The Deep Dark Descending

A homicide detective hunts down his wife's killers while struggling between his thirst for revenge and a twinge of conscience forbidding him to take the law into his own hands. Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife’s death, even when he believed that a reckless hit-and-run driver was to blame. Haunted by memories both beautiful and painful, he is plagued by feelings of unfinished business. When Max learns that, in fact, Jenni was murdered, he must come to terms with this new information—and determine what to do with it. Struggling to balance his impulses as a vengeful husband with his obligations as a law enforcement officer, Max devotes himself to relentlessly hunting down those responsible. For most of his life, he has thought of himself as a decent man. But now he’s so consumed with anguish and thoughts of retribution that he finds himself on the edge, questioning who he is and what he stands for. On a frozen lake at the US–Canadian border, he wrestles with decisions that could change his life forever, as his rage threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent his entire career bringing to justice.


Genre: Mystery

"Eskens has conjured up a marvelously black spirit of a novel. It's a taut, intelligent, heart-ripping story that explores the darkest places in the human psyche. After each unexpected twist, you'll tell yourself things can't get any worse. And then they do." - William Kent Krueger

"The talented Allen Eskens fulfills the rich promise of his Edgar(R)-nominated debut with this chilling, dark, and sinister thriller. With precision and authority, Eskens's determined cop hero takes one intriguing clue--and pursues it into spiraling disaster. With a deadly surprise around every corner and a bleak undercurrent of noir-like dread, this book will haunt you." - Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Another great, dark, and brooding page-turner from Allen Eskens, with a tragic protagonist who will break your heart. Eskens's characters will haunt you long after you finish reading." - Michael Sears