Synopsis
After enduring a personal tragedy, Andy Ferris loses himself in making videos that explore the history behind local hauntings—videos that grab the attention of a wealthy eccentric with an obsession for collecting objects that belonged to famous killers. Hired by this man to locate a particular weapon, Ferris finds himself entangled in a mystery that spans history and drags him through a museum of death, a doomsday cult, an underground bunker, and brings him face to face with a serial killer as he unravels the truth behind an insidious conspiracy. Tyler Jones blends horror and true crime in a story about loss, redemption, and the hidden threads of the world that pull us ever closer toward an inevitable end.
Review
A huge thank you to Earthling Publications for the ARC!
“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
This quote from Friedrich Nietzsche seemingly operates as a foundation for Tyler Jones’s novel, Night of the Long Knives. A grieving man attempts to make sense of the senseless as he investigates and documents some of the world’s most heinous tragedies that have lingered in the public consciousness. Andy Ferris is willing to travel far and wide in hopes that he one day can find a reason, an explanation, for losing his wife and child. Andy’s work manages to grab the attention of a wealthy, shadowy figure, a man who collects artifacts used in the course of humanity’s destruction. Soon, Andy is tasked with recovering the weapon of a serial killer, which is not defined as an “easy” task by any means, but one that feels insular compared to the rest of what Andy has seen. Yet, there is more than meets the eye to Andy’s journey as his actions culminate into an unfathomable ending.
Night of the Long Knives is a rather raw novel that does not flinch in the face of pain or suffering. Andy Ferris’s story is one that is paved in grief and is undeniably gripping for its humanity as death is the one universal experience that bridges all divides. Even more compelling is Jones’s willingness to “go there,” to explore the parts of this life that would rather exist in the shadows of shame or guilt. We all know that “grief horror” has become a bit of a subgenre on the horror scene, but rest assured that Jones’s writing is packed with nuance in this unique novel. Sure the darker parts of the human experience are on display with Andy’s character as with many of these types of stories. Still, Jones elevates things through the bigger implications of death, murder, and mayhem within the human landscape.
It is in this way that Night of the Long Knives feels wholly exceptional as tones of true crime narratives, conspiracies run amok, and personal pain fuse into one hell of a story. Jones’s writing is markedly impressive in his portrayal of Andy and for the balance this novel maintains, walking the line of darkness and compelling suspense. As readers, we are desperate to know the workings behind the bigger picture while still caring immensely for Andy and his well-being while riddled with grief. Through this vantage point, it’s clear to see that life dedicated to death indeed results in an abyss, one with incredibly sharp teeth.
Written with the best true crime tones and merged with gnarly, epic consequences, Tyler Jones’s Night of the Long Knives is a formidable, macabre novel. In lesser hands, a plot of this advanced degree could easily fall short, spinning out into poorly maintained chaos. Yet, under Jones’s pen, Andy’s story advances with conviction and velocity, racing towards an inevitable doom that is packed with emotion. Crafted with the same DNA as fictional true crime stories such as Richard Chizmar’s Chasing the Boogeyman and conspiracy epics such as David Fincher’s “Fight Club,” Night of the Long Knives by Tyler Jones is a memorable, bleak, and haunting feature from Jones, a writer whose talent exudes from these pages.
Night of the Long Knives by Tyler Jones releases this month from Earthling Publications. This is a limited edition release, and I believe a few copies are still available to order which you can do here: https://earthlingpub.com/tj_nightlongknives.htm
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