Into Darkness by TJ Brearton #review

Special thanks to Inkubator books and Emma Welton of DampPebblesBook Tours for a copy of Into Darkness in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts

Impressive.

Seriously, that’s what I thought of Into Darkness. I’ve never read anything by T.J. Brearton before, and had no idea what to expect about the writing quality or style. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. I read the book in two days, only stopping to sleep.

Characters

Shannon Ames has a steady temperament for her job. Being a FBI agent suits her. She’s smart and respectful. She’s capable of showing compassion for victims and their loved ones, and remorse when she makes a bad decision. And, yes, she does make some poor decisions. But unlike many other fictional female “badass” law enforcement types, she’s not sarcastic or insulting to prove her bad-ass-ness. (Is that a word?)

As you might expect, she has ideas about the serial killings that others in law enforcement don’t share. At times, she’s right. At other times, she’s wrong. She’s on probation and she still has much to learn. There’s plenty of intriguing backstory and present-day circumstances to be developed in future series titles.

When she and the NYPD collaborate over Monica Forbes‘s murder, she meets Luis Caldoza, a homicide investigator who may or may not be romantically interested in her. I enjoyed Luis and watching their relationship, both professional and personal, develop under the pressure of a high profile series of murders. I also appreciate that he’s willing to stand up against sexism. It’s refreshing to read about a male calling out another male on his sexist behavior. Of course, Shannon’s actions make it clear that she doesn’t need a defender.

The other characters are fairly well developed, though none are given as much treatment as Shannon, Luis, and a young teen named Josie. One interesting aspect was that the murder victims seem better developed than most of the NYPD or FBI agents. We hear more of their voices than is typical in this genre.

This brings me to one of the most interesting aspects of this book: Into Darkness‘s treatment of violence.

Violence

The book opens with a horrifying scene. An abducted woman regains consciousness and realizes that her unknown assailant bathed her while she was drugged. She will die, she thinks. The opening grows more and more horrifying until we reach the end of the first chapter. It’s all the more gruesome for the lack of outward violence. Brearton knows how to manipulate our emotions. Even as we know that violence is happening, he chooses to focus on the victim’s thoughts of her family.

In my opinion, this is a superb treatment of violence against women. It gives this woman dignity. The focus is not on what is inflicted on her, but on who she is as a person: a loving wife and mother. In a genre that has been criticized for how it often objectifies the female body, T.J. Brearton’s method is both an effective writing technique and a political statement.

Suspense

Brearton does an excellent job maintaining suspense throughout the book. He continually surprised me. At one point, I thought I knew what would happen; it was inevitable that a certain event would turn out the way it did; I thought I saw the usual twist coming. I was right and I was wrong–on a number of points.

Brearton skillfully manipulated the story until it felt real, only hyper-real, like reality pumped with steroids. As the action unfolded, my heart pounded. I felt all the emotions Shannon and other LEA felt: fear, anger, helplessness, the urgent need to do something. Knowing that nothing will stop the inevitable, yet knowing you have to try. Because not trying is unacceptable, and not only because this is your paying job. It’s because you can’t face yourself in the mirror if you give up.

Religious ideas

One aspect that I found unusual was that Shannon is a Christian. There are several subtle references to religious themes: confession, priests, and atonement, for example, which the killer references several times. However, this book is not “Christian fiction.” There’s plenty of violence and cursing, and as I said, the religious aspects are very subtle. All the same, it’s refreshing to see a sympathetic religious character in this genre.

Recommended

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Into Darkness and highly recommend it to fans of suspense, thrillers, and police procedurals. Inkubator books promises that there will be a sequel, too!

Trigger warnings: murder, violence against women, and bullying.

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