In the Dark

In the Dark 
by Loreth Anne White


Blurb:

A secluded mountain lodge. The perfect getaway. So remote no one will ever find you. 

The promise of a luxury vacation at a secluded wilderness spa has brought together eight lucky guests. But nothing is what they were led to believe. As a fierce storm barrels down and all contact with the outside is cut off, the guests fear that it’s not a getaway. It’s a trap.

Each one has a secret. Each one has something to hide. And now, as darkness closes in, they all have something to fear—including one another.

Alerted to the vanished party of strangers, homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton must brave the brutal elements of the mountains to find them. But even Mason and Callie have no idea how precious time is. Because the clock is ticking, and one by one, the guests of Forest Shadow Lodge are being hunted. For them, surviving becomes part of a diabolical game.

My Reaction:
I listened to the audiobook version of In the Dark-- another selection made on the basis of availability through Kindle Unlimited-- and I'm happy with the choice. This is the best KU-sourced audiobook I've come across since I started listening to them on the Echo Dot. (So convenient for listening when my hands are dirty busy in the kitchen or working on something in the craft room!)

In the Dark is atmospheric and creepy-- it kept me guessing-- even the detective/search-and-rescue parts were engaging (which I didn't expect at first)-- and it also helps that it's geared toward fans of Agatha Christie (the master of the murder mystery).

Now, I still have some nit-picks (the narration felt a tad melodramatic to me at times, I couldn't stand the "kid voice" [a frequent irritation in audiobooks, I find], I got a little bored during the summing up scene, I'm not sure about the believability or realism of some of the motivations and decisions, I was a bit let down by the "whodunit"-- though I didn't have anything else specific in mind-- and so on), but over all, I really enjoyed it.

I will say that if you think you might want to read Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (and want to avoid spoilers), you should do that first, because there are major spoilers for that novel in this one.

Speaking of spoilers...

Skip the next section of this review to avoid spoilers for not only In the Dark, but also both And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express...

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I'd already picked up on the parallels between And Then There Were None and this book before ATTWN was first referenced, so it was amusing when that novel became such an important part of the plot.

The parallels between this novel and ATTWN are very clear-- a group of (mostly) strangers invited to an isolated location under false pretenses, all turning out to be guilty of a crime, their being killed one at a time in shockingly violent ways, etc.

However, while listening, I also felt that there were similarities to Murder on the Orient Express.

MotOE is about a group of seemingly unrelated people all seeking revenge/justice for the murder of a child. The events of In the Dark are also triggered by the desire for justice after a child's murderer goes unpunished. Whereas in ATTWN (almost all of) the criminals don't know one another and are guilty of completely unrelated crimes (...as far as I can recall), in In the Dark the guilty parties are all linked to a single crime... And in MotOE, the group of revenge-seekers (who are also murderers, by the end of the book), are also all linked to a single crime (though they are the family/loved ones of the victims). The judge in ATTWN isn't a sympathetic character, from what I remember, but we do sympathize with the judge-jury-executioners in MotOE, as we are meant to sympathize with Stella. ...I don't know; there's more, though it's all kind of a jumble-- but while listening, I definitely felt that this novel was inspired by both ATTWN and MotOE.
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(Spoilers over now!)

It feels like this could be the first in a series, possibly. There's a complicated relationship that is still just beginning by the end of the book. However, on the other hand, it might be best left to the reader's imagination. The setting is supposed to be a quiet backwater town where serious crime is almost unheard of, so it's unlikely that there would be enough fodder for another crime mystery novel or three set in the same location. However, little things like that don't usually deter writers of crime fiction!

This author's name is one I'll remember for another time!

Shadow Moon

Shadow Moon
by Chris Claremont and George Lucas


Blurb:

War and chaos have gripped the land of Tir Asleen. An ancient prophecy reveals one hope: a savior princess who will ascend to the throne when the time is right. But first, a Nelwyn wanderer must face forces of unimaginable malevolence and dangerous, forbidden rites of necromancy that could bring back a powerful warrior from soulless sleep.

My Reaction:
Shadow Moon was the latest selection for the 372-Pages podcast (and a shared read-aloud with Donald). I can safely say that I would never have read this book, otherwise. I hadn't even seen Willow until shortly before starting the book-- in preparation for reading-- and neither movie nor novel were especially appealing to me.

(I think that I have some resistance to new-to-me fantasy novels, though I usually enjoy them well enough once I start. I just never believe I will like it, for some reason. It doesn't tantalize me like some genres do. I was more open to fantasy as a younger reader, and maybe it's time to give some of it a try. Part of the problem is that fantasy = looooong books, in my mind, and that's a turn-off.)

