| Title | : | 9th Circle (Darc Murders, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published September 6, 2012 |
Overview:
A madman terrorizes Seattle, attempting to recreate the nine circles of hell by using the blood and bodies of the innocent.
Detective Robi Darcmel, a gifted yet troubled savant, is the only man standing in the path of this pathological killer.
As the fate of the Emerald City hangs in the balance, can Darcmel overcome his failings or will Seattle burn to ash?
9th Circle (Darc Murders, #1) Reviews
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My first full (complete) Kindle Serial was a very mixed bag. It's basically a thriller about an autistic detective and his wise-cracking partner on the hunt for a serial killer inspired by Dante's 9 Circles of Hell. While the pacing isn't bad, the characterizations are just off.
(1) The protagonist, Darc, isn't so much an autistic savant as he is a robot. I get that he processes information differently, but the belief I must suspend to allow for such an emotionless automaton to be a homicide detective is just too much. I can handle a quirky OCD-like detective (Monk or Psyche), but Darc's character borders on the superhuman far too often. Also, it's entirely unbelievable that Darc would have an ex-wife that would figure into the story given the personality traits he exhibits. There's nothing remotely human about him. It'd be one thing if there was some traumatic event that exacerbated his condition, resulting in his divorce, but that's nowhere to be found.
(1a) Add to that the fact that the book NEVER attempts to show HOW he processes information to lead to the next clue. The book just says he sees 'symbols' and the symbols 'coalesce' into something meaningful and then Darc is off running to the next location. It saves the authors the effort of having to tie their puzzles together but it's terribly unsatisfying for the reader. It's like a police-procedural without the procedure. Darc might as well be solving these crimes by magic.
(2) Trey, Darc's babysitter/partner, is obnoxious. His character trait is something of a jokester but his wisecracks are completely inappropriate given the horribly gory scenarios he finds himself in and just aren't terribly funny. Add to that the annoying habit of saying 'freaking' instead of cursing makes his character just annoying in the extreme.
(3) The book is gory. Which would be ok if it were scary. But with each successive "circle" the detectives uncover, the GALLONS AND GALLONS of blood become just comical rather than disturbing. Just picturing these immense set-pieces with the rivers of blood and viscera makes the book more like a level in DOOM than a thriller.
(4) Serial killer logistics. I don't mind clever serial killers. They're interesting. But killers with apparently unlimited resources and time are annoying. You can get away with it in Se7en. Anywhere else it just feels arbitrary. So how EXACTLY would this heretofore unsuspecting guy manage to murder EIGHTY-SEVEN people and put them in all these increasingly horrific contraptions/scenarios? And do so just ONE STEP AHEAD of the detectives? As Austin Powers said of having sex with Fat Bastard "No literally, HOW could you do it? The sheer mechanics of it are mind-boggling." -
I picked up "Devious" a prequel to 9th Circle as a freebie on my Nook. It was fascinating in many ways. It tells the story of how two detectives become partners, one of whom suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. The very idea of someone so highly functioning with this Syndrome working as a detective with the Seattle PD fascinated me. Therefore, I immediately picked up 9th Circle, and am very glad I did.
There are many, many layers to this story, some of which, according to various reviews, really turned some people off. It is understandable, but I would recommend that, if you are going to read a book about a serial killer, you should probably expect to have blood involved. Admittedly, there was a LOT of blood in this one. If you are one of those people who think your roast or bacon grows, prewrapped in plastic on trees, this probably isn't the book for you. It does give an exceptional look into the horrors that go on inside a packing house. (I won't go there)
The overall development of the storyline is tight, and having Darc as a lead made the book hard for me to put down. I could see Darc as the perfect partner for me - as a cop, often it is most difficult to concentrate on all the lines of investigation with so many outside influences muddying the waters, from politics to the need to follow procedure even when it is not the most efficient method of doing so. Unlike one reviewer, I have no doubt that, given the choice as a Captain, I would snap Darc up in a minute. Someone who wasn't distracted by outside 'noise', who simply worked the case to it's logical conclusion? Oh, yea, baby. As for the comments about the FBI by other reviewers, you should know that the FBI is only allowed in at the specific request of the Police Department, and if they aren't called, they don't normally come. In this particular situation, the string of killings were minor at the beginning (yes, I can say minor) and wouldn't normally catch the FBI's attention at that point. Once the story heated up, there was, literally, no time to play the political game that is so integral to the summoning of the FBI. It is, in a word, a pissing match of massive proportions!
