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Product Description
Review
“Darkness, My Old Friend is deeply plotted and complex and carries an undeniable momentum. Lisa Unger's enthralling cast of characters pulled me right in and locked me down tight. This is one book that will have you racing to the last page, only to have you wishing the ride wasn't over.”—Michael Connelly
"Lisa Unger is one of my favorite authors. She gets better and better with each book."—Karin Slaughter, New York Times Bestselling author of Fallen
“A satisfying story with an eclectic and interesting cast of characters and believable dialogue. Unger shows her usual deftness at intricate plotting and explores the mother-child relationship from multiple angles…Sure to be another hit with Unger fans.”—Kirkus Reviews
"The beauty of this unconventional crime novel is that focus is not on whodunit but the darkness that drives us."—Family Circle
"Verdict...one of Unger's best thrillers yet."—Library Journal, starred review
“Good reading, canny characterizations.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Unger skillfully pulls together various stories in an exciting and logical way. Darkness, My Old Friend" moves at a brisk pace as Unger makes us desperately want to know what drives these various characters."—South Florida Sun Sentinel
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Lies and Fragile returns to The Hollows, delivering a thriller that explores matters of faith, memory, and sacrifice.
After giving up his post at the Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He is having trouble facing a horrible event from his past and finding a second act. He’s in therapy. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in Fragile, comes to him with predictions about his future, some of them dire.
Michael Holt, a young man who grew up in The Hollows, has returned looking for answers about his mother, who went missing many years earlier. He has hired local PI Ray Muldune and psychic Eloise Montgomery to help him solve the mystery that has haunted him. What he finds might be his undoing.
Fifteen-year-old Willow Graves is exiled to The Hollows from Manhattan when six months earlier she moved to the quiet town with her novelist mother after a bitter divorce. Willow is acting out, spending time with kids that bring out the worst in her. And when things get hard, she has a tendency to run away—a predilection that might lead her to dark places.
Set in The Hollows, the backdrop for Fragile, this is the riveting story of lives set on a collision course with devastating consequences. The result is Lisa Unger’s most compelling fiction to date.
After giving up his post at the Hollows Police Department, Jones Cooper is at loose ends. He is having trouble facing a horrible event from his past and finding a second act. He’s in therapy. Then, on a brisk October morning, he has a visitor. Eloise Montgomery, the psychic who plays a key role in Fragile, comes to him with predictions about his future, some of them dire.
Michael Holt, a young man who grew up in The Hollows, has returned looking for answers about his mother, who went missing many years earlier. He has hired local PI Ray Muldune and psychic Eloise Montgomery to help him solve the mystery that has haunted him. What he finds might be his undoing.
Fifteen-year-old Willow Graves is exiled to The Hollows from Manhattan when six months earlier she moved to the quiet town with her novelist mother after a bitter divorce. Willow is acting out, spending time with kids that bring out the worst in her. And when things get hard, she has a tendency to run away—a predilection that might lead her to dark places.
Set in The Hollows, the backdrop for Fragile, this is the riveting story of lives set on a collision course with devastating consequences. The result is Lisa Unger’s most compelling fiction to date.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent, introspective mystery,
By
This review is from: Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)
I've long been a fan of Lisa Unger. When I read and reviewed Fragile last year, I said it was my favourite of her books so far. I was thrilled to find out that her latest book - Darkness, My Old Friend - reprises the town and characters from Fragile.Jones Cooper, a former detective in the town of The Hollows, has retired and in now keeping himself busy by pet watching for vacationing homeowners, small home repairs and the like - a far cry from his former occupation. He is visited one day by Eloise - the psychic from Fragile. She has come to tell him she has seen a vision of Jones - diving in the river after someone and that it would be too much for him. Eloise works with local PI Ray Muldane as well. Muldane has been hired by Michael Holt. Michael was born in The Hollows and has recently moved back after the death of his father. His mother had disappeared when he was young. Bethany Graves and her daughter Willow have just moved to The Hollows to help Willow start fresh. One of Willow's first encounters in The Hollows? Michael - in the woods - digging... " She thought him the dutiful son, sitting at his father's deathbed. But he wasn't that. He was a grave robber, waiting for the night watchman to drift off once and for all. Then, and only then, could he dig his fingers into the earth and exhume the truth." At the end of Fragile, I thought there were more stories to be told with these characters and I was right. Jones Cooper is a great protagonist, conflicted with his past and what his role should be now. His wife Maggie, a psychologist in town, still has not won me over, but her clinical take on events and emotions provide a needed element. Eloise is explored more fully in this book, letting us know her back story. I appreciated this 'fleshing out' as she is the character I enjoy the most, besides Jones. There are many other players, all with their own stories. There is a secondary plot line that eventually intersected with the primary case Jones is working on. I was able to foresee what was coming and the outcome of the mystery fairly easily. But, the real strength of Unger's writing seems to be the exploration of relationships, problems and emotions of her characters. Unger skillfully weaves together all the threads she's created into one compelling read. "If you're looking, you can find trouble anywhere. It's waiting - not just on city street corners, in subways, in nightclubs, but on quiet country roads, in a peaceful stand of trees." Those looking for a hardcore murder mystery won't find it here. But if you enjoy a good story, this one's for you.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Thriller!!!,
