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A review by donnek
No Darker Place by Debra Webb
2.0
This is another book that is part of my “cleaning out the closet” of to-reads. It’s been on my list since Sept2020. As a fan of Webb’s Finley O’Sullivan series, I’ve been checking out her other work. The first installment of her Devlin & Falco series was another one that had been on my list since 2020 too. I ended up DNFing that one in the first half. Enough said. This one I had to set it aside to read the prequel because of the constant reference to a previous event, that was made really clear, the reader should already know about. For the record, the prequel was so unnecessary and should have just been a prologue to this installment. Bad call on Webb’s decision to do that as well as the publisher’s decision to accept that and my rating reflects my opinion of that.
The book summary basically just lays out the premise for the primary storyline. The summary mentions the tragic history between Montgomery (AL) Det Bobbie Gentry and the Storyteller, Gaylon Perry, what it doesn’t mention is what happened to Bobbie in the prequel. In the prequel, the Storyteller murdered Bobbie’s husband, kidnapped Bobbie, held her hostage and raped and tortured her for weeks before she was able to attack and injure the Storyteller and escape. The Storyteller was able to escape before Bobbie was able to get help and lead the authorities to where she was held. It took several more weeks in the hospital recuperating, six months in PT recovering from the physical injuries. Bobbie is also in mandatory therapy for the psychological trauma she incurred before she could return to the job. Bobbie’s son was hit by a car during the escape of the Storyteller’s attack on Bobbie’s home. Suffice it to say, Bobbie is now a woman on a mission to put an end to the Storyteller, regardless of whether she lives or dies. All of that was in the prequel, so now you don't have to read it. Of course, if you want all the gory and gruesome details, have at it.
There is also Nick Shade, who hunts serial killers, and his mission is very much in line with Bobbie’s mission, although we don’t discover the reason until much later in the story. After watching Bobbie for months, Nick realizes what Bobbie is doing. Bobbie now plans to draw the Storyteller out, using herself as bait, in order to kill the Storyteller and Nick has decided that he is going to be there when the Storyteller comes for Bobbie again. None of this is a spoiler because it was revealed really early in the story. Most of the story flips back and forth between Bobbie, Nick and the Storyteller, who has kidnapped his next victim and is raping and torturing her; he has also kidnapped two children and is using them as bait to draw Bobbie out.
Somewhere around the halfway point, I had made the decision that I would not be continuing with this series, but I would finish this installment. While I do love the crime thriller and murder mystery genres, sometimes there are books/stories that just get to me. While many stories in these genres have rape and torture in them, I prefer the ones that don’t focus on the nitty gritty details of every violation and the gory and descriptive scenes of torture. I just prefer the mention of them without all the horrific details. It’s one of the reasons I don’t read Karin Slaughter anymore or horror either.
It’s also one of the reasons I like Webb’s Finley O’Sullivan series too. While Finn was a rape survivor, that part of her story wasn’t described to the overwhelming details that Bobbie’s was and I appreciated that. Webb seems to have toned down that part of her writing by the time she got around to writing the Finley O’Sullivan series. I’m still a fan of Webb, but I’m not a fan of this series. While the characterization and pacing of the story were good, the content and the writing style was very disappointing.
Trigger Warning: brutal rape and torture scenes
The book summary basically just lays out the premise for the primary storyline. The summary mentions the tragic history between Montgomery (AL) Det Bobbie Gentry and the Storyteller, Gaylon Perry, what it doesn’t mention is what happened to Bobbie in the prequel. In the prequel, the Storyteller murdered Bobbie’s husband, kidnapped Bobbie, held her hostage and raped and tortured her for weeks before she was able to attack and injure the Storyteller and escape. The Storyteller was able to escape before Bobbie was able to get help and lead the authorities to where she was held. It took several more weeks in the hospital recuperating, six months in PT recovering from the physical injuries. Bobbie is also in mandatory therapy for the psychological trauma she incurred before she could return to the job. Bobbie’s son was hit by a car during the escape of the Storyteller’s attack on Bobbie’s home. Suffice it to say, Bobbie is now a woman on a mission to put an end to the Storyteller, regardless of whether she lives or dies. All of that was in the prequel, so now you don't have to read it. Of course, if you want all the gory and gruesome details, have at it.
There is also Nick Shade, who hunts serial killers, and his mission is very much in line with Bobbie’s mission, although we don’t discover the reason until much later in the story. After watching Bobbie for months, Nick realizes what Bobbie is doing. Bobbie now plans to draw the Storyteller out, using herself as bait, in order to kill the Storyteller and Nick has decided that he is going to be there when the Storyteller comes for Bobbie again. None of this is a spoiler because it was revealed really early in the story. Most of the story flips back and forth between Bobbie, Nick and the Storyteller, who has kidnapped his next victim and is raping and torturing her; he has also kidnapped two children and is using them as bait to draw Bobbie out.
Somewhere around the halfway point, I had made the decision that I would not be continuing with this series, but I would finish this installment. While I do love the crime thriller and murder mystery genres, sometimes there are books/stories that just get to me. While many stories in these genres have rape and torture in them, I prefer the ones that don’t focus on the nitty gritty details of every violation and the gory and descriptive scenes of torture. I just prefer the mention of them without all the horrific details. It’s one of the reasons I don’t read Karin Slaughter anymore or horror either.
It’s also one of the reasons I like Webb’s Finley O’Sullivan series too. While Finn was a rape survivor, that part of her story wasn’t described to the overwhelming details that Bobbie’s was and I appreciated that. Webb seems to have toned down that part of her writing by the time she got around to writing the Finley O’Sullivan series. I’m still a fan of Webb, but I’m not a fan of this series. While the characterization and pacing of the story were good, the content and the writing style was very disappointing.
Trigger Warning: brutal rape and torture scenes