Good Morning, Darkness

This book was really a bit unusual. It is dark, gloomy and at times depressing. It is filled with hateful characters and mystery laid upon mystery. When I got through reading this literate, stylish novel, I found myself saying what a wonderful book, nevertheless. Definitely recommended for a good, satisfying read.

Ruth Francisco's books are works of art, something we don't see much of in this day and age. Although this book is primarily about Laura Finnegan, we really don't know anything much about her - except that everyone who meets her loves her, often to the point of obsession. When she disappears, it turns everyone's lives upside-down - and then two dismembered arms wash up on the beach, and some suspect they may have belonged to her. Not knowing if she is dead or alive, Det. Sgt. Reggie Brooks, LAPD Homocide and her martial arts instructor, sets off to find out what happened to her - putting both his marriage and his job in danger. The layers, twists and turns in this novel will keep you guessing right up until almost the very end; what you discover will be a shocker. Don't miss this amazing book!

The fundamental theme of this novel is obsession and the price it extracts on all of the characters. The obsession takes human form in the attractive body and movements of Laura Finnegan. Everyone who comes into contact with her, even at a distance, becomes attracted to her like moths to a flame. Her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, loves her so much he wants to marry her. A nameless Mexican fisherman changes his daily routine so that he can stand outside her home and watch her as she moves around her kitchen. Laura's boss, Mr. Johnson, wants her to the point of committing sexual harassment, something he has done and gotten away with before. Then there is Reggie Brooks, a local police detective but also her martial arts instructor. Laura Finnegan has that rare ability to inspire love and devotion in every man and all are prepared to give up everything they each have for her. Then she vanishes. The Mexican fisherman finds an arm on a local beach and a few miles away, the matching arm washes ashore in Malibu. Since he hasn't seen Laura in days, he begins to wonder if the arms are hers. He also realizes that he hasn't seen her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, a man he knows only by the car he drives, a white BMW. Assigned to the case of the found arms, Reggie Brooks begins to wonder as well as Laura hasn't made it to class lately. Mr. Johnson also wonders about her even though he got a letter from her stating that she was quitting her job. While there is no reason to suspect that the found arms and Laura's disappearance are in any way related, the detective and the fisherman believe, for different reasons, they are linked. Shifting between the boyfriend Scott, to detective Brooks, to the Mexican fisherman, and others, the novel gradually reveals a tale of murder and deceit. A weak storyline of a gangland execution is introduced to provide some complexity to the work and as character development, but is not used to any real effectiveness. Additional story elements of classicism and accounting fraud are used much more effectively used and do enhance the tale, but the primary focus is obsession. Obsession in each character drives the work forward and it is only because of obsession that every single thing happens. The result is a good read that engages the reader from start to finish. This entire review previously appeared online at OnceWritten. Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

Young and beautiful Laura Finnegan seems to change each life she touches, she also seems able to capture the heart of every man she comes in contact with. Including the Mexican fisherman who watches her every morning, the cop who teaches her self defense and of course her handsome as a devil, successful boyfriend, Scott Goodsell. One night she has a fitful nightmare, she's dreamed that Scott has killed her. In the morning she tells him and he tells her to put it out of her mind, it was only a dream. Later Scott takes her out to dinner and proposes, however Laura can't get that dream out of her head and she says no. But Scott isn't the kind of person to take no lightly. He starts following her and this frightens Laura enough that she starts taking self-defense classes taught by LAPD Detective Sergeant Reggie Brooks. To him Laura appears like a wounded animal, someone in dire need of protection and he helps her get a restraining order against Scott. Then all of a sudden she's gone. Reggie can't believe it. Scott tells him she's moved back east to take care of her sick mother. He can't prove anything, but he's suspisious as all get out, so he starts digging and he won't quit, even though it strains the relationship he has with his wife and children. This is a dark and brooding story that unfortunately I had to put down at two in the morning, three quarters finished, because I was just too sleepy to go on, but my mind wouldn't rest without knowing the ending, so I wound up dreaming Laura's nightmare. There are mind games galore in this super mystery-thriller that has an ending you won't believe. This is a nail-biting, fast-past and somewhat disturbing book that I highly recommend. You won't go wrong with Ruth Francisco.

Anyone who knows Laura loves her; her admirers range from the Mexican fisherman to the police detective who teaches her self defense. However, no one cherishes Laura as much as Scott Goodsell does. The realtor awaits the right moment to propose to his beloved, but before he does she ends their relationship. Scott refuses to accept her no and stalks her until she obtains a restraining order. An arm with an engagement ring on a finger washes up on Malibu Beach; the Mexican fisherman who found it believes this is Laura's limb. At the same time Scott closes Laura's apartment, writes a note in which she claims to be going back east to care for her ailing mother. He places her stuff in storage and forges her signature to pay her bills. The detective investigates the arm with its ring and finds out it belonged to Scott. He believes Scott killed Laura, but now has to prove it. GOOD MORNING, DARKNESS is an exciting Hitchcock like crime thriller in which the audience knows from the beginning that the antagonist has committed crimes including murder. Friends of Laura believe he did her in too and work hard to find the proof. Even with Ruth Francisco ceding all this from the onset, the author still provides plenty of surprises to this powerful dark side of love tale. Harriet Klausner