Book Review: ‘Bullets in the Dark’ by Cath Lauria (An Arkham Horror Novel)
It’s been a few months since the incident in Arkham. The one where the water wouldn’t stop rising, and something else was rising with it. The city is working on rebuilding, but some things should never be rebuilt, and Isabelle Barnes is determined to make sure those things aren’t. With the help of maybe the only decent cop in Arkham, Tommy Muldoon, Isabelle works to uncover who is behind a series of disappearances stretching back years. When she finds them, she will stop them and have vengeance for those missing people, no matter what it takes. Join Isabelle and Tommy as they try to find justice for Arkham’s forgotten people in Bullets in the Dark by Cath Lauria.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Aconyte for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Bullets in the Dark contains some spoilers!]
If no one will give her justice, Isabelle Barnes will find her own
Isabelle Barnes is no stranger to the esoteric side of Arkham. She was almost sacrificed not once but twice by one of its many cults, and her sister lost her life saving her from that doom. Now Isabelle is obsessed with getting revenge against the people who hurt her and killed her sister. She tries to do it the right way, using the courts. But her enemies have money. Justice may be blind, but that doesn’t make her fair. The court system lets Isabelle down. But don’t count her out.
Isabelle is more determined than ever to bring the elite of Arkham to justice, but she’s not sure what to do. Then a sweet officer of the Arkham PD, Tommy Muldoon, offers her a way. He has noticed quite a few peculiar missing person cases piling up at the station. His superior doesn’t want to bother with them; people go missing every day, but Tommy thinks there’s something more. He offers to team up with Isabelle to try to get to the bottom of where these (mostly) girls are disappearing to and why.
Isabelle is ecstatic that someone is listening to her and isn’t giving up. She’s so happy that she even lets Tommy call her “Izzie” even though she hates the nickname. There’s just one small hitch: Tommy wants to do everything by the books. He really believes in the justice system and wants to find the people responsible, arrest them, and convict them in court.
The only way to do that is to obey all the rules so that evidence can’t be thrown out and the culprits weasel out of jail. But Isabella has seen how the “justice” system works for the elite. She is willing to follow Tommy’s rules to a point, but when they don’t suit her, she just ignores them. True justice is more important to her than court justice. She is determined to stop the bad guys no matter what she has to do… or who she has to hurt to do it.
Bullets in the Dark is the companion story to a new Arkham Horror: The Card Game adventure
Chapter Two of the Arkham Horror card game has just been released, and it’s centered around the detective work of Isabelle and Tommy. As the two investigate the dark underbelly of Arkham, they find more than they bargained for hiding in the shadows.
Of course, the game can play out in many ways for players. But Bullets in the Dark is an adventure that lays the groundwork for what happens in Chapter Two, with Isabelle and Tommy being important characters. The corruption they uncover provides the basis for this sprawling new update to the Arkham Horror game.
Bullets in the Dark provides a feeling of something new in Arkham
Most of the Arkham books float in a hazy 1920-something time. Some books reference things that happened before, but for the most part they can be read in any order without it really impacting your ability to understand what’s going on. But last year there was a massive event in Arkham. In The Drowned City trilogy, Arkham was directly attacked by an eldrich terror.
It wasn’t one of the small cults doing a small ritual that affected a small amount of people. No, this time the entire city was nearly swept off the map. Arkham survived and is rebuilding, but it’s not the kind of event that just gets forgotten. And happily, Lauria didn’t. It was definitely not the focus of Bullets in the Dark, but what happened wasn’t ignored either.
There are many references to what happened that night, and all the aftermath too. Bullets in the Dark clearly divides Arkham’s time into two distinct parts, before the incident and after the incident. I really like that Lauria does this instead of just acting like The Drowned City never happened. I understand why most of Arkham’s novels are a bit fuzzy on time; it allows for more adventures to be written and gives the various artists some wiggle room for their story telling. But the events of The Drowned City were too big and far-reaching to just ignore. Lauria made the right choice by incorporating them into her Arkham.
Another solid addition to the Arkham Horror novel line
If you have read my other reviews over the years, then you know that I really like the Arkham Horror series. It’s like The Babysitter’s Club for my occult side. There are, of course, some I like better than others, but overall it’s a solid series with fun stories to get lost in and enjoy.
Bullets in the Dark is no exception to this aesthetic. Isabelle and Tommy may be a little farther apart in how they want to deal with the situation than the characters usually are, but that just provides some good tension that will most likely be revisited in a later story.
My rating for this book: 9/10
The pull between Tommy’s “by the book” and Isabelle’s “by any means necessary” just shows the difference in their personal investments in the cases. Isabelle has lived the horror and lost to it too. She knows what’s going on is bigger than a human legal system. Tommy is willing to believe that there’s something more going on, but he hasn’t really been touched by it. He doesn’t understand the level of evil being dealt with. Maybe some day he’ll see deep enough to truly understand. In the meantime, we have Isabelle to protect Arkham with her own sense of justice.
Also check out: Book Review: The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Walters by Rosemary Jones
