Book Review: The Dark Lord

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Dark Lord     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Patricia Simpson
Class/Genre:   Romance   Fantasy   Mystery   Gothic   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Forbidden Tarot # 1
Tor, Jan 2005, $6.99, 372 pp.

In Luxor, Egypt, the Khamsin (windstorm) forces everyone to seek cover; the visiting twenty something sisters Fay Rae (her mom liked King Kong) and Angie Lambers rush to shelter, only to have the former having lived an entire life with bad luck, trips over a small golden box mostly buried by dirt. She opens the box that looks modern, but finds something wrapped inside that has Aramaic writing on it. A shopkeeper translates mentioning THE DARK LORD, but refuses to read any further out of fear. Rae wants to leave the contents behind having dealt with demons as a teen, but Angie pulls out tarot cards and selects Typhon the Devil.

Rae returns to work at the University of Berkley but learns that her mentor Dr. Gregory passed away. Not long afterward, she receives a message from Gregory, demanding she watch over a dangerous object he has in his home. Because of the deathbed request, Rae finds two men associated with the deceased, Gregory’s son Michael and Gregory’s friend Simeon Avare, interested in her. Other happenings frighten her as she wonders if Angie released an ancient evil when she opened the Tarot cards.

THE DARK LORD is a pleasant paranormal romance with the emphasis on the otherworldly elements though the love subplot is a key entity. Rae is the star as she battles malevolence, the attention of two males, and overcoming a life of blue notes yet keeps on trying. The two men suddenly in her life add the paranormal and romance elements in an intriguing triangle that displays why Patricia Simpson is one of the sub-genre’s best at keeping the suspense on multiple tracks at high levels.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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