Good Morning, Darkness [Hardcover] Review

The fundamental theme of this novel is obsession and the price it extracts on all of the characters. The obsession takes human form in the attractive body and movements of Laura Finnegan. Everyone who comes into contact with her, even at a distance, becomes attracted to her like moths to a flame. Her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, loves her so much he wants to marry her. A nameless Mexican fisherman changes his daily routine so that he can stand outside her home and watch her as she moves around her kitchen. Laura's boss, Mr. Johnson, wants her to the point of committing sexual harassment, something he has done and gotten away with before. Then there is Reggie Brooks, a local police detective but also her martial arts instructor. Laura Finnegan has that rare ability to inspire love and devotion in every man and all are prepared to give up everything they each have for her. Then she vanishes.

The Mexican fisherman finds an arm on a local beach and a few miles away, the matching arm washes ashore in Malibu. Since he hasn't seen Laura in days, he begins to wonder if the arms are hers. He also realizes that he hasn't seen her boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, a man he knows only by the car he drives, a white BMW. Assigned to the case of the found arms, Reggie Brooks begins to wonder as well as Laura hasn't made it to class lately. Mr. Johnson also wonders about her even though he got a letter from her stating that she was quitting her job. While there is no reason to suspect that the found arms and Laura's disappearance are in any way related, the detective and the fisherman believe, for different reasons, they are linked.

Shifting between the boyfriend Scott, to detective Brooks, to the Mexican fisherman, and others, the novel gradually reveals a tale of murder and deceit. A weak storyline of a gangland execution is introduced to provide some complexity to the work and as character development, but is not used to any real effectiveness. Additional story elements of classicism and accounting fraud are used much more effectively used and do enhance the tale, but the primary focus is obsession. Obsession in each character drives the work forward and it is only because of obsession that every single thing happens. The result is a good read that engages the reader from start to finish.
This entire review previously appeared online at OnceWritten.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2005


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Morning Is Dead [Paperback] Review

I've read about 4 of Prunty's books so I'm pretty familiar with his writing. One reoccuring theme in Prunty's work seems to be the fear and paranoia of losing a spouse. Another theme is the heartless consumerist society taking over. Jack and Mr. Grin took on the first theme in a close, personal way. Market Adjustment had to do mostly with the second theme and had a larger, almost Lovecraftian approach.

Morning is Dead is somewhere in between.

It deals with the fear and paranoia of losing your wife to someone who looks like you (but more attractive) while also dealing with criticisms of society, law enforcement, and so on. It's a downer of a book. It's not a feel good book by any means. But that's not a bad thing.

Morning is Dead is an emotionally devastating descent into bizarre horror. If Philip K. Dick wrote horror, I imagine he'd write something like this. It's the book to read when you want to feel paranoid about your marriage, your work, your neighbors, your town, and your life in general. Don't worry, though. You'll enjoy every second of it. This is a creepy page turner.

I suppose every honest review needs to have some bit of criticism so I'll try. Honestly, I can't think of anything real negative about this book except that maybe it could have had a few more pages in the beginning to set everything up a little better.

A bonus is the great cover art and the fact that this is number 000 from the new publisher Grindhouse Press. Get this while you can.



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Product Description:
Things went wrong for Alvin and April Blue. In a hospital at night, April sits next to Alvin, bandages covering his burned skin, listening to his heart beat on a monitor, and wonders how they ended up here. But she can never imagine the world of insanity, drugs, and crime that Alvin has fallen into. A place where fetuses are used to create simulacra, radiation victims prowl the streets looking for sacrifice, houses are arbitrarily detonated, and the police force is more like a marauding gang of thugs. A place where it's always dark and morning is dead...

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