Bleak December

by Lorne Dixon

RETIRED NEWARK, NEW JERSEY DETECTIVE MADDOX BOXWOOD IS DYING. AIDED BY HIS FEW REMAINING FRIENDS, HE ASSIGNS HIMSELF TO ONE FINAL AN OLD POLICEMAN'S URBAN LEGEND, A CASE SO COLD IT MIGHT NOT EVEN EXIST. DECADES AGO, A YOUNG GIRL NAMED PERSEPHONE ALFORD DISAPPEARED WITHOUT A TRACE... WITHOUT. A. TRACE.AS IF SHE'D NEVER EXISTED AT ALL.  DIAGNOSED WITH A DEGENERATIVE DISEASE AND GIVEN ONLY WEEKS TO LIVE, MADDOX FINDS HIMSELF ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH KLOUM, A MALEVOLENT BEING THAT SEEMS TO THE HOLD THE ANSWERS TO PERSEPHONE'S DISAPPEARANCE, TO HIS OWN DETERIORATING HEALTH, AND MAYBE...TO HUMANITY'S FUTURE.

270 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2018

About the author

Lorne Dixon grew up on a diet of yellow-spined paperbacks, black-and-white monster movies, and the thunder-lizard backbeat of Rock-and-Roll.

Reviews

[L.G. Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moody psychological thriller!

Bleak December I would say is my second favourite Lorne Dixon novel. The story was interesting, the characters were relatable and some of the plot reveals I didn't see coming even though I probably should have because Maddox is an unreliable narrator. I definitely felt traces of The Shining and Jacob's Ladder in here and its probably the most violent book I've read from Dixon. There's some graphic acts of brutality that are wince inducing for the reader.

Its a very sad tale which you could probably guess from both the title and the fact that nihilism and tragedy are a staple in the author's work. I've now read 5 of his books and pretty much none of them have happy endings. This one just connected with me a lot more particularly with the characters than Blue Eel did and the ending while still a little confusing to me felt more satisfying. I can see myself re-reading this in the future to pick up on details I missed before.

[Matt Kight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was definitely bleak and it probably made it more so reading it during a depressing foggy December outside of Chicago while recovering from Covid. I'd recommend this to anyone who appreciates a good psychological twister where the narrator's not just unreliable but is suffering from a mental illness at the same time pursuing a demon that steals memories. Mr. Dixon paints a pretty vivid atmosphere of inner city Newark and writes solid characters that are believable and care worthy and I look forward to reading more from him.

[Bill Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow at the beginning, but soon took off. I like the way it's set in Newark, having worked there. Interesting story with a great climax. I found one thing humorous: Where those "lost" personal items of ours go while they temporarily disappear. Nice work, Lorne!