Customer Reviews

Slipping into Darkness: A Novel

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I found a review lauding SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS on the last couple of pages of NEWSWEEK. For once, a review did the book justice; it may even have understated the merits of this book.

The two protagonists of the book (because there really is no antagonist) are Detective Francis X. Loughlin and ex-convict Julian or Hoolian Vega. Louglin sent Vega to prison for the murder of a young doctor when he was only seventeen, having falsified some of the evidence. Twenty years later Vega is released due to his lawyer's incompetence. But then another young doctor is murdered, and Loughlin sets out to prove Vega is guilty of both murders, despite Louglin's growing problem with his eyesight.

I will admit the above sounds rather like a LAW AND ORDER episode, but Blauner makes up for that with lyrical description and wonderful character development. I am an inveterate mystery reader, and up to page 320, out of 386, I still wasn't sure if Vega was innocent or not. Hoolian Vega is an exceptionally well-rounded character; at times you love him. He is the son of a Puerto Rican apartment superintendent who was pretty close to a saint. He helped his father with maintenance around the building, and that's how he wound up Allison Wallis's apartment. At other times Hoolian acts like a whiny little brat who very well could have murdered Allison. Francis X. Loughlin is also completely believable. As a young cop, he drank to excess and even wound up on "The farm," a rehabilitation facility run by NYPD. He also cheated on his wife and wasn't averse to accepting privileges from his father, a superior on the force. Francis also risks his life and the lives of his fellow officers by driving and chasing suspects in the dark in his impaired state. There is an incredible scene were Francis X. Loughlin winds up on the other side of the interrogation table during which he experiences an epiphany.

I found a lot of similarities between this book and MYSTIC RIVER, one of the best books I've read in the last ten years. There's some suspicious DNA forensics toward the end that I'm tempted to check out for myself, but that just may be the hopeless cynic in me rearing his ugly head.

This is Blauner's best book yet,(and that is saying a lot because he is already an incredible writer). This one shows that even a top writer can kick it up several notches. This book absolutely blew me away, making me care about EVERY single character, from Homicide Detective Francis X. Loughlin to recently released prisoner Julian ("Hoolian") Vega who, the two men at the heart of the book, to the minor characters along the edges.

The title of the book...well, let's just say it works on several levels and becomes more haunting and resonant as the story unfolds, layer by layer. "Slipping into Darkness" is an apt expression for so much of what is happening in both men's lives. The surprise is WHY.


On the surface, this book is about a murder case which is reopened when two victims, decades apart, are found to have the same DNA under their fingernails. So is the convicted man guilty or not? Was the wrong man put away - or has he simply started murdering women again?


If you think you KNOW the answer to that question, think again. One of Blauner's great skills as a writer is that he not only keeps the suspense at fever pitch but keeps things moving along, never slowing the pace.

And he does this with language that is original, fresh and worth savoring.
An example: When writing of "Hoolian" the recently released criminal, Blauner notes that "He'd been to the great universities of fear - Elmira, Auburn, Attica, Clinton- and had studied with the masters. He'd learned the language and customs, the symbols and signifiers. He could tell the difference between mere woofing and dangerous growling and right now he KNEW he had this man scared."


Forget that this book is part of the mystery "genre". If you aren't a big fan of mysteries, read it anyway (trust me- you won't regret it). It transcends all the stereotypes, the patterns, the usual beginnings, middles and endings. It stands on its own...and it is flat out wonderful. I savored every single word, every single page... and when it came to an end, I was haunted by each of the main characters (and a few of the lesser ones as well).


I won't kid you. At times, this was an extremely painful book to read but also a beautiful one, with hope hovering at the edges of the plot, along with all the grimy, sickening twists of human nature and perversion you can imagine, with darkness playing a major role, contrasted against brief glimpses of light...ah, but what glimpses!.


Blauner doesn't miss a beat with this one. I really didn't want it to end. I can't wait for his next book. Can he top this? I can't wait to see.

I've long been a fan of James Lee Burke's novels, never expecting to find another author with the same depth of characters and moral labyrinths. After stumbling upon an online interview with Mr. Blauner, I decided to give this book a shot.

