Available Dark

A Crime Novel

By: Elizabeth Hand

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Award-winning author Elizabeth Hand brings us a searing and iconoclastic crime novel, in which photographer Cass Neary, introduced in the underground classic Generation Loss, finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of crime in Scandinavia's coldest corners.

As this riveting tour-de-force opens, the police already want to talk to Cass about a mysterious death she was involved with previously, but before they can bring her in, Cass accepts a job offer from overseas and hops on a plane.

In Helsinki, she authenticates a series of disturbing but stunning images taken by a famous fashion photographer who has cut himself off from the violent Nordic music scene where he first made his reputation. Paid off by her shady employer, she buys a one-way ticket to Reykjavik, in search of a lover from her own dark past.

But when the fashion photographer's mutilated corpse is discovered back in Finland, Cass finds herself sucked into a vortex of ancient myth and betrayal, vengeance and serial murder, set against a bone-splintering soundtrack of black metal and the terrifying beauty of the sunless Icelandic wilderness. Cass Neary finds her own worst fears confirmed: it's always darkest before it turns completely black.

©2012 Elizabeth Hand (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

File Under: Volcanos Under Ice

Well, this writer is on her way to being one of my favorites. The way she weaves images and tropes through this eerie landscape is both grotesque and beautiful. I love the strung out narrator. The bleak Icelandic landscape was the perfect setting to explore light and dark, punk rock, and isolation. Creepy and well done. Great winter read.

File Under: Eerie and Wonderful

Not as interesting as her other books

I felt this story struggled a bit. Seemed like a grasp when you get to the end in the protagonist and story line. A little too much Viking lore for my taste. Hard Light is by far better than this.

Incredible follow-up novel

I know that Cass isn't the best role model, considering she's continuously popping, snorting and guzzling, but... I envy her ability to say to hell with it and do what she feels is necessary. Did she steal a grieving woman's vehicle at the scene of her siblings murder? Yes, but it lead to accomplishing her goal. I'd love to be able to act selfishly and not have overwhelming guilt. Maybe it's a side effect of the illegal drugs and booze, I'm not going to find out for myself but I will continue enjoying her story by listening to the next book in the series.
Hand is a fantastic story weaver that paints the story beautifully in your mind as you read.
Monda's voice is perfect for Cass and she easily and convincingly flows from Cass to the other characters.

Disappointing effort from a good writer

I didn't enjoy this book as much as others I have read by Liz Hand (Blacklight, Waking the Moon, some stories), partly because of some authorial sloppiness but mostly because Cass, our heroine, is so utterly depraved and soulless that the story seems to drift without meaning. Even in the previous entry in this series, Cass showed at times a glimmer of human sympathy. Here, not so much.
Cass is a dried-up husk of a New York punk snob, a drunk, a junkie, a habitual liar and thief who offers nothing to anyone and then is surprised that she has no friends. She seems to admire a serial killer because he has a cool guitar (an original 1957 Strat with the original bakelite thingies that cost thousands of dollars to replace, woo woo).
A sordid and pointless take about a bunch of total douchebags, except for the one nice girl Cass tries to seduce though she is engaged.

Wonderful

This was a great book loved her voice very enjoyable all the way throughout a must read