The one thing that did bother me about the story was the Darc/Maggie storyline. I put it off until I finished the book, then went searching at the Mayo Clinic website and others, and apparently there are, indeed, Asperger's victims (I say "victim" as simply an accepted term, not that I think they are especially "victims" per. se.) who marry. It was hard for me to wrap my head around, to be honest - marrying someone who has a totally flat affect, who doesn't understand the concepts of joy, the difference between a smile and a frown, someone who doesn't understand why you would stop to help a baby bird back into it's nest, but would keep walking, because the bird simply didn't matter to his way of thinking. Besides the fact that I find it hard to think that it would be appealing to marry someone who has no concept of a hug, much less any more 'personal' body contact. Why would someone marry, when they have no ability to love, to hug, to touch? Better, why would you marry someone who you knew would not be able to love you, to understand why you might cry if they hurt you, or even what hurt you in the first place? Self flagellation? I suppose it helped me to understand Trey's betrayal, but putting yourself into a situation where you were binding yourself to a person with, literally, no ability to feel, was hard for me to accept.
As for the complaints that the incidents in the book moved too swiftly, I would suggest to those who were having a problem to go back and read the last few chapters again. It all pulls together knowing what is found out in the last couple of chapters.
I went ahead and ordered my copy of the next edition on preorder. I am quite looking forward to reading the next one.
Four stars instead of five due to problems I found with time line/spelling and the hope that I will find the next one even more fascinating than this one.
No direct sex, lots of violence, and buckets and buckets of blood -
Here's a dark, twisting, Seattle-based horror novel, for which Amazon's new Serial format (you pay one modest price, and the book is released in installments, apparently as the author finishes them) actually works reasonably well - lots of cliffhangers serve to build up suspense nicely. I'd recommend that the installments come perhaps a bit more frequently than every 2 weeks though.. The premise itself, especially in light of recent tragic news events, is a tremendously good hook (and given the horror elements, my use of "hook" is not entirely metaphorical): a gifted police detective, Robi Darcmel, is also severely autistic - and perhaps that is the root of his Agatha-Christie-like brilliance, as he combines facts into logically airtight conclusions, unencumbered by the distracting passions and emotions of other detectives without diagnosable behavioral disorders. But autism and the complete absence of EQ, with its attendant bizarre behavior, also threatens to cripple Robi's law enforcement career, which is why the police bureaucracy assigns him a 24/7 "minder" in the guise of a partner. The hapless, likable, police ne'er-do-well Trey Keane has secrets of his own, but by running interference, he serves to make Darcmel's life a lot easier, and his musings form most of the third-party-narrated story line. When a sadistic killer starts turning Seattle landmarks like the Underground and an old cemetery into Little-Houses-of-Horrors, following medieval descriptions of the different levels or 'circles of hell' found in Dante and Aristotle, and then turns his murderous attention to a little girl, Trey and his emotionally challenged partner Robi find themselves pushed to the very edge of their skills and their stomach. Surprise twists, cliffhangers, innocents in peril, and not least a great set of atmospheric Pacific-Northwest urban cityscape settings, complete with coffeehouses and endlessly drizzling rain, a spooky slaugherhouse, an experimental aircraft wind tunnel, to an Underground cathedral church, make this little serial novel easily and enjoyably readable.
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What did I just finish reading? This was the most disgusting book I've ever read. Swimming pools full of blood and dead bodies. Children drowned in their parents own blood inside a 55 gallon container. WTH!
Darc and Trey are on a hunt in Seattle for a serial killer. We find that the murders are depictions of Dante's version of hell. Lets just say this is wrong in so many ways.
A little girl, Janey, plays a huge role in this story. She is head strong in helping Darc figure out what's going on.
I thought I had figured out who the killer was. Then come to find out, his head is severed. When I get to the last 2 chapters, the murderer is revealed, I sat up in the bed and yelled, " what the f&@$!" I didn't see this twist.
In all this is a disgusting, morbid, screwed up book! AND I LOVED IT! Can't wait to start 7th Sin! I hope it's more screwed up
Than this one! -
I waited till I had all the episodes before I started to read it & I found it to be entertaining & refreshing that an autistic challenged adult had the role of main character. I also liked how his side kick partner was able to relate to him & work with him thru his episodes. All in all the story had a white knight all but emotionally challenged white knight quality to it.
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That was some pretty gory stuff! What a great story though. Really kept me wanting to know more and the characters were great. I really like the angle played by Darc and his ability to see things no one else can. Great read, highly recommend!
