Synopsis
Last summer, sixteen-year-old Will Burgess lost many of the people he loved most. Now he’s imprisoned in the Sunny Woods Rehabilitation Center, a facility for troubled youths. Separated from his surviving loved ones and terrified of a change inside him, Will is tormented by a new group of bullies and a sadistic government doctor. When his only ally, an orderly named Pierre, tells him there have been sightings of winged creatures with glowing red eyes, Will believes him. Because Will has seen the Night Flyers too. Even worse, he learns the monstrous Children are still lurking underground. They want revenge on Will and will stop at nothing to destroy everyone he cares about. Will and his friends, new and old, must band together to fight the forces of darkness—both human and supernatural. But as Will learned last summer, evil is relentless. And it won’t rest until its hunger is sated.
Review
A very big thank you to the author for the eARC!
In the sequel to Children of the Dark, The Night Flyers by Jonathan Janz delivers on the same action-packed, creature-feature horror established in its predecessor. To keep things spoiler-free, I won’t give too long of a synopsis, but what you need to know going into this novel is that we pick up essentially right where we left off. Will Burgess remains in Sunny Woods, a place that feels far more like a prison than a rehabilitation center. He’s still the snarky, passionate kid with a little more wisdom and maturity, especially after the life-altering events of the past months. Of course, we know Will doesn’t have many folks on his side within the walls of Sunny Woods except for a few characters. As if this indefinite confinement and hellacious treatment isn’t bad enough, we’re introduced to a new kind of monster, the Night Flyers. With the threat of the Children still running rampant and the emergence of these new, airborne creatures, Janz sets the tone immediately as the stakes have never been higher for Will, nor the danger ever closer.
Jonathan Janz established a very strong sense of empathy and connection within the character of Will Burgess back in book one, something that only grows as we see his mistreatment at the beginning of the novel. As I previously mentioned, Janz wastes no time at all getting to the action, and we are quickly thrown into an ocean of suspense as Will fights for survival. While they are few in quantity, we also feel a deep sense of care for those who help Will such as the orderly Pierre, someone who believes Will even when nearly no one else does. These ties and connections assist in tremendously raising the stakes as all hell breaks loose in Sunny Woods. This lightning-fast pacing made the pages absolutely fly by as we race to find out Will’s (and his friends’) fate.
Another endearing characteristic of these novels that persists even in the face of so much violence and bloodshed is the idea of found family. Will and his sister Peach have never had it easy in the biological family department, and their separation following the events of book one is even more heartbreaking because of this. But as I mentioned previously, Will encounters some unlikely friends along the way who strive to protect him and others. The formation of this group facing supernatural forces and an organized government agency trying to sweep things under the rug is unconventional but oh-so endearing. Janz writes these bonds with so much heart and care that elevates this story to another dimension.
And of course, I would be remiss to not mention the sheer levels of gore and violence committed at the hands of not just the monsters, but humans as well. The idea that death and pain can erupt at any given moment, from any given person, makes this an incredibly suspenseful, horrific read. This also feeds into Will’s sense of mistrust which is not unrealistic in the face of so much carnage and mistreatment. References to our favorite horror/action flicks like Alien and Die Hard earn their spot amongst the unending fray providing us a moment to catch our breaths before soldiering on. Until the very last five pages or so, the bullets are still flying, crowbars are still flinging, and blood is still spilling.
In this high-octane sequel, Will Burgess fights for his life and the lives of those he cares for most. Certain death comes in many forms this time around: winged creatures, the Children, or gun-wielding men with bad intentions. The stakes have never been higher for our beloved characters whom we’ve seen grow and change over the course of these two novels, and absolutely no one is safe. One thing is for certain; despite all the gore and horror, I’ll follow Will Burgess wherever Jonathan Janz takes him.
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