Pictures in the Dark

by Gillian Cross

When Charlie takes the photograph of the unknown animal swimming in the river that night, he has no idea of the effect it will have on his life and the weird events it will set in motion. Why is Peter, the boy with the strange, staring eyes, so obsessed by the picture? And what is it about Peter that upsets everybody so much - even his own father? When Charlie tries to help Peter and protect him from the bullying, he is led deeper into the secret, mysterious life of the river bank, and the creatures that inhabit it.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Gillian Cross was born Gillian Arnold in 1945. She was educated at North London Collegiate School, Somerville College, Oxford and the University of Sussex. Although now a full-time writer who often travels and gives talks in connection with her work, she has had a number of informal jobs including being an assistant to a Member of Parliament. For eight years she also sat on the committee which advises ministers about public libraries.

She is married to Martin Cross and they have four grown-up children, two sons and two daughters.

Reviews

[Jesse McCullar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Did not like this book because of the random things the main character Charlie would do, and no one cared! One example is when Jenifer (who I think likes Charlie but the book doesn’t say) was having a nice conversation with Peter (who ends up in the hospital at the end of the book, and then we never hear from again) and Charlie decided that he wanted to prick himself in the finger with a needle. The book also leaves a lot out, like there wasn’t an ending. In fact, the end seemed worse than the beginning. If you like books that sum everything up at the end, this is not the book for you. Basically, the story starts with a boy named Charlie who takes pictures for this weird school club thing and ends up taking a picture of a wake and what seems to be an otter. No one believes him though. (BTW another thing not summed up is this otter, I mean no one knows what happened to it at the end of the story). I also didn't understand why no one liked peter, I mean yeah he had a bad stare but when Charlie became friends with him everyone thought Charlie was being mind-controlled by peter. It just seemed to be a lot was left unfinished and I don't really like finishing a book and not knowing how it ended.

[Amber Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not AT ALL what I expected. Reading the description I was fully expecting pseudo- horror/thriller. In the beginning there is a lot of suspense and tension as you first meet the characters. Charlie is a young photographer in a school camera club who, while snapping photos for a class assignment, captures an intriguing shot of a rare animal’s wake in the local river. Befriending a newcomer, Jennifer, Charlie begins to notice a reclusive boy with an intense stare who turns out to be Jennifer’s brother, Peter. Strange things seem to keep happening around Peter despite the fact that he doesn’t seem to be doing anything but staring causing the other kids to dub him “Evil Eye”.

I got a bit frustrated that there seemed to be a build up preparing for something that would never quite happen. Slowly, you start to realize that Peter seems to be an outcast everywhere and with everyone, including his own family. Not only do they all treat him horribly, further feeding the tension (because why are they being so hostile to him????), but after an incident with Charlie’s cousin, Zoe, you start to suspect that all is not what it seems.

As hostilities towards Peter become increasingly more violent, Charlie feels compassion for him and they start an unlikely friendship with one another. You start to realize that Peter is really just a quiet, odd boy that’s quite harmless, who’s being constantly bullied by family, teachers, and schoolmates alike.

That’s when the anger kicked in for me. Not only do the accusations become more and more ridiculous (predominately from that little twat Zoe 😡), but you really start to feel bad for how poorly this boy is being treated. No one will listen to logic or reason and they allow themselves to be steered by fear and malice until begin to suspect that something awful is going to happen to Peter at the hands of his tormentors. While this is an important cautionary tale, if you are interested in a book that has a nice, neat resolution at the end you will be heavily disappointed as there is definitely none, but I walked away wishing for more Charlies in the world.

