Dark Paradise Gene Desrochers

Dark Paradise

Coming back to where he grew up with change the life of Boise in many ways. Wanting to make a difference in his life and starting over again Boise runs into a reporter who sets him on a collision course that might endanger both of their lives. Asking about his friend Roger leads him to investigate and learn more about his death which he seems to feel was murder. The police and the government officials let it go and did not think too much about the death nor do they seem to care. But, looking into it more both he and Dana Goode the reporter who ropes him into being her assistant, learn about the link to sex slavery, the kidnapping of a young girl whose father is wealthy, the connection to her doctor and blogger who seems shady and the link to the history of America that dates back to the Civil War and slavery. Someone is killing black people on this island and no one seems to want to state the fact or notice it. Why?

Boise and Dana find themselves hunted by some dangerous people and when they get too close both seem to become prisoners of these men and hope to escape in one piece.

Throughout the novel Boise and Dana team up to try and find out what happened to Roger, but this investigation is often put on hold when she realizes that there is a young girl named Celia who has been kidnapped but why would two men take her and kidnap her in a building owned by her own father. A rich man who had his daughter beaten and kidnapped is that true and why? A doctor named Earl DeVere who is in this knee deep but how as Dana tries to get information from him and Boise nabs the information off his cell phone learning his connection to Cecil the father.

Thugs on the loose and a woman named Gloria who is Roger’s aunt who has information that will help Boise and the people on this island who are suspicious as he tries to uncover what happened to his drug dealing friend and why. While Dana ropes him into the investigation about the young girl and what is really happening on the island and does it have to do with more kidnappings as Boise tries to befriend some young girls asking about the Lebanese girl who was kidnapped and stonewalled on many levels.

The two that kidnapped Celia are out on bail and a thug named Frankie is who they work for and just how dangerous is this man and why is everyone so tight lipped about Celia’s father as both Dana and Boise risk their lives to get information after getting hurt during the kidnap rescue. Boise throughout the novel tries to fit in with the locals speaking with the same dialect when necessary and hoping to fit in by wearing the right clothes but that does not always work. Lucy his landlady for now seems up on him and she allows him a certain amount of leeway but for how long will he remain where he is and just how far will he go to avenge Roger’s death before more lives are lost or he gets seriously injured?

Jimbo and Derek were the two who kidnapped the young girl but when questioned and evidence comes out what happened to Derek and why did Dana assist Jimbo by allowing him to leave the island with her father who was knee deep in this in a different way. Using the name Sire Goode which was false and realizing that the product sold was his only concern, just who can anyone trust on this island as Boise makes his way to church but first hears from Celia. She is cunning, smart and wants him to help her get off of the island because dear old dad does not want her out of his sight and he agrees. So why does she want Uncle Earl? Lies are told and a culture that is quite different from what Boise remembers when growing up on this island as Aunt Gloria comes back into the picture and he hopes to learn more about Roger and why he was shot and beaten to death.

The author vividly describes the scenery, the locals and their customs and the many different bars that Boise frequents as liquor and beer plus joints are now his staples and his friendship or partnership with Dana odd and unique. Why does she want him around to help her out? What happens when they work apart that upsets her?

Things take on a different turn when we meet Elias who is connected to Roger and yet wants no part of his heritage or anything about his father. Working for a lawyer who protects him in every way thing spiral out of control when Boise interferes in this young man’s life while all he wants to do is go to school and become more than his family is.

Gloria and her friend find themselves in the lawyer’s office and then things spiral out of control and it leads Boise to find out more about Becca who was Elias’s mother and Roger his father. As Celia Jarl keeps calling Boise to get Earl to call her and the author sends shockwaves as we learn their connection and why she was so close to him. Truths, lies, deceptions and a young naïve girl whose father controls her actions and life and when the final reveal about Dr. Earl DeVere’s comes to light you wonder if what she relates is true or what her father wants her to believe.

Phil Gardelin is into drugs and selling. Not anyone you would want anyone associated with, yet he has a strong hold on Elias why? Things take on a different turn as we recall Noa and her conversations with Boise in her father’s store and we meet Becca his mother and the lies created, and the harsh truth comes out as Boise, Elias, Becca and Noa face danger while Dana searches for answers of her own.
Who killed Roger and why? Why would anyone want to hurt him and what was the motive? The ending will change many lives as Boise realizes he might have stepped too far, and the end result might be losing more than what he came to love.

Endings are sometimes beginnings and the truth behind his friend’s death might change it for more than just him if the lives to tell about it. While the killer faces off with him someone might hear it all, but will he be saved in time?

Living in a place where there are many people of different races and having to decide where he belongs as racism is a primary issue, revenge, hate, drugs, love, unrequited love, sadness, hope, and the deceptions and betrayals as author Gene Desrochers created a character with a strong moral fiber, strong ethics, the love of people, loyalties to his friends and the hope to make a difference in this world in place filled with people of many races called Dark Paradise.

Fran Lewis; Just reviews/MJ magazine, MJ Network