Darkness For Light by Emma Viskic

Publisher's Synopsis

After a lifetime of bad decisions troubled PI Caleb Zelic is finally making good ones. He's in therapy, reconnecting with the Deaf community, and reconciling with his beloved wife.

But he can't escape his past.

A violent confrontation forces Caleb back into contact with his double-crossing partner, Frankie. When her niece is kidnapped, Frankie and Caleb must work together to save the child's life. But their efforts will risk everything, including their own lives.

My Review 

“‘Make Good Decisions’ was his new motto. Very new motto. Plastic wrapping just off, a new-car smell to it.”

The 3rd book in the Caleb Zelic series, Darkness For Light follows on from the harrowing events of the previous book, And Fire Came Down. It’s a series notable for the fact that Caleb is deaf, which adds some unique obstacles in his job as a private investigator.

Darkness For Light carries on closely from the previous book and, for those who have not read each of the earlier books in the series, this may leave you a little bewildered as you try to keep up with incidents and people mentioned in the course of this book.

Making a return is Caleb’s ex-partner, Frankie, who has previously done the dirty on him and revealed herself to be somewhat of a criminal.

Frankie is brought back into his orbit by virtue of the fact that her niece, Tilda, has been kidnapped out from under Caleb’s care. Together they set out to find the abductors and retrieve the nine-year-old.

The problem is (well, one of them anyway), Tilda was being minded by Caleb because her mother, Maggie, is in hospital after being attacked in her own home. Maggie has damning documents that are worth killing for and so far, a number of police linked to her case have already been killed.

This once again puts Caleb directly into the crosshairs of some pretty violent people which is pretty much par for the course for the guy.

An added complication comes from the fact that one of his good friends who owns a café for the deaf is being targeted with random attacks designed to put the place out of business. Caleb is called on to find the culprit before things can escalate too much further.

The story charges along at breakneck speed with dangers emerging from multiple angles to create a chaotic atmosphere. There’s certainly very few times in which you can say that Caleb’s in control of his investigation.

What we have come to understand, now that we’re 3 books in, is that Caleb is far, far from perfect and his tendency to charge headlong into dangerous situations keeps the action rolling along. There’s a very good reasons he wills himself to remember his new motto of “Make Good Decisions” ‘cos he kinda keeps putting it to the back of his mind.

A strong feature of the entire series is the attention given to the character development and the way in which they are robustly drawn. Caleb’s interaction with his ex-partner Frankie, his marriage to Kat, which is just holding on by a thread and the super-aggressive Federal Police officer Imogen all provide a deep insight into each character. It ensures there’s a greater emotional stake for the reader in how the story plays out.

Darkness For Light is another quality entry in the Caleb Zelic series and further embeds this as a private investigator to follow. The way in which he seamlessly navigates the obstacles his deafness throws at him provides a further layer of interest and enjoyment to the tale.