Dark Places: A Novel [Paperback]

Jon Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

In a place so harsh that survivalis a struggle, one man has found the strength to kill ...

Paul Wood is a modern vagabond, a man who chooses to leave the comforts of San Francisco to spend months backpacking through some of the world's most challenging terrain: Cameroon, Indonesia, Nepal. While hiking in the Himalayas, Paul gets more of a rush than he bargained for when he finds the body of a murdered hiker, the victim mutilated in a way that Paul has witnessed once before, years ago and thousands of miles away.

To quell a scandal, the police rule the death a suicide and close the case. But Paul can't let it go. A man who has traveled through the thin air at the top of the world and across land mines in war zones, he is not easily discouraged. But his newest expedition will show him some of the darkest places imaginable, in both the terrain he navigates and the men he encounters. Finding the killer becomes Paul's new obsession -- a journey that leads him dangerously close to the edge ... and maybe over it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this haunting suspense debut, Evans takes the reader on a page-turning adventure across five continents in search of a gruesome serial killer who has been targeting travelers in Third World nations. Paul Wood, a San Francisco computer programmer and rugged budget backpacker, is hiking in the Himalayas when he stumbles upon a mutilated corpse with a Swiss army knife plunged into each eye. This is a freakish coincidence: Paul discovered the body of his then girlfriend mysteriously murdered in much the same way two years before in remote central Africa. Finding that even more murders seem to fit the eerie pattern, he begins his own investigation with the help of a (poorly developed) Bosnian love interest named Talena. Eventually joined by his backpacking friends from the fateful trip through central Africa, he decides to take justice into his own hands. Entertaining (but totally implausible) plot twists will keep readers guessing through the book's bone-chilling buildup and brutal climax, while slangy, conversational prose will make it easy to fly through the pages. But secondary characters are often flat and unrealistic, and Paul's vigilante bravado and world-traveler cockiness won't be to everyone's taste.
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Review

'You're hooked. Evans contrives to slip the necessary specialist net-head detail into the plot without being boring or patronising. He can also pin down a character with a few details deftly brushed in... The characters are delightfully delineated by their speech patterns... beautifully controlled... Not the least satisfying aspect of this pacy thriller for the 21st century is the way things go on happening until the last page.' -- The Times 'A clever interesting read that you can take your time over. One can only hope that this, the first novel by Jon Evans, is not the last.' - -- Bolton Evening News 'A taut thriller ... He keeps you guessing and leaves you with the uncomfortable realisation of just how plausible all this could be. A real page-turner' -- Ms London 'This is a stunning debut novel from a thriller writer to watch ... a breathtaking thriller' -- Western Daily Press 'TRAIL OF THE DEAD is engaging, disturbing, and relentless - an impressive debut novel.' -- C.J. Box, award-winning author of WINTERKILL 'An original two-way hunt with moments of real suspense scattered across the wildest reaches of the planet' -- Hector Macdonald 'In this haunting, suspense debut, Evans takes the reader on a page-turning adventure' -- Publishers Weekly 'I was completely gripped. As the plot unfolded, I found myself constantly surprised. Jon Evans's plotting is excellent, and he has obviously travelled widely - all the details are clearly authentic and I found myself interested in the locations as much as the plot. The internet aspect of the story was intriguing, and at the end all the strands were tied up perfectly. I never wanted to put the book down, and I was almost glad I was ill, so I had the chance to read it quickly.' -- Emily Barr 'You're hooked. Evans contrives to slip the necessary specialist net-head detail into the plot without being boring or patronising. He can also pin down a character with a few details deftly brushed in... The characters are delightfully delineated by their speech patterns... beautifully controlled... Not the least satisfying aspect of this pacy thriller for the 21st century is the way things go on happening until the last page.' -- The Times 'In this haunting, suspense debut, Evans takes the reader on a page-turning adventure' -- Publishers Weekly 'An original two-way hunt with moments of real suspense scattered across the wildest reaches of the planet' -- Hector Macdonald 'TRAIL OF THE DEAD is engaging, disturbing, and relentless - an impressive debut novel.' - C.J. Box, award-winning author of WINTERKILL and TROPHY HUNT 'I was completely gripped. As the plot unfolded, I found myself constantly surprised. Jon Evans's plotting is excellent, and he has obviously travelled widely - all the details are clearly authentic and I found myself interested in the locations as much as the plot. The internet aspect of the story was intriguing, and at the end all the strands were tied up perfectly. I never wanted to put the book down.' - Emily Barr --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060594233
• ISBN-13: 978-0060594237
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I always wanted to be a writer. I travel a lot - more than 70 countries across six continents, to date. My novel DARK PLACES won Canada's Arthur Ellis Award, and has been translated into Dutch, German, and Japanese; my recent Vertigo Crime graphic novel THE EXECUTOR was nominated for a Spinetingler Award, appeared on several best-of-the-year-lists, and has been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. My most recent book, and I think my favorite, is my "children's book for grown-ups" BEASTS OF NEW YORK. I'm not so secretly planning to write a sequel or two. I write novels, scripts, magazine journalism, a weekly column for the irreverent tech site TechCrunch, and software. (If you're a traveller and you have an iPhone or an Android phone, check out my free app iTravelFree.) It is fair to say that I am easily bored.

