3 out of 4 stars
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The residents of Decker Lake are on edge. A general wave of unease and trepidation has overtaken even those inhabitants with the stoutest constitutions. A feeling of impending doom shadows them on their evening walks. The sense of something sinister lurking in their once peaceful town has them trembling in their beds at night. Nobody stays out after dusk, and nobody speaks of the lingering presence, for they fear that will make matters worse. Has something evil come to Decker Lake?
It's an isolated lake community in upstate New York, inhabited by predominantly retired senior citizens – loners, individuals who don't have much as far as social lives, people who wouldn't be missed. One of the townspeople, George, has taken notice of the strange happenings that began several years ago – the despair felt by all the occupants and the townspeople who suddenly decided to leave Decker Lake for a retirement home in Florida and were never heard from again. His unease has intensified since the disappearance of Evelyn Jones and the lack of communication from his friend, Mary. He begins trying to unravel the mystery of what is happening to his town.
One of the strengths of The Darkness at Decker Lake by Martin H. Zuckerman is that readers are allowed to be insiders. Typically, with a book of this nature, I wouldn't appreciate that, but in this case, it works. Readers know what has come for the residents of the community and what malicious presence haunts their town. The sense of knowing something that the characters don't know makes this story thrilling. Intelligent is the best word I can think of to describe this book, and while it may not seem like a fascinating term, intelligent books are some of the best. It almost seems as if the author lived through the events and has psychologically evaluated the characters – he wrote about their strengths, weaknesses, motives, fears, histories, plans, and deeply hidden thoughts. It becomes clear that what could be labeled as a pretty standard mystery novel to individuals who merely read the synopsis is actually twisted, genius, and incredibly thoughtful.
Sometimes when I read books, I get discouraged by conversations that go on for longer than is necessary, character's with no layers, and loose ends. I'm pleased to say that this book has none of those issues! However, the number of technical errors is almost overwhelming, and this is distracting and detracts from how good the story is. A couple of examples of the errors found in this book are tenses that disagree such as is and was - making it unclear if an event is currently happening or had happened in the past - and an accidental colon in front of a backward quotation mark. This book does not seem to have been professionally edited. Due to the negatives mentioned, this book is rated 3 out of 4 stars.
The Darkness at Decker Lake is appropriate for more mature readers as there are topics discussed that may be over the heads of teenagers and children. There are also a few violent and gruesome descriptions that some readers may find disturbing. There is not much to mention as far as vulgar or mature language, and there are no intimate scenes. Fans of mystery, suspense, or horror genres will probably appreciate this narrative.
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The Darkness at Decker Lake
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The review sounds great. Awesome stuff there. I downloaded it and was so dissapointed that it had so many pages. Possibly three thousand. Will keep on reading it through the day. I mostly liked the grammar used. It is simple to understand.
