Title: Genesis
Author: Charles L. Grant
Series: Black Oak Investigations
Number: One of five
What It’s About:
Black Oak Security is a crack team of private investigators led by brilliant, enigmatic Ethan Proctor. He takes on cases that range from the normal to the unaccountably bizarre.
In Genesis, book one of the Black Oak series, one of Proctor’s people has gone missing while on an investigation in the Kentucky wilderness, his last communication an answering machine message containing a tortured scream for help. Proctor must follow in his footsteps to find his missing friend and solve the mystery that brought him to those secluded woods in the first place.
Why I Like It and Why You Should Read It:
The Black Oak Investigations series is one of my all-time favorite urban fantasy/horror series. It is a bit darker and a bit grimmer than the usual urban fantasy series (which, unsurprisingly, can also be said about my own fiction) and that it one of the things that I like about it. Charles L. Grant is an absolute master at building atmosphere at both the scene and the novel level, which is another reason I like these books. The fact that they are fun, exciting mysteries is like icing on the cake.
If you’re not familiar with the work of Charles L. Grant, then I suggest you rectify that situation post-haste. Stephen King called him “one of the premier horror writers of his or any generation.” During his career he received two Nebula Awards, three World Fantasy Awards, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Horror Writers Association and the British Fantasy Society. He also served as the president of the Horror Writers Association from 1987-1988.
He is best known for editing the horror anthology series Shadows, with twelve volumes between 1978-1991, and for his eight novels and four collections of stories set in the fictional town of Oxrun, Connecticut. For me, though, his Black Oak series will always be the cream of the crop.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Charlie, to my lasting regret. (He passed away in 2006.) His fiction – especially his Black Oak and Millennium Quartet series – has been a source of inspiration for me and reading his work makes me want to better my own.
After five books, Roc discontinued the series, so I’ll warn you of that now. There are no complete answers here. But the mysteries that are here are written so well and connect so seamlessly, with such great atmosphere, that they are more than worth your time as a fan of urban fantasy. (And just to be clear, each novel is a complete story in and of itself; it is the larger meta-arc across that series that stands incomplete.)
Where You Can Get It:
Crossroad Press has brought back all five of the original novels in digital format and you can find Genesis here.