Night Terrors
Shadow Watch, Book #1
By Tim Waggoner
ISBN# 0857663704
Author’s Website: www.timwaggoner.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Alina
Beware of possible spoilers
Audra Hawthorne is a 20-something with a huge problem: her worst nightmare has come to life and is walking by her side right now. His name is Jinx and he is the most terrifying clown you have ever seen. Together with the other members of the Night Watch, they protect the people of Earth from their nightmares and their embodiments: scary Incubi that only people’s nightmares could have produced. When the balance between Earth and Nod (the Incubi’s own town) is threatened, it is up to Audra and Jinx to save the day.
I cannot tell you how much out of my comfort zone I was when I decided to read this book. Horror has never been and, I thought, will never be my thing. Until I chose to read this book and I am so glad I did. I loved it and I cannot wait to read the next n the series. The book starts in fast mode and does not relent for one moment. It keeps you in its grip and does not let go, until you have reached the last page. It was an amazing read. I loved the writing technique and no wonder: after I finished it I googled the author, Tim Waggoner, and found out he writes articles about writing and teaches creative writing.
I loved that you can also feel how much fun the author had while writing the book. He comes up with names for all the monsters, like Pirate-Boy or Beanzilla, the monument that comes to life and attacks them during one of the Incursions that first alerted Audra and Jinx to the fact that there was something weird going on.
The characters are also extremely likeable. Audra had a lot of trouble sleeping as a child, because of the terrifying nightmares she had. She even had to go into therapy. Unfortunately that didn’t help and thus, her sidekick Jinx was born. He even likes to refer to her lovingly as his “Mummy”, to her annoyance, of course. She seems very serious and dedicated to the work they do for the Night Watch, but also has a naughty side to her that I found entertaining.
Jinx is even more fascinating because he has two Aspects: his Night Aspect, his true self, and the Day Aspect, which is a disguise when they travel to Earth during the day. Of course, since I am not a horror fan, I should have preferred the Day Jinx, who is into art, decorations and watching food channels. But the Night Jinx, with all his clownish looks, enormous strength and scary laugh, was a provoking experience, so I can’t really choose.
There is also some attempt at romance which I liked. Just the right amount, not too much to put us out of action. The Pirate-boy turns out to be an old friend of Audra’s from her days in therapy, and he proves very helpful in dealing with the problems she is facing:
“So you’re trying to tell me that you’re working with these mysterious They and that They want you to pretend to help me for whatever reason, but in reality, you really do intend to help me, and you don’t want Them knowing. Is that it?”
There are also other characters, both good and evil, that are pretty well-rounded and I would love to know more about: the pair, Jack and Lizzie, Abe and Maggie, and especially Maggie’s Incubus, the Darkness.
All in all, a great read that I would recommend to everyone, not only horror genre lovers.
