The Dark House

by John Sedgwick

"Don't you ever wonder about them --
the people around you?" Who are they, the strangers you pass, the strangers who pass you, at the supermarket, at the mall, on the road? Take that dark Nissan in your rearview mirror. Just another pair of headlights on your stretch of highway, you think. Now indulge your imagination. Who is he? Where is he headed? A traveling salesman, you'd guess, or maybe a suburbanite going home to his family after a long day at the office. After all, you and he are just a random pair of commuters whose lives have momentarily converged -- right? You adjust your mirror. He's still there -- a lone male, late thirties. Rather handsome, acutally. And his eyes are on you. And his eyes are on you. And they stay on you... Meet Edward Rollins, scion of one of Boston's more notable families. Securely yet unhappily employed at one of the city's finest investment houses, he is a man of means -- and of secrets. What began as a lark, a way of unwinding, has become for Rollins an obsession. Each night, armed with a hand-held tape recorder, he randomly picks a car and follows it to a destination, cataloging the habits and peculiarities of its driver, imagining from those details the sort of life that might have been his. But one night changes everything. Trailing a car to a remote suburb, Rollins follows it to a mystery involving a vanished heiress, a mystery to which he unwittingly holds the key. In his desperate isolation, he turns to Marj Simmons, a young colleague he barely knows. To find the truth, they must unlock the secrets of Rollins's own past -- a search that could free him from his own dark house of despair. A harrowing, tension-riddled literary thriller that echoes the storytelling power of Frederick Busch and Ian McEwan, The Dark House heralds the arrival of a major talent.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Horror

415 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2000

Reviews

[Selma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars only for the murder plot because it was the only thing that kept me from DNF-ing this book.

Rollins is an absolute creep and I don't care about his traumatic childhood and how it was used as an excuse for how creepy he grew up to be, because many people have gone through shit and have not become stalkers and idiots.

His whole relationship thing with Marj was creepy and shallow and how he depicts women is just... Ugh... I really wanted the girl to go find someone else, someone better, someone normal, but I guess she has to stick around for plot purposes I guess even though she did nothing but scream at Rollins 90% of the time... Which I enjoyed mind you lmao

The murder plot was nice, it was pretty obvious that someone in the family was the murderer from the get go. Glad it got solved in the end even though I found it pretty weird that the cops didn't charge Rollins with anything because he was the '' victim '' who was kinda involved in killing 2 people but i guess self defense or whatever, and I guess i just hate Rollins and i don't want him to have a happy ending hhhhhhhh

But he did have a happy ending, and I don't care much about it lmao. I'm just glad I finished this book because god damn it it was exhausting to read..

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate when it’s glaringly apparent that a book was written by a man.

[Paul McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise, a little slow at time hence 4 stars but a very good story. Rollins has an unusual hobby, he likes to pick out a car at random and follow it while speculating about the person and where they are going. One night he follows someone to a house that has a distant tie to him in the form of a missing cousin, but this time the person he was following was aware of it and begins to follow Rollins. This is where the story really gets good, you never know who is hiding what from whom. Overall a really good mystery.

[Ron Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. This is a strange book. Well written, with a tight plot. The main character, Ed Rollins, has some serious psychological issues, stemming from some traumatic childhood events. He gets dragged deeper and deeper into a web of hatred, deceit, and murder. Along the way, he develops a friendship with coworker Marg Simmons, that slowly ripens into love. She is the one mostly responsible for drawing Rollins, or "Rolo" as she calls him, out of his shell and gives him the emotional and relational stability that he so desperately needed. Especially as he finds out more about his family's darkest secrets. The ending is just a little on the trite side, and some of the supporting characters could have been better drawn, so that is why I give it 4 stars instead of 5.

All in all, an interesting exploration of a damaged male psyche.

[Susan B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlikeable main character - Rollins. Unlikeable, strange girlfriend - Marj. Every other sentence of Marj's character ends in 'Rollo," her nickname for him. Too much. Unbelievable relationship to the point I thought maybe she was setting him up for something.

The plot should've made a better book. Interesting premise, but too much time spent on how weird Rollins is. Didn't really care what happened to him and too many coincidences that shouldn't have happened (he randomly follows a car that leads him to a house that opens up the story). I really thought Rollins was the perpetrator because he seemed so weak and strange.

I had a hard time finishing this one.

