When the Stars Go Dark is an incredibly atmospheric and dark story that goes deep into the psychological impact of childhood trauma with an intense plot and intense character back stories.
Anna Hart is a missing persons detective in San Francisco. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna's childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever.
As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in.
While the writing is gorgeous and evocative, the subject matter is not - it is dark, traumatic and haunting. McLain takes a hard look at the soul-crushing topic of child abduction/sex crimes, grief and loss, damaged minds and hidden secrets. This is a strongly character driven story and I enjoyed the character development and the exploration of their flaws. The plot draws on the real-life tragedy of Polly Klaas as a parallel story and it is heartbreaking for all it’s reality and conclusion, while similarly linking the fictional, yet no less heartbreaking story of the characters and combining them seamlessly.
