Review: THE DARK NET by Benjamin Percy

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Length 272 pages
Format ebook
Published 2017
Series standalone
My Copy provided by the publisher

My Review

The Dark Net is a mixture of tech-fi and horror that reads like a thriller. The premise; an undercurrent of evil existing in the bowels of the internet (the ‘dark net’) controlled by ancient demons who have long plagued mankind through manipulation and corruption has risen to the surface to watch the world burn. Separately these elements work very well, together – not so much. The book reads as if the author had a bunch of cool ideas he wanted to incorporate into a novel but didn’t have the heart to edit out any. Adding to this soupy mix of horror, gore, and the internet is a piece of cutting edge technology which essentially cures blindness, opening new visual and spiritual worlds for the users – the Mirage. This element in itself, coupled with the tech-fi components would’ve laid the foundation for a solid story.

*SPOILER WARNING*

Oddly it was the ending of the book which saved it for me. Lela, the journalist technophobe evolves into this kick-butt character who in the epilogue, along with her niece Hannah, hunts down demons across the globe in human form with the help of the dark net – albeit a lighter shade of darkness used for good. This kind of story has legs for a sequel; more action orientated with a splash of tech-fi.

The Dark Net is an ‘ok’ read which could’ve been much better had it not come across as suffering an identity crisis.

My rating: 3/5 stars.