Painted Black

Street Stories #1

by Debra R. Borys

Jo Sullivan just wanted some new material for her column in Winds of Change, a weekly rag willing to dust the dirt off the seamier side of Chicago. Then she meets fifteen-year-old Lexie Green, with her haunting eyes, eerie tale, and the terror that sends the girl fleeing into the night. When Lexie disappears, Jo finds herself haunted by her own dark past and unable to ignore the anonymous faces of youth on the streets, Together with Cry, a street graffiti artist and friend of Lexie, Jo uncovers a path littered with corpses, corporate greed and one man's private collection of freeze-dried cadavers.

Christopher Robert Young, Cry for short, told himself he went with Lexie to keep her safe, that it had nothing to do with his struggle to avoid hustling along the harbor like Moon and the others. Selling blow jobs for forty bucks, however, pales in comparison to what he finds in Cole's apartment above the funeral home. And even a hungry kid will only go so far to fill his stomach. In the ensuing struggle, Chris escapes but Lexie does not and that fact still haunts him.

Sidney Cole’s fascination with death has soothed him since childhood. Since the first dead pigeon he kept in a shoe box under his bed so he could stroke the downy feathers, to the first failed experiment in human sublimation he should have disposed of–but didn’t. He just wants to be left alone with his collection, and his fantasies. And Philip Quinlan had promised him peace.

Genres: Suspense

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 27, 2011

About the author

I have been reading since before I knew the alphabet, thanks to my mother who would read to me and always had great books on my toy shelves. Once I learned my ABCs, there was no holding me back from writing as well.

Mystery and suspense are my favorite genres to both read and write, but I also enjoy sci-fi and historical fiction. Dorothy Dunnett is my favorite historical author, for instance.

In addition to my STREET STORIES series, I have had several short stories published, most of them mysteries. I'm currently working on a cozy mystery series, which I plan to publish under my maiden name, Deb Donahue. My freelance business which currently focuses on writing or editing fiction for hire, but also includes a wide range of commercial writing as well: articles, news features, blogging, etc..

Reviews

[Darian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painted Black is about the young faces we see on the streets, covered in dirt, wearing worn out clothes, shrouded in looks of hate, pride, and fear. Lexie and Chris (Cry) are among the many faces people pretend not to see as they drive by, or rush to meet their lunch date. Young teen Lexie, turned drug addicted prostitute and Cry do what they have to get by - until Lexie is met with the most unusual proposition to date. To pose new with corpses. Jo, a reporter trying to cover the lives of the street kids, is quickly wrapped up in the disappearance of Lexie, and the bizarre, sick mystery and Sloan and Whiteside funeral home.

The idea of a mystery like this is one I've yet to come by as a reader - someone stealing corpses for sex? But mystery aside, you cannot ignore the surreal and riveting aspect of the young homeless kids on the streets. It's written on such a personal level, you see their young faces, doing things that only come alive in our nightmares. But that is their lives. It's heartbreaking really, and will make anyone think twice about who the kid is hiding under the viaduct you pass.

This is a book close to the authors heart, you can feel it in the writing. But does that make a book good; in some cases no. But in this case, absolutely yes. There isn't a part of this book you don't feel, it reaches into your core. And the mystery with the creeps and the corpse collection? Well, aside from disturbing, it's a page-turner for sure!

The ending was very well done. I don't want to give any parts of it away, so it's hard to go into depth about it. But although it's different than you might expect or hope, it's fitting for the book, and wrapped up very nicely.

Overall this was a pretty good read for me, and I would read the next work by this author. There are many enjoyable books out there, but there aren't many that make you feel, make you think, make you sit back and contemplate the uglier side of life we try so hard to ignore its existence. This was a very well written book on all accounts.

**My review copied from my blog, http://crazyladywithapen.blogspot.com/

[Kim (Wistfulskimmies Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Jo Sullivan. She is a reporter, writing short stories about the forgotten homeless of Chicago. This is a mystery and Jo must get to the bottom of a missing teenage prostitute, a dodgy funeral service that specializes in freeze drying corpses for those that can afford it, and a possible link between the two. With a Youth Worker and one of the prostitutes closest friends for help, she tries to get to the bottom of the mystery whilst fighting her own demons at the same time.

