A Trick of the Dark by B R Collins

September 2009, Bloomsbury
311 pages, Paperback
Review copy

YA, Thriller

Cushions: 4
Paperclips: 1 (strong language, but it is mentioned on the black cover. Mention issue of affair)
Tissues: 4
Yunaleska's recommending rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

I was apprehensive at reading this book after dark. Normally I can't read paranormal unless it is during daylight hours. But, not only did I survive, I loved it! (Yes, I usually love most books I review. But paranormal can give me the heebie jeebies).

A Trick of the Dark follows the story of Zach, a good boy turned delinquent (well the family had moved to France to sort him out) and his sister Annis (known a Anz). Thanks to his father having an affair, they are stuck in France with their still rowing parents, doing up an old house.

Zach has what I call an attitude problem, and swears a lot. I don't blame him entirely for his foul mouth - his father is the same. Annis is the good, sweet sister who is fed up with the arguing, the silence. Her story is told in third person. I really felt for Anz, smiling in a sad way when she explained her parents are acting like children.

Anz and Zach are forbidden to go to the old ruins of the house, because it is falling apart. Naturally Zach hangs out there. Anz follows him down, and is worried the wall will fall on him. It does. It should have killed him - his body gets all broken. And yet he gets up, and looks as if nothing has happened. Other than the fact that he seems very bright in colour (a pale sort of bright). The strange thing - Annis didn't feel good when she was near the wall, or when she saw it all happen.

Zach starts acting strange after that. For someone who was so sure of himself, he is now terrified that the being by the ruins is after him. Anz believes her brother, because she sees him too. Who is the boy? Why is he after Zach?

Neither of their parents believe them because they won't give definitive proof about who is following Zach. As Anz tries to help Zach unravel the mystery, the mystery boy takes interest in her, leading her to have funny spells of weakness and black outs. One such spell has her good-girl reputation tarnished, for Zach tells their parents that she was drinking.

It is a story where a semi-broken family's relations are put to the test. Zach and Anz become close because of Zach's fear of the boy. At least Anz sees the boy. She can't work out why Zach is giving her, or anyone else he touches an electric shock. Putting their heads together they figure out what the problem is. Unfortunately Anz must risk her life to save Zach, whose future is uncertain.

This is a reasonably fast paced thriller, with a twist at every chapter. Initially I didn't understand Zach's point of view, why he was speaking about Anz who wouldn't wake up. After a certain point in the story, it made sense and I actually went back and reread some of his entries to fully understand them.

I could relate to Zach, and later on Anz's feelings of being high on life. Sometimes it is possible to let daily worries slide by, and just enjoy living in the moment. Although their enjoyment was enduced in part by the boy. The identity of the boy is genius - such a clever concept. The way the boy's presence gets stronger, and what Anz has to go through, what she has to almost lose just to fight the boy made me cry. I liked seeing her character change quite dramatically, from the good girl to the carefree one.

The build up to the end is fully justified. I was in floods of tears at the outcome, before it happened and when it did happen. Part of me didn't want to turn over the pages because I guessed what would happen. Yet it made such beautiful reading; the mixture of genuine sadness and pure relief from the nightmare was a compelling read.

I'd say this isn't too scary a supernatural, and would urge some of my more cautious readers to give it go. I get scared quite easily in books: I didn't have nightmares from this one, nor was I worried on being on my own in a house with only a cat for company. To be fair, I haven't been to France near any ruined buildings!

Make sure you check out B R Collins' other book The Traitor's Game.