Jessie Duval had a rough childhood. Even for a foster kid, she had a bad time. She spent an entire year locked in a closet, with daily deliveries of food and water, and only a personal CD player with one CD to keep her company. But that disc became her whole world. Country musicians Shelly and Owen James sang songs of home, of love, of a world that burst with hope and family and life. That one CD kept Jessie alive.
Now she’s an adult. Jessie has a job working at a catering company, prepping the food for big events. She lives on her own. She sees a psychologist weekly, as part of her parole. But she’s doing well.
There was a time when she wasn’t. At first when she was on her own, she got a job, saved up her money, and followed the James on their cross-country tour. She got tickets to every concert. She knew every song. She knew how to survive cheaply on the road. And she was known by all the security officers working on that tour. At the last show, there was an incident that got out of control, and Jessie had been arrested. She had been carrying a knife for personal safety, and when the tour security found it, she was arrested and called a dangerous stalker. But she did her time and now she’s getting her life back together.
And then, one of the wait staff at the catering company quits. Jessie’s boss needs her to help at the event as well as doing the prep. And when he comes to her and asks her to sign a non-disclosure agreement for celebrities who will be at the party, Jessie knows. She knows as well as she knows anything that Shelly and Owen James will be there. She knows she shouldn’t go. The restraining order against her is a part of her parole. She can’t find the words to tell her boss that she can’t go.
But when she does cater the event with the James, Jessie finds herself in a web of deceit and danger that she struggles to understand. Will she be able to figure out what’s going on before she finds herself in a situation she can’t escape from, or will she find herself back in jail, separated from the life she was just starting to enjoy?
Nashville resident R. J. Jacobs brings the flavor of the city to his new thriller Somewhere in the Dark. A psychologist himself, he understands the type of damage that extreme childhood neglect can cause, and he gets into Jessie’s head in a sympathetic way.
I enjoyed this novel, but I also struggled. Sometimes I could feel Jessie’s pain and shame and frustration so clearly that it was hard to read. But she is a fantastic character, and a survivor, and I was so glad I got to spend some time with her. Having lived in Nashville a few years myself (many years ago, and no, I did not want to get into the country music business—although even with my limited social life, I knew an aspiring songwriter), it was lovely to get a taste of the city again. It is a wonderful place to live, and there are days I miss it still, so I loved getting a chance to run around it with Jessie was loads of fun.
Somewhere in the Dark is a powerful thriller with some dark moments, but it’s worth taking the trip if you can handle hearing about the extreme child abuse.
Egalleys for Somewhere in the Dark were provided by Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
