Darkness for Light

Reviews / Votes

A mazey delight of a mystery * Ian Rankin * Clever, brilliantly observed ... Viskic just keeps getting better. Her prose is elegant and economical and her storytelling is taut, realistic and full of surprises... a winner * Adrian McKinty * The tension builds from the very first page... brutal but compassionate * The Times, Crime Books of the Year * Propulsive and thrilling -- Lucy Treloar, author of Salt Creek Razor-sharp... James Ellory and Paul Cleave fans will be pleased * Publishers Weekly, starred review * There is no Australian crime hero like Caleb Zelic. There's no Nordic, American, English or French crime hero like him. He lives in a genre of his own: the perfect outsider in an uncaring world. Inventive, loyal, tormented and whip-smart, he stands at the moral centre of a twisting tale of corruption Darkness for Light takes Emma Viskic's deaf investigator to the limits of his considerable abilities * Jock Serong, author of The Rules of Backyard Cricket * Praise for the Caleb Zelic thrillers -- .. * -- * Stunning... original and splendidly plotted [with] a superb cast of main characters * The Times, Crime Book of the Month * An Australian thriller at its finest. A captivating read from first page to last * Jane Harper, author of The Dry * Trailing literary prizes in its wake... superbly characterized... well above most contemporary crime fiction * Financial Times, Books of the Year * Outstanding... Pacy, violent but with a big thundering heart * Eva Dolan * More than lives up to its hype... Fierce, fast-moving, violent... it is as exciting a debut as fellow Australian Jane Harper's The Dry, and I can think of no higher praise * Daily Mail * There is romance, and there is violence - plus a devastating denouement... Zelic is a good man in a wicked world and it will be a real pleasure to meet him again * Evening Standard * A worthy successor [to Resurrection Bay]... a fascinating world, very cleverly painted through a prose that is spare and yet extremely effective... [with] an uncanny ability to skewer conventions and pierce through to the truth * Thriller Books Journal * A tightly plotted, sophisticated thriller * The Writes of Woman (blog) * An addictive mix of compelling characters and gripping plot * Crime Thriller Hound (blog) * Plenty of intrigue in plot and character * David's Book World (blog) * The opening chapter had me completely hooked! I was absolutely enthralled... a taut storyline, addictive atmosphere and compelling narrative had me reading this book every spare moment I had * Crime Book Junkie (blog) * The subtle mix of humour, intriguing mystery, fire and a reprise for the best characters from the first novel make for a dark entertaining thriller * Nudge Books * It's a scorcher... an utterly compelling and thought provoking read * Raven Crime Reads * For memorable protagonists, look no further than Emma Viskic -- Jane Harper * BookPage * Ned Kelly Award-winner Viskic combines nuanced characters and thoughtful plotting in her impressive sequel to Resurrection Bay * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * Viskic won the Ned Kelly Award last year for Resurrection Bay, her debut, and her second in the series promises to be just as devastating - and ever so Australian, with a bushfire alert and particularly Australian conflicts ratcheting up the tension throughout * CrimeReads, Fall's Best Sophomore Fiction * This is crime fiction at its best. Loved Jane Harper's The Dry? Read this * Written by Sime * A thoroughly character-driven story, exploring the intricacies of family and race in Australia. And dammit. The wait for book 3 is going to drive me nuts * Editing Everything * From Sherlock Holmes to Jack Irish, the stubborn sleuth has been around for a while, but Viskic has managed to breathe new life into an old formula with Caleb Zelic * Townsville Bulletin * Emma Viskic is a terrific, gutsy writer with great insight into the murkiness of both criminal and heroic motivations * Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident * This is a plot that keeps us guessing to the end [before] it reaches a dramatic but ultimately hopeful resolution and now we can only wait on tenterhooks for the next instalment. Viskic takes her place up there with Australia's new legion of uber-talented female crime writers such as Jane Harper and Candice Fox, deservedly so. * Better Reading, book of the week * A page-turning crime thriller * ArtsHub * Offers more of the great characters and thrilling storytelling as the first book. For crime fans unacquainted with Caleb Zelic, I would recommend setting aside a weekend and settling in * Advertiser * Viskic's descriptions of place are often so intense you can smell them * Canberra Times * Another gripping story... The immediacy of its intrigue, and Caleb's struggle with the traumatic aftershock of earlier events, makes this second novel even more difficult to put down than the first * Big Issue Australia * Beautifully balanced characterisations, action and setting * Newtown Review of Books * Zelic's second outing doesn't disappoint: Viskic's prose sprints along, sprinkled with Australian colloquialisms deserving of Kath and Kim... Great stuff * Courier Mail * Outstanding... gripping and violent... a hero who is original and appealing * Guardian *