The Darkest Place

What's not to dislike. There is suspense, sadness, sadism, surprise, and sexuality. There is pungent politiks and poop about authors-professors of a small college literature department. The reader is entertained--not insulted--that's my bottom-line.

Daniel Judson has taken a classic genre and made it fresh and edgy. The ambiance in this novel is pervasive, not simply suspenseful but truly eerie. With only 2 exceptions, the major players are male, and Judson presents them inch by inch, the painful secrets that each one harbors coming to light with exquisite slowness. Each man is essentially alone in his struggle to cope with despair and guilt, while attempting to stop that most appalling of criminals, the serial killer. Even sex fails to lift the depression for more than a few moments. The mystery woman, Collette, projects yet another dimension into the mix. Judson's terse prose sustains a sense of moodiness, menace, obsession, and, well, darkness. The audio production of this outstanding novel is [..] Hill, whose reading is subtle and never over-dramatic. Sometimes he sounds like Darren McGavin, who could be understated when he chose to be.

Daniel Judson made an auspicious debut in 2002, publishing both THE BONE ORCHARD and THE POISONED ROSE to much critical adulation and introducing a hardscrabble private investigator named Mac MacManus. Four years later Judson has returned with THE DARKEST PLACE, and the potential and promise that his previous work simultaneously raised and met are now surpassed. As its title portends, THE DARKEST PLACE is a journey into the unlit places of the soul, the sordid and unfilled locations to which sane people never so much as glance. Deacon Kane, a visiting lecturer of Humanities at Southampton College, is on a downward spiral due to the accidental drowning of his son and the subsequent breakup of his marriage. Kane is hell-bent on self-destruction, fueling his journey with alcohol while engaging in a pointless and potentially dangerous affair with a local artiste. It is all he can do to make it to his classroom, a task he fails to accomplish more often than not. Kane's life is further complicated when he finds himself implicated in a series of drowning deaths involving young men in the community. The deaths appear at first to be accidental, occasioned by youthful indiscretion and drunkenness, or perhaps suicide. But when the third drowning involves one of Kane's students, the police begin investigating the lecturer himself, who slowly comes to the realization that he is being deliberately implicated in these deaths. An enigmatic PI firm tries to help Kane even as it investigates him, but it is ultimately Kane's own penchant for attracting and being attracted to trouble that puts him on a collision course with mortal danger. All the while, Judson's narrative skills propel the reader ever forward while contemporaneously forcing a careful reading. One simply cannot guess what will happen next, and though the event may be heartbreaking, there is simply no way to proceed but toward it. For example, about two-thirds of the way through the book Judson describes an occurrence with excruciatingly painful yet compelling clarity --- so compelling in fact that I honestly believe that if I had been in a burning building while reading it, I would have not moved until I completed the four or so pages over which the event is described. I won't tell you what it is, but it takes place in a parking lot. You'll know it when you get there. THE DARKEST PLACE is a classic work, oddly evocative of James Crumley's THE LAST GOOD KISS without resembling it in the slightest. Very highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

I read Judson's previous books (The Bone Orchard and The Poisoned Rose) and enjoyed them both. When I heard he had a new book coming out after a few years, I was psyched and got it the first day it came out. It was worth the wait. THE DARKEST PLACE was haunting, dark, filled with real characters who had experienced loss and dealt with it in vastly different ways. There's deep characterization in this novel and that's risky sometimes because there's a fine line between a literary mystery and a bore. But Judson keeps the pace up so well and dangles just enough information to the reader that makes the book impossible to put down once you're a couple chapters into it. The characters aren't all clearly cut good guys and bad guys, just like in real life and you find yourself rooting for them, wanting them to succeed and turn their lives around. There's even a shoutout to fans of his previous two books, if you're paying attention enough to one particular character, and I loved that. It was like being given a glimpse of an old friend I haven't heard from in a while. I'd recommend this book to fans of thrillers, mysteries, and literary novels. Can't wait for Judson's next one.

There are serial killer novels, and then there are literary gems that involve serial killers. Dan Judson's THE DARKEST PLACE is the latter, a gorgeous, ambitious novel equal parts exploration of loss and up-till-dawn page-turner. The plot, which follows the investigation of a series of drowning murders in the bleak post-tourist winter of Long Island's Shinnecock Bay, is filled with enough twists and reversals to keep diehard mystery readers guessing. But it's the characters that make the book hypnotic; wounded, wanting, and set on a collision course, they are richly textured and completely believable. Judson's deep empathy makes their pain and desire and trembling hope personal, and you'll find they haunt you long after you close the book. The result is a can't-put-it-down thriller reminiscent of the best in the genre, works like MYSTIC RIVER and CLOCKERS. Bravo!