Perhaps the challenge to seek enlightenment isn’t intended solely for the characters. Andrea and Phoebe both endured brief, hollow, unrequited lives that resulted in senseless, haunting deaths.
Andrea chose a life in the fast lane chock full of vice and temptation. Ultimately, her toxic passion takes a fiery literal turn when she crashed a stolen car into a tree.
Phoebe’s ghost seeks companionship. Having moved from Ireland as a youth, she just wanted to be accepted. But rumors, fueled by jealousy, circulated school about the new blue-eyed Irish beauty. Soon, she realized friendship was an unattainable privilege, not an option. Phoebe came to the woods soon after she died.
“As my body hangs here tonight, let my soul burst through this broken body and into the light.”
Martin would rather hurl his body into the ocean than face the ultimate outcome of the life he shared with his ailing wife. Stomach cancer is unforgiving like that.
Young Matt certainly dreams of great things for himself. Yet, he is unable to channel his efforts into realizing any condition beyond that of the mediocre town and family in which he lives. In his world, the only certainty is the inevitable outcome of becoming the next bitter rendition of his vinegary father.
OUT OF THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS is grim and stark. Sometimes, it’s downright creepy. Yet, the reader may just discover common ground within one’s self and the characters portrayed on these pages; lives plagued with regret, cowardice, dysfunction, hopelessness and apathy. Consider this assembly of souls a wake-up call to look at your life and build a better one – that is when light truly emerges out of the darkness.
Reviewed by J’Nel Wright for IndieReader.