Review: A beguiling experience
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 9, 2013
At the gates of Old Willow Cemetery, the twisted vines choke the bald ironworks, their thorny cords crisscrossed into images of wrinkled faces and hoodwinked eyes.This excerpt is from the prologue. With such visually descriptive writing, Paula hooked me before I got to the first chapter.Young Henry is missing.His sister is burdened with guilt. She only let go of his hand for a moment.The parents are struggling to keep it together as days pass and still no sign of Henry.Eerie, unnatural occurrences, Henry's laughter in the tree in the backyard, his voice counting in the cemetery, all point to Elias Hatcher, caretaker of the graveyard.Detective Balducci has Elias firmly in his crosshairs. No one can get in or out of the cemetery without Elias knowing, and the tracking dog alerted to Henry's presence all over the graveyard.He feels sure, if Hatch didn't do the actual kidnapping, he has knowledge of the crime. But he can't seem to move forward in the case."This case is like writing with a black pen on black paper. I can't see it, but it's right there in front of me."After Balducci's own strange sighting on the cow path where Henry first went missing he wonders, "Is this an illusion? Or is the fact of the illusion the lead?" He thought again. "What is speaking here?"The Dazzling Darkness defies a genre. I would say it's a supernatural mystery/thriller laced with Gothic horror.The author fed me bits and pieces, like bread crumbs. I gobbled them up, knowing they led to some revelations, to answered questions. I would start to get rushed, to speed ahead, but then I would become so engrossed in such things as a description of a new morning or getting started on a new day, that I would pause and reread the scene, visualizing it, feeling the moment.Much of the story feels like it was written in a long ago era, though it takes place in the present. I wish I could explain it better. It reads like a classic, reminding me of a vintage bottle of wine. I gently lift the bottle from the rack, dust it off, open it and breathe its essence.With bold, fresh, almost poetic writing, I can honestly say, I was beguiled.I received this book for my honest review. I will gladly buy other books by Paula Cappa after this wonderul experience.