That Darkness
By Lisa Black
By Lisa BlackSummary:
As a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department, Maggie Gardiner has seen her share of Jane Does. The latest is an unidentified female in her early teens, discovered in a local cemetery. More shocking than the girl’s injuries—for Maggie at least—is the fact that no one has reported her missing. She and the detectives assigned to the case (including her cop ex-husband) are determined to follow every lead, run down every scrap of evidence. But the monster they seek is watching each move, closer to them than they could ever imagine.
Jack Renner is a killer. He doesn’t murder because he savors it, or because he believes himself omnipotent, or for any reason other than to make the world a safer place. When he follows the trail of this Jane Doe to a locked room in a small apartment where eighteen teenaged girls are anything but safe, he knows something must be done. But his pursuit of their captor takes an unexpected turn. [summary from http://www.lisa-black.com/gardinerrenner-books/4542656412]
Group Reviews
Thumbs up: 10
Thumbs down: 2
Thumbs in the middle: 3
Thumbs up comments:
About the theme:
The tension showing how cops might feel about the concept of vengeance felt very real. Believable that they feel this way, even if they don’t act on it.
Very intriguing ethical question about vengeance. The exploration of what is right and wrong and who gets to determine it?
The ending was necessarily horrific for Maggie to come to the conclusion she did.
About the characters:
Jack is a very compelling character. The reader’s dilemma was well done—is Jack “good” or “evil?”
Liked Maggie’s tenaciousness; slowly over time she figures it out. Liked how it built and came together.
The fact that Maggie didn’t have a personal life allowed her to be so focused on the forensics .
About the forensics:
Forensic parts VERY true to life…(note, our group has a real forensic scientist as a member and she confirmed that it was extremely accurate in detail.)
Enjoyed the forensic descriptions. It was logical to have all this detail, because that is how Maggie figures things out.
Forensic stuff felt more “real” than an episode of CSI!
General comments:
Looking forward to second one!
Some humor was appreciated.
Good police procedural.
Thumbs down comments:
About the characters:
Jack’s character was undeveloped.
Jack is a “discount Dexter”
Author could have focused more on the psychology.
Maggie kind of pathetic in terms of her personal life.
About the plotting:
Plot very repetitive
Ending too abrupt
Ending felt very cliché
About the forensics:
Forensic parts read like a text book
Way too much detail, took away from the heart of the story
Very tedious to read; forensics might have been interesting at first, but it just went on and on.
Thumbs in the middle comments:
About the plot/theme:
Like the cop-vigilante part, a few commented.
What was the point? Wasn’t a who dunnit or why dunnit…so what was the point?
If we were really going to explore the ‘thin blue line” then there should have been more exploration of this.
Not realistic how frequently Jack was able to move around..but helped the story so ok
General comments:
Mostly enjoyable read
Pacing was slow at the start, but into it by the end
Some technicalities off; modern times but she uses a flip phone?
About the forensics:
The forensic evidence slowed things down
About the characters:
Didn’t find either main character interesting at all—paper thin characters
The ending abrupt in terms of Maggie’s character development; as is didn’t ring true.
Left off interested in how Jack and Maggie will go forward
Would have liked to have a better sense of Jack
Interesting mystery and police/medical office procedural thriller. Set in Cleveland, Ohio in approximately the late 1990’s. The storyline raises some interesting legal and ethical issues in regard to criminal defendants. While the book sometimes is a bit burdened with lots of forensic details, all-in-all an enjoyable read. 3 stars (out of 5)