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ONLY DARKNESS by Danuta Reah HarperCollinsUK, July 2000 260 pages 5.99 GBP ISBN: 0006513158 Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Deborah Sykes is a lecturer at a college in small city in northern England. Her job isn't all that she would like, her house isn't all that she would like, but she's young and hopeful. Then comes the night when she's late getting to the train station after work and her imagination gets the best of her. There's a serial killer on the loose, a woman who often waits for the train with her isn't there, and the light over the platform seems to have been deliberately broken. No wonder she almost panics when she sees a shadowy figure at the top of the only exit.

In just four pages, Danuta Reah has set the hook that will reel in all suspense-loving readers. And Reah surely knows how to do suspense. She knows how to let up and start up until one's heart is racing. That shadowy figure doesn't pursue Debbie Sykes; in fact, that shadowy figure may not have been there. When Debbie's train arrives, she looks back and sees no sign of anyone. Maybe she's just on edge.

Or maybe she isn't. The next day, a body is discovered near the train tracks. The corpse's missing eyes indicate that the serial killer has struck again. When a photograph of the woman appears in the newspaper, Debbie recognizes her as the woman with whom she'd often shared the platform and she realizes that the shadowy figure could well have been the killer. Ever the good citizen, Debbie goes to the police, but doing her civic duty leads to a nightmare worse than any she's ever dreamed.

A reporter for the local paper gets wind of Debbie's story and headlines his article "I Saw the Face of the Strangler." From that point on, Debbie's life begins to change. Does the killer believe she's a threat? Do the police take seriously that possibility that she is now at risk? Are the little things that start to happen just part of life's usual peculiarities or is something sinister going on? And what about college security office Rob Neave? Is he who he seems? Is his interest in Debbie a general concern for her welfare or a sign of growing affection? Or maybe something darker?

Only Darkness is an amazing first novel. Atmospheric, dark, and terrifyingly believable. Reah provides a strong sense of place and well-drawn characters. While there is none of that "written for the screen" tone that seems to be increasingly common in novels of suspense, one can't help imagining the movie that Hitchcock could have made. This is a "must read" for those who love those rare books that make you a little uneasy about turning off the lights.