Some people say: Bad luck often
brings good luck, or: Only a thief could catch a thief, others that only light could
destroy darkness… Yet, Luke Romyn’s book is certain prove about the truth in
both sentences.
The modern story about the saving of a
new messiah from an ancient and disgusting cult contains so many vivid
descriptions of horrible killings, bloody scenes of mafia and
assassins’ wars, hatred and will to destroy all the sacred and kind in life,
that many readers would definetly have nightmares after turning over some of
the pages. Many of them will be convinced that only the evil deeds would deal
with the dreadful way of the murderers and their bosses to earn their living
and satisfy their striving for power. Evil is the best tool against the horrors
done by any bad characters and kings of the crime realm, they would say,
pointing out that the most dreadful assasin was the one who actually saved the
young messiah from his inevitable doom. Others would remember the glorious
power of the good intentions, triumphing over the most powerful weapon of Satan
and would claim there’s nothing that could beat the kind thoughts and wise
decisions...
The breath-taking adventures of
the messiah-kid and his protector, the ex-good cop and present dreadful
assasin, are described by an
excellent style. Usually, stories written in English have to contain short
sentences, dividing those with more words to a couple of separate lines. Yet,
that way the style changes and the events and thoughts described by an author
become something different… Luke Romyn’s writing, however, has long enough
sentences with all the necessary adjectives, verbs, descriptions, etc. to make
his story more breath-taking, interesting, and even with some touch of the
ancient fairy-tales, according to my opinion. His imagination is as good as his
writing skills and I guess everyone would enjoy all the adventures of the
main characters, trying to escape the dreadful chasers of the most evil cult
and their many cunning traps.
However, The Dark Path is not
just a new story about merciless killings and evil, religious fanatics’s plans.
Amongst all the bloody scenes and supernatural creatures, the author included
some amazing philosophy, revealing the importance to do good and what the world
would look like with a real balance between all the nations. Because of the author’s way to reveal his
thoughts and imagination, many, if not all, of the non-believers would reconsider
their attitude towards Bible and religious teachings at the end of the book. I guess
that, together with the great writing style, would make those who don’t like to
read and prefer to watch movies based on books instead to become better book lovers. Besides, reading the story,
everyone would discover the great experience to „see” and „feel” such details
which could be hard to notice watching a movie, no matter what good special
effects its creators included. The
description of hell, for example, is so vivid and horribly awesome that it
could send cold shivers even down the spines of the toughest readers and horror
genre’s fans. For some others, it could turn out to be a mirror for their deepest
and most dreadful fears… I guess a hell where the devil’s a woman could surpass
the wildest fantasies or nightmares…
Despite the author’s breath-taking way to put to words
the gripping adventures of his characters, some book-lovers would admit The
Dark Path is naïve at some moments (though I would say that’s a part of its
beauty too, aren’t we all at least a bit tired of all the “meaningful” reality?).
They would probably add that the end is too sudden and incomplete (and that’s
the only thing in the book I don’t like too), yet it seems it’s just the author’s
way to make the “passage” to his next stories smooth enough…
No matter how good Luke Romyn is at describing horrors
and ever-lasting philosophy, his skills in humour and jokes are amazing too.
His facebook page and site are full of evidences for that: https://www.facebook.com/luke.romyn?fref=ts. Though the author prefers to write dreadful mysteries
like The Dark Path, I guess if more people ask him to combine his funny
thoughts in a story or two (or include them in some of his other works), he
would create some new, even more amazing books, with a perfect balance between
fun and seriousness. Good luck in the future, my fb friend, Luke Romyn! Let the wonderful
noise of the sea always sounds in your ears! (as my water dragons' hunters
would greet).
www.allanbard.blogspot.com, www.allanbard.wordpress.com