I enjoyed this immensely, but it was also quite gritty at the same time and made me think of the fates of others, especially the 'forgotten' homeless. Whilst on the one hand highlighting the fate these teenagers have to face, it was also a good mystery at its heart. Jo and Chris are damaged in their own ways and must put aside their mistrust of each other to work together. It is a gripping story. A real page turner but also very sad. The characters were true to life and leapt out of the page at me, at times their pain was tangible. The ending was sad but right for the book. A great mystery that highlights the problems facing the homeless more or less every day. I shall certainly look out for more by this author.

[Nicola L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspense novels are one of my favourite genres; the grittier and more believable the better as far as I'm concerned! I was happy when Debra R. Borys approached me to review her novel as it certainly sounded like an intriguing read. Immediately upon picking it up it became clear that the author knows her subject matter well and I had difficulty in putting this down until I had finished it. I don't want to give too much away however, because I certainly don't want to spoil the plot for any potential readers!

Jo Sullivan is a Chicago reporter who finds herself caught up in the mystery of a missing homeless girl, last seen at a seedy funeral parlour, trying to earn herself some money. When suspicions come to light about the owner and his bizarre fetishes, Jo soon realises that the young girl may be in more trouble than anyone could ever have realised, and what was once just a job for Jo suddenly becomes something more personal. With the assistance of Chris, a fellow homeless teen, Jo is determined to solve the ghoulish mystery at Sloan and Whitesides Funeral Parlour, no matter the cost...

Some of the themes in this book were quite dark (drugs, abuse, prostitution- amongst others....), but the author does a great job in weaving them together into a compelling storyline. I found Sidney, a funeral home worker to be inherently creepy, yet that was what made him so interesting to read about. I suppose my only criticism is that we never fully find out just why he does the weird things he does. Then again, with someone like that, perhaps it is best not knowing and it all adds to the overall mystery!

I have to say that I found all of the main characters to be really engaging and definitely felt that as a reader I could get into their heads; not Jo especially, though she was certainly well written- I just felt for both Lexie and Chris. They (and their situation on the streets) was vividly brought to life, along with a realistic, grittier side of Chicago that not a lot of people get to learn about. Often I find that teenagers voices don't feel particularly 'realistic' in fiction, but thankfully it wasn't the case here and they definitely came to life during the course of this novel. It is evident that the author has invested a lot of time in getting to know young people just like those she writes about in this book, and Chris and Lexie have both made an impression on me. Chris especially, seemed jaded for one so young, but considering his circumstances it is hardly surprising- it did make me think about how fortunate I am to have grown up in a stable home with the upbringing I have had and how other young people aren't so lucky. Some of the aspects of this book were really hard hitting and the author should be commended for tackling such important, relevant subjects in the plot and not shying away from some of the grittier details.

Speaking of Jo, I am so pleased that the author is working on another Jo Sullivan book, as a lot was subtly hinted at here but not fully expanded upon, which I am glad about- sometimes a torrent of information can be offputting, I am glad we get to know Jo slowly. Given some of her personal issues that were briefly alluded to, she undoubtedly has some great story-lines ahead of her- particularly relating to her family background.

I would not hesitate in recommending this well-written, fast-paced novel to readers who enjoy character-driven novels that aren't afraid of taking a (large!) step across to the dark side. This is a promising start to what I hope will become a solid mystery-suspense series.

[Norelle Done · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painted Black tells the part mystery, part drama story of a young homeless girl named Lexie Green that goes missing in Chicago, and the team of mismatched individuals that comes together to find her. Jo Sullivan is a reporter that covers the stories of homeless in Chicago for a small newspaper. Chris is a homeless kid who was Lexie’s friend and was with her when she went missing, and he may have an idea of what happened to her. Jack Prescott works with the kids on the street and helps bridge the gap between Chris and Jo. Amidst frozen corpses, a funeral home scandal, and each character dealing with their own ghosts and closet skeletons, this novel comes down to a key point – the people that live on the streets are mostly forgotten when they disappear.