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LOVED THIS STORY! ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE MAIN CHARACTER DARC and I'm so looking forward to reading the next installment.
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A homicide detective with Aspergers Syndrome? Fascinating! Beware: the descriptive murder scenes are EXTREMELY descriptive.
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Hell on Earth
I find it difficult to describe this book. It is the most gory story that I have ever read, but such an enthralling description of evil and psychological horror that it was Impossible to put down. I felt that I was experiencing the horrors along with Darc and Trey. They seemed an odd couple at first, but they complimented each other perfectly
Carolyn has an amazing imagination and can play with your emotions like a virtuoso on a Stradivarius violin. -
Don't start reading if you have to be up the next day!
Thrilling plot grabs you from the start and doesn't let you go! Creepy psycho killer and a savant detective trying to out maneuver each other. Great well developed characters, thrilling plot with wild twists and turns takes you on a fast paced ride right till the end ! Loved it -
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
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DNF
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Not my cup of Tea
Sorry but I it was not poorly done just not something I could enjoy. You can't love every book you read. I saw many people did like it. Sorry I didn't Ms. McRay. -
I did not like this book
It's not that I hated it either, so it will never make it to my "hated books" list, mainly because my most hated books illicit real emotions in me, helplessness, anger, "negative emotions" but at least something. Also my most hated books are of an indisputable quality, I just hate them because of the things I feel when reading them. So yeah, this book doesn't go there.
This book is not good for reasons I will outline below but it still gets 2 stars because it isn't a grammatical, spelling, or formatting nightmare. There was clearly effort put into that and the authors get credit for that.
++++++SPOILERS AHEAD++++++++++
Here is an outlined list of why I dislikes book
1. The main character is depicted as autistic, but his autism is presented as glowing lines and symbols everywhere I stead of cold logic or trying to with words reframe how someone with autism might see situations from a different lens. If it was that and explanation of visually thinking out logic, fine. But no, this dude literally sees lines glow and branch out from him. To a point that is supernatural, and annoyingly unbelievable.
2. This genius detective does stuff that no precinct would allow any detectives to do. Contaminating evidence, tracking up crime scenes, refusing backup, and loads of other things that would let peeps get away in the real world. Then they paired him with the most inept detective in the unit, just because he can speak to people and translate his partners quirks, but ends up being a liability in many situations.
4. The stuff written from the small girls perspective weren't believable as things a small child would think, other than the personification of her bear.
3. This is the biggest one, literally these other issues are minor bumps that I could have overlooked if this last point didn't exist. The serial killing was outrageous, completely out there. It would have taken a team of at least 20 people to rig up all the traps and millions upon millions of dollars to pay for the elaborate materials. For one they would've had to spend like hundreds of thousand dollars on snakes alone, then gallons and gallons of liquid nitrogen is not cheap even remotely and there were entire vats used, next would be the historically accurate replicas of torture devices all collected in a single space, plus Greek fire which is also not cheap to make and hundreds of Taser guns and just the amount of people that two dudes killed it just doesn't make any sense and things like this have to make even a little bit of sense to be believable or scary or whatever they were going for here. So if you take two second out of reading to ponder the logistics lose any veneer that this could work on any level. No killer has unlimited resources or manpower in order to kill hundreds of people in a single city, except governments, point blank.
Also the killer used symbols to create puzzles but none of the symbols used were me optioned, there were no pictures of symbol patterns and the actualize of the symbols was never explained it was just assumed that Darc knows what they mean... which is lazy. If you're going to talk about esoteric symbols being used show how they are being used, put in little line drawings do something to show their importance that lets the audience get involved instead of just harping on how important they are.
Ok I'm done, TLDR: Unbelievable serial killings makes a tenuous premise ridiculous, skip this one. -
I like stories about serial killers, and I like quirky cops, so in theory '9th Circle' is right up my alley. And it is, to a point. The story is mostly told from the PoV of Detective Trey Keane, a screw up who might be more suited to selling used cars than detective work. However, he's been put in charge of keeping Seattle's star detective Robi Darcmel under control. No one else wants the job as Detective Darcmel has Asperger's Syndrome. Darc (as he is referred to through most of the book) is brilliant at deciphering clues, but is terrible at interfacing with his fellow human beings.
