Review: Into the Dark by Jordan L. Hawk

Title: Into the Dark

Series: OutFoxing the Paranormal: Book Three

Author: Jordan L. Hawk

Length: 227 Pages

Category: Paranormal

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: When all is said and done, Into the Dark delivered something unique. If Cozy Horror isn’t a thing, maybe this book just invented it.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: OutFoxing the Paranormal’s benefactor, Ms. Montague, has a new assignment for the team: to investigate the haunted asylum Oscar’s grandmother died in. But upon arriving at the site, they find a rival duo of ghost hunters already there.

Between unexpected competitors and the murderous ghost of a former nurse, the pressure is on for Oscar to live up to his family’s heritage and lay the asylum’s ghosts to rest. Can he prove himself by putting an end to the nurse’s reign of terror, or will the asylum claim yet another victim?

Review: One of the most terrifying things about Into the Dark isn’t the ghosts. It’s the way those who were diagnosed (and misdiagnosed) as mentally ill were abused in asylums before psychiatry developed a more humane and enlightened approach to treatment. Howlston Lunatic Asylum represents the horror in this macabre feast of paranormal mayhem. It’s the ghosts who bring the array of horrors to light.

This book is my favorite of the OutFoxing the Paranormal series thus far. Jordan L. Hawk’s storytelling and voice are magnetic and his characters, even the incorporeal ones, are authentic. The inclusion of two new ghost hunters—Zeek and Adrienne—added a lot more to the story than I anticipated when they were first introduced. Expecting one thing and getting something different and surprising is always a great bonus. Who knew I would grow to like them so much?

Readers know something ruthless happened to cause the restless spirits to persist in this Gothic nightmare of a building. It’s not until we learn who and what and why that our intrepid paranormal investigators escalate the horror to a chilling pitch filled with danger. Working in tandem to save the life of one of their own gives some great suspense and builds some indelible bonds of friendship, if not more.

When all is said and done, Into the Dark delivered something unique. If Cozy Horror isn’t a thing, maybe this book just invented it.