Dark Lady

De: Richard North Patterson

Narrado por: Anne Twomey

In Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson displays the mastery of setting, psychology, and story that makes him unique among writers of suspense, and one of today's most original and enthralling novelists.

In Steelton, a struggling Midwestern city on the cusp of an economic turnaround, two prominent men are found dead within days of each other. One is Tommy Fielding, a senior officer of the company building a new baseball stadium, the city's hope for the future. The other is Jack Novak, the local drug dealers' attorney of choice. Fielding's death with a prostitute, from an overdose of heroin, seems accidental; Novak is apparently the victim of a ritual murder. But in each case the character of the dead man seems contradicted by the particulars of his death. Coincidence or connection?

The question falls to Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz. Despite a traumatic breach with her alcoholic and embittered father, she has risen from a working-class background to become head of the prosecutor's homicide unit. A driven woman, she is called the Dark Lady by defense lawyers for her relentless, sometimes ruthless, style: in seven years only one case has gotten away from her, and only because the defendant took his own life. She has earned every inch of both her official and her off-the-record titles, and recently she's decided to go after another: to become the first woman elected Prosecutor of Erie County. But that was before the brutal murder of her ex-lover--Jack Novak.

Novak's death leads her into a labyrinth where her personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined. There is the possibility that Novak fixed drug cases for the city's crime lord, Vincent Moro, with the help of law enforcement personnel, and perhaps with someone in Stella's own office . . . the bitter mayoral race which threatens to undermine her own ambitions . . . her attraction to a colleague who may not be what he seems . . . the lingering, complicated effects of her painful affair with Novak . . . the growing certainty that she is being watched and followed. Making her way through a maze of corruption, deceit, and greed, trusting no one, Stella comes to believe that the search for the truth involves the bleak history of Steelton itself--a history that now endangers her future, and perhaps her life.

For his uncanny dialogue, subtle delineation of character, and hypnotic narrative, critics have compared Richard North Patterson to John O'Hara and Dashiell Hammett. Now, in the character of the Dark Lady, he has created a woman as fascinating as her world is haunting. Dark Lady is his signature work.©1999 by Richard North Patterson; (P)1999 Random House, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"ENGROSSING . . . TRUE SUSPENSE."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"[A] COMPLEX TALE OF PERSONAL, POLITICAL, AND CRIMINAL BETRAYALS . . . Dark Lady not only keeps you in suspense; it gives you plenty of social and moral questions to ponder."
--The Wall Street Journal

"EXCELLENT . . . ONCE AGAIN PATTERSON REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE A MASTER OF CRAFTING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS. AND THE LONELY, LOVELY STELLA MARZ . . . IS ONE OF HIS BEST."
--USA Today

Corruption in Urban Politics

With "Dark Lady," Richard North Patterson revisits one of the secondary characters from his earlier novel, "Silent Witness," this time putting her in the spotlight. The action, again, takes place in a fictional, decaying Ohio town standing in for Cleveland. In "Silent Witness," Stella Marz served as Assistant Erie County Prosecutor, battling that novel's protagonist, Tony Lord. Tough as nails, sharp as needles, she gave Tony a daunting challenge. Now we get a closer look at her. Her colleagues call her "the Dark Lady," because of her nearly perfect record of convictions -- her only loss having occurred against Tony Lord in the earlier novel. Now, still serving as Assistant County Prosecutor in charge of the homicide unit, she has the opportunity to run for her boss' job, providing that he, in turn, succeeds in his bid for Mayor. Only, things get complicated. The complications all center around the new ball park that the town is building to re-vitalize itself. It seems that everyone -- including the Mob -- wants to skim a bit off the top of this public feed-trough; and some of those skimmers have no qualms about killing people who stand in their way. Enter Stella Marz. "Dark Lady" has a complex plot, with lots of devious, near-impenetrable financial shenanigans. This complexity -- together with the cerebral plot, where much of the action takes place intellectually, rather than physically -- probably prompted some of the previous negative reviews. If you are looking for lots of action, you should probably bypass "Dark Lady." I admit that some of the financial aspects of the plot went over my head. Also, like in his earlier novels, Richard North Patterson includes some objectionable sex scenes in "Dark Lady." However, he continues his perfect record of intelligent, intriguing plots, written well. The reader, Anne Twomey, has a lovely, soft voice, but insufficient range to distinguish all the characters from one another when they are speaking to each other. Sometimes I couldn't tell who was saying what to whom. Also -- voicing my perennial complaint to Audible -- the bookmarks in this audiobook are spaced much too far apart, making it difficult for one to navigate on one's iPod. (I think that Audible has corrected this problem on more recent publications.) If you are thinking of purchasing this audiobook, I recommend listening to "Silent Witness" first. You don't need to do so -- "Dark Lady" stands alone -- but I enjoyed recognizing the earlier characters when they made their appearances here.

Dark Lady

Another great book from this author, but Narrator is hard to listen to. The book is so good I put up with her.

All talk, no action

I am a mystery fan, and love long complex English myteries like those by PD James. With this in mind, I am struggling to finish this book, and I am 30 minutes from the end of a 14 hour LONNGGG book. It is 14 hours of conversations, and without action, it gets tedious. Like everyone else I kept wondering what it was leading up to, waiting for the action packed surprise ending. Still waiting, and wading through the diolog. I cannot recommend it.

Very dark

Not one of of this author's best.

What a Yawner!

I'm half-way through this thing, hoping it will speed up, somehow turn a corner, and become more interesting. It's just not happening. Think I'll move on to another title. This one's just not making it.

My advice - don't waste your money.