"Slipping into Darkness" parallels the story of Julian Vega, a young man convicted of murder, and Francis Loughlin, the one responsible for putting Vega away for twenty years. Now, released from prison on a technicality, Julian tries to restore his good name and that of his deceased father--an immigrant whose reputation was tarnished during the decades-old investigation. Julian also tries to find his footing back in the free world, while struggling with his prison-survival mentality. At the same time, Francis is facing his own weaknesses as a cop and a human being, as symbolized through the deterioration of his eye sight. Even as he tries to hide his handicap from his wife and his new partner on the Job, Francis is confronted with a new murder investigation that points fingers once again at the recently-released Julian.

Aside from the completely believable characters that Blauner creates in this story, the most amazing accomplishment is the empathy he stirs in the reader for both Julian and Francis. Neither man is perfect. Both make horrible mistakes. Both are subject to poor decision-making. And yet, both are so human and normal and real, that we are caught up in their internal and external conflicts. These conflicts are intensified by a satisfying mystery plot that leaves things unfinished till the final thirty pages.

This is not squeaky clean fiction, with tidy answers, and diatribes on forgiveness. Despite this--or perhaps, because of it--"Slipping into Darkness" manages to pack a powerful punch, showing the results of bitterness, stubborness, and potential redemption. Blauner has stormed onto my fictional radar. And I'm sure he'll be there for a long time.

At this point in his career, Peter Blauner seems to be incapable of writing badly. His most recent book, THE LAST GOOD DAY, was one of the first post-9/11 novels to be set in New York, wisely utilizing the terrorist attacks as a quiet, almost unobtrusive, but nonetheless catalytic backdrop for what occurs in the story. SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS, Blauner's new novel, surpasses his last --- a seemingly impossible feat --- by incorporating Blauner's trademark strengths into a study of personalities and motives. The characters and the mystery in which they find themselves involved jostle and jockey for the reader's attention from first page to last, with the resulting work ultimately transcending the whodunit genre.

Let there be no misunderstanding: SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS is a genuine mystery, a true conundrum, linking two murders occurring twenty years apart in an unexpected way. Manhattan homicide detective Francis X. Loughlin solved his first big murder case in 1983, wringing a confession to the slaying of a young physician named Allison Wallis out of Julian Vega, a frightened 17-year-old whose promising future is instantaneously derailed. Some twenty years later, Vega is released from prison early when he is granted the right to a new trial, and another young physician is murdered almost simultaneously. Loughlin is sure that Vega is the killer, but when he alleges a DNA test to confirm this, he is horrified to discover that the DNA of the murderer recovered at the second crime scene does not belong to Vega, but to Wallis.

As I said, there is a genuine --- an ingenious --- mystery here. Quite honestly, there were times when I thought Blauner had painted himself into a corner, yet the answer is an unusual but satisfying one, wherein each character remains strongly, even stubbornly, true to themselves. Again, SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS is a character study. One of Blauner's greatest strengths is his uncanny, almost chilling ability to get into the hearts and minds of a number of quirky characters who are wildly diverse from each other. The main focus divides between Loughlin, who is dealing with an insidious vision problem that all too shortly will blind him, and Vega, who is having difficulty dealing with a world that has moved dramatically away from him during his incarceration. The minor characters, however, are equally as fascinating.

So it is that one of the most memorable moments of the novel is given over to Elaine, Allison's mother. Elaine is an author of children's books, and a particular vignette dealing with the works of Hans Christian Andersen, though only a couple of pages long, is alone almost worth the price of the book. It was responsible for hanging me up for hours. I kept reading it over and over, returning to it even after I had moved onward into the remainder of the book.

Blauner, like all master writers, is capable of exploiting (wonderfully) the commonplace and ordinary into a memorable occurrence. To give but one example, there is a description of a bat mitzvah here that is only a few sentences long, and it's perfect: at once funny, tragic and maybe a little frightening too. And then there is a defining moment when Loughlin sees an El train go by the North Manhattan Homicide Task Force division headquarters, and...well, you must read it. There is also some humor, most of it dark. And let's not even talk about the bombs that Blauner starts dropping a little over halfway through the book --- bombs that pop and explode and resonate backward and forward along the plot line.

There are a number of suspense authors doing impressive work right now, but only a very few whose writing is approaching the quality of Blauner's in SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS. As hard as it may seem to believe, we could have one of the best books of the year already with us!

