Review: Hourglass by Daniel James

A genre-busting thriller from author Daniel James, Hourglass is an occult masterwork of tension and grit, layered with shadowy government agencies, demonic villains, baggage-laden ghosts, and an unlikely pair of comic book heroes.

Clyde Williams is holding it together as best he can, despite struggling to finish his comic book, wrestling with the recent murder of his roommate Kev, and then navigating Kev’s ghostly return to the apartment from beyond the grave. However, when an Hourglass agent shows up at his door, inviting them both to join a nebulous government cell dealing with “post-life entities,” it’s clear that life is never going to be the same.

Clyde’s reticence at serving as any kind of soldier is pitted against his loyalty to Kev, and his desire to keep both their families safe drags him deeper into the agency’s secretive web. At the same time, a necromantic monk with a penchant for savage violence is recruited by an ancient high-society cabal to find a legendary repository of lost souls. Seeing this unexpected alliance as a chance to fulfill his order’s unholy and long-awaited objectives, Konstantin and the Cairnwood Society both sign deals with different devils.

The relationship between Clyde and Kev is incredibly original, and while a paranormal odd couple is a strange premise to accept, James fleshes out a fraternal partnership between them that is more nuanced than many other pairs of still-breathing protagonists. Having a bedsheet-fitted ghost as your sidekick on the streets of NYC is amusing – and more than a little risky – whereas witnessing the emotional spectrum of a young man whose life was ripped away too soon is remarkably moving. The author plays carefully with this line of serious and fantastical, populating these pages with deeply human characters, to the point where one can almost forget it’s fiction.

Aside from the complex and ever-twisting plot, the author imbues the prose with meaningful realizations and thematic arcs that are subtle, yet impactful. Explorations about creativity, art, and a higher purpose, true metrics of friendship, trauma responses, revenge, spiritual liberation, and fear of the unknown are laced throughout this book, making it far more than a conspiratorial ghost-hunting story. The details of otherworldly planes and phantasmagoria, the Median, the Trench, the dead universe of Erebus, and every non-human character are visceral and compelling. Like Mieville or LeGuin at their best, the world-building of this novel is expansive, not limited by the bounds of our reality, yet still grounded in what readers can grasp.

On a technical level, a final proofreading sweep is warranted for everything from misplaced commas and sloppy syntax to over-narration and awkward dialogue. Some lengthier expositional passages could be trimmed down, particularly those that don’t add much to the action, though the pacing through the first half of the book is strong, and holds interest.

Those critiques aside, James’s breadth of language is impressive, as are the darkest storytelling corners of his ominous prose; grisly descriptions and vividly depicted scenes give the entire story an immersive feel, resulting in a page turner from the very first page, and a singularly original paranormal thriller.