Book Review: The Dark Winter, by David Mark @davidmarkwriter

The unexpected events in The Dark Winter had me enthralled through most of this book, and best of all, I didn't understand who the killer was until the very end.

Aector McAvoy is a Detective Sargent in England. He is attacked by the perpetrator of a heinous murder as he tries to capture the man. It seems Aector has been in scrapes before while trying to catch criminals. There's some secret that the police force has burried, and Aector has basically been at his desk shuffling data, after almost being killed. With this murder, and some other strange seemingly unrelated events, Aector is thrown into the thick of real police investigations once again..

Aector is the best part of The Dark Winter. I really enjoyed his character, and how Mark slowly shows us his personality, even with all his warts. He's a believable guy, trying to do what's right, but seemingly he's been screwed by the system. The reader doesn't completely understand what happened in Aector's past, but we are given enough scraps to feel the appropriate amount of sympathy. His relationship with his wife and son adds to the fullness of this character.

The twists and turns of this plot were excellent and surprising. I can honestly say, this is the most unique motive that I've ever seen assigned to a serial killer. I did forget some characters' names a couple of times, but that's really my fault (and the fault of an eBook format, so that I couldn't flip back.) It was easily figured out, though. But this is a rather intricate plot, so you do need to pay a little attention. And, the plot moves, so you don't get bored, and you really don't want to put down The Dark Winter until you have the solution!

I think the secondary characters could be a little more meaty. Aector's relationship with his female supervisor is complicated and malleable, and I'll be looking forward to reading more about it. Other than that, there's room for some more secondary characters to round out the scene. But I'm really being nit-picky here.

Another comment -- I'm fascinated by the fact that apparently Aector and his colleagues don't carry guns. Boy, a gun sure would have helped save him from a few brutal encounters -- but I guess that wouldn't be any fun for an author, would it? (The fight scene is very well described!) Just curious -- do police officers in the UK not carry guns? I heard this used to be the case, but I thought this had changed. Anyone?

I would highly recommend The Dark Winter to anyone who enjoys a twisted serial killer novel. There's one sexual scene that would probably limit this to older teens, but I've got a few in mind to whom I can recommend The Dark Winter.

Published by Blue Rider Press, October 25, 2012
eARC obtained from Edelweiss (but I have a copy coming from Penguin -- so maybe there will be a giveaway!)
304 pages (qualifies for my Serial Killers Reading Challenge!)

Rating: 4.5/5

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