Book Nook: Dark Debts, by Karen Hall

Twenty years ago Karen Hall published her novel "Dark Debts." It was a best seller. Hall has had a long and distinguished writing career. She has been a writer, creative consultant, and producer with many credits for her work on TV shows including "The Good Wife," "Hill Street Blues," "Northern Exposure," "Roseanne," "Moonlighting," and "M*A*S*H." Hall has kept her hand in the book business too; she and her husband are the proprietors of an independent book store in North Carolina. Fans of that first and only novel, "Dark Debts," have probably been wondering if she would ever publish a new one. To mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of "Dark Debts" she has published a new book, in a way. Apparently the author had some serious misgivings about that original book. Hall has just published a new, revised version of her original best seller. This reviewer cannot say how the latest incarnation of "Dark Debts" is different from the previous book for obvious reasons. If I had actually read the original book which I haven't I still could not reveal any alterations that she has made to the original story. That might ruin things for the current generation of readers who have not yet experienced this dark and disturbing tale of satanic possession and family violence. "Dark Debts" bears a title derived from a quotation attributed to Gary Gilmore. He wrote a poem that contained the line "too few dark debts are ever paid." Some readers might recall that Gilmore was a convicted killer who insisted that his death penalty sentence must be delivered in the manner that he preferred, by firing squad. And it was. Gilmore's brother Mikal, a writer for "Rolling Stone," was the person who initially inspired Hall to write this book. The story opens with a prologue. The setting is a courtroom in Manhattan where a Jesuit priest named Michael is preparing to testify. Michael understands that the things he is about to say will enrage his superiors. Then we shift to Los Angeles. It is one year later and a woman named Randa, a newspaper reporter, has just arrived at the scene of a suicide. A man has leaped from a building. Randa isn't there to cover the story. The man, Cam Landry, was her former boyfriend. Randa had not seen Cam for a year. Then out of the blue he called her to insist that she should come over to see him right away. When she arrived he was already dead. The police are asking her questions and she is mystified. Why did he call her? What did he want? Why did he jump? She doesn't know. We expect these seemingly unrelated characters, Michael the priest in New York, and Randa the reporter in California, will eventually connect. The paranormal link between them is down in Georgia. Randa, Michael, and the late Cam all grew up there. That is where this sinuous tale ultimately unravels. One of Cam's brothers was executed for his crimes. Another brother drowned. Their parents both died by their own hands. Cam's family, the Landrys, appear to have been cursed. With Cam's death there's only one of them still left living, a mysterious brother named Jack. "Dark Debts" takes readers on an electrifying journey through the hideous history of a frightening family. Their dark deeds have spawned a million nightmares. Some satanic creatures can never receive enough EXORCISE.