Plot: Painted Black is easy to follow, interesting, and gets you hooked – I was drawn into Lexie’s plight and found Jo’s investigation easy to keep up with. The story flowed well and fit together like a puzzle, and it didn’t feel too coincidental either.
Characters: I felt like Deb went 75 percent of the way with the characters. There was backstory, but it wasn’t resolved or fully explained, such as what really happened with Jo’s dad, or Chris’ family, or more into why Jack is involved with the homeless. Maybe there will be more in future Jo Sullivan books, but I was slightly left hanging with this one.
Setting: The setting for Painted Black is supposed to be Chicago, but I found myself thinking it was Seattle more than once. Granted, I have never been to Chicago, and all of the Seattle-based books I read probably tainted things a little bit, but I feel like more could have been done to make it feel like Chicago. Although, the book did have the trait of feeling like it could be any city, and with the focus on the homeless, it could help the reader to adopt the story for their own city.
Originality: It’s definitely a unique story. From the characters to Deb’s intimate understanding of what the homeless face, Painted Black is a one-of-a-kind story.
Style: I noticed one or two errors, but none were glaring or distracting.

Borys depicts the street life and struggles in an engaging, interesting way that draws you in and helps give a little perspective into the lives of the homeless. Maybe the next time you see someone huddled in a door frame or sleeping on a park bench, they won’t be quite so invisible.

[Heather Boustead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painted Black
By Debra R. Borys

Jo Sullivan is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper, Winds of Change, one night she and her friend Keisha run into a young woman who is selling herself on the streets. Keisha knows this girl from her work with an outreach program, insisting she stop and talk to the girl; Jo goes along and soon becomes wrapped up in a strange tale. When Lexie disappears the reporter in Jo must find out what has happened, along the way she soon runs into Chris a street kid who is trying his best to rescue Lexie after he leaves her alone with a perverse mortuary attendant.

This is such an interesting story, though this is not for everyone, there are moments when it is crass and takes an unforgiving look at life on the streets. That being said, this is a fantastic novel full of suspense and intrigue. Each character comes to life in these pages making it almost impossible to put it down for even a moment as you wonder what is going to happen to Chris and Jo. I think the author has come across an interesting setting for an entire series of novels featuring Jo and hopefully Chris as well, at least I hope so. The only thing I must say that it does need a bit of editing other than that the author has certainly struck gold with this novel.

For More Reviews be sure to visit my blogs at:
http://reflectionsofabookworm.wordpre...
http://bookwormrflects8.blogspot.com/

[The TBR Pile *Book review site* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Review: http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/1/post/2...

This is a crime/suspense/mystery kind of book, but at the forefront are all the characters that Debra R Borys portrays so well. This was one of those books where you start reading and before you can even blink you are almost done with it. I was so caught up with the characters of this book. Chris, who has chosen to live on the streets so that his parents have one less mouth to feed, is jaded from the hard life he lives, but he still tries to help others and stand up for those more vulnerable than him. Jo, has estranged herself from her family because of her father’s crimes. She writes a column with stories from the streets, but she has never really seen the people that live on the street until she is involved in the lives of Chris and his now missing friend Lexie. Even Sidney, the man who works at the funeral home and who has a strange fascination with the dead is an interesting character.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those stories that really opens your eyes. Homeless street kids are everywhere. However, do we really stop and notice them as we go about our day to day lives? Jo Sullivan is a reporter writing a Street Stories column who after a brief meeting with Lexie Green becomes embroiled in one of the most unique mysteries I've read in a long time. From drugs, hustling, and child abuse to the seedy and disgusting desires of a strange and twisted man this story keeps you reading from page one to the last word. Dark, gritty and suspenseful this is an edge of your seat ride that you won't soon forget.

I won this in a first reads giveaway on goodreads, thank you!



I just read this book again and loved it as much as the first time! July 29, 2016

[James Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painted Black is the fast-paced story of the nearly invisible people living on the street, and the people who prey on them. Set in Chicago, Painted Black gives a gritty look at the hidden reality of homelessness, and the lengths these pariahs are forced to go to, just to survive. The story follows street-beat reporter Jo Sullivan in her obsessive search for a missing teenage girl. As she uncovers clues to the girl's whereabouts, Jo comes face-to-face with gutter-level hardcores, social working soft-hearts, and a truly Kafkaesque villain. A good story with a wicked twist, Painted Black is definitely one to read.

