The Debut Review: HERE IN THE DARK

Alexis Soloski’s debut HERE IN THE DARK is a clever, twisty, and completely unique suspense told through the lens of a New York City theater critique, set in the early 2000s.

Vivian Parry’s life revolves around the theater. She counts the hours between the closing of one curtain and the opening of the next. A former actress, she now works as a theater critic at a Manhattan magazine where she is known for her deep-cutting reviews. When Vivian gets approached by a graduate student hoping to interview her about her career, she reluctantly agrees. What follows is less of a dive into the world of critiquing, and more of a look at Vivian’s own hidden past. Two weeks later, she learns that her interviewer has disappeared without a trace, and she was the last person to see him. Vivian finds herself getting more intrigued with and involved in this mysterious disappearance. But in order to find out what truly happened, Vivian has to sacrifice pieces of herself.

With a complex female protagonist, fans of Gillian Flynn and Alice Feeney will be mesmerized by Vivian Parry. This is a thriller that will stick with readers and have them shocked by each twist that follows until the very last page.

We have the pleasure of getting to know debut author Alexis Soloski, hearing all about writing HERE IN THE DARK and where she finds inspiration.

HERE IN THE DARK is available for download on Edelweiss know more. LibraryReads votes due by November 1st.

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What is something that made you smile today?

I finally saw the Barbie movie! The all-Ken dance number.

Favorite writing snack/drink?

I have a slightly worrying kombucha habit. 

Book[s] you always reread?

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; THE BIG SLEEP; THANK YOU, JEEVES; GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES; OUR MAN IN HAVANA; TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

Next on your TBR?

I’m working my way through the Dorothy B. Hughes canon. 

What has been the best part of your debut journey?

Holding the ARCs in my sweaty little hands. But also that funny, floaty feeling when I learned the book had sold.

What’s it like writing something that is so close to your life?

Everyone thinks this! Even my mother! When she discusses the character she’ll say “you” and I’ll have to gently remind her that I barely drink and have slept with zero NYPD officers. I’d say that Vivian and I share an exhaustive knowledge of Western theater and some overlaps in work history and taste (Strindberg 4eva), but that’s where the resemblance ends. 

What media has inspired your writing?

Midcentury crime fiction and thousands of nights spent in the theater.

Do you have a favorite library?

I don’t mean to brag. No, I absolutely mean to brag: I am a Power User of the Brooklyn Public Library and most often found at the central branch.

What was it like getting into Vivian’s mindset while writing the book?

She’s very sad, but she’s also very funny. So it’s this very whiplash combination of all the damage and all the wit.

The twist in the book was unlike any other that I’ve read. Did you go into writing it already knowing what the twist would be?

Maybe this is a terrible thing to confess, but I didn’t. My playwright friend says that there are two kinds of writers, panthers and plotters. Plotters outline the story beforehand, panthers track the scent, not knowing where it will lead. I am a clumsy, lolloping kind of panther. 

If there was one musical theater soundtrack to go along with HERE IN THE DARK, what would it be?

There aren’t a lot of noir musicals. City of Angels probably comes the closest. The ones I play the most often are The Secret Garden, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Hair.

What’s the last play you saw?

Half of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe in London. We were standing in the groundlings section and ducked out at intermission for ice cream.

HERE IN THE DARK by Alexis Soloski; 9781250882943; 12/5/23