Darkness Peering

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully-written, twist-filled tale of suspense.
Review: The summary of this novel has been rehashed so many times already in other reviews that there's no need to repeat it here. Simply put... this book rocks. It is both a terrifying suspense novel and a journey into the complex life of a woman striving to live up to her father's memory and flawed honor. It's a battle of loyalty vs. reality. This story will give you a most thrilling, unpredictable ride from the first chapter until the last. Take my word for it... READ THIS BOOK. Literary thrillers don't get much better. Thomas Harris has someone breathing hot and heavy down his neck and her name is Alice Blanchard.

Rating:
Summary: A good first novel
Review: I listened to this book on Recorded Books audiotape and the narrator did a great job of capturing the different characters. In part one, the sherriff of Flowering Dogwood is trying to solve the murder of a 14 year old girl with Down Syndrome. He hates to believe his son Billy had any part in it, but he and a group of high school friends were recently caught killing stray cats. As the evidence begins to point straight at Billy, his father cannot deny his guilt. Unable to turn in his son, he commits suicide. The story then jumps to the present day when the sherriff's daughter Rachel is now a detective and decides to reopen the unsolved case. The plot thickens when a doctor's 29 year old daughter, Clair, disappears and it just so happens that she worked at the Blind school with Rachel's brother Billy. Several others are suspects too, and the story takes alot of twists and turns as the reader tries to figure out who is behind the eventual murder of Clair, and then the abduction of Clair's younger sister and her boyfriend. It seems inevitable that the two cases are tied together, though almost 20 years apart. Alice Blanchard did a nice job of creating a good mystery with a surprising ending that kept me guessing all the way. I am looking forward to more of her work.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: Just a great, great, great piece of writing here. A freakin' amazing twist at a totally unexpected point in the story only pushes my thumb's up even higher toward the sky. This is a writer of rare talent and insight into the darker aspects of humanity.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is the best psychological thriller I've read in a long, long time. I would recommed it for the intelligent reader. I suspect it's not for the average mystery buff, though I may be wrong. It's dark, complicated and challengingly difficult. At a very high level of prose. The characters are brutally real. As someone else mentioned, it reminded me of Thomas Harris. This is a great book and I think it does an impressive balancing act between literary fiction and page-turner. I'm looking forward to what else Alice Blanchard has to offer the world.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST BOOK I've read in YEARS!
Review: I'm in a book reading club with ten other people and we just read this one. EVERYONE IN THE GROUP LOVED IT! We all agreed this qualifies as a novel much more than "just" a mystery/thriller. It rises high above that predictable and formulaic genre. It is smart, disturbing and beautifully written. What I most loved about this book is how it weaves its way through the dark little worlds of many troubled souls in a small New England town in such a way that their tragic, mundane lives stay with you long after you put it down. I haven't read a novel this good in years. For those looking for your standard mystery novel, go read any one of the thousands of forgettable ones out there. For those looking for something truly remarkable, go buy this one immediately. Color me impressed, Ms. Blanchard, and count me as one of your lifelong fans. And hurry up with your next masterpiece. You have a hungry book-reading club tapping their feet most impatiently.

Rating:
Summary: Loved this
Review: I read this after reading Blanchard's new novel, "The Breathtaker" and liking that so much. This is just as good and even darker, to my liking. I was impressed before, now I'm a fan for life. I just hope the next one doesn't take so long.

Rating:
Summary: REALLY GREAT BOOK!
Review: I really enjoyed this. It is both a terrifying suspense novel and a journey into the complex life of a woman striving to live up to her father's memory and flawed honor. It's a battle of loyalty vs. reality. This story will give you a most thrilling, unpredictable ride from the first chapter until the last.

Rating:
Summary: Two for two
Review: Also inspired to read Blanchard's first book after burning through "The Breathtaker." I think this one is nearly as good, though slower-paced. I was impressed by the descriptions of New England countryside and the conflict in all of her characters, especially her heroine, Rachel. I suppose you could call this the grandmother of all dysfunctional family stories. I was surprised by the killer reveal, though it was a bit of a cheat and I thought there could've been a little more to chew on where he was concerned leading up to the ending. But that's a minor quibble. I definitely recommend this.

Rating:
Summary: The breath-taking continues!
Review: I read this after reading and loving Blanchard's sophomore effort, "the Breathtaker." How did I miss this one? It's excellent and disturbing. Very scary. Rachel Storrow is a top-shelf leading lady and if the first 60 pages don't get your pulse pounding, go to the doctor, you might be dead. Well-written, intricately-plotted, amazingly researched (there's a surgery scene that is one of the best pieces of fiction writing I've ever read)... Okay, Alice, where's the next one?

Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: I bought this a couple years ago and finally got to it on my vacation this summer. It was fantastic! There's a huge twist about 60 pages in that launches the rest of the story. I was captivated from start to finish. Then I see the author has a new thriller coming out in November. I can't wait!