The Darkness won silver in the Mystery category of the Forward National Literature Awards 2011.
Its trailer won the 'Most Intriguing Trailer' in the New Covey Awards, July 2009.
When Tommy Davidson is found with his throat cut, his brother Andrew’s shock turns to thoughts of vigilante retribution. Known villains, including the person indirectly responsible for the death, begin to disappear. Thanks to the efforts of one of Cairnburgh’s cleverest lawyers, each has managed to evade justice. But not any more. Meantime, rape victim Rhona Kirk starts a new life in Dundee but finds it difficult to shake off her past. As DCI Jack Carston tries to find what links the various missing persons, he’s aware of his own darker impulses and of an empathy between himself and the vigilante. His investigation becomes a race against time and against the pressure of darkness.
‘a
wonderful, thrilling, dark, compassionate book’
(Gillian
Philip, author of Bad Faith and Crossing the Line.)
After reading this fascinating novel, you may come to the same conclusion as I did with an emphatic yes on all counts. Multitalented Kirton, who was born in England but has lived most of his life in Scotland, has over the years worn many hats as playwright, song and sketch writer for revues, novelist, short story writer, university lecturer, actor, director, and television presenter. As he states on his web site: "I love writing. I love the power of even the simplest words. I love the intimacy that's established between the writer and reader as, together we turn fiction into a reality."
In The Darkness it
only takes a few chapters to set the hook that will grab you by the jugular and
keep you reading. The plot unfolds as we read about thirty-five old Tommy
Davidson taking his own life, having cut his throat. We learn that Davidson was
a successful attorney who had recently lost his wife and two daughters, the
result of a car accident caused by a drunken driver. The driver was
fortunate enough to engage a top criminal attorney, F.K. (Freddy) Reismann,
someone you would call upon if your case were hopeless. This attorney was
outstanding and an ace at taking the best evidence the prosecuting attorneys
could present and turning them around. The result was that he had a string of
victories involving the most hideous crimes involving among others wife
beating, murder, and pedophilia.
Upon further reading, we discover, along with detective Jack Carston of Cairnburgh Scotland that without any logical explanation a string of individuals have disappeared. The only element tying them together was that they were all quite nasty and they had previously being involved in some kind of a criminal proceeding wherein Reismann had been their defence attorney helping them to evade justice. Was someone out there doing the police a favor by removing these dregs from society?
And to throw us a curve, Kirton inserts into the plot three other individuals who likewise disappear, one of whom was a prostitute. Is there some kind of connection or conspiracy?
Kirton has a fine ear for dialogue and a talent for picking out tiny, telling details that make his scenes come alive, particularly some of the crime scenes. In addition, he is exceptionally gifted as he deftly captures the psychotic thoughts and fury of Davidson’s brother Andrew who during the course of his medical practice has witnessed some atrocious crimes committed against some of his patients. The struggle within his psyche to deal with demons, the anger and the smell are so real that we resist temptation to turn away as Andrew beckons us to listen to all that he has to say and listen properly to all of it. As he states, perhaps our psychiatrists can make something of it. He certainly can’t. A difficult pill to swallow and therein lies the brilliance of this audacious and haunting novel that deserves public attention.
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