An Alternate History in which Power, Crime, and the Supernatural Intersect on the South Side of Chicago
During the First World War, on the South Side of Chicago, officer Joe “Flip” Flippity has begun an investigation into a serial decapitationist who is hunting young children. At a time when African American officers are rendered second-class by prejudicial policies, Flip is nonetheless called upon by the mayor of the city—the legendary Big Bill Thompson himself—and a host of powerful city fathers, to thwart this murderer who threatens to destroy the city's reputation as a safe haven for those making the Great Migration north.
While searching to catch his killer—and to discover why the most powerful men in Chicago are truly concerned about the murders of poor black refugees—Flip's bloody trail takes him through the South Side’s vice districts (where anything is available for a price), across its most dangerous criminal underbellies, and into a bracing and unexpected world of supernatural horror.
As Flip digs deeper in his quest to protect the city’s most vulnerable, he stumbles upon more mysterious murders, confounding psychological puzzles, and terrifying hints of something "other" that may reach across from unknowable distances to guide the hand of a killer. It soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems, and that mysterious and powerful forces are conspiring to stand in Flip’s way.
A combination of detective thriller, cosmic horror, and historical fiction, Lake of Darkness takes us to the deepest and darkest places in Chicago’s very dark history.
Genre: Horror
During the First World War, on the South Side of Chicago, officer Joe “Flip” Flippity has begun an investigation into a serial decapitationist who is hunting young children. At a time when African American officers are rendered second-class by prejudicial policies, Flip is nonetheless called upon by the mayor of the city—the legendary Big Bill Thompson himself—and a host of powerful city fathers, to thwart this murderer who threatens to destroy the city's reputation as a safe haven for those making the Great Migration north.
While searching to catch his killer—and to discover why the most powerful men in Chicago are truly concerned about the murders of poor black refugees—Flip's bloody trail takes him through the South Side’s vice districts (where anything is available for a price), across its most dangerous criminal underbellies, and into a bracing and unexpected world of supernatural horror.
As Flip digs deeper in his quest to protect the city’s most vulnerable, he stumbles upon more mysterious murders, confounding psychological puzzles, and terrifying hints of something "other" that may reach across from unknowable distances to guide the hand of a killer. It soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems, and that mysterious and powerful forces are conspiring to stand in Flip’s way.
A combination of detective thriller, cosmic horror, and historical fiction, Lake of Darkness takes us to the deepest and darkest places in Chicago’s very dark history.
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"Scott Kenemore remains one of the most original and chilling voices in horror. He knows how to unsettle you, and how to ratchet up the tension. Read Lake of Darkness and experience his masterful command of narrative, full of dark dreams and unreasoning fear." - John Hornor Jacobs
"With Lake of Darkness, Scott Kenemore takes readers back a hundred years, to a Chicago terrorized by a series of horrifying murders. Blending trenchant social observations with vistas of cosmic horror, Kenemore crafts a narrative that rockets its hero and its reader to an ending unforgettable and resonant. Kenemore's previous novel, The Grand Hotel, was a standout; with this one, he takes another step forward." - John Langan
"Scott Kenemore’s new novel is a Chicago tale as strange and bizarre as the twin murders at its heart. He recreates the past with an unerring sense of place, delving into the nightmares that haunted us then as much as they do now. Lake of Darkness is an exceptional read." - Simon Strantzas
"With Lake of Darkness, Scott Kenemore takes readers back a hundred years, to a Chicago terrorized by a series of horrifying murders. Blending trenchant social observations with vistas of cosmic horror, Kenemore crafts a narrative that rockets its hero and its reader to an ending unforgettable and resonant. Kenemore's previous novel, The Grand Hotel, was a standout; with this one, he takes another step forward." - John Langan
"Scott Kenemore’s new novel is a Chicago tale as strange and bizarre as the twin murders at its heart. He recreates the past with an unerring sense of place, delving into the nightmares that haunted us then as much as they do now. Lake of Darkness is an exceptional read." - Simon Strantzas
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