Cold in the Light

by
Charles Gramlich

Invisible College Press, April 2002, 330 pp.
ISBN: 1-931468-05-2

Genre: Horror
Subgenre: Suspense
Reviewed: 8/23/2002

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

The Warkind reared on its hind legs. 

It hissed again, shook its head. The light hurts it, Cain thought. It can't see.

He pumped the shotgun to chamber a shell, which proved there was nothing wrong with the creature's hearing. It homed on the sound, locked in, and in a single bound seemed to explode in Cain's face. He pulled the trigger at point blank range, and nothing unarmored could resist that lead hammer. Flesh seemed to dissolve and flow, then erupt out from the sides and back of the thing's head. He knew it was dead before it fell backward down the stairs.

Cain chambered another shell. He had seven left and there were at least several more of the creatures below. He cursed himself for not having stuffed his pockets with extra bullets. But at least for the moment the Warkind seemed to be hesitating. He doubted it was from fear.

Cain felt Raina at his shoulder and pushed against her to get her moving again toward the bathroom. He took a step toward that sanctuary himself, and the lights went out. Cain's heart nearly seized. He'd almost forgotten that he dealt with intelligent creatures. They'd located the fuse box.

I can't handle this! Cain's thoughts shrieked.

"They're coming," Raina spoke into his ear, and though her voice cracked flat and low it seemed to go off in his awareness like dynamite. He fired into the blackness of the stairway, unable to see anything but hoping the spread of buckshot would stop whatever moved down there. The muzzle flash strobed the shadows and lit up emptiness.

They weren't on the stairs.

Then where?

Cain felt Raina move away, heard her claws skitter faintly on the hardwood floor. And then there came a second noise, a whisper of sound as faint as a breath. It arose from Cain's left and he spun hard in that direction, swinging the shotgun to bear...

Synopsis

Officer Kyle Dupree drives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, heading toward his new job in Deerhaven. He is witness to a horrific accident that kills a few people. He talks to the little girl that was in the lead car and she tells him that she saw a monster dart across the road right in front of her car.

After the accident is cleaned up, Kyle continues on toward Deerhaven, anxious to see his Uncle Cain and get a good home-cooked meal. Meanwhile, five of the Typicals have escaped from the Harbinger Project. Mike Russo, head of the project, sends out Kargen and the rest of his Warkind pack to track down the escaped Typicals. When Kyle reaches his uncle's house, he finds fellow officer Tru Maclang visiting. The Mother, named Raina, a pregnant Typical, is heard howling in pain in the forest and is soon discovered by the three men.

Leaving her with Cain, Tru and Kyle head over toward Melissa Bowers house, a veterinarian, since the doctor is away on vacation, so that she can help with the delivery of Raina's baby. Dan Case, a young troublemaker, and his friend, Tip Baldridge, witness the government shooting at the Typicals and the Warkind that are on their trail. The boys get split up and Dan finds Wahrn, Raina's mate, and decided to help him escape.

While assisting the injured Typical get away from his pursuers, then are found by the two police officers and taken to Melissa's house. From this point on, the entire group becomes the hunted as Kargen has deemed his genetic coding irreverent and wants Raina fro his own mate. And nothing is going to stand in his way... 

Cold in the Light is a horror, suspense novel that focuses on a police officer and a veterinarian trying to save the Mother, who is ready to have a baby that was somehow altered, from both the government and the Warkind. The other races involved are the Typicals and the Warkind. The Typicals and the Warkind are races that evolved on Earth 12 million years ago, but mysteriously disappeared, until the government discovered some embros and brought these races back to life. The mink and the badger are their descendents. Both races are large and speak English, but the Typicals are docile while the Warkind are brutal warriors with protruding bone spurs on their hands that they use for slashing.

Review

Right from the get-go, I knew I would enjoy this story. Charles Gramlich has created very interesting characters that would scare the bejebbers out of anybody. The Warkind are a nasty warrior race that is almost impossible to kill. Nothing can seem to stop them as they tear through the land killing anybody in their path.

The book starts off fast, and the pace remains up to speed for the entire novel. I found myself having a hard time waiting to see what was going to happen next. How could Kyle even come close to defeating Kargen? After all, Kyle is only a mere human. Occasionally, the sentences are a little choppy, but it really doesn't detract from the overall feel for the book.

On the whole, I was quite pleased with Cold in the Light and found the entire experience and look forward to the next book by Charles Gramlich with great anticipation.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.