Darkness the Color of Snow - Thomas Cobb

[Ashley]

Life is full of moments, big and little. Sometimes we know our actions will have immediate and lasting consequences, and we can weigh our decisions. But other times, the most fleeting of moments, and smallest of actions can surprise us in their impact. Darkness the Color of Snow is a tragic tale about consequences, chronicling the fate of a highway patrolman on a snowy winters night in New England.

Ronald Forbert doesn't know that his life is about to change forever the night he pulls over a speeding truck. As a highway patrolman, this is his business. His decision is easy. He is following and enforcing the law. But fate intervenes, and "within minutes what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals into a heated struggle between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop."

What follows is almost ancient in its tragic form. Cobb weaves a tale of consequences that follow so calculated and swift, that it feels as if Forbert has no control over his life.

Thomas Cobb is an American author, also known for his 1987 novel Crazy Heart which was adapted for the screen with Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal. A dark, atmospheric and gripping drama with tension and suspense, Darkness the Color of Snow has been compared to No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy) and Snow Falling on Cedars (David Guterson.)

Ultimately, Cobb offers an excellent slow burn that has a superb sense of fatalism. From the very first scene the reader grasps the necessary outcome, and yet struggles against it throughout the novel. The action very much has the tone of a play - the scenes are unique and vivid, with a strong foundation in dialogue. A great, quick read.

Darkness the Color of Snow is available at the Oakville Public Library in print format.