Thomas H. Cook - Places in the Dark

Lavish praise for Thomas Cooks
Places in the Dark

A serpentine tale of long-buried secrets leading to murder and betrayal Reminiscent of John Fowles The French Lieutenants Woman.

The Orlando Sentinel

A strong, suspenseful story Cook accomplishes what he consistently does so superbly: He sets the tone, creates characters, [and] engages the reader.

The Houston Chronicle

Mr. Cook springs his share of effective plot surprises Maybe the greatest is the wonderfully redemptive ending.

The Wall Street Journal

Skillfully blends flashbacks with current action and his deftly-drawn characters invoke both empathy and pity. In sum, a splendid performance by a gifted artist.

San Diego Union-Tribune

A brooding excursion into the depths of the human heart, full of surprises and dread, with a stunning ending.

Portsmouth Herald

[The] tale rush[es] toward its climax with all the doomy energy of its opening image: a swift-moving current pulling a helpless child toward rapids, a waterfall, and a watery grave.

Kirkus Reviews

Complex, multi-layered, and haunting, Places in the Dark is as chilling as a freezing rain, a novel that will get under your skin and stay there. This is a story that will make you a fan of Cook forever.

Romantic Times

Another lyrical, whispery mystery Using his inimitable flashback style, Cook mesmerized this reader anyway with a tale of simple people whose fate ties them to resounding tragedy.

Booked & Printed

Cook is a master at portraying very original heroines that will inevitably draw you into a haunting and well written story.

The Purloined Letter

A sea-swept village on the coast of Maine provides an effective backdrop for the inner torments of Cooks characters Each mystery in his puzzle box of a book becomes another mystery entirely, drawing the reader into more and more complex assessments of motive and guilt until the unthinkable seems inescapable Observing his main characters as they run amuck has the dread fascination of watching a slow-motion train wreck.

Booklist (starred review)

Haunting Cook is a top-notch writer.

The Sunday Oregonian

Cook is an author who doesnt jolt readers as much as he hypnotizes them.Places in the Dark is elegantly written, conveying a gentle, almost English feel for characters development.

St. Petersburg Times

Instruments of Night

[A] once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece.

Kirkus Reviews

Cook writes powerful layered novels with original heroes who choose to walk down paths that quietly, inexorably, lead them to ever darker places in the human heart, and ultimately to breathtaking and revelatory surprises at their journeys ends.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Probably no other suspense writer takes readers as deeply into the heart of darkness as Cook As always, Cooks prose is precise, his storytelling slow and deliberate. This is one powerful story.

Chicago Tribune

Although its easy to miss the very real clues that Cook drops so artfully into the story, theres no ignoring his savage imagery, or escaping the airless chambers of his disturbing imagination.

The New York Times Book Review

An excellent psychological thriller Fans of psychological thrillersand especially fans of this Edgar Awardwinning authorwill flock to this title.

Booklist

Starkly compelling and brilliantly written, Thomas Cooks latest offering is powerful reading.

Rendezvous

Cooks last book, The Chatham School Affair, won the 1997 Edgar Award for best novel, and his haunting new one, Instruments of Night, could be a contender The denouement took me by surprise and disturbed me for days.

Los Angeles Times

An enthralling tale that cannily uses elements of the Gothic thriller.

The Seattle Times/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Hypnotic prose and fresh scenarios set [Cooks] suspenseful fiction apart If youve not yet been haunted by a Thomas Cook novel, now is a fine time to start.

Star Tribune, Minneapolis

A beautifully composed tale with enough plot twists to satisfy even fans who have learned to expect surprises from this talented author [Cook] deliver[s] another indelibly haunting tale that once again demonstrates that he is among the best in the business.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Cook teases readers throughout the narrative with tantalizing bits from Graves own past But he also saves the bestand most shocking revelationsuntil practically the last page.

The Orlando Sentinel

Cooks latest novel is, in the words of Mystery Scene editor, Ed Gorman, the best of all his mysteries, a fascinating tale of murder and small-town mayhem A dark, literate journey that sheds light on the past.

barnesandnoble.com

This is not a novel for the faint of heart Cook is a master of subtlety as he weaves the past and present in and out of his own story.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Chatham School Affair
Edgar Award Winner for Best Novel

A seductive book.

The New York Times Book Review

Cook is a master, precise and merciless, at showing the slow-motion shattering of families and relationships The Chatham School Affair ranks with his best.

Chicago Tribune

Intelligent compassionate surprising.

The Boston Sunday Globe

Cook uses the genre to open a window onto the human condition. Literate, compelling Events accelerate with increasing force, but few readers will be prepared for the surprise that awaits at novels end.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Powerful, engaging, and deeply moving highly recommended.

Booklist

A remarkable novel of memory and buried secrets.

The Armchair Detective

Thomas Cook is an artist, a philosopher, and a magician; his story is spellbinding.

The Drood Review of Mystery

Swift, thoughtful and plausible As in nearly all good crime fiction, the moral and practical complications expand like ripples in a pond The Chatham School Affair is the tragic, lyrically told story of a sordid scandal, the towns revenge on the perpetrators, and one mans long-delayed journey toward redemption.

Boston Herald

Moody, eloquent.

San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle

Cook is one of the most lyrical of todays novelists. His prose flows effortlessly, yet beneath its rhythm Cooks characters perform the most shocking and deadly of deeds An extraordinary writer.

Sun, Calgary, Alberta

Transfixing suspense.

Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

[Cooks] portrait of a smalland ultimately small-mindedtown is a skillful one. And just when you think the puzzle is complete, Cook artfully presents yet another piecerearranging all your expectations.