Much of the story is about Trey trying to keep Darc from getting into trouble, and frankly he's about as effective as an umbrella in a hurricane. There's also a handful of other characters, namely a doctor Mala Charan, and a young girl known only as Janey (nicer than Jane Doe). The little girl sees Darc as her hero (rightfully so). She's traumatized by the incident she survived and won't speak, but she is able to communicate with Darc through drawings. She's instrumental to Darc solving the case, and for the most part his need to utilize her is what causes much of the conflict in the story.
Oh, and of course, there's the serial killer. The authors try hard to hide who he is, but this proved one of their failings for me. Perhaps they tried too hard since the truth was so obvious to me. Second, the serial killer actually is more of a mass murderer. I lost count, but I'm pretty sure that close to 30 cops die in the story. It leaps over the line of terrible to ridiculous. With that sort of mayhem the feds would have converged on Seattle in a heartbeat. Other items which left me scratching my head was the killer's ability to lay hands on massive amounts of explosives, Greek fire, poisonous snakes, huge quantities of liquid nitrogen, and ... more.
With those items the story is more horror fantasy than a true detective story. The killer became more super villain than real life threat. There are vast amounts of gore which a lot of readers found nightmarish. I didn't really notice those parts as they were almost always aftermath findings. I think there are more effective ways to convey a terrifying experience. In the case of the '9th Circle' I didn't once feel creeped out. It's not that I consider myself overly brave, it's just I don't react much to authors throwing a bunch of blood around in an attempt to shock. Show me the sharp knives and my imagination will take over. I'll run around turning on all the lights. Show me a severed limb and I'll shrug (in stories - please, no one show me a real severed limb).
While silly, the story is entertaining. Darc and Janey worked well. Mala is okay, and even proves useful once (mostly she struggles against Darc to keep Janey out of danger), and Trey has his moments. I would probably like him better if he were toned down a notch or two. As it is he's just a bit too over the top to be believable, and his use of 'dude' made me roll my eyes. I don't know if I'll read any of the stories that continue the series. I'll definitely read other people's reviews first and see if the authors learned anything from writing the first book and made changes. -
Good God, what a bad book! So much wasted potential.
The book tries to set itself apart from other crime books by having different protagonists (Darc, who is autistic) and by being gory. It fails on both accounts and on some additional ones. But let me explain each part.
While the idea of different detective is intriguing, Darc simply doesn't work in the context of the book. While Sonya in "The Bridge" TV series is at least functional and can interact with others (awkwardly, but still), Darc simply doesn't. He lives in his own world, ruled by symbols and rarely interacts with outside world. Not only readers never learn how that actually works, we don't get to know how he became a policeman to begin with. I would think that it would require a lot of interactions and passing of some psychological tests, which he would fail. And yet not only is he a detective, he is considered a good one. If authors wanted such character they would do much better if Darc would be an outside consultant, maybe not with Seattle PD but FBI.
Second is the scale and nature of murders. While we never get to know exact number of deaths, it's a lot, very likely in triple digits. Which fails on several acoounts. For one I would think that once it's determined it's a serial killer (which happens early on with pre-story) FBI would come it. But they don't. Next is killer is supposed to set up all these elaborate settings, some containing "dozens" of dead people in a space of few days, alone and with limited financial resoures. And I would expect that so many people going missing would alert somebody (spoiler alert: it doesn't). Not to mention traps, some very elaborate and requiring a lot of special equipment.
When it comes to movies like Se7en or Saw we are seeing end result of long planning and execution so it works. And those don't require enormous sums of money to set up. Here we are seeing dozens of people being kidnapped, killed, dismembered, placed in elaborate settings almost as it happens, at best in space of few days. By a single person, with limited financial resources. And nobody sees anything.
It simply doesn't add up. It seems authors decided to write a book about different detective investigating gruesome murders. Beyond that they had little idea what they are writing about. Book would be well served if it was read by somebody with a critical eye to spot such flaws before it was published. Sadly it wasn't and the end result is this garbage. -
Carolyn McCray & Ben Hopkin are masters of the insane, maniacal and macabre. All the stories I've read, of this series, are hard to put down, twisted and mortifying. Prepare to be shocked, awed, addicted and disgusted! It's a deliciously morbid and addictive series.
The protagonists in this series make a dynamic duo - the odd couple; Darcmel 'Darc'; a savant detective with Asperger's (high functioning autistic); and Trey; his comic relief sidekick. In between macabre scenes and psychotic-murderous madmen, with dark, dysfunctional-mad desires are the witty banters and comical outbursts, that makes this read even more exciting and enjoyable.
