Jack Harlow walks untouched through the dark. He sees the things that exist there—the ghosts, the vampires, the demons—he sees them and knows them, but they cannot touch him. Until the night he interferes to protect the woman he loves. Now, his untouchable nature is inverted. The creatures of the night are drawn to him, and aim to collect his soul as a prize. From Evileye Books. #1 in the series.
Writer of ghost stories and fairy tales. Born on a small island in the northeast United States called Manhattan, John went on to live in places like Orlando, Richmond, Sydney, and Madrid. He's circled the US in a car, and he recently started learning to play the bass.
But he may be best known for InkStains, the year-long project in which he wrote a story a day every day by hand with a fountain pen. This led to a podcast and then a nonfiction book (InkStained: On Creativity, Writing, and Art).
As of this writing, he's isolated somewhere in Florida working on the end of the DarkWalker series, a vampire novel, and Gothic romance.
John Urbancik cleverly blends dark fantasy with horror in this lean novel about Jack Harlow, a man with a gift for seeing all manner of supernatural creature, and recording it in his laptop. He is never harmed or molested, although many speak to him. But while investigating in downtown Orlando (which is cool because other than a few stories I know if set in Central Florida, no one has written a dark fantasy/horror novel in the city associated with Disney World), he unwittingly meets Lisa Sparrow and saves her life from an attack by a flesh-shredding "imp." Thus, Jack becomes the target for every form of monstrosity imaginable...zombies, ghouls, vampires, were-creatures, demons etc etc. Jack and Lisa fall in love, and while Jack attempts to keep Lisa safe, they gain an ally in Nick Hunter, who is, you guessed it, a vampire hunter. The pacing in the novel is fast, and Urbancik's writing style is tight, concise, to the point. Fans of Buffy and Supernatural will enjoy this taut and fast-paced jaunt through downtown Orlando and the shadowy unseen-by-most underworld that exists all around us. The ending came quick and while mostly satisfying, a little hint at the end suggests a possible followup in the future.
If mainstream urban fantasy has deep roots in the romance genre, Darkwalker is what it would look like if it had grown out of horror, instead.
Jack Harlow watches the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes they watch him back. Either way, they don't interfere with each other. But one night, that all changes, and every occult thing is after him like moths to a flame. Jack has to find out why, and get his untouchability back.
The book obviously has a significant backstory, but Urbancik doesn't dump it on us. We pick up what we need to know, and what the characters learn, as they learn it. It's enough to make the broad outline of the world apparent, but leave you wanting more. I like the approach a lot, and it makes me want to read more.
BTW, the book blurb here and on Amazon is almost entirely misleading. The publisher updated it so it doesn't imply that Jack is part of an organization.
A pretty quick read. Overall I enjoyed it but there wasn't a whole lot of depth to the story. That isn't necessarily a bad thing and it seems like this is meant to introduce the reader to a bigger world.
If you like books that take you into the dark unseen world of things that go bump in the night you've found the right series. A truly in-depth look at what might be lurking in the shadows.
When I started reading DARKWALKER, I wasn't too sure what to expect. Normally I know something about the author: read a novel by him before, had him recommended, read a short story, seen some reviews, something. In this case, I had nothing on Urbancik, at least not that I remember. Then why, I hear you asking, did I have this book by him? Good question. I've received a fair number of books by unknown authors lately due to a couple subscription packages. Anyway, I had a little unknown as I started the novel. It turns out to have been for naught as I really liked the story.
Jack Harlow spends his nights wandering the city and recording the supernatural events that he sees. He acts like Marvel Comics' Watcher who watches events and records them but does not interfere. He sees vampires drain victims, talks with ghosts, spies with demons, pretty much every supernatural element. Until one night when he interferes. At that point, his polarity is reversed and the supernatural is now attracted to him. Jack can no longer hide.
Urbancik does a great job of controlling what he does and does not put into the story while simultaneously leaving the doors open for everything. It's not just vampires or zombies or werewolves that is attracted to Jack; it's every supernatural being. The story does not become a "vampire story" or a "zombie story." The novel didn't suffer from introducing too many types either. It felt natural to have different types of beings. Urbancik also has an extensive background built up for the characters and events. Or at least it felt like that; in storytelling, that equates to the same thing. The readers don't see all of the history but you can feel there are more stories here that can be told. And if Urbancik explores the world further, I plan on being there with him.
DarkWalker takes a look at the world that exists behind the veil of darkness.
Jack is a watcher. He walks the streets at night observing and recording the creatures of the dark that no one can see. Vampires, ghosts, ghouls, demons, he sees them all. They are aware of him watching but let him move freely among them, for he never interferes.
That changes when a demon attacks his girlfriend one night and he prevents it from killing her. His immunity dissolves and hell literally breaks lose as the dark creatures all focus on his demise.
This is a well written story with colorful characters, humorous touches and interesting twists along the way. It keeps you wondering what will happen next. I really enjoyed reading it.
What I appreciate most about John's writing is his willingness to take chances. He's always written that way (or at least for the 15 years I've known him). This time he smashes convention by spinning a monster tale around not one, not two, not ten, but damn hordes of nasties from western culture. You never know what's going to be around the next corner.
Jack, Nick, and Lisa are thrown...or drawn...together by an otherworldly plot. Each brings their own special skill to the game, with Jack's primary function being the catalyst. As they three move through the city, sometimes alone, sometimes together, sometimes in pairs, they have to choose to either make haste or battle time and again against all the nasties. It's a fast read, one in which you'll find yourself downing pages rapid fire.
DarkWalker is the first John Urbancik novel that I have ever read and i liked it. The story was pretty interesting about Jack Harlow and his watching of the creatures that lurk at night. It didn't take to long to get into the main goings on of the story and it kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed reading the DarkWalker.
The only thing that I would have liked would have been a little more to the ending. I can't quite put my finger on it exactly, but it just seemed to short. I think maybe i was just expecting a little more once the situation was resolved (or not).
Overall a good solid story. I will have to check out more of John Urbancik's work at a later date.
Horror fiction at its best. The author's book about a watcher is a suspenseful read. What I enjoyed most was the great care with which the book is written. Especially the fight scenes are brilliantly crafted, Mr. Urbancik works with an unfailing fountain of imagination. Especially one creature, an immense red demon, was so unsettling, I truly had to sleep with the light on! hoping for a Part Two.
This started off slowly, but despite some typos became pretty interesting. I like the concept of a watcher, a hunter, and the supernatural all coming together through a strange set of incidents and will likely look into reading other books in the series once I catch up with the pile of books a friend loaned me.