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The Disturbing Effects of Moonlight
'DEEPEST DARKEST
When a genetics professor is found brutally murdered, police discover a freakish laboratory in his sprawling house where he performed sinister experiments on an unknown hostage, who has since fled the scene.
Ryan Overland, a brilliant marine biologist, and the man who discovered the professor's body, is about to recover a shipwreck from Nantucket Sound. What he finds at the bottom of the ocean is the key to a 25-year-old mystery that has come back to haunt the town and its inhabitants.
Something unspeakable happened 25 years ago, something that threatens to destroy everything Ryan holds dear. As he digs deeper into his dark past, he will soon realize that some secrets are best left at the bottom of the ocean.
Deepest Darkest is a gripping thriller, featuring richly drawn characters and riveting dialogue, with a bone-jarring pace that will keep you glued to your seat.
For fans of Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz and Thomas Harris.
When a genetics professor is found brutally murdered, police discover a freakish laboratory in his sprawling house where he performed sinister experiments on an unknown hostage, who has since fled the scene.
Ryan Overland, a brilliant marine biologist, and the man who discovered the professor's body, is about to recover a shipwreck from Nantucket Sound. What he finds at the bottom of the ocean is the key to a 25-year-old mystery that has come back to haunt the town and its inhabitants.
Something unspeakable happened 25 years ago, something that threatens to destroy everything Ryan holds dear. As he digs deeper into his dark past, he will soon realize that some secrets are best left at the bottom of the ocean.
Deepest Darkest is a gripping thriller, featuring richly drawn characters and riveting dialogue, with a bone-jarring pace that will keep you glued to your seat.
For fans of Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz and Thomas Harris.
1 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 24, 2011
I LOVED this book! Full review to follow :)
Five Stars! This book grabs you by the throat from page one!
The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight began with a prologue where we meet Natalie Novak, a runaway living on the streets of Santa Monica, California. The year is 1995. It’s her fifteenth birthday, and as a present, fate has decided her circumstances aren’t desperate enough.
We fast forward to a thirty-two-year-old Natalie. She not only survived the traumas that brought on her homelessness and the heinous events marking her fifteenth birthday, but through sheer grit and determination, has made something of herself; she has become a scientist who studies earthquakes.
The author, Mia Zabriskie, is masterful at using her skill as a visual writer to create scenes in which her characters move while adding depth to their plight. Zabriskie doesn’t just tell us what happened during the last seventeen years of Natalie’s life, she hands us crisp moments of time, by eliciting sensory responses. For instance, her protagonist, as jaded and emotionally scarred as she was from her childhood traumas, relaxes by dangling off the sides of cliffs—searching for clues to the next geologic event. “She gazed at this tear in the earth as if she were studying the skin and tissue, flesh and tendons of a human body laid out before her like an autopsy photograph.”
Natalie’s fragile hold on her world gets a solid whack upside the head when she is informed the remains of her missing father have been discovered and need identified. Never allowing herself to trust or feel too deeply for anyone, she takes on the lead investigator, manipulating her way into trying to solve her father’s death. She is dogged in her quest, but she has no idea the Pandora’s Box she seeks.
Zabriskie’s introduction to her main character’s ex-husband, Denny, and their preteen daughter, Morgan were beautifully drawn in their humanity and love for the emotionally handicapped Natalie.
All of Natalie’s survival skills are tested as she fights to protect her family from the faceless evil that left her homeless seventeen years before and now threatens to rip apart the family she would do anything to defend.
This book will leave you gasping for breath! You will not anticipate the twists Zabriskie unveils with masterful skill, and I know you will be just as desperate as I am for the sequel to be released!
Five Stars! This book grabs you by the throat from page one!
The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight began with a prologue where we meet Natalie Novak, a runaway living on the streets of Santa Monica, California. The year is 1995. It’s her fifteenth birthday, and as a present, fate has decided her circumstances aren’t desperate enough.
We fast forward to a thirty-two-year-old Natalie. She not only survived the traumas that brought on her homelessness and the heinous events marking her fifteenth birthday, but through sheer grit and determination, has made something of herself; she has become a scientist who studies earthquakes.