"The 9th Circle" (3rd book) #1 of the "Darc Murders" series. Darc and Trey chase a crazed serial/spree killer, who is inspired and by the artworks by Dante/Aristotle's depicting the "9 Circles of Hell". The psycho leaves behind a bloody tableau off dead and bloodied innocents, recreating a Circle of Hell.
At one of the early crime scenes, Darc rescues a child; Janey, who was put in a vat of her murdered parents blood and left to drown, they form a bond - not a norm for Darc. But first, Darc needs Janey's help to find the madman whom killed her parents and more bodies piling up. Time is of essence, to stop the killer before many are murdered for the 9th Circle.
If you've ever seen any of the Dante's work, magnify the atrocities of his works by a million and imagine it in real life, er... Yes, it's that frightening!!!
I absolutely loved this read, this series!
Buckle up, hang on to your binky and Don't turn out the lights! -
Carolyn McCray & Ben Hopkin are Masters of the insane, maniacal and macabre. So far, I absolutely love everything I've read. These stories are hard to put down, twisted and mortifying. Prepare to be shocked, awed and disgusted! It's deliciously morbid!
The protagonists in this series make a dynamic duo - the odd couple; Darcmel 'Darc'; a savant detective with Asperger's (high functioning autistic); and Trey; his comic relief sidekick. In between macabre scenes and psychotic-murderous madmen, with dark, dysfunctional-mad desires are the witty banters and comical outbursts, that makes this read even more exciting and enjoyable.
"The 9th Circle" #1 of the "Darc Murders" series. Darc and Trey chase a crazed serial/spree killer, who is inspired and recreates in real life, the artworks by Dante/Aristotle's depicting the "9 Circles of Hell".
After Darc rescues a child; Janey, who was put in a vat of her murdered parents blood and left to drown, they form a bond - not a norm for Darc. But first, Darc needs Janey's help to find the madman whom killed her parents and plans on many more - recreating all 9 Circles of Hell, as the clock ticks and more bodies drop.
If you've ever seen any of the Dante's work, magnify the atrocities of his works by a million and imagine it in real life, er... Yes, it's that frightening!!!
I absolutely loved this read, this series!
Buckle up, hang on to your binky and Don't turn out the lights! -
THIS WAS THE 2ND BOOK I’VE READ BY THIS AUTHOR (Ben Hopkin), WHICH I THOUGHT WAS JUST SORTA OK. WELLLL, THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME, LIKE HE HIT A HOMERUN WITH ALL THE BASES FREAKIN’ LOADED. I’VE READ 3 OTHER BOOKS, ENJOYED A MOVIE AND TV CHARACTER ALL ON THE SAME SUBJECT ASPERGER’S SYNDROM. I’VE FOUND IT FASCINATING STARTING WITH THE RAINMAN MOVIE, THEN HANDS, TV CHARACTER, BOOKS 600 HRS OF EDWARD/EDWARD ADRIFT AND AUTOBIOGRAHPHY LOOK ME IN THE EYE, LOVED THEM ALL. I WAS SO SURPRISED TO FIND OUT THE MAIN CHARACTER DETECTIVE DARC HAD ASPERGERS ALSO. THEY ALL ARE TRYING TO LIVE IN A WORLD FULL OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THEMSELVES SO NORMAL. I FIND THEM TO BE VERY, VERY UNIQUE; THEY ARE JUST WAITING FOR THE REST OF US NORMAL FOLKS TO CATCH UP TO THEM. I HAVE TO SAY I FIGURED OUT WHO THE KILLER MUST BE BEFORE 30% ORIGINALLY I CHOSE TWO BUT I STUCK WITH THE FIRST ONE(I was right). I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT, THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH, TRYING TO COOK OUR SUNDAY DINNER (a little over cooked . . . so what) GLAD WHEN I FINISHED. THIS WAS TRULY MY KINDA GORY, HATED FOR IT TO END, BUT HAPPY TO FIND OUT THERE’S MORE BOOKS. WOW! FREAKIN’ GREAT! I LOVE THE ENTIRE COLLECTION OF BOOK COVERS ON YOUR BOOKS, THERY’RE REALLY BEAUTIFUL ART WORK. ;D
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Got the entire Darc Murders Collection in a single download (3 full length books and 4 short stories to tie them all together) because of their consistently high Amazon ratings and positive reviews and as a break from my normal reading style which doesn't often include murder mysteries. This is first full length novel in the series after two prequels (Devious and Deceived). I found the two prequels a waste adding nothing except pages...and recommend if you choose to read the series that you skip the prequels and start with 9th Circle straight away. The book itself was okay and certainly delivered a break from my normal reads. I thought the characters and their relationships/interactions were really well done...but the story itself left me wanting. I felt that all the blood and guts, murder and gore were used to sensationalize the appeal and in hopes of hiding relatively weak writing and a story with lots of weaknesses and gaps. At some point, I may give the second book another look, but not right away. For now I need a break from the excessive gore for something of value.
