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Dark Friday
Welcome to Jasonville, Indiana - a town of one zip code, one high school, one cop
car…and one terrifying autumn night. A young man is arrested for a series of murders,
but police deputy Lorraine Barrett and Chief Bertrand Rix sense there could be a more
disturbing explanation lurking in their town.
Jasonville High student Casey Wood doesn't know why the cops have their eye on him.
As his friends' secrets are revealed,Casey's world begins to unravel. Will the courage
of stabbing survivor Hope Redmond prompt him to do the right thing?
Investigative reporter Kevin Gibson isn't thrilled about being dispatched to Jasonville.
Then unsettling events make clear to him there's more to the story than first meets the
eye.
When Lorraine, Chief Rix, and Kevin start digging, they realize that a killer (or killers)
might still be at large. But to uncover the truth, they'll have to convince young friends to
turn against each other, and put their own lives on the line.
car…and one terrifying autumn night. A young man is arrested for a series of murders,
but police deputy Lorraine Barrett and Chief Bertrand Rix sense there could be a more
disturbing explanation lurking in their town.
Jasonville High student Casey Wood doesn't know why the cops have their eye on him.
As his friends' secrets are revealed,Casey's world begins to unravel. Will the courage
of stabbing survivor Hope Redmond prompt him to do the right thing?
Investigative reporter Kevin Gibson isn't thrilled about being dispatched to Jasonville.
Then unsettling events make clear to him there's more to the story than first meets the
eye.
When Lorraine, Chief Rix, and Kevin start digging, they realize that a killer (or killers)
might still be at large. But to uncover the truth, they'll have to convince young friends to
turn against each other, and put their own lives on the line.
- GenresFiction
266 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2007
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 20, 2024
I absolutely love this book. I own a signed copy from when the author came to my hometown, Jasonville. Ive read it many times and recommend it to other readers especially the ones that live around our area.
May 18, 2008
Five teenage girls are murdered on the same night on the same small rural town. One high school student is arrested but the police chief is not convinced he has the right person. As the town mourns the deaths and fears the future, one reporter delves deeper into the events. Reporter Kevin Gibson knows he is on the right track as he is threatened and stalked. A killer must still be on the loose but his identity remains hidden.
The story is see through the eyes of Casey Wood, friend of the circle of boys who seem to be involved in the murders. Although one of his friends has been charged with the murders, Casey is still confused by the circumstances. He has known these guys for years, spent many hours with the group that called themselves the Fraternal Order of Friday. They met to eat pizza and watch horror movies, a genre with which they were all obsessed. As he looks into the murders he finds that he has ignored much of what went on around him, turning a blind, or over accepting, eye on warning signs and ominous omens.
Leever does an exceptional job telling the story back and forth through time. He skips from the murders to the past to the present investigation with an even, smooth flow that adds to the tension of the story. The reader is never very sure of the direction the plot may take, a suspenseful trick of the writing. Leever is able to alter his writing style to meet the pace of the tale, from telling the background of the story in flowing prose to short staccato sentences of action or effective dialogue. The characters are deftly drawn, their personalities and motivations are outlined in stark, black marker but filled in with the colors and hues of a talented writer. They are not comfortable characters, they are the teenagers of parents' nightmares, their surface is calm, their depths' infinate. But, which is what makes the book so chilling, they are portrayed realistically and believably. The controversial topic of modern culture- horror movies and their influence- is examined, and comes out poorly, in this tale of teenage friendship and obsession.
Capital Crime Press has stepped outside their usual fare into this darkly tragic tale. As always they have chosen carefully and well with this novel, finding in Jeffery Leever another unique voice on the mystery/thriller shelves.
The story is see through the eyes of Casey Wood, friend of the circle of boys who seem to be involved in the murders. Although one of his friends has been charged with the murders, Casey is still confused by the circumstances. He has known these guys for years, spent many hours with the group that called themselves the Fraternal Order of Friday. They met to eat pizza and watch horror movies, a genre with which they were all obsessed. As he looks into the murders he finds that he has ignored much of what went on around him, turning a blind, or over accepting, eye on warning signs and ominous omens.