For far, far more about me than you probably ever wanted to know, see my web site rezendi.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Capturing the life of so many of those hovering around 30., August 22, 2004

By 

Nicole Quinn "rednikki" (Monterey, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Places: A Novel (Paperback)

The book is about a backpacker who finds a dead body on a trail in Nepal, which has been mutilated in the same way his girlfriend was in Cameroon two years previously. Our hero sets out to find the killer. The book's about much more than that, however. It's about recovering from the death of a loved one. It's about backpacking, and travelling around the world, and needing to do so to the point where you only take jobs that will give you months of leave. It's about the bursting of the Internet bubble. It's about the concept of tribe, a chosen family that is your support network no matter how far away they are. It's about using the Internet to find people and track them down. And, yeah, there's a cool mystery in there, too. Evans captures the feeling of being on the edge of 30, and unwilling to buy into the two-kids-and-a-dog suburban lifestyle.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining chilling thriller, June 27, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Places: A Novel (Paperback)

San Francisco computer programmer Paul Wood enjoys backpacking in remote unreachable places around the globe. Currently he hikes the rough terrain of the Himalayas on the sustenance budget plan when he finds a mutilated corpse with Swiss army knives stabbed through each eye. Paul is more than shook at seeing the body as two years ago he and his girlfriend were in central Africa when she was murdered in the same macabre manner.

Paul soon learns other people were killed with the same creepy modus operendi. Unable to ignore his preliminary findings Paul and his current girlfriend Bosnian Talena investigate. Other travelers from the central African tragedy join Paul when he decides to avenge the budget backpacking world by taking out a serial killer.

This entertaining but chilling thriller provides readers with a look at the backpacking community that reside in youth hostels or outside as they hike the planet. The story line hooks the readers with its twists and turns, albeit not all seem real, but no one will care. Paul is a terrific protagonist as he travels the orb although it is difficult to accept this gentle soul as a vengeful fighting machine. Still fans of dark suspense will appreciate this eerie tale as they hitch a ride with Jon Evans to extremely DARK PLACES.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Read more like a dairy than a mystery thirller, July 11, 2005

By 

NorthVan Dave (BC, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Places (Paperback)

I was very disappointed with this book. The premise is good enough. There is a serial killer out there, hunting down unsuspecting travelers. And since the murders occur away from the western world, there is a tendency for the killer to get away with it. Sounds good enough right?

Well yes and no.

The descriptions of life on the trail, the attention to detail of life in the third world, etc. is all done very well. It is obvious that the author has done his share of traveling. But when it comes to crafting a mystery novel, once which keeps the reader guessing and wanting to read more, the author falls short. The protagonist is able to 'solve' the mystery of who the serial killer is in record time, and he does so in an almost elementary fashion.

If you are looking for a light read that captures what it is like to travel to third world countries, then this book might interest you. But if you are looking for a mystery novel with lots of twists and turns, you're better off leaving this book on the shelf.