Darkness, My Old Friend By Lisa Unger

        Following on the heels of Fragile (2010), Lisa Unger continues the lives of some of that book’s characters in a complexly plotted thriller that showcases this author’s psychological insights and tension building skills.  Her descriptions of the locale, The Hollows, are so vivid that the community itself becomes very much a part of the story.  Some love The Hollows, others hate it, but as we learn all are bound together.

    Jones Cooper, now retired from local police force fears death.  “The dread of it woke him in the night, sat him bolt upright and drew all the breath from his lungs, narrowed his esophagus, had him rasping in the dark.”  He’s seeing a psychiatrist to deal with unresolved problems in his past, and spends his time helping neighbors and working around the house.  His wife, Maggie, also a psychiatrist is worried about him.

    Our story opens when he receives an unwelcome visitor, psychic Eloise Montgomery, who brings a warning.  He’s brusque and cannot wait for her to be gone.

    At the same time a fellow who grew up in The Hollows has returned.  Michael Holt is ostensibly there to settle his late father’s estate, but is actually trying to find out why his mother disappeared when he was a small boy.  He hires Eloise and her detective friend to help him.

    A new resident of The Hollows from New York City is Bethany Graves and her teenage daughter, Willow.   Bethany is a best-selling mystery writer, recently divorced, and hoping that life in a peaceful small town will help Willow who has a penchant for misbehavior and lying about practically everything.  But Willow absolutely detests The Hollows and has taken up with kids who also have problems.

    When Jones receives a call from a former colleague asking for help on a cold case that has recently been reopened Jones quite suddenly finds himself caught up in several mysteries, one involving a frightening husband who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

    While Unger freely shares clues along the way readers will find themselves mesmerized as pieces of the puzzle begin fitting together to reveal a shocking picture.

    Enjoy.