Although it is also a very good thriller, the resolution surprised in more ways than one, above all, the character descriptions make this book for me exceptionally. There are no black / white stereotypes, but people with a history. Since the farmer's wife Patty, who wants to raise their four children well despite adverse conditions and great financial hardship. There's Ben, a loner who constantly ridiculed even by his father - in search of his place in life. Since Libby, a depressed woman with no will to live. A survivor with deep guilt. The story is alternately told from the perspective of these figures, so that the reader only knows as much as the characters themselves.
The search for truth is a search for the humanity in each of the characters. There is no good or evil, but a lot of gray. While the book Flynn takes more and more layers down from the surface - similar to an onion - and at the end of the characters in all their vulnerability and with all their faults are presented. You step out of the fictional world and become human beings of flesh and blood. People who pity, disgust or revulsion cause deep. Especially the dark side of the characters is dedicated to Flynn. How is it that someone is a murderer? How does such a crime in the future life? Even the seemingly most unimportant minor character has here with her demons to fight the psychological effects of the crime. Whoever can not sympathize, who probably no heart. A gray rainy day or a noisy hailstorm provide just the right atmosphere in order to drop into the dark mood of the book. Then maybe something sweet or a hot bath, because reading is very upsetting.
"Dark Places" is for me but also a coming-of-age novel. In parallel with the past that is always worked up further, even Libby undergoes a character development. It develops from a depressed, embittered and passive woman into a strong man who does have a difficult past, but is ready to live.
A clear recommendation.
