An ancient supernatural war is brewing in the shadows of Black Oak. In the late 1700s, a vicious battle among factions of witches, hunters, and wolfish beasts known as Jackals bloodied the Midwest landscape. And in the early 1800s, tensions rose when vampire-Jackal hybrids called Riffs became the hunted while they sought the power of the witches who kept them at bay. The tight-knit community of Black Oak on the outskirts of Wichita has been protected by magic for centuries since, but now forces are moving in the dark, threatening the fragile peace. In present day, a long-haul truck driver named Mark may have crossed paths with the paranormal on a late night shift. Things become increasingly weirder once strangers appear out of a different time period and rumblings of secrets and ancient power struggles begin to surface.
The strongest aspect of Titus Murphy’s BLACK OAK is its creative world building—from archaic power tied to Egyptian myths, to the glimpse of the paranormal interwoven with a typical Midwest small town, to the beasts that populate its first act. There is certainly a lot of potential to explore the magic and division among hunters and witches that only makes a brief appearance in this first installment. The most intriguing creatures are the Jackals, who are werewolf like, and the Riffs, which may be the most interesting of predators, though both only show up for a fleeting encounter in the beginning. As a largely character-driven story, most of the novel is spent on truck driver Mark and his burgeoning romance. Themes of childhood abuse and the cycle of violence are explored as Mark’s friend Ron deals with his troubled older brother Tommy, who’s just finished a long stint in prison.
That leap from 1815 to present day is a bit jarring, especially given BLACK OAK’s immediate jump into a large supernatural battle in its opening pages. A lot of the book involves relatively mundane goings-on in this small town, most of it monopolized by Mark and Sharon’s first date. The connection to the first quarter of the book happens in the distant background, in reveals by other characters that are supposed to feel significant. While the magic lore is interesting, it can get unwieldy to follow. The plot that takes place in the past—despite its many anachronisms and awkward modern dialogue—never really melds cohesively with the present day plot. And just as there’s a glimmer of these worlds finally colliding, an unnecessary graphic rape scene is used for shock value to emphasize the vileness of a character. It’s true that this is a first book in a series, so it does have the potential to explore these supernatural connections deeper in other books.
A quiet urban fantasy with intriguing world building and fantastical beasts, Titus Murphy’s BLACK OAK holds back a bit too much in its first installment.
~Jessica Thomas for IndieReader