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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
A mystery as dark and twisty as the Thames …
Maria King knows a secret London. Born blind, she knows the city by sound and touch and smell. But surgery restored her sight – only for her to find she doesn’t want it.
Jonathan Dark sees the shadowy side of the city. A DI with the Metropolitan Police, he is haunted by his failure to save a woman from the hands of a stalker.
Now it seems the killer has set his sights on Maria, and is leaving her messages in the most gruesome of ways.
Tracing the source of these messages leads Maria and Jonathan to a London they never knew. To find the truth they’ll have to listen to the whispers on the streets.
DI Jonathan Dark is a troubled man. Struggling to come to terms with his separation from his wife and the death of a mentor, he’s also battling with his failure to help a young woman, Tanya Baker, who was murdered after a prolonged stalking campaign that the police were powerless to stop. Then he meets Maria King – a woman blind since birth, who had her sight restored only to discover that she preferred being blind – and who has attracted the attention of Tanya’s stalker. Dark and his team have 7 days to find out who’s responsible but the investigation will bring Dark into contact with a part of London that he never knew existed – a London filled with ghosts and those who communicate with them …
A. K. Benedict’s novel is a curious mix of crime and fantasy that mostly hangs together well, in spite of a very busy plot. Dark himself is an interesting (if at times mopey) protagonist – I believed him as a man unable to let go of his shallow wife, and whose obsession with her mirrors that of the stalker’s obsession with Maria – and I also believed in the more supernatural revelations about him. Where it fell down was with one particularly personal revelation, which came out of nowhere for me and didn’t really add much to my understanding of him. In contrast I found Maria more annoying – while Benedict does her best to explain why she is unable to embrace sight, I still found it a difficult concept to buy into, not least because of the lack of any public reaction to her blindfold (but that probably says more about me than the character). The best scenes are those recounted by the stalker and I would have liked more from their point of view, if only to flesh out the motivation and how they commit their crimes. A sub-plot involving a criminal fraternity has a lot of potential despite straining credibility at times, but for me the best part was the way Benedict handles the supernatural elements, constructing a ghost-locked London that feels very believable. I really wanted more of it, not least because of the detection implications. There is definite series potential for this book (which I would continue with), and despite the flaws, Benedict’s fluid writing style kept me turning the pages and I will check out her other books.
The Verdict:
A. K. Benedict’s novel is a curious mix of crime and fantasy that mostly hangs together well, in spite of a very busy plot. Dark himself is an interesting (if at times mopey) protagonist – I believed him as a man unable to let go of his shallow wife, and whose obsession with her mirrors that of the stalker’s obsession with Maria – and I also believed in the more supernatural revelations about him. Where it fell down was with one particularly personal revelation, which came out of nowhere for me and didn’t really add much to my understanding of him. In contrast I found Maria more annoying – while Benedict does her best to explain why she is unable to embrace sight, I still found it a difficult concept to buy into, not least because of the lack of any public reaction to her blindfold (but that probably says more about me than the character). The best scenes are those recounted by the stalker and I would have liked more from their point of view, if only to flesh out the motivation and how they commit their crimes. A sub-plot involving a criminal fraternity has a lot of potential despite straining credibility at times, but for me the best part was the way Benedict handles the supernatural elements, constructing a ghost-locked London that feels very believable. I really wanted more of it, not least because of the detection implications. There is definite series potential for this book (which I would continue with), and despite the flaws, Benedict’s fluid writing style kept me turning the pages and I will check out her other books.
JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS will be released in the United Kingdom on 25th February 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC copy of this book.
Maria King knows a secret London. Born blind, she knows the city by sound and touch and smell. But surgery restored her sight – only for her to find she doesn’t want it.
Jonathan Dark sees the shadowy side of the city. A DI with the Metropolitan Police, he is haunted by his failure to save a woman from the hands of a stalker.
Now it seems the killer has set his sights on Maria, and is leaving her messages in the most gruesome of ways.
Tracing the source of these messages leads Maria and Jonathan to a London they never knew. To find the truth they’ll have to listen to the whispers on the streets.
DI Jonathan Dark is a troubled man. Struggling to come to terms with his separation from his wife and the death of a mentor, he’s also battling with his failure to help a young woman, Tanya Baker, who was murdered after a prolonged stalking campaign that the police were powerless to stop. Then he meets Maria King – a woman blind since birth, who had her sight restored only to discover that she preferred being blind – and who has attracted the attention of Tanya’s stalker. Dark and his team have 7 days to find out who’s responsible but the investigation will bring Dark into contact with a part of London that he never knew existed – a London filled with ghosts and those who communicate with them …
A. K. Benedict’s novel is a curious mix of crime and fantasy that mostly hangs together well, in spite of a very busy plot. Dark himself is an interesting (if at times mopey) protagonist – I believed him as a man unable to let go of his shallow wife, and whose obsession with her mirrors that of the stalker’s obsession with Maria – and I also believed in the more supernatural revelations about him. Where it fell down was with one particularly personal revelation, which came out of nowhere for me and didn’t really add much to my understanding of him. In contrast I found Maria more annoying – while Benedict does her best to explain why she is unable to embrace sight, I still found it a difficult concept to buy into, not least because of the lack of any public reaction to her blindfold (but that probably says more about me than the character). The best scenes are those recounted by the stalker and I would have liked more from their point of view, if only to flesh out the motivation and how they commit their crimes. A sub-plot involving a criminal fraternity has a lot of potential despite straining credibility at times, but for me the best part was the way Benedict handles the supernatural elements, constructing a ghost-locked London that feels very believable. I really wanted more of it, not least because of the detection implications. There is definite series potential for this book (which I would continue with), and despite the flaws, Benedict’s fluid writing style kept me turning the pages and I will check out her other books.
The Verdict:
A. K. Benedict’s novel is a curious mix of crime and fantasy that mostly hangs together well, in spite of a very busy plot. Dark himself is an interesting (if at times mopey) protagonist – I believed him as a man unable to let go of his shallow wife, and whose obsession with her mirrors that of the stalker’s obsession with Maria – and I also believed in the more supernatural revelations about him. Where it fell down was with one particularly personal revelation, which came out of nowhere for me and didn’t really add much to my understanding of him. In contrast I found Maria more annoying – while Benedict does her best to explain why she is unable to embrace sight, I still found it a difficult concept to buy into, not least because of the lack of any public reaction to her blindfold (but that probably says more about me than the character). The best scenes are those recounted by the stalker and I would have liked more from their point of view, if only to flesh out the motivation and how they commit their crimes. A sub-plot involving a criminal fraternity has a lot of potential despite straining credibility at times, but for me the best part was the way Benedict handles the supernatural elements, constructing a ghost-locked London that feels very believable. I really wanted more of it, not least because of the detection implications. There is definite series potential for this book (which I would continue with), and despite the flaws, Benedict’s fluid writing style kept me turning the pages and I will check out her other books.
JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS will be released in the United Kingdom on 25th February 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC copy of this book.
