The
Darker Side
A
Smoky Barrett Mystery
Cody
McFadyen
Bantam
(Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-553-80694-7 (0553806947)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80694-6 (9780553806946)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): A lie, a long-ago affair, a dark desire -- everyone has
secrets they take to the grave. No one knew that better than FBI
special agent Smoky Barrett. But what secret was a very private young
woman keeping that led to her very public murder? And what kind of
killer was so driven and so brazenly daring that he'd take her life on
a commercial airliner thirty thousand feet in midair, a killer so
accomplished that he'd leave only a small souvenir behind?
These are the questions that bring Smoky and her handpicked team of
experienced manhunters from L.A. to the autumn chill of Washington,
D.C., by order of the FBI director himself -- and at the special
request of a high-powered grieving D.C. mother.
As a mother, Smoky knows the pain of losing a child -- it nearly killed
her once before. As a cop with her own twisted past, she takes every
murder personally, which is both her greatest strength and her only
weakness. Brilliant, merciless, righteous, the killer Smoky is hunting
this time is on his own personal mission, whose cost in innocent human
lives he's only begun to collect. For in his eyes no one is innocent;
everyone harbors a secret sin, including Smoky Barrett. Soon Smoky will
have to confront a flawless killer who knows her flaws with murderous
intimacy.
Review:
FBI special agent Smoky Barrett and her team are on the trail of a
ruthless serial killer dubbed the Preacher in The Darker Side,
the third thriller in this series by Cody McFadyen.
Smoky is brought in when one of the victims is the estranged daughter
of a potential Presidential candidate. She had been killed while on
board a jet in mid-air with a sharp object thrust precisely into her
heart. The killer's calling card was a silver cross placed in the
wound, etched with a symbol and a number -- 143. As Smoky points out,
there is only one thing a killer counts. She's soon proved right;
another victim is found just days later with a similar cross and the
number 142 etched on it. But in an unusual twist, the killer starts
posting information about his crimes on the internet, outlining the
victims' sins. The Preacher, as Smoky comes to identify him, announces
he's not through and the next victim will be a child. Smoky and her
team are in a race against time to find the Preacher before he kills
again.
The
Darker Side is in many ways a
riveting thriller. The writing is crisp, the characters clearly
delineated, and plot well paced. What it lacks, somewhat ironically, is
suspense. Smoky and her team don't lead so much as follow. The Preacher
wants to be caught and leaves all sorts of clues as to where he is and
how to find him. At one point he says as much. So while the book is
definitely a page-turner (as it were), the direction it takes is not
unexpected. In the end it's ever so slightly disappointing, that there
wasn't a plot twist that might surprise the reader, and place it among
the best in class.
The narrative might have been more tightly wound had there not been so
many backstories. Some are clearly necessary; many are not. And the sin
and redemption aspect is somewhat overwrought, especially towards the
end among Smoky and her team. True, everyone has a deep seated secret,
but it's simply too much to have so many of the recurring characters
confess to theirs in one setting.
Still and all, The Darker Side
is provocative, intense, and eminently enjoyable as a thriller.
Special thanks to Joan Schulhafer Publishing and Media Consulting for providing a copy of The Darker Side for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Darker Side? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Shadow
Man
Bantam (Hardcover), June 2006
ISBN-10: 0-553-80465-0 (0553804650)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80465-2 (9780553804652)
The
Face
of Death
Bantam (Hardcover), May 2007
ISBN-10: 0-553-80466-9 (0553804669)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80466-9 (9780553804669)
The Darker Side
Bantam (Hardcover), September 2008
ISBN-10: 0-553-80694-7 (0553806947)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80694-6 (9780553806946)
Omnimystery
keywords for The Darker Side
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Location(s) referenced: Los Angeles, California.