Leever does an exceptional job telling the story back and forth through time. He skips from the murders to the past to the present investigation with an even, smooth flow that adds to the tension of the story. The reader is never very sure of the direction the plot may take, a suspenseful trick of the writing. Leever is able to alter his writing style to meet the pace of the tale, from telling the background of the story in flowing prose to short staccato sentences of action or effective dialogue. The characters are deftly drawn, their personalities and motivations are outlined in stark, black marker but filled in with the colors and hues of a talented writer. They are not comfortable characters, they are the teenagers of parents' nightmares, their surface is calm, their depths' infinate. But, which is what makes the book so chilling, they are portrayed realistically and believably. The controversial topic of modern culture- horror movies and their influence- is examined, and comes out poorly, in this tale of teenage friendship and obsession.
Capital Crime Press has stepped outside their usual fare into this darkly tragic tale. As always they have chosen carefully and well with this novel, finding in Jeffery Leever another unique voice on the mystery/thriller shelves.
May 31, 2014
With a clever spin on the Friday-the-13th franchise, author Jeffrey Leever has created a chilling and convincing tale of revenge in his hard-to-put-down novel of suspense.
DARK FRIDAY centers around a group of five young men (Casey, Danny, Jeremiah, Mark and Cameron)--"The Fraternal Order of Friday"--who meet on Fridays to discuss, what else, Friday the 13th, the horror genre, and Friday's star, machete-wielding maniac, Jason Voorhees.
But soon the discussion of blood and gore becomes all too real, and as life imitates art, bodies begin to pile up around the small town of Jasonville, Indiana. Deputy Lorraine Barrett and Chief Bertrand Rix are up to their necks in murder and mayhem and the manpower needed to quell the bloody action is not available. However, the killer uses the same M.O. as depicted in the Friday the 13th movies, slashing his victims to a bloody pulp with an ax--and that infamous machete.
But then Kevin Gibson, investigative reporter for Indianapolis Tribune, enters the sleepy town and starts meddling around the neighborhood for his big break, asking questions about the murders. And then he finds himself in peril, between life and death. One word: cornfield. The scene, toward the end of the book, is creepy, as Gibson tries navigating in the tall stalks, running away from the paintball masks murderers. It is one of the most riveting scenes in the novel. Leever gives us a new take on paintball fights.
"Dark Friday" is a surprisingly pleasant work of fiction. Leever manages to keep the reader flipping pages at a steady clip. And when the story ends, the reader is hoping to revisit the lives of these interesting, three-dimensional characters--and the town with only one zip code. Recommended reading.
DARK FRIDAY centers around a group of five young men (Casey, Danny, Jeremiah, Mark and Cameron)--"The Fraternal Order of Friday"--who meet on Fridays to discuss, what else, Friday the 13th, the horror genre, and Friday's star, machete-wielding maniac, Jason Voorhees.
But soon the discussion of blood and gore becomes all too real, and as life imitates art, bodies begin to pile up around the small town of Jasonville, Indiana. Deputy Lorraine Barrett and Chief Bertrand Rix are up to their necks in murder and mayhem and the manpower needed to quell the bloody action is not available. However, the killer uses the same M.O. as depicted in the Friday the 13th movies, slashing his victims to a bloody pulp with an ax--and that infamous machete.
But then Kevin Gibson, investigative reporter for Indianapolis Tribune, enters the sleepy town and starts meddling around the neighborhood for his big break, asking questions about the murders. And then he finds himself in peril, between life and death. One word: cornfield. The scene, toward the end of the book, is creepy, as Gibson tries navigating in the tall stalks, running away from the paintball masks murderers. It is one of the most riveting scenes in the novel. Leever gives us a new take on paintball fights.
"Dark Friday" is a surprisingly pleasant work of fiction. Leever manages to keep the reader flipping pages at a steady clip. And when the story ends, the reader is hoping to revisit the lives of these interesting, three-dimensional characters--and the town with only one zip code. Recommended reading.