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I ended up being very disappointed in this series. The characters seemed just that, characters. The "main" character, Darc, should have been billed as robotic. And his partner became very annoying, childish even. He was not funny and was extremely inappropriate with his comments. In describing the crime scenes, the author relies way too much on "gallons and gallons" of blood. There is no true crime or mystery solving either, just Darc somehow mystically reading the symbols he sees and charging off to unexplainedly showing up to the next gory, bloody, scene and sensing out hidden clues and victims. I understand the need for blood at a crime scene. But I get really tired of authors who have to rely on ogre to make the scene, or to try and hold a reader's attention. This series became unbelievable gore on top of gore - too much. And too little actual you-can-figure-this-out plot and clues for me at least.
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9th Circle follows two detectives, one with Asperger's Syndrome and his partner who is the only person who can work with him as they track a brutal serial killer who is recreating the 9 levels of Dante's Inferno. Of all the serial killer books I've read (real life and fiction), the serial killer in this book takes the prize as the most vicious, unrepentant killer of them all. At times I wanted to put the book down, throw up or put on a kid's movie to get the images out of my head, but I kept going because simple as it may sound, I had to find out how it ended. Aside from the graphic parts, it was a very well-paced, well-written story that allowed us a glimpse into how a person with Asperger's functions which I've never read about before but found to be very interesting. I recommend this book but reiterate the warning this book is NOT for the faint hearted!
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Darc is a Seattle detective who has Asperger's Syndrome and he is partnered with a wise cracking detective who barely made the grade, but who seems to be the only one who can cope with him. Darc sees things in logical patterns and colors, does not communicate well and confused by the emotions he sees in others, but he gets the job done. In this instance they are after someone is creating the 9 circles of hell in real life. The current scene is in a slaughter house that might make you swear of meat. Well I finished it through all the circles of hell. Darc is a bit hard to believe and the killer seems to have accomplished an awful lot in preparations and killings for one person. When the killer was first introduced, I said to myself, “that’s the one”. Turned out I was right. I probably won’t pursue any more of Darc’s adventures.
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Detective Robi Darcmel (Darc) is the only hope for Seattle as a serial killer runs rampant, killing in ways never seen before.
From the very first page it is clear that we are going some place horrific. This monster actually likes the feel,smell and sight of blood and torn flesh.
Darc is able to follow "threads" that only he can see because he has Asperger's Syndrome. he follows them to the next staged murder and so on, but each time he too late to save anyone. Then he puts it together that this sicko is creating the 9 circles of hell. This is without one of the most vividly, put you right there in it kind of writing that we have come to expect. I can hardly wait to get into the next chapter of this engrossing (heavy on the Gross) series.9th Circle: 9 Circles, Infinite Ways to Die (Book 1 of the Darc Murders Series) -
I'm really liking this series. It's a bit off-kilter, and the dynamic between the two detectives is interesting. I can tell there are long-running plot threads that will carry forward into future books, so that's interesting too. The biggest issue I have is that the lead detective, 'Darc' - who is autistic (Asperger's) - doesn't really behave or act or think like anyone with Asperger's I've ever known. It's a spectrum, and no two Aspies (or autistic people) are exactly alike, and I appreciate the author's attempt at explaining Darc's thought process and how he sees the world. But, I've just never seen an autistic person as self-aware of the differences between the way they think and the way others do, as Darc seems to be. Either way, it's a pretty good read and the mystery development is solid.
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9th Circle Brings A Variety of Horror and Intrigue to the Thriller Table
"Even though this hallway looked like nearly every other run-down urban hallway in the city, something felt wrong. Horribly wrong."
This is a pretty dark book with deep and graphic gore and violence, so if you are seeking fluff and unicorns, you might want to pass on this one.
With that said....you have an unlikely pairing of detectives that despite their differences, are a duo that seem to get cases solved.
9th Circle actually brings quite a bit to the table. Art. Religion. Politics. Horror. Compassion. It's a thriller that keeps you guessing and floundering between being horrified and riveted.
Great job and although I have arrived late to this party, I suspect I will be serial-binge reading to catch up.
