By: Lisa Black
ISBN: 9781496701886
Publisher Kensington
Publication Date: 4/26/2016
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars
In this tour de force of psychological suspense, bestselling author Lisa Black draws from her experience as a forensic investigator to create two of the most fascinating characters in crime fiction: a killer with a unique sense of justice and a woman in a lifelong relationship with death… That Darkness As a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department, Maggie Gardiner has seen her share of Jane Does. The latest is an unidentified female in her early teens, discovered in a local cemetery. More shocking than the girl's injuries--for Maggie at least--is the fact that no one has reported her missing. She and the detectives assigned to the case (including her cop ex-husband) are determined to follow every lead, run down every scrap of evidence. But the monster they seek is watching every move, closer to them than they could possibly imagine. Jack Renner is a killer. He doesn't murder because he enjoys it, or because he believes himself omnipotent, or for any reason other than to make the world a safer place. When he follows the trail of this Jane Doe to a locked room in a small apartment where eighteen teenaged girls are anything but safe, he knows something must be done. But his pursuit of their captor takes an unexpected turn. Maggie Gardiner finds another body waiting for her in the autopsy room--and a host of questions that will challenge everything she believes about justice, morality, and the true nature of evil.
My Review
A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Nice Cover. Lisa Black’s introduction to her first installment of Gardiner and Renner #1, THAT DARKNESS, is a psychological crime suspense of justice, morality, and evil, keeping you page-turning. Maggie Gardiner, a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department has a new case. An unidentified white female twelve to fifteen years of page, blonde hair, and blue eyes--discovered in a local cemetery. A Jane Doe. A runaway? No one has reported her missing. Symbolic? Jack Renner is a Homicide Detective for Cleveland PD. (A serial killer). He believes in justice. Good at details. A vigilante. Truth and Justice. Morality. Evil. Revenge. Glad to meet another Florida crime author ---who currently works as a latent print examiner and CSI for Cape Coral, Police Department in Florida, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. Drawing on her expertise as a forensic scientist, she has analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. With some good forensics, humor, a unique cat and mouse twist, and a suspenseful mystery of good and evil--keeps the reader guessing and speculating. Looking forward to more from the author, and future books in the series. "But if thine eye by evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:23
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Praise For Lisa Black and her bestselling novels "Lisa Black writes with immediacy and unmatched authenticity."Z --Jeff Lindsay, New York Times bestselling author of the DEXTER series "In Black's skillful hands, you're in for a surprise…a gifted storyteller." --Ridley Pearson "A must-read for fans of Cornwell and Grafton." --Booklist "Black, who is a forensic scientist, certainly knows her field." --Publishers Weekly "Quite simply, one of the best storytellers around." --Tess Gerritsen "Highly entertaining…Fans of forensic thrillers will look forward to seeing more." --Library Journal "Pulse-pounding adventure…devilishly clever." --Mystery Scene "Lisa Black heightens the suspense." --South Florida Sun-Sentinel
About the Author
I spent the happiest five years of my life in a morgue. Strange, perhaps, but true. After ten years as a secretary, I went back to school to get a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Cleveland State University. In my job as a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office, I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. I had my life sorted out just the way I liked it until my husband got fed up with Cleveland snow and moved us to Florida, 1400 miles away from my family and my career. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Now I work as a latent print examiner for the city of Cape Coral, Florida, police department, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes. I've lectured at writer's conventions and appeared on panels. In my life as a writer I'm a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. In the other half of my double life, as a forensic specialist, I'm a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts and am a Certified Latent Print Examiner. I have had over 976 hours of instruction in forensic topics and have testified in court over 65 times, none of which you really care about unless you're interviewing me for a job. Read More
