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First Impressions: I was thrilled to receive a copy of In Darkness for review! Like so many other people, I remember watching the Haitian disaster unfolding on television and I can only imagine how horrible that tragedy must have been for the people who actually had to live through it. Nobody likes to hear about these kinds of things, and it really broke my heart to see so many people suffering. This book uses the Haitian earthquake as a backdrop, so I was interested to see how the author interpreted such an devastating event in contemporary history.

First 50 Pages: This was one of the most emotional and heart wrenching books I have ever read…and it is outstanding. I don’t think I can do this book justice, but I will try! I wasn’t even a few chapters into the book before I started to cry. Nick Lake has an amazing talent for capturing real, raw, emotions and putting them down on paper. He has an incredible ability of setting up a scene and making you see what the characters are seeing and what they are experiencing, feeling, hurting from, and so much more. I was really blown away by this story. It is going to be a very hard one to forget.

Characters & Plot: The story line follows a young man named Shorty, who had grown up living in the slums of Haiti, while dealing with the (unfortunately) normal things that come with those conditions: crime, gangs, poverty, drugs, and so much violence. One minute Shorty is in a hospital, next minute he is lying in a pile of rubble, piles of dead bodies, people screaming for help, and people who are trying to help but Shorty can’t be heard. He begins to go back through his memories of his life, and good God, his life was so horrible. The author describes Shorty as a good kid, and the path that led him to some not very good choices.

While Shorty is lying in the ruins on the verge of death, his story meets up with a slave from the past named Toussaint. Their souls or spirits kind of…meet up, I guess is the best way to put it, and this new character is the one who helps Shorty survive long enough in order to be rescued.

Both of these characters stories are very powerful and very likable. Shorty’s point of view is written in the first person, while Toussaint’s is written in the third person point of view. Each point of view jumps from one to another without being confusing and is beautifully done. Some of Toussaint’s creole was confusing to me because I’m not too familiar with the jargon, but it didn’t distract me at all from the story. It was a nice blend of present day mixed with a story from the past. This book has some pretty upsetting and disturbing scenes. It could be very graphic at times, just a word of warning.

Final Thoughts: I’m still trying to digest just how great this book is. I can’t recommend it highly enough because so far, it is the best book I have read in the past few months. In Darkness is going to be a book that I am going to want to revisit again and again and tell everyone I know to go out and buy it. I really loved this book! If you can handle books with heavy themes, violence, and intense emotions, please pick up this book!