Book Review: Darkhouse

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Darkhouse     Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC
Alex Barclay
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
June 2007, Delacorte Press

A New York cop working on a kidnapping is an eyewitness to a horrific pair of murders committed by the kidnapper. In flight from his memories and the bitter taste of his failure to prevent the killings, he follows his wife to Ireland where she has taken on the renovation and interior decoration of an old lighthouse.

In alternating chapters flashing back to the 1980's we meet a pair of abused kids, who find each other, identify with similar miseries and begin a chain of abductions and murders in which they cooperate to lure the victims away from safety.

These three lives intersect with distressing results when one of the pair of punks trails the cop to his refuge in Ireland.

Barclay's novel received a positive mention in one of the two weekly book review sections in my local newspapers. And a couple of mystery based websites also expressed favorable reactions. I've tried to check the local review archives, but they are no longer available without an electronic subscription.

Bottom line, I can't say I echo any positive comments. Characterizations are thin, conflicts between characters sort of fade away instead of being resolved, motivations for various actions by many of the characters are often murky at best, and the entire chain of events ends in a particularly unsatisfactory bit of enigma.

Maybe for a beach read for rainy days. But then again, maybe not!

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM