Darkness on the Edge of Town

Darkness on the Edge of Town is an edgy, brilliantly-plotted thriller that I could not put down. As a former police detective and a writer, I read a lot of thrillers, but few are as gritty and realistic as this one. The police procedural details are solid, but J. Carson Black goes further, capturing the emotions felt by cops as well as the facts-something most writers leave out. For me, that's the difference between a good book, and a great one.

J. Carson's Black's first novel, Darkness on the Edge of Town, is an amazing thriller that is filled with so many spellbinding moments that you won't be able to put it down! You can really identify with the heroine, Laura Cardinal, as she enters the dark underworld of child porn to find a serial murderer before he's able to kill his next victim. Just when you think you've identified who the killer is, new characters emerge and the "good guys" are revealed for who they truly are. There are so many plot twists in this novel that you almost feel like you're on the tea cup ride at Disneyland. This is the best mystery novel I've ever read!!! Which leads to the next question: When is J. Carson Black's next novel coming out? I want to read more about Laura's adventures!!!

As a fan of Georges Simenon, I like a book that can take me to a different place and that is filled with the human stories rather than just being constant action. J. Carson Black has done this beautifully. Both with the setting (the author's website has pictures of the locations mentioned in the book so you can get an idea of what everything looks like) and the characters. "Darkness" starts out with a murder in small-town Arizona and all the complications, social intricacies, and subtexts of a case being handled by both state and local forces. Others here have mentioned the gripping plot, but the book is also rich in human social interaction and memories, and runs the emotional gamut from guilt, denial, fear, and evil to love, courage, and sacrifice. I'm looking forward to Black's next book in what promises to be a great series!

Darkness on the Edge of Town is a very impressive debut novel. The character development is excellent, the plot moves along quickly with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, and plenty of suspense. I would think that fans of Sue Grafton's series would enjoy this book, as I found it to be somewhat similar, but the plot is a little bit darker and the villains a little (or a lot) more sinister. I already can't wait for the next novel in this series.

"A bad one's coming...watch your back, Kiddo," said Frank X. Entwistle at three in the morning in the bedroom of Laura Cardinal. Frank was Laura's old mentor and he was dead. So begins the gripping tale of DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN. Frank's warning alludes to a criminal case involving the death of a fourteen-year-old girl. The location of the body, the way it is dressed and posed, suggests she just might be the victim of a serial killer, an internet sexual predator, to be exact. The discovery of a dead boyfriend near the initial crime scene tells Laura the killer is bold and will stop at nothing to get what he desires. Laura is a DPS criminal investigator and the lead investigator on the case (a female in a man's world of testosterone and politics). In this rustic town of Bisbee, Arizona, Laura finds herself pitted against an envious female law enforcement officer and her boss, a man who follows his own investigation. Laura consults with a wealthy quadriplegic super-hacker, and through a quick course in Internet Sexual Predator 101, she follows a lead across the country to a sleepy town on the Florida panhandle. And from that point on there is no turning back. The ending, with its final twist, will shock and amaze you. Atmosphere is so strong in her writing that you'll feel as though you're planted smack dab in the dry sweltering heat of the desert, or the pressing humidity of the swampy seacoast--descriptions filled with the gracefulness of Spanish Moss and the spikiness of a prickly pear. She propels us through gritty, visceral elements of murder and forensics intermingled with a softer side, the tender emotions and fears of a woman who is not as tough on the inside as she tries to appear to those around her. Much of the appeal for Laura Cardinal centers on the contradictions of her character. On the job she is tough and efficient. In her personal life she is less sure of her position regarding love, a tortured past, and her ability to cope emotionally when she learns the case has deeper and more personal connections. Laura is haunted by the abduction and death of a schoolmate eighteen years ago. She could have been that girl. The past is now. Beguiling names like: Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadows Show (an homage to Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes); Musicman; and Dark Moondancer, merely hint at the evil darkness that swirls around the places and players Black has created in this wonderful, many layered debut novel. Although JC Black can complete with the best of them in the police procedural novel, she has her very own style, a style that stands out from the pack. If this novel doesn't make the New York Times bestseller list, I will be immensely surprised.