Anyway, the 372-Pages verdict was that this is the worst thing they've read to date. I certainly didn't enjoy the book, and there were times when I dreaded reading it, but I can't agree that it's the worst. No, for all its many faults, Shadow Moon is not as bad as Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, in my opinion, though I can see why Mike and Conor might disagree. (Bob Honey had more in the way of comedy fodder, and ultimately I think it comes down to the sheer number of pages and words. This was a long, long book. At least the steaming pile of crap that is Bob Honey was short. Still too long for me to endure, though. The only DNF of the podcast, so far.)

So... Shadow Moon... The chief problems are as follows:

-- If you read it because you liked Willow, you'll be disappointed by the fact that there's almost an entirely new cast of characters, and even the ones from the movie who do survive into the bulk of the book are changed to the point of being nearly unrecognizable.

-- What passes for a plot is stretched thin, and it moves at a snail's pace.

-- The characters aren't endearing or even interesting. Some are mere cardboard cutouts.

-- The descriptions of "magic" are far too long and repetitive. I would've been okay with a little of it, but honestly, at some point, you just stop caring. The endless descriptions of Thorn suffering agonies or being exhausted likewise hold little appeal. When a character bounces right back from being ripped apart on the molecular level (or something like that), there's no chance of anything ever truly harming him, so why even bother paying attention?

-- There's nothing good or enjoyable in this world, apparently, and the whole book is very "blah". A well-plotted, fast-moving dystopian novel is one thing, but in something as sluggish as this, it's just one more reason to not want to bother.

I was vaguely curious about how the story progresses into the second and third books-- though not curious enough to want to read the books!-- so I looked them up online. I've had no luck finding a detailed synopsis or answers to my specific questions. It's a fittingly dissatisfying end to my experience with this novel.

I was considering awarding the book 1.5 stars rounded up to 2, mostly in reaction to the mere suggestion that Bob Honey is the superior work... But after writing this review, I realize that I can't do it. This is a one-star book, I'm afraid.

In the Woods

In the Woods
by Tana French


Blurb:

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. 

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

My Reaction (with SPOILERS):
Since there's a recent TV adaptation based on this series, I did my best to avoid spoilers, and as a result, I went into this book with a couple of misconceptions. Unfortunately, that's led to me feeling dissatisfied, now that I know more about the series of books.

You see, I thought this was the first of a trilogy, but now I discover that it's actually one in a longer (more loosely connected) series and that the books aren't all told from the same character's perspective. If I understand correctly, none of the others (to date) are from Rob Ryan's point of view, and he likely doesn't play a major role in any of the other books. This is a problem for me.

When it became clear that "Rob's mystery" (the two missing kids from the 1980s) wasn't going to be solved by the end of the book, I wasn't terribly surprised. With two more books left in the trilogy (as I thought it was), I expected to find the conclusion in the third book. Then, when things started to fall apart between Cassie and Rob, I was disconcerted, but figured it would just be grist for the mill in the second and third books. You must have conflict to have a story, etc., etc.

Now that I know that this book is essentially a stand-alone, as far as the 1980's mystery is concerned (and that there is unlikely to ever be more written about Cassie and Rob as a couple), all the allowances I made for the book as I read it have fallen by the wayside. Before, I'd been making excuses. Yes, the pace was slower than I'd have liked, but we'd get there eventually-- and true, Rob was very stupid and snobbish at times, and he was an idiotic jerk to Cassie, but it would all be resolved in Book 2 or 3, surely-- right? Nope.

It's unfortunate. I'd really enjoyed the better parts and aspects of the book and was curious about where the next two would take the story, but I'm not satisfied with the lack of a true conclusion for the (far more interesting) older mystery. I've read the theories (and had come to a similar conclusion on my own-- definitely picked up on some supernatural vibes throughout the novel), but it's not enough to leave me happy.

And as for Rob and Cassie-- ugh. I was never agog over their (not-so) perfect platonic relationship, to be honest. It seemed... improbable and even somewhat obnoxious (like the too-frequent, too "current" pop-culture references). "We're special. We're not like other people. We have a bond no-one else could understand, to the point that we practically read one another's mind. We'd never let romance complicate our perfect relationship. ...Oops, we let romance mess things up! Now we'll spend the rest of the book hurting one another and refusing to communicate. Aren't we quite the pair of tragic, star-cross'd lovers?" ...But anyway, even if they annoy me, I still wanted to see them work things out-- and now I know that's not happening. Ugh. No, I don't like it.

Maybe, maybe if I hadn't gone into this expecting a self-contained trilogy with a typical trilogy-style story arc, I might have been able to accept that this was a different kind of story-- not remotely happy or even satisfying. Then again, maybe it would've bothered me just as much, no matter what I'd been expecting. All I know for certain is that it's left me feeling bitter and frustrated.

I might at some point try the next in the series, which is told from Cassie's point of view, but I'm disappointed that it's not a true continuation of In the Woods. And if what I'm picking up from reviews is correct (that this author likes her characters best when they're suffering), I'm just not sure when I'll have an appetite for more.