REVIEW: The Darkest Time of Night

The Darkest Time of Night
Author: Jeremy Finley

A seven year old boy disappears in the woods outside his Tennessee home. William Chance is the grandson of a US Senator, so the story immediately draws media attention. The FBI and National Guard comb the woods. The police question every sex offender and possible person of interest within miles of the wooded area. No leads. No sign of the child. Nothing. It's like he disappeared into thin air. But his grandmother, Lynn Roseworth, thinks she knows what happened. It has happened before. Many, many times. In the 1960s Lynn was an assistant in a college astronomy department. One of the professors was doing research into missing persons cases. Although the cases were all seemingly unrelated, all of the witnesses said they saw people disappear into strange beams of light. Lynn knows the truth. There are very powerful people and agencies that would never, ever let her reveal what she knows. But she's determined to save her grandson....no matter what she has to do.

This story gave me the same creepy-cool feeling I used to get while watching episodes of the X-Files. In trying to locate and save her grandson, Lynn has to wade through her own past. Missing memories from childhood and what she discovered while working at the college in the 60s hold the truth that she has to reconcile in order to find William. It's dangerous to start looking into secrets that powerful government agencies want kept from the public. As she investigates, Lynn discovers the total horrifying truth: We are not alone.

Despite my not being a real fan of conspiracy theory stories or alien abduction tales, I enjoyed this story. Two feisty older women -- Lynn and her good friend Roxy -- setting off to blow the cover off a long-held government secret just gave this story a cooler edge than other similar books I have read. The plot isn't new....and it reads like a script from the X-Files....but 70-year old women determined to rescue a missing child, dodging men in black and nefarious secret agents while investigating UFOs --- what's not to love? I enjoyed the story for what it is ..... a suspenseful story about government cover-ups and aliens. The story continues in book 2 --The Dark Above.

On to book 2!