Abiding Darkness: Author Interview and Book Review

Abiding Darkness: The Black or White Chronicles, Book One

A Book Review

Summers were most reliable.

They always followed spring. They always got hot. And they always promised twelve weeks of pleasure to the three children at Cat Lake.

The summer of '45 lied.

This promising beginning to Abiding Darkness by John Aubrey Anderson hooked me into reading more. Another hook at the end of the first chapter propelled me into the second. But a few well-turned teasers were not enough to hold my interest.

Life in Mississippi in the 1940's was frought with racial tension. Anderson explores this struggle through the life-like voices of his characters. Add on top of that a group of demons intent on bringing about chaos through the destruction of Missy, the golden child of the town, and you've got a story with a lot of potential.

Unfortunately, I didn't see Anderson carry through on that potential. He didn't make me love Missy the way the people of Cat Lake did, so while I could never root for the demons, I also didn't find myself rooting for the little girl, either. I found his action scenes confusing, with too many points of view for me to engage myself in the struggles of any one character.

Anderson has a way with words. He does a great job of making his characters speak like real people, of giving each a distinct voice. I also like the fact that he is exploring supernatural forces in his writing. So, while I can't recommend Abiding Darkness, I will keep my eyes open for later works by this same author. I think he has the potential to write a thrilling yet satisfying read.

A FEW QUESTIONS WITH JOHN AUBREY ANDERSON
Author of Abiding Darkness

(provided by Glass Road PR)

Why did you choose to write in this particular time period?

It's almost as if the series started of its own accord. It chose the 1940s because it was such a special time…it picked the Mississippi Delta of the 1940s because it was a special place. The value system was different back then. People moved at a slower pace over shorter distances and information exchange was limited. The communities were smaller; the people were closer and more involved in each others lives. Also, the people of that day didn't have to be strange to be colorful.

Did you draw from personal experiences to write this novel?

Oh, yes. The adventures and exploits that made up my childhood would provoke the envy of Tom Sawyer, but sharing a small part of them would take more words than I used in the novel. Just think ideal…then add boys, dogs, and energy.

The characters seem very real. Where did you pick up the voices for these people?

I grew up with the people in Abiding Darkness. Granted, some of the characters are compilations of people I've known—half of one person and part of another. For the most part, all I had to do was just tweak them a little, maybe boost the octane in their blood a bit. As soon as I figured out who the characters were, the rest was easy…I let them use the voices they'd used all their lives.

Your book's depiction of demonic thought and activity is often frightening. How have your readers reacted to the book’s intensity?

I appreciate your comment about Abiding Darkness being frightening. When I started this project, I really wanted a fiction work that would steal its reader's sleep—and I got it. I frequently receive reports from people, men and women alike, who have found they can’t read the book at night. Some readers say they won’t read it when they're home alone, others tell me they can only read a page or two at a time, and a final handful talk about becoming so frightened they have to put it aside…all because they are scared of what might happen next. On the other side of that coin are the reports from people who've stayed up all night reading because they couldn't put the book down. The response has been more than gratifying.