When Jack “Red” Burke was a pup he went on a very dangerous and strange covert ops mission which didn’t go according to plan. Jack found himself facing a man rolling around laughing on a pile of corpses he had sacrificed. Burke killed the man but the effects from such a horrific incident will stay with him forever.

Thirteen years later Burke is a civilian on the fringes of the law. He still does some “special” work for the government at times and also works as an enforcer for the mob. Also sometimes his old Army friend Scotty, who is now a police officer, throws something his way that he thinks Burke can handle better without having to go through proper channels. One such case is the suicide of Peter Stryker.

Stryker’s daughter Nicole wants to know if her dad really killed himself or if it was something else. Everyone seems to want the case closed but did Stryker really drug himself to the gills and cut off various body parts and gut himself or did he have some encouragement?

Wow, just…wow, this is an amazing book. A mixture of horror, thriller, spec ops and murder mystery filled with some of the most depraved human behavior wrapped up in a very tight storytelling package makes The Pressure of Darkness a must read.

The synopsis above is really only the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot going on in here; you can’t read this one lazily, you must pay attention. I didn’t even mention the biological terrorist, the Mexican drug lord, the Hindu mysticism or any of the many fascinating side characters we get to know and love (or hate.) At 438 pages you’ll definitely be getting your moneys worth. The first half starts out a little slow but once the second half kicks in the action doesn’t stop. The ending also takes us very neatly back to the beginning and wraps up the story very nicely.

This isn’t a book for the squeamish. There is a lot of gore and brutality and its real in the sense as it could really happen. There isn’t anything cheesy or supernatural to cling to in order for you to feel safe. Author Harry Shannon doesn’t go overboard with the red stuff either. There’s plenty here but it’s not so much that it becomes brutal for brutalities sake. Everything is very well balanced. There is a lot of suspense but Harry gives you breathing room so it never becomes too much. Of course I read and watch a lot of this type of thing so my tolerance of intensity is probably higher than most people. I still had to read something light and funny after this, so don’t think I wasn’t affected.

If you like any of the genres I mentioned above I recommend you give The Pressure of Darkness a try. This book would make a great movie even though about half of the story would have to be cut for time. I’ve noticed Hollywood trying to bring back the 80’s action style movies, this one has that feel. I’d love to read more about Jack Burke. I don’t know if a sequel would work but a prequel would be fascinating.