A Measure of Darkness
A Novel
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4.0 • 437 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Deputy coroner Clay Edison goes to extreme lengths for a forgotten Jane Doe in the new thriller from a father-son team of bestselling authors who write “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).
“As for the keen sense of drama, it must be a genetic trait. . . . The Kellermans show compassion for the survivors, including conscientious officials like Edison.”—The New York Times Book Review
Former star basketball player Clay Edison is busy. He’s solved a decades-old crime and redeemed an innocent man, earning himself a suspension in the process. Things are getting serious with his girlfriend. Plus his brother’s fresh out of prison, bringing with him a whole new set of complications.
Then the phone rings in the dead of night.
A wild party in a gentrifying East Bay neighborhood. A heated argument that spills into the street. Gunshots. Chaos.
For Clay and his fellow coroners, it’s the start of a long night and the first of many to come. The victims keep piling up. What begins as a community tragedy soon becomes lurid fodder for social media.
Then the smoke clears and the real mystery emerges—one victim’s death doesn’t match the others. Brutalized and abandoned, stripped of ID, and left to die: She is Jane Doe, a human question mark. And it falls to Clay to give her a name and a voice.
Haunted by the cruelty of her death, he embarks upon a journey into the bizarre, entering a hidden world where innocence and perversity meet and mingle. There, his relentless pursuit of the truth opens the gateway to a dark and baffling past—and brings him right into the line of fire.
Praise for A Measure of Darkness
“Edison is an interesting protagonist, a good man for whom finding the truth is more important than anything else, including his own safety. He’s gentle and strong, compassionate and ruthless, methodical and impulsive. A strong sequel to Crime Scene that will leave readers wanting to see more of Edison.”—Booklist
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With their second Clay Edison book, the father-son writing team work in tandem to stuff their pages with the best elements of a police procedural: electric suspense, eclectic characters, and a horrific crime where the known facts don’t quite add up. Even if you didn’t read Crime Scene, you can jump in here first—finding out more about Edison later may actually work well. We love the humanity Clay brings to his job; he actually cares about helping people (a tendency that will remind seasoned fans of Jonathan’s beloved protagonist Alex Delaware). An unforgettable, every-element-counts ending seals the deal.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In bestseller Kellerman and son Jesse's plodding sequel to 2017's Crime Scene, Oakland, Calif., coroner's deputy Clay Edison responds to a multiple shooting, apparently sparked by a dispute about noise from a large party. The victims include a six-year-old boy, who was struck by a stray bullet while sleeping in his bed, and a female pedestrian, seemingly accidentally dragged to her death by a car. Edison diligently reviews the evidence and interviews witnesses as he tries to reconstruct what led to the gunfire and the vehicular homicide, but the complexity of the case confuses more than it intrigues. The plot, unlike in the senior Kellerman's best Alex Delaware books, never gathers much steam, and the characterizations, including Clay's relationship with his troubled brother, fall short of the standard set in Edgar-finalist Jesse's better work. Staccato prose doesn't help ("A bicycle, I'd lose him. I walked faster. The phone shook"). Few readers will welcome a third outing from Clay.
Customer Reviews
A measure of darkness
Enjoyed this series.
Writing is superb
Above a thrilling murder mystery sits quick witted prose and dare I say poetry.
First time in a while I’ve enjoyed the writing more than the mystery!
I had to pace myself so I wouldn’t finish so quickly.
Thank you for this incredible gift!
Measure of darkness
This book was terrible !!