City Dark

A Thriller

By: Roger A. Canaff

Narrated by: Michael Orenstein

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.

©2022 Roger A. Canaff (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“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

great story

all excellent messages ever!!!!! this author can record many from his past experiences

Sorry there aren’t more from this author

Storyline was great and just twisty enough to make it a great listen. Highly recommended! AAAA+++

Page-turner that will surprise you!

I liked that the flashbacks enlightened the reader very gradually. The twists at conclusion were gripping. Well worth your time!

Thin

The story had potential, but the ending was both obvious and abrupt. No character was adequately developed. The author couldn’t see to decide if it was Joe’s story or the detective’s story. I finished the book because I needed a bit of mind candy after a book that was gut wrenching. But I’ll not listen to anything else by this author. I expect even thrillers to have some development. This was pitiful.

40 years

The story spans 40 years, though it it is mainly the beginning and end years. Numerous jumps back and forth brought slow illumination. The pacing was okay. The end was good, though I think it could have been more satisfying with little effort. The narrator did well, but everyone had a New York accent so it is hard to judge from a narrow band.