Publication Date: August 2016 from Faber
Source: Review Copy
And now I stood here, on a desolate airfield in the Arkansas wilderness, a stone’s throw from Texarkana. Darkness drawing in on me. Cross country to see a man I never imagined seeing again. On the strength of one desperate telephone call…’
Having left Texarkana for the safety of the West Coast, reporter Charlie Yates finds himself drawn back to the South, to Hot Springs, Arkansas, as an old acquaintance asks for his help. This time it’s less of a story Charlie’s chasing, more of a desperate attempt to do the right thing before it’s too late.
So. I’m reviewing this one incredibly early. There is method in my madness, I shall have other things to say by the time release date rolls around, a two part review if you like and although I was intending to do these closer together I’m fickle. So you get Part One now, the more emotionally charged of the two to be fair. Plus of course I’m sure there are about 5 people somewhere who have not yet read this authors debut “The Dark Inside” – my no 1 read of 2015 – so to those 5 people and the rest (I’ll find you!) this is your chance. Then you won’t have to wait as long as I did for more…
I’d like to call “Black Night Falling” something really really nice that tells you how blinking good it is in a terribly clever way. But when I read the genuinely amazing stuff I often struggle to find the right words. Maybe they don’t yet exist. Yep that must be it. If it helps when I was close to the end of this book I was due to head over to a friends house, with another friend for a bit of a get together. I arrived (because the designated driver was EXTRAORDINARILY punctual seriously, could you not have been just a FEW minutes late?) and then I sat on the sofa and finished this book. They were fine, they had wine. You know who you are you two – lets work AROUND the great books next time shall we? But that is how good it is. Even the wine had to wait.
Rod Reynolds writes classic crime noir with a modern twist using beautiful language, tells a rollicking good story, immerses you into another place and time and then spits you out the other side – clutching your head and leaving you to nurse a major book hangover for about 3 days. Minimum. Charlie is really the most amazing character, Black Night Falling continues his personal journey as the fallout from The Dark Inside echoes on – once more the dialogue crackles, the scene setting is gorgeous, a visual treat via the readers imagination which leads me back round to beautiful language. Good books rock. They seriously do. And Black Night Falling rocks big time. Filling the stadium good, it’s a hot ticket.
Whether this will be my no 1 again this year remains to be seen (2016 is absolutely insane for great novels, great writing and books that I feel will endure) but it most definitely has a damned good chance at it. Looking back I had a certain amount of trepidation going in – really not seeing how the first book could be beaten and my adoration for The Dark Inside has been banging around on the internet ever since and shows no signs of going away any time soon. But Mr Reynolds obviously decided that it just wasn’t good enough so threw the rule book out of the window and went bigger and better.
Hey I’m not complaining. I never really liked rule books anyway. Life is too short both for them and to miss reads like this one. And the one before it. And it seems likely, a few down the road somewhere too.
Read it. Live it. That is all.
Highly Recommended as if that was enough.
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You can purchase Black Night Falling by clickety clicking right HERE
Also Available: Read first
Read my original review HERE
To Purchase The Dark Inside clickety click right HERE
Happy Reading Folks!
