Book Review: HERE IN THE DARK by Alexis Soloski

For us thespians and drama lovers, gore is a prop knife and some paint-soaked gelatin. For Alexis Soloski’s protagonist, that’s what it used to be too until she gets embroiled in something more twisted than she’s accustomed to watch from the stalls. Here in the Dark is the former critic and current culture reporter’s first novel. It shows. Though the story itself is nothing to write home about, Soloski captures the magic of theatre exquisitely.

The author obviously understands the gravity of being a critic, as well as the compassion and ruthlessness that come with the role, so she infuses the tale with delicate descriptions of the spellbinding contract between the audience and the artist while she justifies the casualties of the profession. The outright fanaticism tends to be cheesy here and there, but remains delightful throughout.

A highly intelligent and slightly arrogant cynic as a main character helms the investigative noir set against a bleak view of the business. Vivian Parry is New York’s sharpest critic. Eager to become Chief Critic, she agrees to an interview with a mysterious graduate student but, when he suddenly vanishes, she turns into an amateur detective and obsessively tries to determine what happened to him. Between the eyerolls caused by the improbable exchanges you'll only find in D-list films and the incredibly healthy theatrical discourse, the book is an entertaining creation. While Soloski bites the dialogue harshly or draws it out until realism has become only a shadow of itself, this camp artifice of hers is balanced by a rich, gifted descriptive eye.

Vivian hates everything contemporary, thinks experimentalism is dead, loathes novelty, and is a secret raging alcoholic. In truth, she comes off quite insufferable and is thoroughly unlikeable (we're still unsure if this is intentional or not). An actress in her own life and a self-professed feminist, she is a master at backhanded misogyny between the whiffs of misanthropy and curated pretension she gives. While some of the plot edges on the grotesque, Here in the Dark is, in essence, a love letter to the dramatic craft mixed with a light sociopolitical critique.

The typically American mishandling of justice, the bold exploitation of loopholes, and the brazen unconcern for people’s safety are all themes to be found between the tangents about special effects and stage directives. The enchanting allure of New York City can be a bit overdone and the charm of the industry a tad too dreamy, but there’s enough fine poetry buried below the clichés. It’s undeniably absorbing in parts and scratches an itch we didn’t know we had until we come to a hasty conclusion.

Like a child who gets bored of her toy, the story is abandoned with an inexcusable level of irresolution. Vivian’s trauma is left knotted and unexplored, so all the background work Soloski did to build her persona becomes relatively void of direction. It’s a shame that, right when our anti-hero could let us in an inch more, she disappears. When a thriller is good, it lingers in you in an enticing way. In this case, it's only the fiery passion for the theatre that stays.

Here in the Dark is published by Raven Books (a Bloomsbury Publishing imprint).

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