John Ridley’s Those Who Walk in Darkness has every appearance of a flaky sci-fi novel, complete with cheesy graphics of San Francisco exploding on the front cover and a fake bullet hole along the spine. I don’t know what possessed me to buy it, but I think it had something to do with the bargain price of a dollar. I was amazed to find that it is actually a striking story that depicts a dark future vaguely reminiscent of the atmosphere during World War II when being on the wrong side meant death.

The first words of the book are full of loathing for “them,” the ones who called themselves superheroes. Set in the near future, Those Who Walk in Darkness mirrors the world of X-Men. Some people have evolved and developed superhuman powers, and a few of those mutants decided to become heroes, protectors of the people. At first it was new and exciting, and people thought they had found their saviors, but with heroes come villains. When the rivalry between a superhero and a supervillain gets out of hand, San Francisco is blown to pieces. After this disastrous conflict, mutants become the hated, and the hunted.

Soledad O’Roark hunts mutants for a living. She is a cold, bitter person who believes she was meant to die with the rest San Francisco. Guilt controls her life, and fuels her intense hatred for mutants. Ridley portrays her brilliantly, and through the eyes of his fierce antihero creates an intense and thought-provoking drama.

Though his narrator’s view is quite one-sided, Ridley clearly presents both sides of the moral conflicts involved with a police force whose sole purpose is to kill mutants, a job that is really nothing more than carrying out government-funded massacres.

This is an excellent book, and though it is quite violent and contains strong language, I highly recommend it.