Goddess Fish Presents: Cover of Darkness by Gregory Delaurentis

BLURB:  

A high profile murder of a Wall Street executive in Westchester pits three people against the criminal underbelly of Manhattan nightlife. The key players are two ex-cops turned private investigators—Kevin Whitehouse, whose sharpest tool is his keen analytical mind, and David Allerton, a former Special Forces operative—and Margaret Alexander, Kevin’s lover. In their search for a killer, they are forced to travel to the edge of sanity and morality, while stumbling onto their own confusing secrets as well. The Cover of Darkness is a gritty noir saga that untangles a web of deceit in the course of tracking down a brutal murderer.

Book video trailer:  

EXCERPT:  

  

David stopped pacing, and then started working on a rock embedded in the dirt with the toe of his shoe. “I wonder why MacDonald didn’t say anything in the interview about the cops being present. He should have told us that there were cops in the Midnight for protection—making sure the dealers were selling and not using.”

“Maybe,” Kevin ventured, “he didn’t want to drop a dime on his cop friends. Maybe he was frightened.”

“Maybe. That would have helped us a lot,” David said, his eye caught by a shapely girl on a bike riding nearby.

Margaret sat up. “That would also explain how the killer got past the gate and simply walked into the house. He could have been flashing a badge.”

“That makes some sense,” Kevin said. “And certainly cops can kill.”

“They make the best assassins, don’t they?” David quipped.

“So now this is a cop hunt?” Kevin asked.

“I would rather it end here, guys,” Margaret said.

David approached the two and stood over them. “The question is now how to hunt the most dangerous thing in New York. Crossing the thin blue line is not going to be fun or easy.”

“Fun?” Margaret said. “It’s downright dangerous.”

“We can’t go to Ferryman and Reynolds,” Kevin said, nervously running his fingers through his hair, and retrieving his arm from around Margaret as he sat up. “They’ll only go on the defensive. And if the case starts turning in that direction, they’ll only deflect it.”

REVIEW:

"Cover of Darkness" is a fast-paced, action-oriented crime thriller set in a corrupt Manhattan, depicting a city like something straight out of a procedural crime show. The story kicks off with an immediate bang--a high profile triple murder scene. Protagonists Kevin Whitehouse and David Allerton are contacted by their former police captain, Sam Jefferies, regarding the case. The former police officers turned PIs commence with their investigation and the story follows.

Delaurentis has a clean, direct style best characterized as gritty. He gets right to the point and says what he means, although the occasional awkward phrasing disrupted flow. The story is dialogue and action driven. Settings are described so they are easy to envision. As I search for a point of reference, I wanted to compare the portrayal of these private investigators in the way I'd imagine pulp noir books being written in the heyday of crime fiction.

Characterization is clear and distinct. Kevin is a scrawny genius with slovenly habits. David Allerton is the brainy brawn of the dynamic duo whose past training in Special Forces definitely makes him the more formidable of the pair. I really liked Margaret Alexander, a supporting cast character, for her sassiness and feisty spirit. Margaret is Kevin's girlfriend, although I think I'd have preferred her with David. The chemistry between Margaret and David crackled on the page.

There were simply too many instances in the story when scenes started with characters waking up. Mr. Delaurentis, please watch out for this in your next book, which I do hope you'll write.

"Cover of Darkness" is really a story written with a male target audience in mind. I felt relationship dynamics, especially between the partners, needed to be more thoroughly developed.  However, for what it is--a crime thriller--"Cover of Darkness" has a great blend of suspense and action. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a solid mystery thriller.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

BUY LINKS:

1) AMAZON 
2) KOBO 
3) BARNES & NOBLE
4) SONY READER STORE
5) SMASHWORDS  

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

 Gregory Delaurentis spent his adult life roaming from job to job, working for Lockheed in California, various law firms in New York, and financial firms on Wall Street. Throughout this period of time, he was writing—unceasingly—finally producing a large body of work, albeit unrecognized and unpublished . . . until now. Cover of Darkness is the first in a series of upcoming books that include Edge of Darkness, Pale of Darkness and Cries of Darkness. These novels follow the lives of three individuals who do battle bringing criminals to justice, while they struggle to understand the complex relationships that exist among themselves. This intriguing trio has absorbed the attention of Mr. Delaurentis for the past year and a half, so much so he decided to self-publish their stories to bring them to a wider audience. [AUTHOR’S DISCLAIMER: These are works of fiction. Name, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.]

LINKS:

1) http://www.darknessnovels.com/

2) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cover-of-Darkness/435819953132527

3) https://twitter.com/cupgrease

4) http://gregorydelaurentis.blogspot.com/

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