Dark Friday
Jeffery Leever
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
Five teenage girls are murdered on the same night on the same small
rural town. One high school student is arrested but the police
chief is not convinced he has the right person. As the town mourns the
deaths and fears the future, one reporter delves deeper into the
events. Reporter Kevin Gibson knows he is on the right track as he is
threatened and stalked. A killer must still be on the loose but his
identity remains hidden.
The story is see through the eyes of Casey Wood, friend of the circle
of boys who seem to be involved in the murders. Although one of his
friends has been charged with the murders, Casey is still confused by
the circumstances. He has known these guys for years, spent many hours
with the group that called themselves the Fraternal Order of Friday.
They met to eat pizza and watch horror movies, a genre with which they
were all obsessed. As he looks into the murders he finds that he has
ignored much of what went on around him, turning a blind, or over
accepting, eye on warning signs and ominous omens.
Leever does an exceptional job telling the story back and forth through
time. He skips from the murders to the past to the present
investigation with an even, smooth flow that adds to the tension of the
story. The reader is never very sure of the direction the plot may
take, a suspenseful trick of the writing. Leever is able to alter his
writing style to meet the pace of the tale,
from telling the background of the story in flowing prose to short
staccato sentences of action or effective dialogue. The characters are
deftly drawn, their personalities and motivations are outlined in
stark, black marker but filled in with the colors and hues of a
talented writer. They are not comfortable characters, they are the
teenagers of parents' nightmares, their surface is calm, their depths'
infinate. But, which is what makes the book so chilling, they are
portrayed realistically and believably. The controversial topic of
modern culture- horror movies and their influence- is examined, and
comes out poorly, in this tale of teenage friendship and obsession.
Capital Crime Press has stepped outside their usual fare into this
darkly tragic tale. As always they have chosen carefully and well
with this novel, finding in Jeffery Leever another unique voice on the
mystery/thriller shelves.