Customer Reviews

Playing in the Dark

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first chapter grabbed me. But, the book quickly lost me. Considering the genre, I was not expecting a great literary work. However, I was at least hoping it would be "hot and steamy". It wasn't. Overall, not impressive.

AMAZING!!!AMAZING!! David is an amazing author and all his novels prove that. I cant wait for the last installment of this book series

His brothers all failed and had to leave Sodom as part of their bet. Bereft believes he learned from their mistakes and now knows how to tempt Lot so he falls from grace in spite of this man's goodness. He sexually toys with Lot's two daughters, believing they will provide insight into winning his wager. However, before he can complete his quest, the Angels of God attack the city leaving him buried in its ruins.

Thousands of years later, NYPD Detective Chemah Rivers accompanies his live in lover Michelle Thomas to Israel where she will receive controversial treatment not allowed in the States that might enable her to regain her vision. The blind stand up comedienne has hopes and fears while Chemah worries about her, his daughter Tatsuya from his ex-wife and his son Hero from a third woman. Local police inspector Yankow asks Chemah to look at five corpses arranged like an upside down cross with the rest of the evidence making less sense as a clothes model is killed with her bare hands and a deadly military martial arts instructor is a victim as well. He offers his help before returning to New York with Michelle, who needs additional treatments. Chemah is unaware that Bereft has returned and stalks him as the demon sees a Lot like Goodness in the cop. As people die on the plane and in the city, someone looking like his former wife kidnaps his daughter.

The third Chemah Rivers suspense thriller (see HARLEM'S DRAGON and STREET SWEEPER; neither read by me) is a fascinating tale that deftly takes a biblical serial killing demon and places it inside a modern day New York police procedural. Chemah is fabulous as he struggles to be there for Michelle whose fears over seeing and not seeing begin to overwhelm their relationship until the bigger crisis involving his daughter occurs. However, Bereft owns the tale as he hops bodies with a touch and leaves his calling card of arranged broken bones behind in his path of mayhem and destruction.

Harriet Klausner

You must read all of David's books to understand how this one brought closure to a man of many talents, strengths, and passion...David I love you!!

PLAYING IN THE DARK by David Rivera, Jr. finds Chemah Rivers in Israel where he takes his live-in girlfriend, Michelle, to have eye surgery with the hope that she will regain her sight. While she is in surgery, he is approached by an Israeli detective who had met him at a conference. He wants Chemah to take a look at five bodies which are in the morgue. Someone is killing and breaking the bones of the victims. When Chemah looks, it brings back memories of other bodies with bones broken in the same manner.

When Michelle is finished with her surgery, she and Chemah head back home to the US. Little does he know he has been followed by the murderer. Similar murders begin happening in New York. To add to the mix, Chemah's ex-wife, Margarita, begins demanding custody of their daughter, Hero. Chemah's son, Tatsuya, avoids Margarita when she comes to get Hero, because she is the one who killed his mother. Meanwhile, Michelle is getting a bit testy as the time nears for her bandages to be removed. The entire situation explodes when Hero is kidnapped by an unknown party.

PLAYING IN THE DARK is a tension-filled mystery that grabs your attention from the first page. The supernatural aspects add to the stress Chemah feels as he attempts to find a serial killer, as well as locate his daughter. It is a fast, exciting read.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

This book was very interesting. I read the first two and I must say this has to be the best one. I liked the other ones but this is the best one.

It is often said that the third time is the charm -- truer words could not have been spoken about David Rivera, Jr.'s third novel, Playing in the Dark: The Emptiness that Love Brings. Rivera seduces readers with another chronicle of NYC's sexiest detective, Chemah Rivers. Rivers is in the fight of his life as he encounters a menance that kidnaps his young daughter and threatens the residents of Harlem. A saged santera and Chemah's eleven year old son are the story's unlikely heros. Rivera continues to demonstrate his own growth and depth as he weaves an unforgettable urban legend using characters and concepts from the bible, koran, mythologies, and mysticism.

From the opening seduction to the final love scene, Playing in the Dark is a cover-to-cover read - sure to keep new readers up well past their bedtimes and draw avid Chemah fans deeper into the Dragon's den