made the book more frightening. This may not entirely be considered a negative aspect by readers who enjoy horror books. However, I had to stop at times because the book was too disturbing.
Online Bookclub review
A splatterpunk-esque scary novel about a religious community and the Hell they fear, S Ralph’s Dusks and Dawns is a nasty blend of gross-out gore and black humor. When not discussing the various happenings in New Hope, S Ralph’s novel focuses on the goings-on in Hell itself, including horrific punishments, sacrifices to Satan, and epic parties. Different kinds of devils and demons form a kind of terrifying hierarchy, and Hell even has its own rules about marriage and sexual relations. In fact, that’s probably the most compelling aspect of Dusks and Dawns: there’s not much of a difference between New Hope and Hell. Author S Ralph skewers this kind of religious hypocrisy with aplomb, depicting how—in many cases—the religious community’s citizens are behaving way more despicably than the fallen themselves.
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