[Snow Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, fast-paced, and thought provoking. The author pulls no punches when portraying the life and trials of street kids. The pacing comes from the use of multiple main characters, with their very varied viewpoints on life or the situation. Also nice to see was how the author only revealed a little about a character's past at a time, instead of sudden deluges of information I've seen elsewhere.

I look forward to other works from this author, particularly if they fall in series with this book.

[Gordon Hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is grim, gritty and often sad, but there is still a glimmer of hope that some can be saved from the streets. I found the dialog and depictions very realistic, no doubt stemming from the author’s years volunteering with homeless on the streets of both Chicago and Seattle. The action and dialogue reminded me of a hardboiled detective story. The chapters are short, with the point of view shifting often, which keeps the story fresh throughout. We in Scandinavia have patted ourselves on the back for a long time regarding low levels of homelessness, but that has certainly changed with migration coming within and from outside the EU. We need more books like this, that gives a voice to those who have none. Highly recommended.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read like a bad svu episode. It was recommended to me years ago, so perhaps it seemed played out because I’ve seen it or read stories similar. Also, there was no mystery… it was clear who the killer was and what he was up to from the beginning… it was supposed to be creepy, and even though I could picture exactly what the corpses would look like, I felt numb to this story. Several glaring errors also.
*about a woman reporter who writes about the homeless youth when several start disappearing and a homeless man shows up embalmed in a glass casket in a funeral parlor. Jo gets suspicious of the workers at that parlor after a teen boy named Cry escaped the parlors house of horrors, where a man hung and mutilated many female corpses including his friend Lexie. Womp. Womp.

[Debra Borys · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five star rating above is mine. As the author, it is, of course prejudiced.

Below is a 4 star review from Amazon.com given by Jayant Swamy:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R145GPTL...

Disconcerting. Painted Black hits you below the belt. Street kids, hustling, poverty, drugs, child abuse ... and all this happening in a developed country. We always knew they existed. Yet somehow these things have always come to be associated with the third world. This is where Painted Black scores. The characters may be fictional but the backdrop is real and their travails present us the dark side of urban America.

Kudos to author Deb Borys for weaving an edge-of-the-seat story around such sordidness. Very real characters, a fast pace, pithy dialogs - Deb succeeds in making this a fairly entertaining read. The denouement, however, was a bit of a letdown - I found it succumbing to the demands of the traditional plot-driven model. While the imagery of a wall painted black with a red door is used very well in an earlier chapter, I was a tad disappointed that the opportunity to take the imagery to conclusion given what happens in the later chapters, was not capitalized.

The book left a lingering impression long after I finished reading (that too in a single sitting, well almost). It made me reflect for a long long time on the trials and tribulations of Cry and his ilk, and what we - the relatively more fortunate ones of the world - can and should do about it to make this world a better place. If that does not make Painted Black a winner what else would?

[Oh My Bookness · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it's seeing it the real world you see first hand what low really means but in the fictional world there is no guarantee those same people you may have once known or seen in the real world will be prayed as having actual emotions, feelings, motivations and reasons for what they may have done or have not done, or accused of doing, a back story that may lead up to a single event that transpires to the future. Here is the thing about Painted Black author Debra R. Borys, she treats her characters as if they were there standing right in front of you hearing their story for the first time. Letting you know it maybe fictional but to make one worth reading when your writing about a person, fictional or not, there needs to be a connection,none created between the reader and how can we create one is by taking real world knowledge, feelings, and infusing it with a fictional tale. Fiction does not mean we have to lose the realistic qualities, show them as one dimensional being where their co-existence to in the life created was created to tell another bland tale that we can watch the news for, where the people are treated as another number. Not informed of who they are, who they were, if they have or had families, just another faceless face to a passerby. Debra R. Body's makes us remember even if it's fiction or another story on on streets, we're reading a story about people, and real issues.

