Afraid of the Dark

by Donna Anders

To protect her young son from the dangers of urban life, single mother and cop Jessie Cline accepts a position as assistant police chief in the small island town off the coast of Washington where she had lived as a child, but old family secrets, a dangerous stalker, a sinister disappearance, and murder could destroy everything she loves. Original.

Genres: Mystery

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 30, 2004

About the author

Donna Anders was in her early twenties when she made her first sale, a poem she sold to a children's magazine for $1.00. From those early years of writing juvenile poems and stories, to historical novels that balanced her life through some hard times, to suspense thrillers when she wrote about terror from her own experiences, Donna became a writer for life.

Reviews

[Marcy · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 ⭐️ bc I’m nice 😣

I really don’t even know where to begin…

Synopsis: Single mom & police officer, Jessie, and son, Danny, are struggling to make ends meet in California when they’re notified of their inheritance of a cliff-side mansion on a small-town, secluded island in Washington. Conveniently, the assistant police chief’s position is open… Jessie secures the job, and they make the move - even though Clarice, Jessie’s mother, passive aggressively makes it known that she really wishes they wouldn’t. (We spend the whole book waiting for Jessie to have this conversation with her mom about WHY she doesn’t want them living there… it’s just always put off for another day.) Upon their arrival to the island, strange happenings take place in the house - the doors won’t stay locked, it sounds like someone is in the basement… but Jessie is required to stay in the home for a year before it officially becomes hers, so we continue on with life because what else could we possibly do? 🙄

This took me a month to read because it was just… bad. The narration was bad. The dialogue was bad. The plot itself *might* could be adapted into a decent hallmark movie. This poor author needed a better editor at the very least. There were literally sections missing… sentences cut off at the end of the page and you pick back up in the middle of a completely different sentence on the following page.

The same phrases used over and over (“for long seconds” 😣)… a lot of confusion… a lot. And “scary” things would happen that would be briefly acknowledged then swept under the rug, life continuing on as if nothing was amiss. Until literally the last 40 pages where all of the action took place in this almost 400 page book. Bless it. Just…bless it.

[Rd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost didn't finish this book. First, it was not "scary." Second, the main character was a ditz. Third, her kid was annoying. Just didn't grab me...

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book I have read in a long time. The book sounded good and it started off pretty good but quickly went downhill. The "mystery" was not well thought out, and I hated the dialog it did not sound realistic at all.

[Robyn Dones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 2008

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery was drawn out and not too interesting, although I did like the character. The romance seemed facile and convenient.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 star read

[Corinna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just dragged on and on and on! Sometime in the middle of the book they're still talking about weird noises in the night and now they should change the locks?!

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, I hard time getting into it but finally it startedcto get going.