Dark Intruder

by Vin Packer

Father and daughter rode roughshod, thinking alike, talking alike, feeling alike, too arrogant to hear the whispers. Then Luke came.  Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American novelist and short story writer in several genres using different pen names. From 1952 to 1969 she wrote twenty mystery and crime novels as Vin Packer.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Marijane Meaker (born May 27, 1927) is an American novelist and short story writer in several genres using different pen names. From 1952 to 1969 she wrote twenty mystery and crime novels as Vin Packer, including Spring Fire which is credited with launching the genre of lesbian pulp fiction (although few of Packer's books address homosexuality or feature gay characters). Using her own observations of lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s, she wrote a series of nonfiction books as Ann Aldrich from 1955 to 1972. In 1972 she switched genres and pen names once more to begin writing for young adults, and became quite successful as M.E. Kerr, producing over 20 novels and winning multiple awards, including the American Library Association's lifetime award for young-adult literature (Edwards Award). She was described by The New York Times Book Review as "one of the grand masters of young adult fiction." As Mary James, she has written four books for younger children.

Regardless of genre or pen name, Meaker's books have in common complex characters that have difficult relationships and complicated problems, who rail against conformity. Meaker said of this approach, "I was a bookworm and a poetry lover. When I think of myself and what I would have liked to have found in books those many years ago, I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance of winners, the themes of winning, solving, finding — when around me it didn't seem that easy. So I write with a different feeling when I write for young adults. I guess I write for myself at that age."

Reviews

[Juuso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packer's second novel is a somewhat strange triangle drama between a man and his daughter and another man. Sexual themes are always pivotal in Packer's novels and the same goes for Dark Intruder. The novel is constructed like a typical backwoods tramp -story, but it challenges the hetero-normative standards.

Unfortunately the novel is filled with more cliche's and average characterization than most of the author's novels. For example, character of Willie Kane is mostly there to keep the plot moving.

More a novel of its time, than let's say Spring Fire for an example, but Packer's courage to avoid taking sides and capability not to push obvious politics makes it stand time pretty well.