Did you ever think back to the moments leading up to a terrible event in your life and wonder what it would have been like if you had changed one small detail in those seconds and how much the subsequent details would change? Cody Miller does. A young man in the prime of his life who just completed his MBA and is engaged to be married has one moment of careless inattention. The result is disastrous and terrifying. Cody suffers massive third degree burns over the upper portion of his body. The pain is unbelievable and is followed by months of hospitalization with infections, skin grafts, and rehabilitation. Then there are his dreams – involving a phantom Cody wandering through a burned out city populated with the ash-like remains of inhabitants – and the coiled presence of a monstrous serpent. Cody fights his boundaries and somehow breaks through – and ends up waking up healed… with a great job, and a new woman. The only problem is that Cody has two sets of parallel memories… the one that leads to his perfect life and the other depicting the fire and his brutal injuries. Both seem real, but how can that be? In addition, the love of his life – his fiancée has disappeared.  Cody senses that she is alive, but there is some other presence, something haunting, something unworldly…

Alan Ryker is a superb writer. I am a huge fan of his earlier works (especially Nightmare Man), so I approached this novel with enthusiasm. I was not disappointed. This is an astounding story. The first part of the novel, involving Cody’s accident and recovery are graphic and mesmerizing. I am not sure if the description of recovery process is accurate, but it is gripping and detailed. The psychological impact on Cody is deftly illustrated. When the supernatural components of the story take hold roughly midway through, the action shifts into overdrive and I had no clue as to how the plot would be resolved. Mr. Ryker is a master of suspense – and his imagination produces some outstanding and unique plotlines. Open Dream of a Serpent – you won’t sleep till it’s over.

A one thousand-year old sorcerer who goes by the name of Lyle, of all things, settles in Citrus Glade, Florida in order to initiate a great adventure – a series of supernaturally induced events to unleash carnage and destruction. All just for the fun of it. So he concocts a massive hurricane over southern Florida – with Citrus Glade as the focal point. He casts evils spells on many of the tropical wild-life (the town sits on the edge of the Everglades), and the creatures turn into freakish packs of killing machines, destroying anyone they can get their teeth on. Lyle recruits four middle school boys with promises of teaching them awesome magic tricks – in return the boys unwittingly serve as conduits for the rising local apocalypse. In addition, Lyle gathers two of the town’s low-life individuals – and elderly/disabled man who used to be a ruthless anti-union floor manager at the now defunct sugar plant and the local drug dealer – in order to use their dastardly personalities to further facilitate the evil sorcery being concocted by Lyle.

The town is populated by some definite hero types: Andy the young veteran just returned from Afghanistan and haunted by PTSD who now is the sole department of public works employee; Autumn, the young PhD in biology who is investigating/researching the animal and reptile behavior in the Everglades (and obvious romantic interest for Andy); Andy’s mom Dolly who is struggling with dementia and living in an assisted living facility; and Walter Connell (his Indian name is Walking Bear) - another resident of the assisted living facility who has made spiritual connections with certain animals who indicate that something is terribly wrong…

Black Magic by Russell James is a lot of fun, and the story moves quickly. The hurricane description and passages are deftly written. Alligator and python attacks (especially the latter) are pretty creative. At times, however, the special effects fall apart. There is an attack by mosquitos when our heroes enter Lyle’s Magic Shop which is pretty lame – and for some reason one of the characters drops his gun while in the shop and will not go back to retrieve it even though it is just a few yards away. Then there is an attack by a group of carnivorous bunny rabbits which, well, left me shaking my head.

Overall, the book was enjoyable. However, there were periodic lapses of internal consistency – the latter of which is needed for the suspension of disbelief in horror. For instance, Lyle (and why name him “Lyle”) is not convincing as an evil sorcerer. At times he comes across like a cartoon character. And, why does Lyle, who can create hurricanes and turn all of the beasts of the Everglades into organized packs of ravenous monsters, need a group of 13 year-olds to facilitate his evil deeds? The same question holds for the mean old guy and the drug dealer – and these two are practically worthless when it comes down to the nitty-gritty. Then there are the two residents of the assisted living facility whose dementia comes and goes for the convenience of the plot.

Nonetheless, this is a decent 3-star work. Mr. James’ dialogue and pacing are fine, and the read is as breezy as a day on a Florida beach.