Darling Jim

A Novel

By: Christian Moerk

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye, Justine Eyre

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Thriller and Suspense, 2010

When two sisters and their aunt are found dead in their suburban Dublin home, it seems that the secret behind their untimely demise will never be known. But then Niall, a young mailman, finds a mysterious diary in the post office's dead-letter bin. From beyond the grave, Fiona Walsh shares the most tragic love story he's ever heard---and her tale has only just begun.

Niall soon becomes enveloped by the mystery surrounding itinerant storyteller Jim, who traveled through Ireland enrapturing audiences and wooing women with his macabre mythic narratives. Captivated by Jim, townspeople across Ireland thought it must be a sad coincidence that horrific murders trailed him wherever he went---and they failed to connect that the young female victims, who were smitten by the newest bad boy in town, bore an all too frightening similarity to the victims in Jim's own fictional plots.

The Walsh sisters, fiercely loyal to one another, were not immune to "darling" Jim's powers of seduction, but found themselves in harm's way when they began to uncover his treacherous past. Niall must now continue his dangerous hunt for the truth---and for the vanished third sister---while there's still time. And in the woods, the wolves from Jim's stories begin to gather.

©2009 Christian Moerk (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

" Darling Jim is wickedly good.... The tale spirals like a Celtic knot, wending back into authentic Irish folklore and forward into the modern world where storytellers have a dangerous charm." (Keith Donohue, author of The Stolen Child)

How did this get an Audie Award?

After listening to 60% of this book, I finally had to see if there had been some mistake when I searched for a book under "Audie Awards". No mistake, but I certainly do not agree with those people who have enjoyed this novel. I hate the waste of a good Audible credit, but will not be able to finish. The characters are all extremely annoying, unlikeable, and the whole wolf-fable-tangents were way too long and distracting. What a shame..I love the Irish mysteries, but just could not get into this story and do not care to see how it ends. Perhaps because I'm forever spoiled by the fabulous Tana French tales.

All my least favorite tropes

This title contains all of my least favorite mystery/romance tropes. I like a good Gothic tale as much as the next person, but there are two things here that really bum my out: The first is when female victim-hood becomes the source of male art and the second is when men assert that women are secretly attracted to rapists. The "attraction" to Jim was handled in such an unrealistic way that it completely took me out of the story, and the three supposedly strong female leads ended up being reduced to prizes in Niall's quest narrative. Boring.
That said, I did enjoy the layering of story within story within story, and the readers do a wonderful job. I finished the book, but if I had it to do over again I would probably skip it.

Hated it

It was so boring that every time I tried to listen to it, I just turned it off. I wanted Christian fiction not the author.

waste of time

One of those books you think is going to get real exciting and have a good ending. WRONG! In fact, it is going along and all of a sudden, jumps so in the story line, that several times I went back and replayed thinking I must have missed a chapter the links in story were so poor and left a lot for you to figure out yourself. Language is also very offensive and if I had realized it was going to be like that would never have purchased. There has got to be better books, buy one of those!

TO MUCH FILTH

"DARLING JIM" SOUNDED LIKE A NICE READ. HOWEVER I DIDN'T GET BEYOND THE SECOND CHAPTER BECAUSE OF THE USE OF THE "F" WORD. IT WAS NOT NEEDED ANK KILLED THE STORY FOR ME. I WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN IT ONE STAR BUT ALL FIELDS HAD TO BE COMPOLETED

Foul language

The story was probably pretty good - couldn't get past the foul language. Sorry I bought itl It would be helpful to include parts that have foul language in the sample so we could be forewarned.

Ridiculous nonsense.

I listened (with growing impatience) to the entire book hoping a story would emerge.
No. Just silly twaddle.
Nothing rings true -- no character development, no sense of time or place.
A definite waste of time.