The author, Mia Zabriskie, is masterful at using her skill as a visual writer to create scenes in which her characters move while adding depth to their plight. Zabriskie doesn’t just tell us what happened during the last seventeen years of Natalie’s life, she hands us crisp moments of time, by eliciting sensory responses. For instance, her protagonist, as jaded and emotionally scarred as she was from her childhood traumas, relaxes by dangling off the sides of cliffs—searching for clues to the next geologic event. “She gazed at this tear in the earth as if she were studying the skin and tissue, flesh and tendons of a human body laid out before her like an autopsy photograph.”
Natalie’s fragile hold on her world gets a solid whack upside the head when she is informed the remains of her missing father have been discovered and need identified. Never allowing herself to trust or feel too deeply for anyone, she takes on the lead investigator, manipulating her way into trying to solve her father’s death. She is dogged in her quest, but she has no idea the Pandora’s Box she seeks.
Zabriskie’s introduction to her main character’s ex-husband, Denny, and their preteen daughter, Morgan were beautifully drawn in their humanity and love for the emotionally handicapped Natalie.
All of Natalie’s survival skills are tested as she fights to protect her family from the faceless evil that left her homeless seventeen years before and now threatens to rip apart the family she would do anything to defend.
This book will leave you gasping for breath! You will not anticipate the twists Zabriskie unveils with masterful skill, and I know you will be just as desperate as I am for the sequel to be released!
December 5, 2011
A strong heroine, unexpected plot twists, awesome narration, unique voice, and vivid dialogue make this book the “perfect” read. After the first few chapters, the stage is set for a rip-roaring supernatural thriller that will keep you glued to the pages. Our heroine, Natalie Ryder, dives into a supernatural world that would even shock the pants off of author, Anne Rice. This author delivers an adrenalin pumping thriller and spellbinding tale with vampires and werewolves that will leave you howling for more.
Natalie Ryder’s father and sister, Gabby, mysteriously disappear-torn from her life never to be seen again. Her life is turned upside down as she is put her into foster care. It was a bad situation and she ran away. She survived on the streets by panhandling and shoplifting. But living on the streets can have dangerous consequences which Natalie soon realizes all too well. After being raped and left for dead, her knight in shining armor appears-Denny. Natalie and Denny become inseparable best friends and lovers. But after a heated fight, she runs away again.
Natalie meets Jessica who scoops her up like an abandoned kitten and takes her back to Seattle, where she fosters 15-year-old Natalie. Jessica puts her in charge of horses, sheep and goats on a farm. She grows up and meets Denny again at ULCA where their love affair takes off like it never stopped. She gets married and has a daughter. She promises to never leave Denny…but eventually she does.
Natalie is 32 years old present day and works as an earthquake scientist. She is divorced with a beautiful twelve year old daughter who lives with Denny. Out of the blue, she gets a call that hikers have discovered the remains of her father in a shallow grave. When detectives decide to classify it as a cold case she takes matters into her own hands and decides to investigate this matter herself.
I really enjoyed the main character, Natalie. She wasn’t perfect and came with personal flaws and baggage that I think every person could relate to. The author creates a distinct world for the reader filled with vivid scenes, mystery, and a colorful mix of characters.
This murder mystery supernatural thriller totally held my attention. It will chill you to the bone and leave you wanting more! I can’t wait to read the next book! I give this book 5 stars without a doubt and will definitely read more from this talented author.
Natalie Ryder’s father and sister, Gabby, mysteriously disappear-torn from her life never to be seen again. Her life is turned upside down as she is put her into foster care. It was a bad situation and she ran away. She survived on the streets by panhandling and shoplifting. But living on the streets can have dangerous consequences which Natalie soon realizes all too well. After being raped and left for dead, her knight in shining armor appears-Denny. Natalie and Denny become inseparable best friends and lovers. But after a heated fight, she runs away again.
