Cody McFayden has created quite a series - His first book of the series, Shadow Man, introduced us to Smoky Barrett, an FBI agent that has faced evil literally. A killer came to her house in the darkness of night, tortured her husband and daughter, killed her husband, and as Smoky got a weapon to shoot the killer, the killer places the child as a shield and she accidentally kills her own daughter. Then the killer plays with Smoky for a time, disfiguring her face with a knife. All this as a backstory to take us to the plot of Shadow Man.
McFayden takes us into the Darkness of evil more than most writers have done, and it is chilling and oh so tempting to keep reading to find who will win in this timeless battle.
McFayden's latest Smoky Barrett book, The Darker Side, has Smoky in Washington, DC. An influential woman has personally asked for her help, and the lady is buds with the FBI biggies, so she can swing getting Smoky to help. The lady's child is a transexual who was murdered in an airplane! The killer sat next to her and no one can identify him - He did leave a 'calling card' - he opens his victim's side post mortem, and inserts a cross that has a cryptic message.
Turns out this person has been doing this for quite some time. He is like a dark angel - avenging what he thinks is his own agenda of truth and justice. In the name of God.
Smoky and her colorful, brilliant crew are surprised when this killer uses a You-Tube-like Internet site to film his interpretation of the murders and actually films the victims' 'confessions' and murders...
Intense, grim, vivid. Not many people could write with this type of intensity. I found myself reading 200 of the 350 or so pages of this book in one day - and I always have a 'rule' when you can't break away from a book after 50-100 pages, you have a winner!
For those who have not read this series, start with Shadow Man, the proceed to The Face of Death, then ease into The Darker Side. That way, you will know all you need to know about Smoky Barrett and her FBI co-workers, her kith and kin.
It is worth the reading.
ellen george
The Darker Side by Cody McFayden, ISBN 978-0-553-80694-6, Bantam Publishing, review by ellen george
