Customer Reviews

Darkness in Him: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mr. Lyons stopped me from doing anything else for a full day. I couldn't put this book down. I had to find out what was going to happen next.
The book revolves around a college senior who is willing to do whatever it takes to make his dreams a reality. The way things unfold and the way Jake feels about those events is what makes this book tick for me. You can actually follow Jakes line of thinking and in a sick and twisted way sympathize with him.
I enjoyed the book and I'm impressed with the author.
Be warned though if you're the least bit squeamish you may not want to pick up this book. The first death in the story is very brutal.

This is this writer's first novel & I will be anxiously awaiting & anticipating more to come! For a debut work, I found it to be exceptional. The psychological suspense & intrigue is top-notch, the dialogue is taut & surprises are around every corner. I read it in record time, feeling drawn back to it with every spare minute I could devote. Andrew Lyons is a talent & should have a very bright future ahead of him as a writer in this genre if he continues in the tradition of "Darkness In Him!"

Everything is going right in Jake Conason's life. He is a college student at Washington University in St. Louis. He has a beautiful girlfriend who he is very serious about and plans to marry. He is a popular member of a fraternity yet manages to take school serious, has excellent grades and is an excellent prospect for one of the top law schools in the country. Everything is going right until one fateful night when he commits an indiscretion then a horrific crime. To keep his future prospects intact, Jake must do all he can to cover it up-- even if it takes murder.
Cornell Woolrich wannabe, Andrew Lyons has managed to hit a home run his first time at bat. The plight of antihero Jake Conason is so compelling that the book is virtually impossible to put down. The well paced and clever plot lacks originality but makes up for it in pure fun. This is the type of suspenseful thriller that few debut novelists attempt to write. So many of these first time authors write amateur detective stories that they are difficult to distinguish from each other and most are quite forgettable. Perhaps this type of suspense tale is very difficult to construct. However, the ending lacked originality and any semblence of realism. This marred an otherwise excellent debut effort.

this is truly about the darkest side of 'darkness': it is the darkness of the human soul. I truly found this book exceptional: a great plot, the main character's psychological profile is extremely well presented and intriguing. I highly recommend this book, I could NOT put it down and read it all in one night.

A must read.

One often opens a debut novel with a mixture of anticipation and hope. Both feelings were dashed with the first chapter of this rather pedestrian tale peopled with stick characters and laboriously urged along by stilted dialogue.
If readers are to accept the author's premise that protagonist/narrator, Jake Conason, is a golden boy with a brilliant, wealth laced future before him then one must also suppose that fraternity boys who spend much of their college years sauced will rise to the top of whatever profession they choose.

Punctuated with all too frequent references to titles of what loud music happens to be playing our story opens with a party at the Kappa Omega house in St. Louis with Jake pushing his "way through the throng of over inebriated underclassmen to get to the keg." He's also looking for his girlfriend, Jordan, who is, of course, the prettiest girl on campus. As it turns out, Jordan, usually a modest miss, has "decided to share a bit of her perfection with the world. She was wearing a tight, black shoulder-baring dress that hugged every one of her magnificent curves."

How Jake could have an argument with such a vision of loveliness is a poser. Nonetheless, he does and quite the worse for drink he winds up bedding Kelly, a fraternity brother's girlfriend.

When Kelly later confronts Jake with the fact that she is pregnant and quite sure that the child is his, what's a guy gonna's do? Why bludgeon her with a crowbar, of course. Murder is an elective course that gets Jake into more trouble than he can imagine, but he is determined that nothing will sully his reputation and keep him from getting into Harvard Law School. And therein hangs the tale as the body count mounts and Jake proves to be a master at devilish machinations.

If readers should wonder how in the world he manages to pull off some of his improbable stunts, we can remember that he's dealing with characters known as "Kevie Poo" and the likes of Evan Grunier who loved to torture pledges.

The scene shifts from St. Louis to New York in a night of utter madness, and a new girl enters the scene - Lindsay, the most "voracious woman" Jake's ever known.

A plot lacking credibility and puppet-like characters seriously flaw this debut. As for Jake, who is supposed to be a dark antihero, the quiddity of his personality is never captured. Regrettably, "Darkness In Him" is a mystery in more ways than one.

- Gail Cooke

Andrew Lyons writes a captivating suspense story that demonstrates his talent. It took me 28 hours to finish the book during which time I competed in a triathlon and went to a Rams football game...ie I had trouble putting the book down once I started. Mr. Lyons, when is your next book?

I was a little skeptical about reading this at first but once I started...I could not stop! Some parts made me squirm and It might have been a book a little too "brutal" for my liking...BUT I have to say Andrew Lyons did a great job for a debut...I would highly rec this book to anyone who loves a suspense/thriller...I lost a whole day and a nights sleep...I just had to turn the next page....

It's true that Andrew Lyons has written a fast-paced little thriller. But there's very little meat on the skeletal story and even less on the flimsy characters.

A simple accident becomes a murder when Jake finishes the job. But then he's suddenly transformed from frat-rat to stealthy psychopath. Perhaps we're supposed to believe he had this "darkness in him" all along, but we get no references of his history or prior antisocial behavior. Thus his sudden transformation is hard to take seriously, and his subsequent acts of murder, extortion, etc., are hard to swallow.

In the end, the book reads like a shallow, vain, attempt to emulate Brett Easton Ellis' "American Psycho". But Lyons' cast of drunken frat boys, promiscuous sorority girls, and overbearing detectives are dull cliches and thoroughly uninteresting.

Thoroughly enjoyable. I read it in one sitting. I agree with others who also found it impossible to put down. Highly recommended!

Jake Conason, the protagonist of DARKNESS IN HIM, is a senior at (fictional) Jefferson University in St Louis. He's pre-law and the two biggest things in his life are his relationship with Jordan --- whom he wants to marry --- and the results of his law school applications. His three first choices are Stanford, Harvard and Yale, which gives us some idea of the level at which he is working, complete with a grade point average near 4.0 and a pending summer internship at a prestigious New York law firm. Jake's father is a prominent lawyer in Texas.

Jordan is an art student and they don't always see eye to eye on Jake's devotion to studying. Jordan is an appealing character and we understand Jake's attraction; the enigmatic Lindsay is equally appealing.

In spite of his determination to keep his grades up, Jake doesn't let hitting the books distract him from partying. He's a member of a fraternity, a well-respected senior man and drinking is a huge part of everyone's life --- and death, as we come to learn eventually.

DARKNESS IN HIM is a first-person view into what some would call the corruption of innocence while others would call it learning to live as a successful adult in our contemporary society. Granted, though, Jake takes the learning process to extremes. He finds himself in a situation that could ruin his future and he handles it in a way that seems to him the least damaging to his life plans. Jake is intelligent and attractive. Because we are always hearing his inner thoughts through the first person narration, his rationalizing makes sense and, as we read, we are both appalled and torn with sympathy. This tension is what makes the novel work.

Andrew Lyons, the author, is apparently young enough to remember his own college days vividly and he is skilled enough as a writer to make the story move along in a page-turning sort of way. But what is most significant about this book and about Lyons's potential as a novelist is that his background in the television business shows. (The bio blurb says that he has worked in TV, most recently as a producer since he graduated from Washington University in St Louis.) The subject matter of DARKNESS IN HIM, as uncomfortable as it may be, is hugely significant in today's world. Lyons needs more skill and polish to his writing, which may come in time, but he already has the insight to choose a subject that beats close to the pulse of America's competitive, success-driven heart. If he continues to choose his subjects so unerringly and unflinchingly, his future looks bright.

--- Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day