Dark Sundays

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation #15

by Donn Cortez

A lavish penthouse party on top of a Vegas hotel and casino plays host to a bizarre set-up to murder in which a security guard is trapped and killed in a private elevator--and the body soon vanishes . . . leading crime scene investigators Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders straight to an uncanny circus troupe with deadly connections to none other than the Russian mafia.

In the meantime, Ray Langston and Catherine Willows are called to a psychiatric facility where two patients have just escaped after attacking an orderly. One of the escaped patients, an Iraq war veteran, managed to smuggle in a military-grade nerve gas, inducing realistic and shared three-dimensional illusions and hallucinations . . . and Ray and Catherine must race against time in order to find two very dangerous individuals now roaming freely on the streets of Las Vegas. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller

330 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 25, 2010

About the author

Pseudonyms: Don DeBrandt & DD Barant

Donn Cortez is a pseudonym for Canadian author Don DeBrandt. Born in Saskatchewan, he currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include Spider Robinson and John D. MacDonald, among others.

He took a darker turn for The Closer, a hard-edged story about a serial killer hunting other serial killers.

His follow-up, The Man Burns Tonight (set at Burning Man) was more of a classic mystery. This was followed in rapid succession by five CSI: Miami tie-in novels and two CSI: Vegas novels.He has also contributed numerous pop-culture essays to BenBella’s SmartPop anthologies, on subjects such as Angel, Firefly, The Golden Compass, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Kong, the X-Men, Star Wars, and Star Trek.

He was the guest editor (as well as a contributor) to the essay anthology Investigating CSI.

Reviews

[Leo]

Perfect book series when I need my CSI fix

[kori shalmy]

4.5 ⭐️ rounded down

loooooved catherine and ray’s b plot in this. super interesting

[Mare Dannenburg]

Opzich wel leuk boek, maar ik vond het een beetje saai en langdradig

[Adelaide]

Purchased for me as a sort of gag-gift since I was rewatching the series. Nailed the characters. A-plot was convoluted but comes together in the end; B-plot didn't have any forensics at all and seemed more like a reason to go on a Hunter S Thompson-esque description of Las Vegas.

[Brigitte]

Dit boek is het beste CSI boek dat ik tot nu toe gelezen heb en ik kan geen reden bedenken om dit boek geen 5 sterren te geven.

Het verhaal blijft boeien en alles wordt heel goed uitgelegd. Zowel de forensische onderzoeken die gedaan worden, als de psychiatrische ziekten waar 2 ontsnapte patiënten aan lijden. Het is ook mooi om Dr. Ray Langston zijn visie daarover te lezen.

Er gebeurd heel veel in het verhaal en niets is wat het lijkt, maar dit houdt het verhaal ook zo boeiend en op het laatst is alles duidelijk. Het verhaal hield mij vanaf het begin tot het eind vast en ik vind dit boek zeker een aanrader. Vooral voor CSI fans.

[Peter Hennessey]

Slow but a good finish

[Darinda]

The 15th book in the CSI series. Fast-paced and entertaining.

[Ivana Richards]

One of the best in the set.

[Stephen Levesque]

I loved this as a TV Show, and reading to books are a good experience. They are a Good read.

[Laura Martinelli]

I’ve rambled on and off about tie-in books, specifically the defictionalized tie-ins. And while I have mixed feelings on those, I have a very soft spot for serialized tie-ins and novelizations, such as the following. (What can I say? I’m a fanfiction nerd.) Funnily enough, I tend to gravitate to tie-ins for shows I don’t really follow, but have a basic knowledge of who’s who and what the set-up is. (This is pretty much how I kept up with Buffy and Angel back when I was a wee nerd; my library’s YA section had a TON of WB show tie-ins.)

Enough rambling—I generally liked this. I spent about two years watching CSI: Vegas as study brain candy—I blame my roommate—and Dark Sundays fits the bill. The characters are in-character and interact with each other well. I stopped watching before Laurence Fishburne joined the cast, but I got a good grasp of Ray Langston. This being CSI of course, there’s a lot of techno-babble that may be stretched for fictional purposes. I generally liked both plots—the Theria and Bannister story was actually very creepy, especially when the book switches over to their point-of-view. And the Russian circus/Red Mafiya/KGB blackmail heist was just epically cracktacular (especially Nick and Greg’s constant “WE ARE SO SIMULATING THIS” moments), and in true CSI fashion, it kept me guessing at what the heist actually was. My only real complaint is that the Russian suspects are extremely stereotyped, although, that’s true for the show itself. It bugged me, but I should know that it’s coming.

Overall, it’s a brain candy book and an enjoyable one at that. It works well as a standalone book, and doesn’t get too involved with the overreaching character arcs in the main show. It’s a decent read for a casual fan, especially someone like me who’s pretty much fallen out of watching the show on a regular basis.

[Jonathan Gentry]

Dark Sundays is the fifteenth book in the original CSI series. Written by Donn Cortez, who took over the bulk of the CSI Miami installments after Max Allan Collins called it a day.
Anyway on to the review. A bizarre murder takes place in an upscale penthouse at the top of Vegas hotel & Casino, and the body mysteriously disappears.
The second case is worked by Raymond and Catherine and involves the escape of two patients from a psycho ward after attacking an orderly. The plot soon turns to something similar in a military thriller when one of the patients had nerve gas smuggled in. Good writing, great stories, awesome read.

[Rob]

Zeppelins, human cannonballs, and circus bears! Oh my! The silliest of all these brain candy books so far. I believe I may have gone into sugar shock for the sheer inaneness read. Still I cannot stop.

[Melinda]

I didn't figure this one out until the end. I enjoyed the Nick, Sara and Greg case this time more than the Catherine and Ray case. It was just a personal preference in subject matter of the two cases.

[Bryan Goh]

Interesting detective story. Many twists. More for those interested in Crime Investigation.

[Anne Marshall]

Very good and I liked the bit about Catherine and Chocolate.

[PF O'Friar]

Very satisfying story.
In fact two cases with a lot of creative elements bunched together!
I recommend and I will pick another from this author soon!

[Xinning]

This is a must read for ALL CSI fans!!! Then again, all of the CSI novels are a must read