In the Dark (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Mark Billingham's crime-writing career got off to a turbo-charged start with `Sleepy Head' and `Scaredy Cat'. These books were written with a real freshness of approach that confirmed him as a major new voice in the pantheon of British crime writers. His policeman DI Tom Thorne was a well-drawn maverick investigator (yes, another one!) with a world-weary sense of humour. One or two of the subsequent five novels in the series were a touch unsatisfactory for me - maybe a little bit tired - so I was greatly looking forward to his first standalone `In The Dark'.

First impressions were: `This looks like a horror novel!' You have the dark, plain cover, featuring the illuminated title: 'IN THE DARK' and beneath that, the tag line... `It's where fear lives' Of course we know it's nothing of the sort. It is what it purports to be: a crime novel.

It begins with what appears to be a gang initiation costing off-duty policeman Paul Hopwood his life. In addition to the police investigation into the affair, his heavily pregnant lady friend Helen Weeks (also a police officer) decides on a parallel investigation of her own. She initially uncovers evidence that Paul had become involved with at least two local 'businessmen' (a euphemism for gangster) and wonders what other shady dealings he may have become embroiled in. But is everything as it seems?

The book reaches a satisfactory conclusion, but I'm afraid I spotted the much vaunted `twist' a mile off (no matter: there's a couple of others). I was puzzled all the way through as to why a gangland boss, Frank Kinnell, who Paul had befriended during a past investigation, was exacting such terrible retribution on his behalf. It's only in the last few pages that Billingham brilliantly reveals the reason/s why.

Once again there're one or two little loose ends not tidied up. Billingham has done this before and quite deliberately so - to remind us that complex situations don't always have a nice pat ending in real life.

I don't know why Helen Weeks has to be pregnant here, but it seems to me (as a bloke) that Mark draws a very realistic portrait of a lady in her condition - the anxieties and occasional fits of irrational thought, the weepiness... The drug gang culture and life in a high rise council estate are also vividly drawn, though how realistically I'm not sure.

Mark writes with style, real insight and an excellent eye for character development, but I somehow kept wanting `more' from this novel. It's different from his Tom Thorne books (but guess what, Thorne makes a cameo appearance in here!), but for me there was always the nagging suspicion that he can do better than this. A cautious `recommended' from me, then.

Am really surprised by all the negative comments on here as I couldn't put this book down?! When I first got this book (I buy all of Mark Billingham's books) I must admit the description of the storyline put me off, BUT he is such a fantastic writer that he can make any storyline interesting! I absolutely love the way he writes and I loved the fact that it was a stand-alone story (but with a small appearance by my hero, Tom Thorne!). I also love the fact that the chapters are short....which means I was constantly thinking "Oooh I'll just read one more....!" Brilliant, the best crime writer by far.

DS Helen Weeks is eight months pregnant and making the final preparations for the baby's arrival with her partner, DS Paul Hopwood. However what should be a happy event is marred by tension between the couple as an old affair of Helen's has called the baby's paternity into question and Paul's unable and unwilling to let go of his suspicions.

Theo's a teenage boy living with his girlfriend and baby on a council estate. Keen to make some money, he falls in with his old friend Easy, who's heavily involved in the local gang scene and sells drugs as he tries to work his way up the ladder. As Theo becomes more embroiled in the gang life, he is forced into a gang initiation, one that causes a tragic accident and results in Paul's death.

As Helen tries to make sense of what's happened, she uncovers a tangled mess of secrets and lies - of hidden lives and tangles pasts that bring her into contact with hardened career criminals with too much to lose and gangs of teenagers looking for an easy way out of the council estate. The closer she comes to the truth, the closer she gets to giving birth and the more she has to lose ...

Best known for his DI Tom Thorne series, Billingham's created this stand-alone novel with a completely different set of characters (although Thorne does make a brief cameo). Helen is an interesting and flawed character and her pregnancy is particularly believable. The guilt that she feels at her affair and the tension it creates between her and Paul is well depicted, as is Paul's resentment and doubts about the pregnancy and the future of their relationship.

The council estate and Theo's life is convincing - Theo himself is a similarly flawed character - trying to do the best for his family but believing himself to be short on choices. The dialogue between Theo and the other gang members never feels corny, although it is likely to date as slang moves on.

Where the novel falls down though is in the predictability of the plot. The twist at the end was not a surprise - particularly if you are familiar with Billingham's other books. This is a shame as it's a tightly plotted novel that kept me reading one and I would be interested to read about what happens to Helen next.