CROSSING DARKNESS has a cinematic flair that imbues its scenes with life, from vivid settings—such as Paris and Berlin—to snappy dialogue that is reminiscent of a fast-paced action thriller. The year is 1919 when American Marine John Griffin gets a secret mission from the president himself. Ex-marine William Mitchell is Griffin’s close friend and ally who solved a mystery with him in the previous novel. In this book, Griffin is shown to care about Mitchell’s well-being and even put it above his own—and their friendship often acts as comic relief: “You look like you want to kill someone,” a character tells Griffin. Mitchell responds, “He always looks like that.”

Author Alexander C. Juden masterfully builds tension in the early pages, immediately setting such high stakes that it borders on the overwhelming. John Griffin is in the hospital and his lover is dead, but this barely scratches the surface of the ever-building plot. The villains are shocking (as with any great thriller, there are betrayals and twists), and their motivations are grotesque. The stakes are heightened so quickly and often that readers may be tempted to finish the book in one sitting, despite its length.

John Griffin is a strong protagonist, combining genre tropes that work well—such as his past in the Marines and his grief for his lover—with valuable traits that are rarer in political thrillers, such as his open-mindedness and self-awareness. Griffin is in his early twenties, and he is aware of the limitations of his youth. Furthermore, the young ex-Marine makes it a point to listen to his allies and collaborators, especially the sinister and gorgeous Madame Marie Masson, a French spy. Secondary characters are also fleshed-out and intriguing, such as Patricia Armistan, a morally complicated widow whose desire for vengeance matches John’s. However, there are many tertiary characters who are introduced in rapid succession and don’t play a large role in the plot—especially the historical cameos like Walt Disney, whose placement in the book seems random. Still, the fictional characters are robust, well-developed, and even sympathetic at times.

Straightforward prose moves each scene quickly to the next, but Juden grabs opportunities to luxuriate in each new setting. The author is at his most literary when he describes war-torn cities, such as young women selling sex in Berlin: “Young children wearing cosmetics pulled at our clothes, and old, clown-like trollops in their war paint called after us.” The writing occasionally offers unnecessary expository details, which state to the reader what they ought to have picked up through context. Still, Juden is a strong writer, excelling in his literary descriptions, exhilarating plot, and complicated characters.

In CROSSING DARKNESS, Alexander C. Juden delivers a fast-paced historical thriller that deftly incorporates post-WWI politics, European espionage, and complicated personal relationships.

~Leah Block for IndieReader