Let’s take a look at one of the most obscure books I’ve ever read!

So, I’ve written about the work of Archie Roy before, in particular his novel Devil in the Darkness (1978), a remarkably good haunted house story. In fact, I wrote the introduction for the Valancourt Books edition of the novel, and discussed the remarkable career of Roy, who was not only a novelist but an astronomer and paranormal researcher!

With this in mind, a few months back I decided to track down another Archie Roy novel, and went with the one he wrote just before Devil in the Darkness, titled The Dark Host (1976).

The Dark Host is an unusual thriller, and not a supernatural one, but it definitely has a very macabre twist in it! I enjoyed it greatly, though maybe not for the reasons one would expect!

Dr. David Killearn has traveled to Greece to take part in a NATO Advanced Institute in Brain Mechanisms and expects fun and intellectually stimulating discussions. But as soon as he arrives in Athens, he receives a cryptic message asking him to call a colleague at an unknown phone number. He makes the call, and is directed to meet the colleague at the Herodes Atticus Theater on the slope of the Acropolis. When he arrives at the performance, he finds a stranger waiting for him, asking him to meet with a colleague at the NATO Institute about a matter of the utmost importance and world security. However, before more information can be shared, the stranger is killed.

With no other information to go on and nothing to do to help, Killearn continues attending the conference. While there, he befriends a trio of graduate students — Michelle, Suzanne, and Mike — and begins to spend all his leisure time with them. Also at the meeting, he encounters an old girlfriend, Helen, who is now married to Alexander Magiros, a wealthy businessman who is also sponsoring the Institute.

David and his three new friends enjoy a lot of recreations together, though David also has several more near misses that seem to be attempts on his life. Though slightly more wary, he accepts an invitation from Helen and Alexander to stay on their private island for a few days. Once there, however, he learns that he is to be forced to perform an insane, monstrous medical operation that only he can successfully do — and if he refuses, Michelle, Suzanne and Mike will pay the price.

The Dark Host is a very odd novel. Through most of it, it reads more like a travelogue of Greece and an accurate depiction of going to a lovely scientific conference in a beautiful foreign country. I was particularly enamored of this aspect of the book because I have been in the same situation! Back in 2018, I went to a conference on the Greek island of Spetses and spent a couple of days in Athens before returning home, So when I read about Dr. Killearn taking a meeting in the shadow of the Acropolis, I fondly thought back on the time that I was there!

When David narrowly avoids assassins at night at the Tower of the Winds in Athens, I vividly remembered my time there (it is also featured on the book’s cover).

And Archie Roy’s descriptions of a scientific conference and all the special tours and social events reminded me of conferences I attended. This isn’t surprising, as Roy was himself an astronomer and knew the conference routine very well.

If I were to guess, I would guess that The Dark Host was written as a fond memory of a scientific conference that Roy attended in Greece, considering perhaps 2/3rds of the book really focuses on the conference and the sights of Greece! The book is dedicated to “Janet, Jean-Pierre and Lena, as I promised,” who sound suspiciously similar to Michelle, Mike, and Suzanne.

Because I have also had fun in Greece at a scientific conference, I enjoyed the book very much; would others find it equally enjoyable? I’m not sure.

I should note that the dark twist of the book, the secret of the horrific surgery, is great and a truly bonkers twist for the novel that makes up a lot for the more routine travel stuff. This would not be my first Roy novel to suggest to others, however, and would still point them enthusiastically towards Devil in the Darkness.

I am now in the mood to read another Archie Roy story; I think I’ll look at Sable Night (1973) next, another of his supernatural thrillers…