Bleak History by John Shirley

A young man with special skills and mysterious connections to another plane of existence searches for both his identity and his brother in an urban fantasy. Gabriel Bleak spends his life on the run avoiding entities and agencies that want to take advantage of his special skills. His experiences and the people he meets help him to define his own purpose. Ghostly apparitions both plague and guide him on his quest. A near future terrorist attack fuels the paranoia that creates a government long on control and light on the Bill of Rights. That paranoid government creates an agency that seeks to gain control of any paranormal assets.

I liked Gabriel Bleak. He was a reluctant hero facing daunting odds. His unwillingness to use deadly force in every confrontation made him see more real and less two dimensional Marvel comic material. The Chinese puzzle of interlocking government agencies with questionable oversight was frightening, precisely because we have seen such manifest fiascos spread over the front page for the less few decades. I'm not an occult fan or fascinated with the supernatural and I liked this book anyway.

I recommend the book. ( )

Gabriel Bleak is part of the Shadow Community, a group of humans infused with special powers granted from a Hidden world. Some of them can enter minds, some see the future, some carry familiars, and some, such as Bleak, control energy to make it both weapon and tool. He also has a talent for seeing and speaking to ghosts. The CCA, a division of Homeland Security, investigates people like Bleak. They are following him closely, trying to capture him and bring him into their facility. Very troubling is that the wall up North, a barrier against the flood of supernatural that could enter the living world, has weakened and is letting in things unseen before. New powers are cropping up in the hands of people who will not use them for good. A dark force is gaining strength and searching for a way to enter fully, only able to extend tendrils used to control others.

Loraine Sarikosca works for the CCA, but the more she sees them in action, the more doubts she has. She also feels a strange compulsive force towards Gabriel Bleak, just as he does to her. Locked within the fortified walls of their fortress, the CCA imprison and experiment on members of the Shadow Community. They want to capture and control, use the Shadow Community to their own wishes. But a darker plot is at hand when it is discovered that the darkness behind the wall has one of its tendrils in the CCA and his plans are quite different and far more threatening.

I very much enjoyed Bleak History because the concept is so unique. Rather, we have recently been experiencing an influx of ‘humans with powers’ stories because of the popularity of comic book adaptations, but Shirley has managed to make a distinctive and interesting world of his own within the genre. I liked reading about the different Shadow Community members and their specific talents. I only wish that we could have entered that world a bit deeper and met more of the people, or had more people around Gabriel helping with their own special talents. Most of the Shadow Community members are secondary and have their specific, defined roles that come and go. Characters like Scribbler could be much deeper and more defined, and very interesting.

Shirley puts a lot of detail into his descriptions of the Shadow Communities powers and visions. When Shoella creates her own world, we are given a beautiful picture of it. I was fascinated, too, by the way Scribbler is portrayed in the small part he plays. His obsession and nature comes through very clear. I suspect that Shirley’s knack for detail is derived from his background as a screenwriter, but it also comes from natural talent. Shirley has an easy, clear way of writing, though sometimes the lengthy descriptions, especially when they speak of more spiritual and less tangible matters, got me a bit lost.

There is a lot of action in the book between getting chased, darker forces committing crimes, and seeking out the truth of what is happening. The book barely lags or takes a breath, but there are a few moments of quiet reflection for the characters. Though there is a small love connection, the book isn’t a romance at all, which is refreshing when so much of the paranormal genre is half as much romance as it is supernatural. With an open ending, we are left to wonder what becomes of Gabriel and Loraine as they embark on another journey together. ( )

Synopsis:

Set in some parallel dimension of New York City, Bleak History describes a world where a subset of the population have special powers. A top secret division of Homeland Security has been monitoring the growing emergence of human supernaturals. Capturing and co-opting them for military purposes, the CCA has seemingly limitless power. At the start of Bleak History, CCA has set agents to capture Gabriel Bleak, one of the strongest of the supernaturals. CCA believes that Gabriel Bleak is the key to accessing the Hidden, an entity based energy field that connects all life on Earth.

Gabriel Bleak stands out because of his level of control and the strength of his power. Even as a child, Gabriel could communicate with the dead, pull energy from the Hidden and force energy to take shape. Aside from his supernatural abilities, Gabriel has the skills learned from military service to help him to keep this power hidden and stay under the radar as a bounty hunter or "skip tracer". CCA's aggressive campaign forces Gabriel Bleak into an alliance with a growing underground movement known as the Shadow Community.

CCA agent Loriane Sarikosca is a key player in the campaign to capture Gabriel Bleak. New to the agency, Agent Sarikosca is troubled by her superiors' willingness to sacrifice civil liberties and their callous treatment of captured supernatural. As she dives into her assignment, Agent Sarikosca keeps recalling Gabriel Bleak's question: "Way it is now, anybody can be detained. So I guess I won't ask what authority you have. But what excuse do you have?"

Review:

Fast paced and action packed, Bleak History read like a movie. John Shirley carefully built up the alternate reality and the references to New York locations added to the books appeal. While the villians of the piece weren't complex, Gabriel Bleak and Agent Sarikosca were strong, sympathetic characters. Gabriel Bleak's strong sense of humanity is one of the best parts of the novel.

I enjoy these types of fantasy novels. Bleak History reminded me at times of the TV series Heroes and of the movie The Matrix. I'd recommend Bleak History to anyone who enjoys fantasy.

Publisher: Pocket (August 18, 2009), 384 pages.
Courtesy of the publisher. ( )

Gabriel can communicate with the dead and uses this talent to help him get what he wants, when he wants it. Soon Gabriel is going to come face to face with reality and realize that nothing is free. Everything has a price and sooner or later, someone or something, is going to come along to collect.

The government has had their eye on Gabriel for a while. As they try to determine the extent of his abilities, they are also thinking of all the ways they can use Gabriel to their advantage. Pretty soon, it becomes apparent that Gabriel may be the only chance the world has for survival.

Wow! I love books about the supernatural. If you like to read about spirits, demons, etc. I think you should pick up this book. ( )