Book Review: Too Dark to Sleep
Too Dark to Sleep. Dianne Gallagher. Brayer Publishing, LLC, Frankfort, IL, 2012. Paperback and e-book, 381 pages.
Reviewed by Starza Thompson.
Maggie Quinn was the best detective Chicago's Area One had to offer, until the tragic death of her daughter gave her deep physical and psychological scars. A crippling fear of the dark emerged after this trauma, keeping her from sleeping at night and leaving the house. Now, she merely goes through the motions of life to appeal to her dad and to stay out of the psychiatric ward.
Through some favors pulled by her father, Maggie gets out of the hospital and back to Area One as a consultant. Her fear of the dark, while still an issue, is kept at bay with the knowledge that she is close to catching the man responsible for her last two unsolved cases. However, when new murders hit close to home, the reader begins to question whether or not Maggie is going after a killer or succumbing to an obsession with her daughter's death.
Diane Gallagher's Too Dark to Sleep keeps the reader engaged and hungry for more throughout the entire novel. The tension builds on every page, with the reader constantly asking, “Is Maggie right or is she completely insane?”
This is a debut novel not to be missed! It is very clear that Gallagher did her research—the police interactions and the medical examination scenes all seem very real. They are visual without being grotesque and descriptive without burying the novel in descriptive text. While the book takes place in Chicago, the author's current home, the story could have been set anywhere. In fact, it is easy to forget it’s a Chicago novel until the story mentions that Maggie's apartment is in Old Town. Because the story is so tense and rich with plot twists and character flaws, the setting is of little matter. It wouldn’t hurt to add more Windy City landmarks to the narrative, but it isn’t necessary to the overall plot.
Too Dark to Sleep is a pretty stereotypical crime thriller. The story stars a detective with a dark past that resurfaces as she gets closer to solving the crime. I usually groan when I read these types of clichés, but Maggie's past manifesting through her fear of the dark gives a refreshing spin to an overused plot line. There is enough character-driven narrative to keep the story fresh, which makes the crime thriller stereotype not only bearable, but practically unnoticeable by the end of the book.
My only issue with this novel is the multiple points of view and how often they switch. Gallagher adopts an omniscient voice entwined in a close third-person narrative. At times, the narrator jumps from point of view to point of view within the same page. Because there are so many characters being introduced, and the point of view is switching so much, I often had to reread portions of the text to figure out which character's lens I am viewing the world through. As Maggie gets closer to solving the crimes, the point of view consistently stays as Maggie's, with only blips of the other characters coming into focus. This emphasis on one character makes the novel more manageable and more exciting as I am able to ignore the writing mechanics and just immerse myself in reading the novel.
Too Dark to Sleep brings a wonderful twist to an often clichéd genre, enabling the reader to dive heart and mind into Maggie Quinn's life. The book is chock-full of tension, with a lot of questions that are satisfyingly answered at the end. However, there is enough left to the imagination to leave the readers begging for more. Too Dark to Sleep is a must-read for anyone looking for an exciting story that keeps the reader guessing and hungry for answers.