Dark Passage by Griffin Hayes

(Originally published on my blog Your Rainy Day Reading List on 7/12/2013) 

Dark Passage is the first book I've read by Griffin Hayes.  I read this book on the recommendation of a Goodreads friend, and dear Mallory was right -- this book was totally worth the read.  This may have been my first Griffin Hayes book, but it certainly won't be my last.

Let's start with a RECAP:  Tyson is a man of suffering.  For the past six months, he's slept so very little that he's hanging on by a thread.  His marriage has fallen apart, his career is spiraling downwards, and little tidbits of a horrendous childhood are peeking through in the form of night terrors way beyond the norm.

So, when the opportunity arises for him to get some sleep by joining a drug trial of a new "fix-it" drug pending approval from the FDA, he chases that chance as a man on a mission.  Soon enough, he's sleeping like a baby and, even better, some amazing things are starting to happen.  Good things from his dreams are starting to bleed through the line that separates reality from the dream world.  His problem of sleep isn't the only thing that looks like it's finally made a u-turn for the better.
But once his history starts to rear its ugly head in his dreams again, evil begins to seep through and a dangerous evil begins to manifest... as he recalls that dark hallway in his childhood home (the titular dark passage), death and darkness, evil and insanity, and a past he thought he'd left behind arises to claim him and everyone he loves.

REVIEW:  Wow... just wow!  What an original story with twist after twist, turn after turn.  Gory, but not too gory.  The perfect level of darkness.  Good characters. A sympathetic main character.  A disturbingly creepy creature.  A scary mother.  A doctor losing his mind slowly.  This story is a fun read for anyone who likes a little horror and creepiness in their reading.
Take a trip down the Dark Passage... you (unlike Tyson) won't regret that you did. :)