In the Dark by Mark Billingham

Val Penny ♦ April 5, 2013 ♦ 4 Comments

I have always enjoyed detective novels, mysteries and crime thrillers.  Mark Billingham is an English crime novelist and stand up comedian. If you ever have an opportunity to hear him speak, take it.

I first read a Mark Billingham novel when I was studying creative writing in Stirling, Scotland.  One of the books I read recently was “In The Dark“.  His earlier book Sleepyhead , is reviewed here https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/sleepyhead-by-mark-billingham/,  ‎‎as is a more recent books, The Dying Hours https://bookreviewstoday.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/the-dying-hours…ark-billingham/ and https://bookreviewstoday.info/2015/06/25/burning-girl-b…ark-billingham/.

On a rainy city night, a handgun is fired at random. A struck car swerves and plows into a bus stop, killing an unsuspecting bystander. In an explosive instant, a cold-blooded gang initiation ends one life and forever changes three others: the desperate teenager who pulled the trigger . . . a policewoman on maternity leave . . . and an aging gangster plotting a terrifying revenge.

The truth about the shocking incident will tie them all together in a lethal blood knot. And nothing is what it seems.

“In the Dark” is the most powerful and unflinching crime novel yet from this terrific author, Mark Billingham.  It is a gripping journey into the modern urban darkness where violence is both indiscriminate and meticulously planned, and youth gangs take on established criminals for rule of the streets.  I found the book really easy to read.  It was a real page turner.  If you enjoy this genre, it is definitely well worth reading.