Find You in the Dark

April 15, 2018
Seattle man Martin Reese, a retired "dot.com superstar," has his obsession with finding the remains of long-missing young women disrupted when he crosses paths with a murderer who isn't happy with his grave digging.Martin fancies himself a public servant in doing what police were unable to--giving closure to the families of the victims. He takes great satisfaction in taunting cops for their failures via anonymous phone messages following each of his discoveries. The only cop he doesn't scorn is one he befriends in order to lay his hands on cold case files. The bones he most covets are those of Tinsley Schultz, whose apparent murder 20 years ago so stoked his interest that he married her sister, Ellen. Things start going south for Martin when he is shaken to discover not only what he thinks is Tinsley, whose remains have been deposited in someone else's grave, but also a fresh corpse hidden beneath her. Stalked and manipulated by the killer known as the Ragman, Martin becomes a potential victim himself. Pressed to determine whether this notorious finder of bodies is responsible for the recent murder, newly promoted police detective Sandra Whittal finds herself breaking badly with standard procedure. Ripley, a pseudonym for Canadian writer Naben Ruthnum (Curry: Eating, Reading and Race, 2017), has come up with a fresh angle to the serial murder game. There's a certain Silence of the Lambs feel to the twisty narrative. But as clever and diabolical as the book is, Ripley's dry, calculating style has a way of neutralizing the horror. Perhaps if the novel didn't seem geared toward a sequel, it would have gone more for broke.This unusual debut thriller has a lot going for it but may be too calculating for its own good.

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April 16, 2018
Retired CEO Martin Reese, the Seattle-based protagonist of this gripping debut thriller from the pseudonymous Ripley (Canadian author Naben Ruthnum), has a bizarre hobby: combing through illegally purchased police files on serial killers, locating the undiscovered corpses of long-dead victims, and anonymously informing the police of the burial sites. His morbid fascination goes back decades to when his wife’s sister vanished, presumably murdered by a serial killer who was later caught and executed. But when Reese finds a freshly deceased corpse buried at a cold-case site in an old cemetery outside Seattle, he realizes too late that he has angered a mysterious serial killer who knows who he is and what he has been doing. With his family in danger and the police closing in on his identity, Reese becomes an unwilling pawn in the killer’s twisted game. The intriguing premise, competent character development, and numerous plot twists compensate for the predictable conclusion. Dexter fans will enjoy the creepy vibe. Agent: Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic (Canada).