The Dark House

Rating:
Summary: A Fine First
Review: A great beach book that traces the unpeeling of a long-suppressed mystery locked within a flawed protagonist. Rare in most thrillers, the character development actually works and the character becomes more interesting as the book moves along.

Rating:
Summary: Page-Turning Fun
Review: Did I love this book? No, but it certainly kept me up past my usual bedtime for a few nights trying to read another page because, no matter how predictable or coincidental the plot sometimes seemed, the story was voyeuristically compelling and rarely boring. I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates a fresh mystery (although I kept thinking of David Lynch's Blue Velvet, especially early on). The characters were pretty well drawn and I rarely wondered what their motivation was, which I think is key to this type of novel. Don't expect The Dark House to win any literary awards, but don't be surprised if the person on the beach next to you this summer gets sunburned because they don't want to stop reading long enough to put on sunblock.

Rating:
Summary: Not just a who-done it.
Review: Edward Rollins is not your typical voyeur, he has a good job, lots of money, and of course comes from a family with a twisted past.

Edward likes to follow people, while driving, he picks people, either by the type or color of their car, and decides he is going to follow them to their destination. His mistake is the Audi he has chosen to follow, for the man drives to a secluded house (the dark house of the title), and is about to make Edward's life hell. Rollins confides in a co-worker, and armed with a hand-held recorder(to record every detail of their mission), the two begin following the man.

As Edward's game becomes deadly serious, he realizes he may not have actually chosen to follow this man, BUT the man may have actually chosen Edward.

"The Dark House" began with a great premise, and good pacing, but as the story line unfolds, leading the mystery man to have connections to Edward's family past, things get very slow, and painful to read. There are spots of BAD dialogue between characters, and too many characters are brought in, for no apparent reason.

John Sedgwick does show promise of being a suspense writer, but he should focus more on the suspense aspect of the plot, rather than the time spent detailing all characters, and family history.

Nick Gonnella

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: Sedgwick's character is a perverted boring loser. Worst book I've ever read--well, almost read. Talentless. End of story.

Rating:
Summary: Romance, Family Dynamics, Mystery add up to real thrills
Review: The Dark House takes you on the ride of your life. Starting out with the main character Edward Rollins, a damaged soul, riding in his car, following random people to their homes and ending with a building strength and catharsis of Rollins, this book is extremely well written. Rollins definitely has problems, but as the reader starts viewing him as psychologically damaged by his circumstances, he becomes less and less screwed up---and more of a classic protagonist. In The Dark House everything has a reason as well as a connection to the story. If I didn't enjoy it so much I would have been put off by some of the coincidences found in the plot (but NO LOOSE ENDS in this work). The writing was excellent, plot intense, while the scenes and individuals were interesting and stimulating.

Rating:
Summary: A+ For Suspense
Review: This book is awfully good for a first novel. Suspense is hard to create! And Sedgwick does it like a pro in "The Dark House." For page after page we read on because questions are burning in our minds. And with each chapter we plunge deeper into the darkness with more questions. To me it matters not that the resolution is somewhat less than satisfactory. Because it always is. The question, the mystery-- these things urge us on. This is a stylish mystery. With great suspense. And it's set in Boston, New Hampshire and Vermont. I recommend this highly and look forward to Sedgwick's next novel.

Rating:
Summary: Can you say lame?
Review: This book was boring beyond belief. The story was predictable and transparent, and the characters were completely unrealistic. If you are looking for something to help you sleep at night, this could be a find. Ohterwise, just pick up the dictionary, which in my opinion is more interesting.