Set in contemporary Portland, Oregon, THE RAVEN KEY pulls no punches with its shocking prologue: protagonist Seth is nearly drowned by his mother as a young child. Skipping to the present day, Seth is a high schooler with a traumatic past, a drunken father, an institutionalized mother, and way too much responsibility for someone approaching his eighteenth birthday. When he meets a handsome college senior named Gabriel at a party, Seth lies about his age immediately and crushes hard. After reconnecting at the coffee shop where Seth works, they start dating and eventually fall “into a routine of spending a few hours studying Spanish and stealing kisses […], the happiest three weeks of Seth’s life.”

In parallel to their growing bond, strange things keep happening. Ravens flock to Seth’s side; a peer is mauled by ravens in his coffee shop after a confrontation. But when Gabriel calls for help after being shot in the woods, Seth sees something is also amiss with his boyfriend—especially as he learns it wasn’t “a normal bullet. It had witchbane in it.” What is Gabriel hiding? And is this secret connected with him and the ravens?

The first in a series by Harper L. Carnes, THE RAVEN KEY is solidly situated in the horror genre with light fantasy and romance elements. (Readers would do well to check the content warnings.) With this contrasting backdrop, the novel realistically explores themes of trauma, depression, abuse, and neglect with an empathic hand. Its queer representation aptly showcases LGBTQ folks living life—going to school, working, finding and losing love—without othering or stereotyping. But it falls short with the unavoidable issue of statutory rape, which could have been handled with more sensitivity (for both parties)—as well as given depth to Seth’s motives and thinking while acknowledging the weighty seriousness of the situation.

With controlled and well-copyedited prose, the writing ticks all the mechanical boxes. However, a lack of world-building and voice is apparent throughout the novel. The small host of essential supporting characters have often indistinguishable voices and flat characterization. Fantasy elements don’t surface until late in the story, which makes that lack of world-building—and the unexplained magic system—all the more apparent. When it comes to milieu, THE RAVEN KEY’s setting descriptions and transitions are sparse enough that the story could take place in any American city. This vague mise-en-scène is only enhanced when the writing tells rather than shows. The narrative is kept on a tight leash, never straying far from Seth’s thoughts. This can cause chapters to plod on with little other than Seth’s stream of consciousness making its winding way towards the next plot point.

What THE RAVEN KEY excels in is its horror. Scenes of visceral violence and bump-in-the-night scares are vivid and, at times, stomach-turning in their sensory depiction. With an eldritch-horror antagonist, there are ample instances of Carnes’s writing pulling readers in and making it just as hard to look as to look away.

While saturated with classic horror elements and realistic explorations of trauma and LGBTQ life, Harper L. Carnes’ THE RAVEN KEY lacks effective world building and a clear through-line.

~R. Poore for IndieReader