Be Sure You Know What You Are...

At 136 minutes Gods of the Dark Web presents more as a novella than a full length novel and at first I thought this would present a story that skimped on detail or presented as a simplified story to fill such a meagre amount of time but as I clicked play and the story began to unfold neither assumption turned out to be true.

Instead – after a brief, brutal teaser – we are introduced to that character of Niles Highsmith, true crime writer with his own tragic past, and his search for his younger brother who we met in the opening teaser.

Niles journey takes us through his brothers shadowy world, meeting characters of dubious virtue along the way as Niles grows closer to the mystery of the dark web which swallowed his brother into its writhing depths.

One of the strongest aspects of the book was Mangum's ability to quickly produce well rounded characters that seemed to have life outside of the story, something many authors neglect, and the brave stance he takes with these characters. There are no heroes in Gods of the Dark Web, and Niles flaws make it – at times – very difficult to sympathise with him in his journey. A debilitating darkness has infested Niles, perhaps this is due to recent tragic events in his life, or perhaps this darkness is an inherent part of his personality; the latter seems more likely as his brother Leon also travels very dark roads in life.

Gods of the Dark Web is a dark book, one of those books that fits in the genre often referred to as “extreme horror”, a genre which – though I am a fan of horror – I rarely like. Too often stories I have read in this sub-genre degrade to freak-show mechanics where each scene seeks to top the last in its portrayal of perversion.

A reader does have to have a strong stomach with God's of the Dark Web, I would be lying if I told you that you wouldn't, but the violence portrayed did not seem gratuitous to me but rather a necessary evil essential to dragging the reader into the correct – self-recriminating – state of mind for the end message to work.

Over all I enjoyed Gods of the Dark Web far more than other books in the sub-genre, well, as much as someone CAN enjoy such a story of course, but this isn't to say I don't have criticisms; though they are small ones.

Personally I think I would have benefited with a little more scene-setting, perhaps a little more time engaging with the world around the characters, making the worlds beats and flavours more immediate. It would have helped me ground the internal worlds of the characters more into our common world, making the story more immediately affecting for me as a reader.

I also found the narrator an inconsistent one, at times wonderful, with a broad grasp of the characters and a deft “hand” at the dialogue but lacking with scenes that tended to be a little more exposition heavy. In fairness I imagine such a scene would test any narrator, but they are still necessary scenes and still a valid part of any story.

If you do intend to give Gods of the Dark Web 136 minutes of your time (or 109 pages) you should be warned that this is a violent tale that will unsettle you in some scenes and a reader with a more delicate stomach may be remembering those scenes long after they close the book.

Of course much like the characters in Gods of the Dark Web; that last sentence will be a warning to some and an invitation to others, just be sure you know which you are before you answer the call.

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great stuff

i really liked this. it was gritty, interesting and a lot of fun to read. crossroads press is an awesome publisher!

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Amazing

I Enjoyed this audio book very much from start to finish great story line too

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Interesting concept

The idea behind the story was interesting but for my money, the execution and narration let it down. The narrator sounded almost bored, which killed the tension. And for me, the gratuitous gore didn't add anything.

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1 person found this helpful

Dark Web

Very interesting story line. Kept my interest in listening to this audio book. There was never a dull and boring moment. Great read.

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Short but nice

This is a story about a guy looking for his lost brother who was investigating the dark web.

Overall, it is a twisted and disturbing story... but in a good way I guess? I mean do expect horror and gore going in. And if this is what you're looking for, this book doesn't disappoint.

Also, there is a very nice twist in the end that I did not see coming that I quite enjoyed.

I don't believe this book does anything wrong, but I would have liked to:
1. Have it be, just a LITTLE bit longer. Maybe have another twisted dark web video more? Another bad experience? Maybe having a nasty visit? Something. But not too long. It is nice to see some books keeping short and nice, it was that this was a bit too much on the short side.
2. Learned a bit more about the characters. There is some character development, but not much. I guess this may work for you as it does focus on the dark web stories and experience, but I would have liked to learn more about the psyche of the protagonist a bit more. What's going in his mind with the videos? See some more internal conflict. Again there is some of this, but not enough in my opinion.

Overall, you will very much enjoy this book if you like gory horror books. The score is more to reflect that it's your favourite burger from your regular corner burger place and not the Michellen-starred dining experience.

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A solid story with well-rounded spooks

*I was provided a copy by the author on behalf of Audiobook Boom*

A solid short horror story that's equal parts brutal and intense. Whilst it's not my cup of tea, it was good regardless, and the narrator was okay.

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Stunningly dark story.

I love horror, always have since I read The Rats by James Herbert when I was 9 and have devoured millions of stories since. Unfortunately I have noticed a steady decline in the savagery and horror in tales in the last 20 years and they seem more and more sedate in the handling of horror. Maybe it's down to the popularity of authors such as Stephen King who excel at character pieces but lack the true bite that I grew up with and crave.
Due to this I expected further disappointment from this tale as, while the synopsis was really interesting, I figured it'd be another wet fish of a tale... How wrong was I.
A tremendously dark tale of true body horror with a side-salad of Lovecraft all mashed together with the threats posed by our secondary existence in the internet.
Beautifully descriptive in all it's bare-nerve horror and fantastically narrated by Sean Duregger this tale drew me in and held me by the throat through the entire single-sitting listen I did and boy was it a fun ride.
Horror's back baby and Lucas Mangum's at the top with the greats!

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Quality Horror Novella Well Narrated

Gods of the Dark Web is an enjoyable dark horror novella. Lucas Mangum does a great job building up interesting and believable characters in such a short space of time.
Another quality presentation from the fine folk at Crossroad Press. Recommended.

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