(book review)

Hilarion Pavlyuk’s book ‘I see you are interested in the dark’ is a psychological detective story that reveals many secrets of the people living in the village of Buskiv Sad. This book is a unique and touching story that contains deep meaning and extraordinary emotions. Even for those who do not like to read such genres, I can confidently say that you will not be able to tear yourself away from the plot. The book also impresses how the author describes the special atmosphere of the area and shows the reader the authenticity of the mysterious village and its people. I was also struck by how the author combines reality and fantasy, which allows you to experience events and emotions together with the characters of the book. A book that reveals the essence of a person and a vision of the modern world.

This is my first Pavlyuk book, and I would call this author ‘the Ukrainian King’ because of the similar writing style to ‘the American King of Horror.’ The main character of the book – police consultant Andrii Gaister – comes to the small village of Buskiv Sad to find a lost special child, Nadya. At the same time, he learns that a maniac nicknamed the Beast operates in the village, and all the victims are women, whose bodies have never been found slayed mercilessly.

Andriy sets out to solve both cases at the same time. All the inhabitants of the village know each other, all more or less unremarkable personalities, except for the village head, who has declared himself the local king trying to restart the local sugar factory, which has been abandoned for more than one year. Scandals with disappearances and a monstrous maniac are useless. It could harm the future opening of the plant. That is why the head and his henchmen are putting sticks in the wheels of the investigation, harming Andrii to conduct the case. In addition, constant mystical and demonic events that happen to him all the time add to the troubles of the main character.

Will Andrey be able to find the culprit and save the girl? You will read in this book. The novel itself is very similar to something between the same King’s books ‘Necessary Things’ and ‘Under the Dome,’ where the plot focuses on the inhabitants of a small town who fight supernatural evil and unwittingly become hostages and victims of their inner demons. Therefore, while looking through this book, I caught myself thinking that I had already read it somewhere or seen it in a movie. Another disadvantage of the book is its size. It was safe to delete some chapters, while this did not harm the story too much. Some questions in the book remained open. So to speak, the author left them to the reader. Among the pluses, I would note the incredible design of the book itself. This novel will definitely stand out on the bookshelf. Overall, this is a good mystery novel, but a little drawn out, but it’s hardly felt. I recommend it to all fans of mystical detective stories.

‘I see you are interested in the dark’ is a story about impenetrable human indifference and the darkness within us. About being honest with ourselves and the price we are willing to pay for forgetting. About sins that materialize and atonement, more expensive than peace.

“…the bird that is beating now in its own breast is precisely the sickle-wing.”

Is this heaven or hell? It is darkness. And it happens everywhere. And if you are interested in this story, it will definitely be interested in you. It takes 660 pages.

How much is that much? How much is this small? I think this is enough to recognize one’s personal sins, rethink existence, reflexes, psychology, look for a Bible on the shelf, remember Dante, Bosch and not forget Nadia. Personally, I got so attached to this book that I am ready to reread it again, just to look at the situations and characters from a different angle. Apparently, I was very drawn to Hilarion Pavlyuk’s Darkness. I am very happy to be able to hold this book, knowing that its author is a Ukrainian genius. My rating is 9.5/10.