[Kristin Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent mystery but overwritten. I didn't find the main character interesting or very likeable. The book had a great hook--a man who randomly follows cars gets pulled into a mystery--but it ultimately didn't pan out.

[Mclifford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually threw it in the garbage after I finished so I wouldn’t accidentally inflict it on someone else. The story was so preposterous and convoluted I think the only reason it was published is that the author has connections (or blackmail material on someone).

[Chelsey Hansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow moving. Just meh.

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 2001. Well written, with a dark plot. One of my favorites that year.

[Diane Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it...not the usual...so different. Kept me enthralled right to thr end!

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so I clicked the wrong button and bought this book by accident. It was a quick and fun read but just not believable at times. So in the end, who got the money? Have fun!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dark House is a neat thriller that builds suspense nicely and comes to a satisfying conclusion. The protagonist, Edward Rollins (but referred to throughout as Rollins), finds himself drawn into a web of deceit and murder by playing a seemingly harmless game - for fun he will he pick a random car and follow it to its destination. In this case his latest "adventure" leads him to the house described in the title and from that moment on his life takes a dangerous turn. Even more disturbing, the deeper he becomes drawn into the mystery the more he realizes he has a personal interest in the events unfolding. As the plot deepens, Rollins realizes that even those closest to him could be involved and the story nicely evokes the paranoia and isolation of modern life. How well do you really know the people you know? The book, Sedgwick's first, is well written and plotted. A nice bonus for me is that the novel is set where I live and even references landmarks in my home town.

[kay reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gave me a hard time, it was moving so damn slow and only to the last four or five chapters that things got unraveled and i couldn't care for the characters that much.

The character of Rollins has an obsession, he follows people with his car and watches them as a hobby which i found so damn disturbing but it is so very naturalized by the writer at some point that it's not even introduced as an issue because it leads him to discover things about his family and the death of his cousin, he was a reporter then quits and works for financials after his cousin Cornelia anonymously disappears, he sort of had a crush on her although she was sort of older than he was.

The character of Marj, well, i thought she was a decent character until a few events happened in the book. Literally there is no relatable character in the book, it was painful to read.

[Dan Contrino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ended up loving this book, even though a few bits were outlandish. I loved the Rollins character and his bizarre, stalking via the highways, habit. It had a nice, dirty old-family secret/mystery and the protagonist gets together with an unlikely, younger woman and Sedgwick makes their relationship work. Another, posthumous, character is Rollins' aunt, who is a huge part of the main mystery. A great and fast read.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. It had such a great start with an interesting premise but absolutely fizzled from there into a story that was of no interest to me and with two main characters in an unlikely relationship. As I continued to read, it became apparent that this was also a pretty poorly written book, so overall, not a great experience. The dialogue between characters was wooden and unrealistic. Two star rating instead of one because of the promising beginning.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Sedgwick has a very unusual plot. It was a very interesting book to read. At times though, I almost stopped reading it, especially early on but the further I read themore interesting and tantalizing it became. Enjoyed it.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

[Adam Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good lord almighty, did that book go off the rails fast. The first 100-150 pages were effectively creepy and atmospheric, then it dove straight into the most annoying relationship between main characters I've read in sometimes and the most obvious plot choices at every turn. Heavy skimming involved over the last 100 pages. Still gets three stars because of the first third alone.

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts good. Just a little tiny mystery to begin with, but creepy feeling.

***

Ohhhh, ahhh. Disturbing and convoluted, and the narrator is such a messed-up guy, but I grew to like him. A really gripping read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this one by accident at the library. Good suspense, no idea where it was heading or how it would end up. Reminded me of Robert Goddard who I have recently discovered.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freaky and interesting characters. There's an old timey vibe which reminds me of that film "Rebecca," only much seedier.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting character study, well-written. My only complaint was that it dragged a bit in some spots.

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

can't wait to find something else to read so I can fling it. Not awful, but not engaging either. Maybe if I read a little further...

[Susan]

Good book--author's first book.

[John Bradford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good read Suspenseful...engaging

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Words to describe The Dark House: Dry. Colorless. Typical. Unemotional. Sobering. Humorless.
Not one for the bookshelf.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book spent thinking main character was a pervert. Never warmed or trusted Marj.

[Christina Cuanalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a little while to get into the book but it was okay. I'm not raving about the book.