October 25, 2009
Jasonville is a small town in Indiana but the death of five young girls brings Jasonville to the public’s attention. Five popular girls are viciously murdered and it all happens in one horrible evening. A sixth girl is attacked but manages to survive. The police chief, Bertrand Rix, is also attacked on the same night. He recovers but the horror of the night will stay with him forever.
Chief Rix captures Cameron Ford and arrests him for the murders. The district attorney wants to immediately take Cameron to trial. But did Cameron really commit the murders? That is what Chief Rix wants to find out. He isn’t sold on the idea that Cameron actually was able to hit so many locations and kill so many girls as well as attack a sixth one in a short period of time.
Cameron is a member of The Fraternal Order of Friday. The order is a group of friends who get together to drink beer and watch horror movies. Casey Wood is one member of the order. Casey is stunned that one of his friends could actually murder even one person to say nothing of five young girls.
Another young boy who slipped out of his room late at night saw something but won’t come clean with the whole story.
Kevin Gibson is a reporter for the Indianapolis Tribune and travels to Jasonville to write the story of the murders but Kevin also gets more than a story. He is not welcomed with open arms in Jasonville.
The crimes have affected the entire community. Nothing will ever be the same in Jasonville.
Dark Friday is an excellent mystery. It is fiction and I hope never to read about a real-life happening such as the events that unfolded in Dark Friday.
Chief Rix captures Cameron Ford and arrests him for the murders. The district attorney wants to immediately take Cameron to trial. But did Cameron really commit the murders? That is what Chief Rix wants to find out. He isn’t sold on the idea that Cameron actually was able to hit so many locations and kill so many girls as well as attack a sixth one in a short period of time.
Cameron is a member of The Fraternal Order of Friday. The order is a group of friends who get together to drink beer and watch horror movies. Casey Wood is one member of the order. Casey is stunned that one of his friends could actually murder even one person to say nothing of five young girls.
Another young boy who slipped out of his room late at night saw something but won’t come clean with the whole story.
Kevin Gibson is a reporter for the Indianapolis Tribune and travels to Jasonville to write the story of the murders but Kevin also gets more than a story. He is not welcomed with open arms in Jasonville.
The crimes have affected the entire community. Nothing will ever be the same in Jasonville.
Dark Friday is an excellent mystery. It is fiction and I hope never to read about a real-life happening such as the events that unfolded in Dark Friday.
July 8, 2008
The only reason I even saw this book was because the author graduated from my home town, and I happened to walk into Walden's the day he was doing book signings. I bought on impulse basically.
It was definitely cliche and totally predictable. Though it had a lack of a good plot, the writing itself was ok. The murder scenes definitely creeped me out. Like seriously. It was one in particular that did the trick, where the girl almost got away only to have an ax drove into her neck. *shiver* That and the notes about the cornfield. They were creepy yet strangely hilarious. Something dealing with how fast a body decomposes in a cornfield. Lol.
I say check it at out at your library or borrow it from a friend, but don't buy it.
It was definitely cliche and totally predictable. Though it had a lack of a good plot, the writing itself was ok. The murder scenes definitely creeped me out. Like seriously. It was one in particular that did the trick, where the girl almost got away only to have an ax drove into her neck. *shiver* That and the notes about the cornfield. They were creepy yet strangely hilarious. Something dealing with how fast a body decomposes in a cornfield. Lol.
I say check it at out at your library or borrow it from a friend, but don't buy it.
May 5, 2011
Another Mystery Book Club selection. This was a well written book that really grips you in the beginning and keeps moving to the end. As a mystery, I felt it was pretty predictable but it was exciting enough to keep your attention. The only reason I gave 3 instead of 4 stars is the predictability. Jeffrey Leever lives in my area and came to our book club discussion which was a treat. He is a very nice and open man and we had a wonderful time talking to him and learning about his writings.
January 5, 2008
Fast paced, intriging. Hard to put down. Thanks Emily and Matt
August 8, 2012
great boom easy to read and hard to put down!!
March 25, 2014
A little predicable, but a good story and an interesting reflection of how disaffected the youth of America have become to violence.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews