Good Morning, Darkness [Hardcover]

Ruth Francisco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 2004

Francisco follows "Confessions of a Deathmaiden," her acclaimed debut, with a thrilling new mystery about a young woman's unexplained disappearance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following her much-praised first novel, Confessions of a Deathmaiden (2003), Francisco delivers another outstanding stand-alone, a darker tale with some surprising twists. A Mexican fisherman makes a gruesome discovery on the beach not far from L.A.'s Marina del Rey: "I found the first arm. The second one washed up on Malibu Beach, seven miles north of here. The rest of the body must've gotten eaten by sharks." But whose arm? It would seem to belong to the alluring Laura Finnegan, who had a house on the beach and whom the fisherman used to admire through her window. Det. Sgt. Reggie Brooks of the LAPD is in love with Laura, as is real estate agent Scott Goodsell, who has asked her to marry him, but murder doesn't seem a possibility: Laura has quit her job and gone east to see her relatives. Or has she? Alert readers will suspect there's more going on than meets the eye, and further plot complications prove both serpentine and sanguinary. As in her previous novel, Francisco knows how to turn the screws: the adroit plotting and additional fillip at the end are sufficiently compelling to qualify this as one of the year's best mysteries.
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Review

"The adroit plotting and additional fillip at the end . . . qualify this as one of the year's best mysteries."
-- starred, Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (September 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892968079
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968077
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,313,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I tend to write novels that are a little controversial. I don't intend to, but a question grabs hold of my mind--Do we have a right to say no to medical technology? What would it be like to be Jackie Kennedy? Where is Islamic extremism taking us?--and it won't let go. I have to explore it, I have to write about it.

Since my interests are varied, my books are varied, perhaps too much so. But whatever the theme, I always explore identity, trying to reconcile the physical and spiritual worlds. My characters respond sensually to the world as I do, they question and doubt. It would be easier to be a different kind of writer maybe. I hope you get something out of my little efforts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nail-Biting, Dark and Disturbing, Superb Story, November 24, 2004

By 

Tracy Oshima (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Morning, Darkness (Hardcover)

Young and beautiful Laura Finnegan seems to change each life she touches, she also seems able to capture the heart of every man she comes in contact with. Including the Mexican fisherman who watches her every morning, the cop who teaches her self defense and of course her handsome as a devil, successful boyfriend, Scott Goodsell.

One night she has a fitful nightmare, she's dreamed that Scott has killed her. In the morning she tells him and he tells her to put it out of her mind, it was only a dream. Later Scott takes her out to dinner and proposes, however Laura can't get that dream out of her head and she says no. But Scott isn't the kind of person to take no lightly. He starts following her and this frightens Laura enough that she starts taking self-defense classes taught by LAPD Detective Sergeant Reggie Brooks. To him Laura appears like a wounded animal, someone in dire need of protection and he helps her get a restraining order against Scott.

Then all of a sudden she's gone. Reggie can't believe it. Scott tells him she's moved back east to take care of her sick mother. He can't prove anything, but he's suspisious as all get out, so he starts digging and he won't quit, even though it strains the relationship he has with his wife and children.

This is a dark and brooding story that unfortunately I had to put down at two in the morning, three quarters finished, because I was just too sleepy to go on, but my mind wouldn't rest without knowing the ending, so I wound up dreaming Laura's nightmare. There are mind games galore in this super mystery-thriller that has an ending you won't believe. This is a nail-biting, fast-past and somewhat disturbing book that I highly recommend. You won't go wrong with Ruth Francisco.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dream-like, poetic, dark, July 31, 2006

By 

K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile" (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Morning, Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

Ruth Francisco's books are works of art, something we don't see much of in this day and age. Although this book is primarily about Laura Finnegan, we really don't know anything much about her - except that everyone who meets her loves her, often to the point of obsession. When she disappears, it turns everyone's lives upside-down - and then two dismembered arms wash up on the beach, and some suspect they may have belonged to her. Not knowing if she is dead or alive, Det. Sgt. Reggie Brooks, LAPD Homocide and her martial arts instructor, sets off to find out what happened to her - putting both his marriage and his job in danger.

The layers, twists and turns in this novel will keep you guessing right up until almost the very end; what you discover will be a shocker. Don't miss this amazing book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thriller full of twists & turns, December 5, 2010

By 

Debra L. Martin (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Morning, Darkness (Kindle Edition)

Laura Finnegan is the type of woman that men are drawn to. She is almost too perfect in her beauty, but Laura is much more than meets the eye. The author gives us a few clues to her past - a dancer who can't dance anymore - although most of the story focuses on her sociopath boyfriend, Scott Goodsell, a Mexican fisherman who watches her every morning from the pier and Detective Sgt. Reggie Brooks, Laura's martial arts instructor, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happens to her when she suddenly disappears.

The story opens up with Laura telling Scott that she cannot see him anymore because she had a dream that he would kill her. This sets in motion of series of events that keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to guess what "the truth" is and who is guilty of what. When Laura disappears, Det. Reggie becomes even more obsessed with her and jeopardizes his job and marriage to find out what happened to her. Reggie wrestles with his own inner demons during his investigation - does he love Laura or is he only being protective of a vulnerable woman?

There are so many twists and turns in this book that it is impossible to know what is coming next. When you think you have it figured out, Ms. Francisco throws a monkey wrench into the mix and you're back at square one again. I only have a few minor complaints about the book. I thought the gang crime thread was a bit long - I realize the author was trying to convey the scope of Reggie's neglect of his job, but I found myself losing interest in that part of the book. Also, there was some weird formatting on my Kindle every time there was a street name in italics. There was a huge amount of space between the street name and the next word and that was annoying.

"Good Morning, Darkness" is a fantastic thriller and I recommend it to readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers.