Darling Jim

The riveting gothic thriller DARLING JIM envelops the listener in two intertwined tales that begin with the ghastly discovery of two sisters and their aunt--found dead in a Dublin home. The spellbinding story not only chills with menace, lust, and murder, it is underscored by storyteller (in Gaelic--SEANACHAI) Jim's retelling of authentic Irish folklore of a particularly lycanthropic nature. Jim's trail of diabolical mayhem is revealed in the diaries of hostage victims Fiona and Roisin, who are portrayed with delightful inflections by Justine Eyre. Equally comfortable with the Irish accents of the contemporary account and ancient Celtic legend, Eyre has a charming lilt and knows how to use emphasis to create compelling horror. Stephen Hoye depicts Niall, the knight-errant who finds Jim's diaries and commits to a quest to solve the mystery they recount. Hoye speaks in engaging melancholy tones and skillfully provides the secondary characters with an array of accents. Both narrators deliver intense interpretations, in high contrast to each other, which create a measured eloquence for this vivid novel. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from February 23, 2009
Like the itinerant Irish storyteller at the crux of this riveting novel, Danish-born author Moerk mixes mythology, Arthurian legend, fairy tales, noir and horror in his American debut. When reclusive Moira Hegarty and her two nieces, Fiona and Róisín Walsh, are found dead in Moira's secluded home in a Dublin suburb, evidence suggests the sisters were imprisoned for months by their aunt, along with a third person, perhaps Róisín's twin sister. The young women left behind two diaries, one of which a postal clerk finds. Three years before, they fell under the spell of Jim Quick, a séanachai
(or bard), whose tales of wolves and kings gave him rock star status in the sleepy town of Castletownbere. Only the Walsh sisters appear to have seen beyond the charm of “darling Jim,” whose presence coincides with several women's murders. Moerk tightly meshes each separate plot strand—the murders, the diaries and Quick's tales—into an enthralling story that never falters. Author tour.