[Michelle Addae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book, “Pictures In The Dark”, by Gillian Cross at first was good but then went off to be confusing. What mainly happened was there's this boy named Charlie and he takes photography class, which is lowkey his thing. And Charlie took a weird photo before going to class, which was a photo of a black and orange image that wasn’t descriptive. He showed his photography class and Mr. Feinstein, his photography teacher, was complexed by the image that was shown. He wasn’t sure what it was and tried to make up different ideas for its appearance, but then Charlie ended it by saying it was “art”. Then there was this girl named Jennifer and Charlie found her extremely questionable because she didn’t talk as much and just did her own thing, which is completely normal to me. And half of the time when Charlie asked her questions, tried making jokes, she just blankly stared at him, and moved on. Then here’s the good part, the part where Charlie meets her brother named Peter. I feel bad for Peter most of the time because he always gets bullied for absolutely no reason. Everyone calls him weird and the reason for this was because he was supposedly called, “Evil Eye”, meaning his eyes were weird and gave a bad sign. For example, every time Charlie tried to talk to Peter or just did something that had to do with his photography something bad would happen, not to Peter, but to anyone he encountered. Scary right? But something that really made me have suspicions was the fact every time Charlie interfered with anything that had to do with the “otter”, his photograph he first found in the river that soon was going to be for his project, Peter was always there. And this was mainly because later in the book, Peter had a relationship with otters because it fitted his personality and it was just the way he acted. And because of this many people, even Charlie at first, which I founded annyong at first, always found him weird, when Peter was just doing his own thing. Zoe and Charlie's other friends were encouraging it as well, which pissed me off because he was a kid, he was about 11 or 12 years old. Towards the end, Charlie starts to know the truth of what happened with Peter and the real reason for his actions, as well as others, and because of this Peter then starts to feel affection and gratitude for that. However, Zoe and her other friend got a hold of Peter and because of the accusations they were wanting to murder him, which confuses me, and although this book is very old and may have some of that old writing, that was a huge jump for me. Like from things being well to now 2 kids wanting to basically murder a kid, I was like wow. Peter almost died by drowning but eventually got saved by Charlie and other people, which included his dad, the Liberian, etc. Charlie then eventually finished his project, turned it in to Mr. Feinstein, and just talked about how they could visit the river one day together. Overall this fiction book was ok, and I know that the author had made tons of other books but I don't think I would ever read them. I would recommend this book to people who like to read old books from the 1900”s, or just fiction. But for me, this book was a 3 out of 5.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie can't help but notice the world around him. He's an amateur photographer after all. He especially notices the family next door. Mr. Luttrell is a cold and violent man. Mrs. Luttrell is nervous and their daughter, Jennifer is evasive. But it's Peter whose the oddest of all. He is bullied at school and abused at home, spending nights locked in the family's backyard shed. One night, Charlie takes a photo of a strange animal swimming around in the river behind the Luttrell house. The animal seems to be staying in the shed. Charlie befriends Peter and learns that there's something quite special about the boy.

A very surprising read.

[Sable · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is lowkey insane as hell. I read it in primary school and found it very unsettling, then recently remembered it and what happens and thought surely I didn't read a book with that plot in primary school??? but then I couldn't stop thinking about it so I got it again and read it recently. and it actually was even more insane than I remembered. it's definitely for teens which contributes to my I can't believe I read this so young feeling. the book does a good job of creating a huge amount of suspense and tension and generally unsettling feelings.
some of the other reviews of this book are quite frustrating but that's okay because they're written by children.

[Carol Aldred · Rating 4 out of 5]

So nearly a 5 star. Slightly dated but an interesting take on how bullyinh is perceived by children and adults

[chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
bought preloved from books & co :) an odd little story but always love me some magical realism!

[Stevie Washington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it wad alright but, just didn't have a good time reading it. it didn't give me many chills so, i guess i liked it because it gave me a few chills up my back and i guess all i have to say is that i like thriller books but, i need them to give me lots of chills up my back.

[Bookapiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was very strange indeed, it had a different plot from anything I have ever read before and I have read thousands. I will say the descriptions in this book were able to give me an incredibly clear picture of things I have never seen as they exist mainly in Britain. I enjoyed very much the "looking through the eyes of a photographer." Lush descriptions and details and plenty of suspense in this read, however if you are looking for an ending that ties up all the mystery and confusion you will not find that here.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding young adult novel. While taking pictures along the river for a school project, Charlie becomes intrigued by an elusive, strange animal and a weird, bullied younger boy. Charlie senses a connection as he attempts to protect both, and hints of something supernatural enhance the suspense. A page-turner.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was one of the first books I read which really pointed out that grownups have no idea what's going on. They didn't really help very much either, so remember not really enjoying it, and being a bit scared. Possibly also the source of my interest in photography?

[Gebanuzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro fácil de leer, con suficiente suspenso, pero con una historia y drama que parecíera que va a dar más de lo que al final termina otorgando. Me vi a través del personaje principal, del lente de su cámara, y de ciertas situaciones.

[Zouk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good book, although the story was not elaborated well at some parts. Kept me on the edge of my seat though. Well-written, I would say.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've got to chapter 4 and I've realized I've read this book before and it wasn't that long ago either (maybe a year). It was definately different that's for sure, even wierd to tell you the truth.

[Monifa Grune · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all-time Fave !

[Salsabrarian]

Shapeshifting. A troubled boy morphs into an otter when life becomes difficult. Interesting and suspenseful.

[Julier]

British suspense-fantasy revolving around a 9th grade photographer, the river, & a mysterious, sinister youngster