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Peter Blauner's "Slipping into Darkness" is a gritty and intense police procedural about a murder and its aftermath. When he was seventeen years old, Julian Vega was arrested, tried, and convicted for killing a beautiful pediatrician named Allison Wallis. After twenty years in prison, Julian has become a bitter and cynical man, having lost his naivete along with his dream of going to college some day. His beloved father is gone and there are few people who care whether Julian lives or dies.

Suddenly, Julian's conviction is vacated and he is released from prison, but he can legally be rearrested and tried for the crime again. His nemesis is Manhattan Detective Francis X. Loughlin, the man who put Julian away. Francis needs, for his own peace of mind, to prove once and for all that Julian murdered Allison. However, is Francis seeing things the way they are or is he blinded by the need to be right? Ironically, the detective, who is nearing retirement, is suffering from an inherited eye disease that is literally robbing him of his ability to see clearly.

This is not a feel good story. Julian was deprived of everything--his family, friends, reputation, education, pride, and freedom. When he reenters society, he is completely lost. He has nowhere to go and no way to make a decent living, nor does he recognize a world that has changed radically in the last two decades. His plight is heartbreaking.

Francis, on the other hand, is a hard case. He has made mistakes in the past, but he is too macho to admit his errors. His fading vision makes him desperate to tie up all the loose ends of his last few cases before he can no longer do the job at all. When another young woman, similar in many ways to Allison Wallis, is found bludgeoned to death, Francis fears that Julian may have struck again.

Blauner depicts his characters with uncompromising honesty. Julian, who was once a straight arrow, is now tempted to break the law in order to survive. Why should he play by the rules when the rules have never been of any use to him? Francis is a showboat and a blowhard who is too self-involved to stand back and look at the facts objectively. Other memorable characters are Debbie Aaron, Julian's compassionate and aggressive attorney, Eileen Wallis, who was mentally unhinged by her daughter's death, and Patti, Francis's wife, who knows her husband better than he knows himself. They all try to cope with the unexpected obstacles that life throws in their paths.

The book's fairly predictable conclusion is not as strong as the rest of the story. Still, "Slipping into Darkness" is a compulsively readable and suspenseful mystery that will fray your nerve endings until you finally learn who really committed the crimes and why.

This novel examines prejudice and hate from all angles as a detective and a convict recently released from prison come to terms with their personal limitations and the world around them. Well written and fast moving, it continues to give food for thought all along the way.

If your'e a fan of thrillers but are tired of Grisham and Clancy, Blauner is the one for you. He combines a compelling plot ala Richard Price with well-drawn characters. "Slipping" is easily the best of its kind this year.

I am a new fan of Peter Blauner after reading "Slipping into Darkness," a wonderfully metaphorical title for a perfectly constructed crime novel. There are few if any writers in the mystery/suspense genre who can draw characters with as much humanity or turn phrases with such effortless power and grace.

As a writer in this genre, I am seriously jealous. If I could give "Slipping into Darkness" six stars, I would.

The opening paragraph of Slipping Into Darkness aptly sets the scene and the mood of this book--multilayered and suspenseful, horror running just below the calm facade.

New evidence suggests a grievous error was made 20 years ago. Either 17-year-old Julian Vega was wrongly convicted of the gruesome murder of a young female doctor--or he's a serial murderer. Another young female medical professional turns up murdered right after his release.

Francis X. Loughlin, lead detective in the case, literally reopens the investigation by digging up the first woman's body and meticulously reexamining the evidence of both murders. DNA suggests the two murders are linked or related.

The author takes us into the mind and life of a man released from prison after 20 years, revealing his frantic struggle to reclaim his life and prove his innocence. Juxtapose this with the lead detective who is just as haunted by his past decisions and very fearful of his uncertain future.

The characters in this book are edgy, Julian's desperate efforts to exonerate himself, the first victim's mother who lives in a sketchy reality and Francis's reluctant acknowledgement of his illness...there are no happy endings--only real life laid out for us with grit and guts.

Armchair Interviews says: Powerful writing about murder and imprisonment.

The protagonist's eyesight is failing. It's a metaphor for his failure as a (soon-to-retire) publicly-acclaimed career detective. In one high-profile case he resorted to planting evidence, so he's lived for years with the secret knowledge that he is a "dirty" cop. And yet, he also commands our respect because for the most part he's a bloodhound on the trail of evil. The writing here is pretty near seamless. "Slipping Into Darkness" could go down as a masterpiece.