By
This review is from: Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)
Darkness, My Old Friend is the second Lisa Unger novel to be set in The Hollows. I am a huge Lisa Unger fan and am pleased to report that her latest is even more thrilling than her earlier books.This is a story about change and it is story about the darkness in our lives. Jones Cooper and his wife are back as is psychic Eloise Montgomery from Fragile, Lisa Unger's first book set in The Hollows. Jones no longer is a detective with The Hollows Police Department...and he has a lot of changes to face in his life. Michael Holt's mother disappeared twenty years ago. He hires Eloise and PI Ray Muldune to find out what happened to her. His father has just died and he is ready to find out the truth. Young Willow Graves has been moved to The Hollows from New York. The fifteen year old has trouble fitting in wherever she goes and it is no different in The Hollows. I found the story of Paula Carr the most haunting. All of these stories come together in the darkness that consumes The Hollows to make for a thrilling tense story. Highly recommend this excellent mystery/crime thriller from Lisa Unger. If you can, read Fragile first but it is not necessary.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (70 customer reviews) 22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting Story,
By Susan Johnson "book nerd" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
This is a wonderful book about people changing their lives. It talks about how hard it is to make difficult changes in our lives-either good or bad. The story revolves about several people in flux:*Jones Cooper- a retired cop who has to figure out what to do next with his life *Willow Graves-a young teen-ager forced to move from New York City to the small town of Hollows after her parents divorce and quite unhappy about it *Paula Carr-a mistreated housewife who must decide if living with her controlling husband is a good situation for her two young children and stepson *Eloise- the town psychic who must decide if she should continue using her powers to help others or make a life for herself *Michael Holt-wants to find out if his mother ran off and left him and his sister or if something evil has happened to her When these characters meet and interact, all hell breaks loose. Willow sees Michael digging a grave, Eloise warns Jones about an alarming situation, Paula calls Jones for help and all of them discover moving forward, no matter how difficult, is a worthwhile goal. The story is well written and told from the various characters viewpoints. This must be the new "in" thing as the last two books I've read, "Dreams of Joy" by Lisa See and "Innocent" by Scott Turow, have been written in this manner. It can be quite effective but it is starting to be overdone. This is a quite a page turner and an entertaining read. 15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast paced and edgy! Lisa Unger has done it again.,
By Lisa Baker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
This rich and wonderfully written story begins with three very disfunctional families in a town called "The Hollows".It opens with Kevin and Paula Carr. Kevin is a controlling, lying, psychopath and Paula his apathetic wife are each living a lie. Jones a retired police detective at 47, who is obsessed with his own death, and his wife Maggie Cooper a psychologist. A recently divorced Bethany Graves and her troubled teenager Willow. Lastly, Eloise (a psychic?) who strangely brings all the story lines together. This book isn't a mystery or thriller, per say, but an edgy juxtaposition on relationships. It is tense in some places and "whew" good in others. There are a few surprises, but one ending that is glaringly obvious. (Which was fine with me) It's the kind of book that when you're done, you have to read all the acknowledgements and re-read the first chapter or two. This author has a great talent for telling a story that you are sure is going to go one way and it doesn't, and in a very short time having the reader completely relate to the characters, so much, that you are cringing thinking of what may happen to "XXX". It's fast paced and original, and if you like Lisa Unger you will love this book. If you haven't read any of her work this is a stand alone and a great place to start. Its not just a scary mystery/thriller novel, its somehow almost cathartic when finished. I would love to see any of these characters especially Jones Cooper pop up again in another book, they were great. I hope this review was helpful to you as it was difficult to give too much information without spoilers. 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book!,
By M. D. Mulhern - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
I liked this book very much. I was surprised to learn that it is a sequel of sorts to her previous book, "Fragile." If you can't remember what exactly happens in that book it might be helpful to reread it before starting this one. While this is a stand alone novel, there are some references to plotlines from "Fragile" and it just bugged me that I didn't remember things very clearly.The main mystery, what happened to a young mother 20+ years ago is very interesting. I was definitely hooked on finding out what had happened, and also found the secondary plotlines compelling as well. Characters are well developed and sympathetic. Everything is wrapped up pretty neatly at the end...maybe a couple of loose threads. Overall a great book! |
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