This Present Darkness

A relocated newspaper editor from the New York Times, Marshall comes to Ashton on account of a personal decision to downsize his life and focus more on his family. He buys the Clarion newspaper and as the new editor becomes immediately wrapped up in the intrigue broiling in Ashton. Described as a large, rough-around-the-edges, no-nonsense type, Marshall is both a classic fiction protagonist and a partial foil to Hank’s role as the pastor. While the two share certain character traits such as honesty and loyalty, Marshall is a skeptical, fallen away Presbyterian.

Marshall is not anti-Christian, but he has failed to allow faith and God to play an important role in his day-to-day activity. Marshall has the greatest character arc in regard to his personal growth, changing from an aloof and neglectful husband and father to a convinced man of faith, actively proving his love to his wife and daughter while taking down Omnicorp on account of his sleuthing and reporting.

The top reporter for the Ashton Clarion newspaper, Bernice is new in town, having taken a job at the local newspaper in order to stick around and investigate the unseemly and suspicious death of her sister Patricia. Described as young, energetic, and determined, Bernice is a classic reporter archetype, willing to put herself in harm’s way to get a photograph or scoop a story. The story opens up with her being falsely imprisoned, and throughout the novel, she continually finds herself at the heart of the machinations devised by the wicked Omnicorp and the men running it.

A skeptic at heart, Bernice spends the novel in a state of suspended disbelief. Not a Christian, Bernice is also very wary of finding any supernatural causes to the events happening in Ashton. Only toward the end does Bernice begin to see the coincidences piling up as revelatory of anything supernatural or miraculous, but by the end of the final chapter, the angels watch as she opens herself up to the possibility of faith by seeking out Hank and asking for his help.

A psychology professor at the local college around which the town is built, Langstrat is a major catalyst for the supernatural occurrences in the narrative and serves as a foil to Marshall Hogan. Though Hogan experiences a conversion at the end of the novel, he and Langstrat spend most of the narrative as non-believers, working for a major Ashton institution and trying to advance their own careers and interests. Langstrat is not a noteworthy presence in town until her interference with Sandy’s life singles her out for an investigation.

Langstrat is a co-antagonist with Omnicorp. Charismatic, beautiful, and very persuasive, she proves to be quite divisive, as those who don’t buy into her brand of psychology and self-realization find her off-putting and self-obsessed. She is responsible for drawing many of the local leaders around herself and into the “inner circle” of Ashton’s branch of the Universal Consciousness Society, attempting to draw Sandy away from her father and into demonic oppression to use as a pawn in the battle for Ashton.

The incumbent demon prince of Ashton, Lucius leads the demons in their first assaults on the townspeople. Wrathful and violent, he demands perfect obedience and complete success from his subordinates, otherwise launching into profane and violent outbursts in retaliation. Though large and strong as far as demons come, he is eventually outclassed and outranked by Ba’al Rafar (to say nothing of The Strongman) and spends much of the novel in tension with Rafar. Thanks to his demonic nature, however, he feels no loyalty to his superiors, and in the end, betrays Rafar and hides information from him, leading (in part) to some of the most significant failures of the Omnicorp plan.

Though identified as holding a lower position than the General—who is a tertiary character in the novel—Tal is the captain of the angelic host, responsible for the strategy and movement of the angels during their war with the demons who are attempting to launch a hostile takeover of Ashton. He acts as a foil to the higher demons in that he holds a position close to the top of the angelic hierarchy (said to have been in regular contact with Michael himself, the supreme leader of all angels), and is the strongest, swiftest, and most intelligent angel who appears in Ashton over the course of the narrative.

Tal and Rafar have a rivalry spanning millennia, as it was Tal who defeated Rafar and his forces at the fall of Babylon. Though the most skilled in combat, Tal is characterized by patience and prudence, often reminding his subordinates to wait for the right moment to strike, and he spends just as much time advancing the cause of the Ashton Christians by assisting them in secretive ways than he does in open combat with the demons who oppose him.

Occupying a middle position between Lucius and the Strongman, Ba’al Rafar—“Ba’al” meaning “Lord” or “Master” in ancient Semitic languages—takes over the demonic forces that had been commanded by Lucius. A stronger and more cunning demon, Rafar is clothed in gold and jewelry and commands much more fear and obedience than Lucius, thanks to his strength.

Once Rafar arrives in the early chapters, he is constantly in tension with Lucius but willing to do the work to pave the way for the arrival of The Strongman once certain plans have been set in motion. In addition to his petty rivalries with his inferiors, Rafar also spends much time attempting to draw out Tal, with whom he has had a longstanding rivalry. In the end, he is mortally wounded by Tal in combat, before succumbing to his injuries on account of the town’s prayers sapping all his strength.

The chief of police, Brummel is the definition of a pawn in the grand scheme to take over Ashton. A “dirty cop,” he has practically no agency of his own for the majority of the narrative and is often manipulated by Juleen Langstrat (especially by her romantic charms). Brummel spends most of his time carrying out the job of surveillance and petty harassment of the Christians in Ashton, especially Marshall and Bernice, who happen to be investigating in the town. Once the climax of the narrative arrives, Brummel begins to realize the gravity of his actions and the people he’s agreed to assist while in office. He attempts to redeem himself in the end by withholding information from Langstrat and attempting to thwart the plans with which he had been helping her.

Kaseph is the CEO of the Omni Corporation, the legal front for the Universal Consciousness Society that has plans for eventual world domination in the erection of a new global order. Kaseph is the unquestioned human antagonist, even above Oliver Young and Juleen Langstrat, who serve more as pawns in the demonic scheme. Kaseph is the mastermind behind the deaths of Patrice Kreuger, Bernice’s sister, as well as many others throughout the novel. In the end, he is possessed by the Strongman and is defeated by Hank and the General, which prevents his schemes from succeeding.

Pastor of the rival church in town, the Ashton United Christian Church, Oliver is the foil to Hank Busche, characterized as his complete opposite. Large, heavy, and slick, a master rhetorician and a subtle manipulator, he is one of the leaders of the movement in Ashton—part of the larger plans of the Universal Consciousness Society—to take over the college and the town. Oliver hides his motives for most of the narrative but eventually makes his motives clear to Hank and others in their final bid for the takeover.