Dark Places

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer."

Surrounded with so many depressing themes, Dark Places arouses in readers sympathy that may go deeper than just an observer, but may come from a special place in the heart. Wtih very vivid descriptions of the unfolding of events, the author brought the reader into the minds of the characters, allowing a glimpse of the few hours before the tragedy occurred. Leaving no loose ends and slowly laying out all the details essential in the understanding of the different motives of the characters, the story comes to a finality that would spark strong emotions from the reader. 

With the book focusing on the struggles that a family, living almost on nothing, is facing, it is impossible not to get emotionally involved. Seeing how sacrificies were made just for the sake of love, one might be compelled to look at oneself and ask what he/she is willing to do in order that the family may survive and pass the hardship that they're currently facing. 

"...what a mother might feel for her child...at least she tried. She tried, on that final day, as hard as anyone could have tried. And I would try to find peace in that."