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Author J. Carson Black booklist (click here)

Book Review By Carol Davis Luce
Darkness on the Edge of Town by J. Carson Black

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, a police procedural, centers around a case involving the death of a fourteen-year-old girl. The location of the body, the way it is dressed and posed, suggests she just might be the victim of a serial killer -- an internet sexual predator.

Laura Cardinal is a criminal investigator and a lead detective in the case. In the rustic town of Bisbee, Arizona, Laura finds herself pitted against an envious female law enforcement officer and this woman's boss, a man who conducts his own investigation. After consulting with a wealthy quadriplegic super-hacker regarding internet sexual predators, Laura follows a lead across the country to a sleepy town on the Florida panhandle.



Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
United States Yes
Desert? Yes
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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