Darkness on the Edge of Your Seat

By Herb Plasket

One can almost feel the excitement of debut author Paul Greene penning the lines of his new novel. This book is a refreshing treat. On the one hand, we have a pastoral, cottage setting for the perfect family of Officer Hicks. On the other, we have the harsh reality of a psychotic killer who impinges on their domestic bliss. The warm-heartedness of Officer Hicks’ family life is in stark contrast to the “darkness on the edge of town,” the title of a Bruce Springsteen song author Greene has borrowed as the title of his novel.
What is disturbing about this novel, and which makes it a real page-turner, is that the psycho is one of us, a classic example of the boy next door, the guy you’d least suspect. Joel Gibbins is a mild-mannered, unassuming, seemingly innocuous boy next door in a small town where nothing ever happens till he goes on a murderous rampage of mutilation and cruelty, targeting young females he picks out, stalks and then kills. There is a method to his madness, despite the senselessness of the killings.
What is even more disturbing is that there is no reason or excuse for Joel being the way he is. He was not an abused child, poor or from a broken home. His parents were the epitome of a nice loving couple. So what’s his excuse? As he himself admits, he hasn’t got one. His first love is a classic unrequited love scenario. So he kills the one who spurns him, and enjoys it so much, he develops a taste for it. It seems his appetite for revenge can never be satisfied. Once bitten, he is never shy. He cannot be satisfied till he ruins the life, dreams and hopes of every promising young beauty he finds.
Joel is the friendly nerd with supportive parents. He comes from a good home and seems devoted to his mom and dad, a model son. But his alter ego is the ultimate Prodigal Son, a wanderer, a stalker, someone who travels around looking for his next victim. He has high standards. He looks for sweetness of temperament, a quiet innocence, someone who would make the ideal wife and offer domestic bliss. In one fell swoop, he descends upon the hapless victim, destroying all her future dreams, hopes and prospects, while destroying the life of her suitors, all those who might have had their hearts set on winning her hand in marriage and building the perfect life together.
In the end, there is no one that presents a greater target then Officer Hicks. He is the object of his envy and hatred because he has the perfect life and family he has always wanted but could never have. Though Hicks had hoped to retire from policing for good, Joel persistent letters, notes and messages, sometimes left at the crime scene, prick Kicks’ conscience and sense of duty. Before long, he is roped back in to Homicide investigation.
Perhaps the most suspenseful part of the novel is when Officer Hicks’ colleague, Dr. Suzanne Sykes, enters the fray. A clever professional, her science of pathology is a window to the human soul and all the darkness it contains. For her, darkness is not on the edge but in the heart of town, but her professionalism holds sway despite the danger and the odds of survival.
The cat and mouse game Joel plays with the police is reminiscent of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. On one level, the killer seems intent on being caught in hopes of bringing his murderous rampage to an end. The endless goading and leaving of clues is done with compulsion, revealing a repressed guilt and a subconscious desire to be caught. Will he be? That is for you the reader to find out.