Garden of Darkness [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Frasier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2007

The USA Today bestselling author delivers a terrifying follow-up to the acclaimed Pale Immortal. Haunted by both the town of Tuonela and the betrayal of Evan Stroud, medical examiner Rachel Burton tries to leave, but is brought back by the skinned body found in the woods. Others are coming to Tuonela, drawn to the legend of the Pale Immortal, the so-called vampire whose exhumed body is now on display. And others will die. As Evan succumbs to madness, those around him will suspect the worst of him. But nothing he is rumored to be will compare to the one who has been awakened...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451412478
• ISBN-13: 978-0451412478
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #499,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Frasier (a.k.a. Theresa Weir) is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one books and numerous short stories that have spanned the genres of suspense, mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, paranormal, and memoir. Her titles have been printed in both hardcover and paperback and translated into twenty languages. Her memoir, The Orchard, was a 2011 Oprah Magazine Fall Pick, Number Two on the Indie Next list, a featured B+ review in Entertainment Weekly, and a Librarians' Best Books of 2011. Going back to 1988, Weir's debut title was the cult phenomenon AMAZON LILY, initially published by Pocket Books and later reissued by Bantam Books. Writing as Theresa Weir she won a RITA for romantic suspense (COOL SHADE), and a year later the Daphne du Maurier for paranormal romance (BAD KARMA). In her more recent Anne Frasier career, her thriller and suspense titles hit the USA Today list (HUSH, SLEEP TIGHT, PLAY DEAD) and were featured in Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, and Book of the Month Club. HUSH was both a RITA and Daphne du Maurier finalist. Well-known in the mystery community, she served as hardcover judge for the Thriller presented by International Thriller Writers, and was guest of honor at the Diversicon 16 mystery/science fiction conference held in Minneapolis in 2008. Frasier books have received high praise from print publications such as Publishers Weekly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Crimespree, as well as online praise from Spinetingler, Book Loons, Armchair Interviews, Sarah Weinman's Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, and Ali Karim's Shots Magazine. Her books have featured cover quotes from Lisa Gardner, Jane Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, Kay Hooper, and J.A. Konrath. Her short stories and poetry can be found in DISCOUNT NOIR, ONCE UPON A CRIME, and THE LINEUP, POEMS ON CRIME. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.


Recent releases:

The Orchard -- Theresa Weir memoir (hardcover) September 2011 Grand Central Publishing
Deadly Treats -- Halloween anthology edited and compiled by Anne Frasier (trade paperback) September 2011 Nodin Press
Max Under the Stars-- Theresa Weir digital-only short story/fantasy, 2011

Upcoming releases:

Once Upon a Crime anthology, Red Cadillac (short story) by Anne Frasier -- April 2012
Second Theresa Weir memoir (Alzheimer's), coming late 2012
Book One of the Cat Trilogy (Theresa Weir) coming late 2012
Play Dead sequel (Anne Frasier), coming early 2013

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Darkness but no Garden, December 18, 2007

By 

MysteryLover (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garden of Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh no, this was not what I expected. Pale Immortal was reasonably believable, but this was way off the grid. For some reason, I expected something totally different, I don't know, maybe I wanted a townsperson to be up to somethig a bit shady, but noooo. I think this may be the last Anne Frasier book I read until she gets back to the days of Sleep Tight and Hush. I've read all of her books and this one would definitely be at the bottom of the heap.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere between Not Worth Turning the Pages and Thrilling and Chilling..., June 11, 2008

By 

M Elliott "a reader from TX" (NORTH CENTRAL TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Garden of Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read and loved all of Frasier's works written as Theresa Weir and liked well enough the first two or three as Anne Frasier: Hush, Sleep Tight, Before I Wake. I liked Pale Immortal less and Garden of Darkness less than that, mainly because of the subject matter, but also partly because of the writing.

As Theresa Weir, Frasier turned out very well written edgy romance/mystery character studies, with humor, wit and intriguing storylines. Her male characters had depth and were believable; her female characters had hangups but were sympathetic; you cared what happened to them. I find that to be less true in her novels as Anne Frasier. I was interested enough in Evan Stroud from Pale Immortal to buy GofD, but had I known where Frasier was going (and apparently intends to go) with these characters, I probably would have given it a miss, since I have no interest in the vampire genre. In Garden of Darkness, I liked the teenage Graham and cared a bit about poor suffering Evan himself (though I think his future must remain a mystery to me), but was less interested in the other characters, including Rachel, and cared least of all about the dismal and depressingly dark town of Tuonela, Wis. Too, the quality of the writing is not as good in this book. Pale Immortal didn't have much life (no pun intended) and sometimes plodded along, but Garden of Darkness plods, occasionally feels disjointed and uneven, and suffers from awkward transitions. Also, the mysterious deaths in this novel are never explained. Perhaps we are supposed to assume we know the answer but I like a little Perry Mason closure with my mysteries, even in tales where the supernatural may be at work!

Garden of Darkness was not terrible, in my opinion, but not good enough to tempt me back to Tuonela and its spooky citizenry.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed..., September 7, 2011

By 

LiterateWalrus (Upstate SC, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Garden of Darkness (Book Two) (Kindle Edition)

My normal review for a solid, well-written book is four stars (I reserve five stars for truly outstanding books). But I had several problems with this book.

First of all, it took a veer into supernatural territory that I wasn't expecting (since the book to which it is a sequel - 'Pale Immortal' - was not supernatural). But I can accept that this might be a matter of taste.

More importantly, the formatting was the worst I've ever seen. Sentences that go halfway across the screen and then split in the middle of a word are bad enough. It's awkward but at least I can still follow the story. But to have no line breaks or some way to indicate a scene change within a chapter is unforgivable. I'd be reading along and all of a sudden realize that it doesn't make sense, then have to back up and figure out where the scene changed. It really ruined the book.

One final thing - I'm assuming that the 'bad guy' committed the two murders. But that's never actually clarified and no reason is given. Didn't make sense to me.