Buy on Amazon

Dark of the Earth: Book Three of "Eye of the Moon"

By: Ivan Obolensky
Publisher: Smith-Obolensky Media
Publication Date: July 4, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-947780-36-1
Reviewed by: Kathy Stickles
Review Date: July 3, 2024

Dark of the Earth, the third book in the “Eye of the Moon” series by Ivan Obolensky, is an amazing (as always) novel and an excellent continuation to this riveting series. The boys are back along with all of our favorite characters and some new ones who, while they are not ones that we will love, definitely make the story more interesting.

As Dark of the Earth opens, one of our favorite boys, Johnny, has had a terrible accident and is in the hospital in a coma. Unsure as to whether or not Johnny will even survive, Percy and his fiancée Bruni rush back to New York to see Johnny and to try to find out what happened. In the case of the accident, the facts do not add up and Percy needs to know what is really going on, not only to help Johnny but also to help their business, which seems to be involved in whatever has happened. As he sets out to unravel this new mystery, with the help of Bruni and Johnny’s parents, some faces from Percy and Johnny’s past end up coming into play, in what now looks to be no simple accident. Did Johnny do something behind Percy’s back to set everyone on this horrible path? Will the business survive? And, most importantly, how can Percy figure things out and bring Johnny back to them? Why, by having a huge weekend party at Rhinebeck as usual, and inviting those he thinks might be responsible for the accident.

In addition to Percy and Bruni, all of our favorites gather at Rhinebeck: Johnny’s parents, Bruni’s parents, Maw, and of course Stanley and Dagmar, who run the whole show. Percy also invites an old friend, Casey Cushman, along with her husband James and James’ parents. It turns out that Casey has been having an affair with Johnny and there is definitely friction from the past involving the boys, Casey and her husband. Did the Cushman’s cause Johnny’s accident and what have they really been doing?

So much is going on in this story, but it is woven together perfectly by the author and the reader is pulled in from the very first page. The spiritual world plays a big part in the story, thanks of course to Dagmar and her wonderful concoctions, and shows the reader a new and stronger side of Percy as he tries to figure things out. The story is well-written and so perfectly put together that I dare anyone out there to not enjoy it immensely. The characters, both old and new, are very well-developed and make for fascinating reading and the storyline is intricate, different and completely mesmerizing. At the very beginning of the book the author includes an excellent synopsis of both of the previous stories so that, if one chooses, they can just pick up book three and start reading. Personally, I would not recommend that course of action, as the stories prior to this one are just as fabulous and detailed.

Ivan Obolensky is a master at creating these dark, mystical, and riveting stories and I cannot say enough about the stories or the man who shares them with us. I do not have the words to tell readers how much I recommend Dark of the Earth. It is simply marvelous and I think that everyone out there should grab it and read it as soon as they possibly can. The best part is that when you get to the end you realize that there is another installment coming our way. I just hope it comes really quickly!

Quill says: Dark of the Earth is the third in this series that just keeps getting better and better. While there are many second and third books in a series that just do not live up to their beginnings, this series is not at all like that: every new book is better than the previous one.

For more information on Dark of the Earth, please visit: ivanobolensky.com or www.books2read.com/darkoftheearth

Author Interview

Meet The Author