Edge
of Darkness by Karen Rose is the fourth book of the famous
suspenseful Cincinnati series. As with most of her books,
she explores relevant issues centered around friends and colleagues.
This one is no different from the current issues of abuse
and addiction become the main theme of the novel.
Meredith Fallon counsels sexually abused women like Mallory
Martin to help them reintegrate into the world. But not everyone
sees it as honorable and decides to eliminate her by hiring
a killer. Detective Adam Kimble doesn’t even hesitate
when his boss orders him to investigate. Old feelings come
to the surface since the two had a brief relationship earlier.
But Adam pulled away as he struggled with events that were
truly harrowing. Knowing he is a recovering alcoholic he feels
he doesn’t want to depend on the relationship with Meredith,
essentially moving from one addiction to another. This becomes
a tale of damaged people who re-connect during a violent and
frightening time of their life. They must struggle with their
demons, getting the relationship to work, and finding the
killer.
Readers will know a lot about Adam Kimble because Rose explores
his backstory. “In the first book, I wrote him as a
belligerent jerk. As the series progresses we see him changing
and having to deal with something terrible that happened to
him, which throws him off the rails. Now he is a recovering
alcoholic who is learning to face his demons. Even though
he feels very connected to Meredith, Adam understands she
cannot be his reason for sobriety. He knows he must get better
on his own, and not be dependent on her. Readers see that
Adam is capable of surviving without Meredith, but also knows
he will be happy if they are together. As with most people,
they do not have charmed lives and have some source of pain.
During several points in this book, I cried because it is
what many of my friends experienced. They needed to understand
you must live your life for yourself, not for others. My characters
are banged up by life but can still hold their own.”
Because she has experienced first-hand harassment Rose wants
to write in almost all of her stories this and abuse. “Abuse
of women is a big theme in my books. I continued the story
from the previous book, Every Dark Corner. It dealt with Mallory
Martin who was abused and now in this book she is recovering.
I think there is a fine line between actively showing abuse
on the page and being too provocative. I don’t want
to provide any material that will be too salacious. I had
my own ‘#MeToo’ moment. At nineteen I had to quit
a job that was good paying and one I liked because I did not
see any way out of the situation. I did not think anyone would
believe me. Almost every woman I talked to had a Me Too incident.
It is a big part of my books because it is a big part of our
lives.”
Fans should be happy this will not be the last book in the
series and will be treated to another suspenseful novel that
delves into Dani and Diesel’s life.
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