City Dark: A Thriller
A vanished mother, the grip of darkness, a lifelong mystery. Forty years later, a prosecutor faces them all again, this time as a murder suspect in a pulse-pounding legal thriller of psychological suspense.
On a steaming night in 1977, New York City is plunged into darkness and two boys, Joe and Robbie, are abandoned by their mother, Lois. Forty years to the day after this unforgivable moment, Joe is a hard-drinking ADA and Lois has resurfaced: Joe wakes from another alcoholic fog to learn she's been found murdered on a Coney Island beach.
Joe throws himself into his work, struggling to reconcile his memories of Lois with the relative stranger found by the NYPD. And when another murder hits close to home and DNA links Joe to both crimes, he sinks deeper into the abyss. Joe can't remember a thing. His last hope as the evidence mounts against him is Aideen Bradigan, a brilliant and dogged lawyer from his past.
It will take Aideen's drive and Joe's own shrewd legal mind to uncover a potentially terrifying truth--and to shatter the devastating secrets that claw back to that fateful night in the dark.
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Roger A. Canaff is a former New York City special victims prosecutor and author of Bleed Through, winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award and the second in the Alex Greco ADA series. Previous novels include Among the Dead and Copperhead Road. He began his prosecutorial career in historic Alexandria, Virginia, served as president of the board of directors of End Violence Against Women International, and is a charter member of CounterQuo, an organization challenging the way our culture responds to sexual violence. Currently Roger teaches undergraduate and law school classes and trains and consults nationally and internationally. He lives and works in New York City. For more information, visit www.rogercanaff.com/about.
"Canaff keeps the reader guessing to the end about what happened to Robbie on that fateful night. This character-driven family drama satisfies." --Publishers Weekly
"With a nicely honed mix of dark passages and surprising revelations, City Dark is a gritty, cleverly plotted, and well written police procedural that will intrigue mystery fans." --San Francisco Book Review
"A pulse pounding thriller from a New York insider. When NYC goes dark, two brothers' lives are forever altered. Part legal thriller. Part police procedural. City Dark will thrill every reader." --Robert Dugoni, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
"A mix of police procedural and legal drama, City Dark is entirely thrilling. Roger A. Canaff asks how far we can trust our loved ones... and if we can even trust ourselves. This twisty, devious story kept me up until all hours, frantically turning pages with white-knuckled fingers." --Hilary Davidson, bestselling author of Her Last Breath
"In the depths of the historic New York City Blackout, the ultimate betrayal occurs. A riveting psychological thriller, City Dark is a probing drama that will anchor you to your seat until the bitter end." --David Swinson, author of The Second Girl
"Dark family secrets haunt this gritty and intriguing novel, which is both a sharply-observed police procedural and layered family drama. A unique and memorable read." --Zoe Rosi, author of Pretty Evil
"With City Dark, author Roger Canaff tears the top off the New York City crime story list and waves it like a battle flag. City Dark is a waking nightmare of murder, dread, doubt and violent, secret history and a sure bet for another list: the Edgar Award for best mystery." --Mark Bergin, retired police officer and award-winning author of Apprehension
"In this gorgeous and shattering novel from powerful new voice Roger A. Canaff, two young brothers must navigate their way through New York City during a blackout after their mother goes to get gasoline and never comes back. Something happens to the boys on their trek through the city, something that changes them irreparably. Decades later when the woman who abandoned them turns up murdered, it's finally time to deal with the consequences of that terrible night." --Molly Odintz, CrimeReads
