Book Review: Night Terrors by Tim Waggoner

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Shadow Watch

Publisher: Angry Robot (May 27, 2014)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think reading this book gave me better insight into coulrophobia. I mean, clowns are kinda creepy I guess. But I’ve also always found it hard to look at them and not see beyond just some guy in colorful clothes and makeup. Supernatural clowns on the other hand, are a whole other matter. Especially when they are someone’s nightmare literally come to life.

But in spite of what the title and cover initially led me to believe, this is not a horror novel. Night Terrors would probably fit more comfortably in the urban fantasy and paranormal section. That said, it’s also darkly comedic and not just a little bit unhinged. Think buddy cop movie meets Tim Burton, quirky and fun but also a little macabre.

The book’s protagonist is Audra Hawthorne, an officer of the Shadow Watch, the supernatural agency dedicated to patrolling the border between our world and the dream realm. Their units are generally organized into pairs made up of an Ideator and their Incubus – in other words, the dreamer and the living manifestation of their worst nightmare. For Audra, dreams of the psychotic clown Jinx has terrorized her ever since she was a child, but now they are partners working together to keep both Earth and Nod safe from rogue Incubi.

Because they are essentially the products of our dreams, Incubi come in all shapes and sizes. You’ll see some pretty wild dream-folk in this book, like Candy, the Incubus made completely out of – you guessed it – chocolate and other yummy sweets (rumored to have been dreamt up by a dentist’s son) or the Deathmobile, a nightmare hearse. I really enjoyed the originality of these crazy manifestations and the idea that our mortal realm exists in parallel with the zany world of Nod.

And yet, I didn’t feel as excited about this book as I thought. The awesome premise aside, the plot was mediocre not to mention formulaic with all the usual elements of an urban fantasy thrown in. As a detective story it was rather predictable, which is disappointing especially given all the other cool ideas in here. And while I appreciated the contrast between the level-headed Audra versus the insane and unpredictable Jinx, I found a lot of the action to be over-the-top and mostly exaggerated slapstick. On the one hand, I loved the delightfully creepy way Jinx was portrayed. But personally, that kind of humor just isn’t my style.

I’ll also admit I might be just a bit picky with my urban fantasy. On the whole, Night Terrors is a pretty good book, if nothing else a quick and entertaining read with a few rather neat, never-seen-before ideas. The story itself didn’t take off for me, mostly because the style isn’t my cup of tea, but I actually think it could click with most people.