Natalie meets Jessica who scoops her up like an abandoned kitten and takes her back to Seattle, where she fosters 15-year-old Natalie. Jessica puts her in charge of horses, sheep and goats on a farm. She grows up and meets Denny again at ULCA where their love affair takes off like it never stopped. She gets married and has a daughter. She promises to never leave Denny…but eventually she does.
Natalie is 32 years old present day and works as an earthquake scientist. She is divorced with a beautiful twelve year old daughter who lives with Denny. Out of the blue, she gets a call that hikers have discovered the remains of her father in a shallow grave. When detectives decide to classify it as a cold case she takes matters into her own hands and decides to investigate this matter herself.
I really enjoyed the main character, Natalie. She wasn’t perfect and came with personal flaws and baggage that I think every person could relate to. The author creates a distinct world for the reader filled with vivid scenes, mystery, and a colorful mix of characters.
This murder mystery supernatural thriller totally held my attention. It will chill you to the bone and leave you wanting more! I can’t wait to read the next book! I give this book 5 stars without a doubt and will definitely read more from this talented author.
January 1, 2012
The full significance of the title of Mia Zabriskie`s “The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight” becomes clear only in the later stages when the paranormal elements in the story come to the fore. Up until that point we are given a tale in which the central character, Natalie Ryder, who has survived life on the streets and some of the terrible scars it inflicts to become a successful seismologist, investigates the disappearance of her sister and father, events which sent shock waves through her own young life.
Set in Seattle and Los Angeles, the fractured geology of that unstable part of the world, with its unpredictable and often massively destructive earthquakes, is rendered vividly and with loving skill by the author. As she deals with her own dysfunctional emotional life, Natalie is drawn into a tangled web of leads, hopes and disappointments as she tries to uncover the truth, finding herself increasingly unsure of who to trust.
As the novel progresses, there is a growing sense that Natalie is not simply being frustrated by those who want to keep the truth a secret, but actively threatened. And the forces which threaten her are not just to do with thugs, and corrupt police officers and Mafia-like racketeers, but of an altogether darker nature...
The book, with its economy of style and quick-moving narrative kept me gripped right up to the surprising and terrifying climax – and with a sequel promised, we know that Natalie`s struggle for the truth – and for survival – is not over yet!
Posted by John
Set in Seattle and Los Angeles, the fractured geology of that unstable part of the world, with its unpredictable and often massively destructive earthquakes, is rendered vividly and with loving skill by the author. As she deals with her own dysfunctional emotional life, Natalie is drawn into a tangled web of leads, hopes and disappointments as she tries to uncover the truth, finding herself increasingly unsure of who to trust.
As the novel progresses, there is a growing sense that Natalie is not simply being frustrated by those who want to keep the truth a secret, but actively threatened. And the forces which threaten her are not just to do with thugs, and corrupt police officers and Mafia-like racketeers, but of an altogether darker nature...
The book, with its economy of style and quick-moving narrative kept me gripped right up to the surprising and terrifying climax – and with a sequel promised, we know that Natalie`s struggle for the truth – and for survival – is not over yet!
Posted by John
January 27, 2012
This book was not what I expected. Part crime/mystery part paranormal thriller, it kept me intrigued until the end. The characters are real and likable. Overall the writing is beautiful and poignant. Every paragraph is full of beautiful imagery and descriptive language. The author's description of California, and the history of its archaeology is anything but boring; instead, it offers us a glimpse at what lies just beneath the surface. The descriptions of Natalie's past as a runaway are both gritty and terrifying.
Natalie, the main character, is a tragic figure. Her past as a teenage-runaway who goes through hell, has shaped who she is today. She is dysfunctional. So much so that she can't even be a wife and mother; and so she runs from it all. When her father's 17-year old corpse is found, reopening his murder investigation, Natalie is forced to face her past and make some big decisions regarding her future.
Some of the other reviews on this book suggest that the paranormal twist (vampires/werewolves) comes completely out of nowhere. I found, though, if you're paying close attention, the hints and clues are there. My only complaint is that it took too long for the paranormal creatures to make their appearance. I wasn't disappointed when they did though. These are not your 'Twilight' vamps and weres. These are the creatures from your nightmares and I was both excited and chilled while reading about them. I hope that the sequel gives us more insight into the world of vampiress vs werewolves, especially after the exciting twist at the end.
