Curse the Darkness [Hardcover]

Lesley Grant-Adamson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1990

A contemporary thriller in which some shocking truths are revealed about the housing racket, the world of publishing and promotion, and about the crippling effect of greed on people's lives. The author's previous books include "Patterns in the Dust", "The Face of Death" and "Wild Justice".

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fifth mystery featuring Rain Morgan (after Guilty Knowledge ) is a highly original, satisfying tale. When Alf Wilson, an elderly screenwriter, "invites" his neighbors and gossip-columnist/sleuth Rain to discover his body hanging from his chandelier, it is an invitation for Rain to investigate whether the situation is a case of murder or not. In the meantime, novelist John Gower--whose success is thus far measured in positive reviews rather than in money--stages his own death in order to win publicity for his work. Unfortunately for Gower, the scheme works too well. While Gower's estranged wife and his agent reap the rewards, the author is left to hide in a remote cottage and later in an urban squatters' digs. He writes the masterpiece of his career, but finds himself leading a life increasingly similar to that of his own fictional main character. A mystery on two levels, with Rain's pursuit of the truth running parallel to the action in the false disappearance, the novel also examines the writing life as experienced by a journalist, a screenwriter and a novelist. A smashing conclusion brings Rain and Gower together in dangerous circumstances.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 edition (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312042914
• ISBN-13: 978-0312042912
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,790,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Verisimilitude, September 3, 2005

By 

P. Newman "Sausalito Phil" (Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Curse the Darkness (Paperback)

Verisimilitude

Heavens-to-Betsy what a tiresome read. Poor Lesley Grant-Adamson cannot write for nuts. The story is good enough, though hardly earth shifting, and the structure is first class, but goodness what boring dialogue, and what unlikely reasoning. One of her characters, a writer, uses a word processor at home, but takes his typewriter when he goes overseas because, "Of the electricity abroad." Oh, come on Linsey, they have reliable electricity on Gozo, and laptops are tolerant of voltage fluctuations because the convert almost any supply to low voltage DC. Besides, people who write on computers - computer is where you will find word processor applications - do not, I say again, do not, go back to hauling a mechanical clunker around. They would rather carry a suitcase full of spare batteries than go back to the no spell checker, white-out world of jammed ribbons and reams of wasted paper.

I had resolved to give it up reading this uninteresting novel twice, not to bother myself anymore with these tiresome characters as the outcome bothered me not one jot. Had there been another unread book in the house I would not have reached the end, and frankly could not have cared less. As it was, I reached an ending in which the male central character, Gower, "Never knew about the bullet through the window. He barely felt it touch his forehead. It was nothing." And the female central character appears not to have got her man, a policeman, of high rank, who does not inform his colleagues when his girlfriend's flat is ransacked and life threatening messages are written, in lipstick of course, on the bathroom mirror. Oh come on Lesley, give it up, or stop treating your readers as if they were nine year olds.