John Twelve Hawks lives off the grid. This is a perfect marketing scheme for a guy who writes about a near future society where insidious governments and corporations are working toward monitoring the citizenry's every move. It is claimed that Twelve Hawks has never met his editor, uses an untraceable satellite phone, and a voice scrambler. Neat ploys all, but can he write?
The Visitor was a good novel with an excellent story idea. Twelve Hawks played his cards well and left readers wanting more. Unfortunately, The Dark River failed to live up to its predecessor's standard. It read as if the author had phoned it in to his agent (on a satellite phone using a voice scrambler no less). The continuation of the plot was weak and the action unsatisfying, allowing the author's maddeningly passive writing and corny dialog to be made painfully obvious. In for a penny, in for a pound—might as well read the finale and see what happens.
An Unpromising Beginning
After the first 100 pages have thudded by, it's a case of "oh no, not again." The reader is told what happens without experiencing it. The Travelers Michael and Gabriel Corrigan have found themselves on opposite sides. Michael has joined the Tabula (which operates under the guise of The Evergreen Foundation), a secret society bent on destroying the Travelers and taking over the world. Gabriel is a serene savior type who would really prefer for that not happen. They both spend some time on "the other side" on various missions. Some interesting stuff does go on over there.
A New Harlequin Emerges
As would be expected in a tale that spans three volumes, there are a lot of plot threads to keep track of. A number of previous characters are reintroduced, and things pick up a bit.
Maya, one of the Harlequins, is trapped in one of the other realms, leaving the bulk of the Traveler protecting to Linden, the capable French Harlequin. Hollis, a former martial arts instructor who got tangled up with the whole Visitor/Harlequin/Tabula thing is freelancing it trying to fill in for the dearth of Harlequins left in the world. He does an admirable job of it (although the purpose of some of his actions is not exactly clear).
By the half way point, the poor writing is forgotten as Twelve Hawks seems to hit his stride again and the various parallel lines of the story regain a kernel of excitement and one senses the inevitable collision that surely must be coming.
Resolution
Add a creepy child killer out of prison in Thailand, an increasingly disengaged head of Evergreen security, and throw in one overconfident evil Traveler and you've got yourself a climax. Oh and by the way there is a Golden City, but it adds little to the novel—except perhaps a decent title.
For those who have already invested their time in the first two Fourth Realm novels, The Golden City provides a satisfying conclusion.
References
Twelve Hawks, John. The Golden City. New York, NY: Doubleday, 2009.
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