There seems to be more than one “dark scientist” here. Katherine Blake is a good candidate, along with her boss, Dr. Steve Seymour. A third possibility is Robert Hare. Katherine and Dr. Seymour are conducting experiments on macaque monkeys, while Robert Hare is an anthropologist.

Katherine Blake is different, to say the least. Some might even find her strange. Is she simply a hypochondriac looking to explain her myriad ailments? Studying nutrition and diet causes her to self-experiment. She finds proof of wrongdoing in the animal experiments and manages to get herself promoted from lab rat to lab manager. Clever girl.

Then there’s Katherine’s confidante and roommate, Princess, a French poodle. They hold conversations about everything happening in Katherine’s life. I did say strange, didn’t I? I suppose a dog who answers you is better than an imaginary friend.

The Dark Scientist explores the complexities of the human monster with a slow-burn buildup to an unspeakable ending.

The introduction of the enigmatic duo Greg and Robert is the first indication of just how dark the story is. They’re just two guys in a town car partying with their dates… at least the girls seem like party girls. The gobsmacking statement of intent by Greg, as the evening draws to a close, bears fruit, and the story of Katherine, Steve, and the macaque monkey, Charlie, continues.

Chambers takes us on a slow-burn trek of uncertainty, from Babylon Labs in Calgary to an incident thirty years ago in Northern Alberta, and back. I found myself asking just where the plot was going. In the end, it all leads to a murder mystery horror tale I didn’t quite see coming.

The Author’s Note at the beginning of the book tells us that Lauren Chambers is a pen name, and that you might find a character bearing that name. She also tells us that she has “subtly inserted her name” throughout the series. There is a challenge in those words to find her true name by reading all the Dark Descent books. She also somewhat answers the question of what order to read the Dark Descendants series in. Her explanation boils down to reading them in whatever order you choose, saying that ultimately, they all overlap.

The first book in the series, The Dark Violinist, is centered around Santiago Ramirez, who is something of a prodigy. He and Mikhaila make an appearance in The Dark Scientist when Katherine’s self-experiments take her out of Calgary seeking answers. This creates the first connection from book to book.

The Dark Scientist runs less than three hundred pages in length but requires a bit of commitment to reach the midpoint, where the story starts to gel and the horror becomes apparent. There are clues along the way to the story’s middle, some subtle and some quite blatant, but your humanity refuses to accept the truth that is ultimately undeniable.