Book Review: Dark Harbors by J.K. Dark
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Jack Cross used to be a rock star, the leader of the band Dark Cross, kings of the “pirate rock” trend. But that was a while back, before drugs and the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle brought the band to a crashing fall, and Jack bottomed out. Now he ekes out a living as a charter boat captain, sailing the Dark Cross out of Florida for tourists. It’s something to do between the nightmares.
Jack’s latest cruise seems pleasant enough; he and a couple of old buddies are taking some Doctors Without Borders volunteers around the Caribbean to relax and help folks. But there are bad signs, including reports that modern-day pirates are lurking in these warm waters. Not everyone is going to be returning from this voyage….
The good first. J.K. Dark clearly loves sailing, and has done some research on the Caribbean. Some bits are nicely creepy, and the fact that Jack often has difficulty telling nightmare from reality for a few moments helps set the foreboding tone.
The not so good: The frame of the story is that Jack Cross is telling it in first person to an Alcoholics Anonymous-like group as they’re something of a captive audience. ( Which may or may not mean he survives the voyage.) But about two-thirds of the way in, there are suddenly third-person chapters that reveal the inner thoughts of characters Jack hasn’t met yet, and who he never gets the chance to get that information from. I can understand why the author does it, the information is necessary to understand what’s really going on. But it breaks the frame and the narrative flow, and this is one book that might be better served by the reader being as much in the dark as Jack.
Warnings: Trigger warning for rape late in the book. Also, practitioners of Haitian Vodou might be displeased by its presentation in this story, even if it eschews the voodoo doll and evil magic stereotypes.
The book is self-published, I am told, and could have used a stronger editor. I cannot recommend it unless you are really into crossing Jimmy Buffett atmosphere with a near horror taste.
1 comment
Comments are closed.