Lead Review

• Book: Deep Dark Night
• Location: Chicago
• Author: Steph Broadribb

Review Author: tripfiction

Deep Dark Night is the fourth book in Steph’s Lori Anderson series. Lori started in Book 1 as a California based bounty hunter. She has now morphed into someone working off the books and off the record for a pretty dubious FBI operative, Alex Monroe. This work is not entirely voluntary. Monroe holds information that could damage Lori’s relationship with her partner JT – and their relationship with their daughter, Dakota. They have no choice.

Monroe is obsessed with capturing the head of the Chicago based Cabressa family. Lori and JT are brought in to help. The bait is a priceless chess set which it is known the family head will go to almost any lengths to secure for himself. But Lori has to win his trust. The set is to be used as Lori’s stake in a high value poker game.

The game is held in a secure apartment on one of the top floors of a downtown residential building. Apart from Lori and the family head, the players are mixed bunch of Chicago high flyers. A fair part of the book is taken up with the details of the game… I do not play poker, but I nevertheless found the descriptions fascinating. Then, as the game heads for its climax, a power outage strikes. The apartment they are in goes into a security lock down – no one can physically enter or leave. The atmosphere gets very heated (in more ways than one). And it turns out that the men around the table are not all who they claim to be. They are there for a reason (and not only to play poker).

The book moves to a thrilling and fast paced conclusion with Lori and JT in great danger.

Deep Dark Night is very different from, but every bit as good as, the first three books in the series. The first three operate in wide open spaces – but Deep Dark Night is much more confined (even claustrophobic). Much of the action takes place in just one high rise apartment looking down on Chicago. It’ll be really interesting to see where Steph takes Lori next and how the next book evolves.

All four books are highly recommended. They are classic American thrillers (written, incidentally, by a Brit!)

Back to book