Posted December 30, 2016 – Globe and Mail – Link to post
The Darkhouse
By Barbara Radecki
Dancing Cat Books, 244 pages, $14.95
It turns out that the creepiest place to set a thriller is a remote island off the coast of New Brunswick. This is Toronto author Barbara Radecki’s debut and it’s a showstopper. Fifteen-year-old Gemma lives with her father, a ferry driver and aspiring scientist who spends hours in a locked shed working on his “experiments.” Gemma has only a few adult island dwellers for friends as she’s not permitted to the leave the island for fear of her violent, estranged mother. Or, that’s what she’s told. When a mysterious woman visits the island, things start to get weird. And scary. And unpredictable. Radecki throws in gasp-worthy twists and takes the plot far beyond the boundaries of expectation – about 100 gripping pages past where most novels would end. It’s a smarter and more sinister The Face on the Milk Carton for this generation.