Natalie, the main character, is a tragic figure. Her past as a teenage-runaway who goes through hell, has shaped who she is today. She is dysfunctional. So much so that she can't even be a wife and mother; and so she runs from it all. When her father's 17-year old corpse is found, reopening his murder investigation, Natalie is forced to face her past and make some big decisions regarding her future.
Some of the other reviews on this book suggest that the paranormal twist (vampires/werewolves) comes completely out of nowhere. I found, though, if you're paying close attention, the hints and clues are there. My only complaint is that it took too long for the paranormal creatures to make their appearance. I wasn't disappointed when they did though. These are not your 'Twilight' vamps and weres. These are the creatures from your nightmares and I was both excited and chilled while reading about them. I hope that the sequel gives us more insight into the world of vampiress vs werewolves, especially after the exciting twist at the end.
December 28, 2011
The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight by Mia Zabriskie begins like an ordinary detective thriller. We open with protagonist, Natalie Ryder as a troubled runaway teen, fleeing from the foster care system and confused about the disappearance of both her sister and father. From page one, we begin to understand her on a deeply personal level.
Jump to present day. Natalie has overcome her past and is now a well respected geologist. However, she has not completely recovered, and ripples continue to disrupt her personal life. Now her father's remains have been found, bringing her past hurtling into the present. Natalie soon learns that some things are better left buried, and some creatures are better left alone.
Detective novels aren't my preferred genre yet that was my favorite part of this novel. Zabriskie flawlessly takes the reader back and forth, from the past to the present, intertwining multiple subplots, and dropping clues at just the right times and in just the right places. Though the fantastical elements didn't throw me for a loop (they were hinted at even early on), I would have preferred a more unique explanation to the crimes in Natalie's past.
S.L. Wallace is the author of Price of a Bounty.
Jump to present day. Natalie has overcome her past and is now a well respected geologist. However, she has not completely recovered, and ripples continue to disrupt her personal life. Now her father's remains have been found, bringing her past hurtling into the present. Natalie soon learns that some things are better left buried, and some creatures are better left alone.
Detective novels aren't my preferred genre yet that was my favorite part of this novel. Zabriskie flawlessly takes the reader back and forth, from the past to the present, intertwining multiple subplots, and dropping clues at just the right times and in just the right places. Though the fantastical elements didn't throw me for a loop (they were hinted at even early on), I would have preferred a more unique explanation to the crimes in Natalie's past.
S.L. Wallace is the author of Price of a Bounty.
May 28, 2012
The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight is a suspense thriller with a touch of paranormal thrown in like a dash of spice. Author Mia Zabriskie takes us into the mind and life of Natalie Ryder, a strong-willed woman who overcame a troubled past to achieve success. Her new life is thrown into turmoil when the body of her father is found seventeen years after his murder. Strangely, the police seem unwilling to investigate and actively try to discourage her from finding who killed her father and why. Ms. Zabriskie builds tension with the skill of a seasoned writer and provides an ending that will undoubtedly surprise the most experienced mystery reader.
April 20, 2013
It seems like I've had this book forever, opened at random, then couldn't put it down. Starts as a pretty straight forward murder mystery, then gets subtly stranger until the last couple of chapters blow you away! I don't like reviews that tell so much of the plot you don't need to read the book. All I'll say is that the story is devious, characters are well-developed, descriptions of California geology/earthquakes is not boring at all. And you will not see the plot resolution coming. Great book!
November 30, 2011
Liked this until I was about 3/4 of the way through. Then it fell apart.
Spoiler alert here.......... I'm not into vampires/ werewolves, so,I felt like using them to conclude the who done. It was a cop out. An easy way to not really solve the mystery.
Spoiler alert here.......... I'm not into vampires/ werewolves, so,I felt like using them to conclude the who done. It was a cop out. An easy way to not really solve the mystery.
April 24, 2016
Awful...hard to follow, poor writing, way too many characters that had nothing to do with the story. Ugh. Glad it's over!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews