Rating: 4 stars (Spotlight Review)

Cody McFadyn has hit the trifecta. In this third novel, Los Angeles-based FBI agent Smoky Barrett and her team are assigned to a case in Washington, D.C. Upon arrival Smoky examines the body of Lisa Reid, a beautiful woman who was murdered during a commercial airline flight. In addition to contemplating the extreme precision that such a murder would require, Smoky learns that not only is Lisa Reid the child of a powerful political couple, but she is also their pre-op transsexual son. The team soon learns that Lisa is only one of the many women murdered by “The Preacher,” a psychotic religious serial killer who collects sins. Literally asking to be caught, the killer uses a viral video site to display the last moments of his victims’ lives while they reveal their darkest secrets.

In the race against time to find this madman, the team must watch each video to find the clues hidden in plain sight. The story takes on a voyeuristic edge as each victim bares their soul, confessing their secrets; each one more violent and unsettling than the last.

In a saturated genre, McFadyn does a good job of standing out. Unlike some of the usual suspects, McFadyn doesn’t endlessly regurgitate information from previous books in an effort to mask the fact that the current book has no substance. Instead, The Darker Side stands alone, while seamlessly providing glimpses to the past when necessary. This book is not for those with “delicate sensibilities;” the writing is raw and powerful and the images created by the words are disturbing. At times you may want to look away, but then you realize you have no other choice than to ride this crazy train to the end.

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Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (September 30, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0553806946