MRC RECOMMENDS: The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow
“…a cleverly written mystery with an exceptional storyline.”
-Mystery Review Crew
The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow
Author: Verlin Darrow
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Kade Tobin needs every bit of his wisdom as the leader of a rural spiritual community to remain true to his core values as murders pile up around him. Drawn into helping to solve the mystery by a sheriff’s detective, Kade sorts through the array of quirky seekers on the community’s land, only to end up as the defendant in a suspense-filled trial. He struggles to maintain a stance of kindness while he endures bullies in the jail, a vengeful DA, and the pending judgment of twelve strangers.
As the prosecution parades witness after witness, the mounting evidence against Kade becomes alarmingly damning. If he were a juror, Kade believes he might vote to convict himself at this stage of his trial. But he also trusts the universe. Kade remains confident that a force greater than himself–and the justice system–has other plans for him. Or does it?
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Review of The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow by Verlin Darrow
The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow is a cleverly written mystery with an exceptional storyline. Focused on a rural spiritual community, it also includes snippets of wisdom on how someone can live his (or her) best life.
Set in the Santa Cruz mountains in Northern California, the commune is in a meadow adjacent to a redwood forest. Told entirely in the first-person narrative by the leader, Kade Tobin, our protagonist, who is the teacher of about two dozen adults in the small community. Kade lives in a yurt with his free-spirited partner, Zues—a mix of Alaskan malamute and Newfoundland.
Within the first page, we meet Tobin, Zues, and a dead woman found less than thirty feet from the yurt. What ensues is the addition of police officers and a couple of detectives, and as they interview everyone in the community, we get to meet them. Kade accompanies the detective during the interviews and provides any relevant backstory to the individuals. Although the dead woman was murdered in a grisly fashion, there seem to be no clues, so the detectives have their jobs cut out for them.
One of the things we love about this story is how quickly it settles into its pace. The pacing is consistent throughout the story, but it does tend to quicken slightly near the climax. The climax is a long one, which heightens the suspense and enters a can’t-put-it-down realm.
One of the biggest mysteries in the story is whether Kade is also the antagonist. As the detectives delve into Kade’s background, secrets are revealed. This leads to a paradox that overshadows most of the story: if Kade is as truly spiritual as his words, actions, and lifestyle imply, how could he be the killer?
If there is one thing that really stands out in this book, it would be the description, particularly with respect to characters. It allows the reader to immediately form a mental image of the character. For example, when describing one woman, the author wrote, “Her auburn hair was whirled on top of her head like a soft-serve ice cream cone.” He described another pale character as being “like a stereotypical Irish milkmaid.” Very simple, yet highly effective.
Language has a larger role than usual in this story. We noted usage of “big words” in places. For example, words such as “obstreperousness” and “apocryphal.” However, since these words were used by the main character, they resonated well with his intellect. Further, the book also includes some great philosophical prose at times.
Overall, this is a wonderful read, very entertaining, and can be considered as time well spent.
About Verlin Darrow
Verlin Darrow is currently a psychotherapist who lives with his psychotherapist wife in La Selva Beach, Ca. They diagnose each other as necessary.
He can be reached at ve**********@***il.com, and his website is verlindarrow.com.
Verlin is a former professional volleyball player (in Italy), country-western singer/songwriter, import store owner, NCAA coach, sheetmetal worker, newspaper columnist, taxi driver, and night janitor. (The first half of his life was continuity-challenged).
Verlin was patted on the head by Einstein, travelled around the world on a spiritual pilgrimage, and has published three previous novels under other names (but he hides the extant copies of these under his bed)
He served as the assistant guru (kind of like a vice-president but more clueless) in a small, benign spiritual organization. Eventually, he graduated himself and everyone else out of it.
Verlin missed being blown up by Mt. St. Helens by ten minutes, survived the 1985 Mexico City earthquake (8.0), and (so far) has successfully weathered numerous internal disasters.