This is to remembering that fiction mimics and is a reminder a unfiltered at times reminder of how are life can really be.

[Jayant Swamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disconcerting. Painted Black hits you below the belt. Street kids, hustling, poverty, drugs, child abuse ... and all this happening in a developed country. We always knew they existed. Yet somehow these things have always come to be associated with the third world. This is where Painted Black scores. The characters may be fictional but the backdrop is real and their travails present us the dark side of urban America.

Kudos to author Deb Borys for weaving an edge-of-the-seat story around such sordidness. Very real characters, a fast pace, pithy dialogs - Deb succeeds in making this a fairly entertaining read. The denouement, however, was a bit of a letdown - I found it succumbing to the demands of the traditional plot-driven model. While the imagery of a wall painted black with a red door is used very well in an earlier chapter, I was a tad disappointed that the opportunity to take the imagery to conclusion given what happens in the later chapters, was not capitalized.

The book left a lingering impression long after I finished reading (that too in a single sitting, well almost). It made me reflect for a long long time on the trials and tribulations of Cry and his ilk, and what we - the relatively more fortunate ones of the world - can and should do about it to make this world a better place. If that does not make Painted Black a winner what else would?

[Angie Mangino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painted Black
By Debra R. Borys
2012
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Rating: 5 stars

What do you see when you think of teens living on the streets of a city? Do you get angry, compassionate, or think it’s a shame, but not your problem? Be ready to see these teens in a different way.

In this novel, Borys introduces readers to Jo Sullivan, a reporter who started out just looking for a story, but who finds so much more. Most especially, she finds Chris Young, a young graffiti artist living on the streets, surviving however he can. Together they look for the truth, not only about a funeral home, but also about themselves.

“Midnight interviews at funeral parlors – not exactly the way they mapped thing out in Journalism 405: Strategic Communication Research. But then nothing about Jo’s situation now related to what life had been back then.”

Jo comes to care about Chris, as do readers, with Borys painting a picture of life on the streets of Chicago that will absorb and involve readers as the reality shocks and captures them.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel received courtesy of Goodreads.com giveaway

This is such a dark book that I had trouble reading very much at one time. Teenagers living on the street and what they have to do to stay alive are the subject of Jo Sullivan's series of columns she writes for a weekly Chicago paper. The description of their lives was really difficult to read because, I imagine, that it is true. When two of the kids must steal some stuff from a funeral home, they inadvertently learn that there is way more going on than just funerals. The story is a bit confusing with characters that are difficult to keep separate. The men at the funeral home are experimenting with bodies so that they are able to be posed and kept. Jo must solve what is going on at the funeral home in order to figure out what happened to one of the teen girls that had gone missing.

While the book kept my interest, it was very dark and weird in the dark places. I also found the funeral home characters difficult to keep separate from each other.

[Judith Kirscht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jo Sullivan helps a homeless boy, Chris, look for his missing girlfriend, carrying us deep into the Chicago’s underbelly where street kids struggle to survive. Their quest carries them deep into the macabre, where the homeless are fed into the sick ambitions of the rich. The stories of neglect and abuse that people her world are as real as the mystery of Lexie’s disappearance, and in the end, Borys creates not only a page turning mystery, but an authentic and moving picture of a bitter, harsh and cruel world, reminiscent, for me, of Willard Motley’s 1947 Chicago epic, Knock on Any Door, a story that moved me greatly back in the Fifties.

[Gary Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borys has written a story from the streets of Chicago. She has developed consistent characters, used excellent imagery, and captured a glimpse of youth viewpoint of life on the streets and lost innocence. It's easy to get behind the plot and want to follow along as the characters find themselves caught up in the struggle to survive amidst the horror of greed-at-any-cost entrepreneurs that see the street youth only as pawns in their diabolical schemes. The thrilling climax will leave you breathless. Three cheers Ms. Borys.

[Anne Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, I really tried to like it, but it did not wok for me. I did not like the street-like English used in most of the book, I could not get into the story and even less believe it. 15 and 16 year old are supposed to be cared for and no in the streets. I know the DCFS is far from perfect, but living in the open and prostituting themselves cannot be better for kids. I have no understood the money part, which does not make sense.