After Dark




By: Phillip Margolin

The book After Dark is set in Portland Oregon. The year is 1934. Abigail Griffen is a judge sentencing a young lady to prison for murder. Abigail is in her late 30’s and when she is not a judge she loves to be at the coffee shop. The young lady that is getting sentenced is Laura. People think that Laura had killed a guy that had raped her but they are not sure if it is her or a guy named Charlie Deems. In the middle of the court case Laura burst out crying and people don’t know why.

The theme that the reader might get from reading this book is too never let your guard down. Also, believe in what you are told. The author represents this by showing how Laura confesses that she had hired Charlie Deems to kill the guy. The judge Abigail tells the young girl if the jury finds her guilty then she will get a harsh sentence.

The author did really well on giving character development. He does this by telling the reader what they look like and how they act. Also he does great on giving the character emotions. He shows the reader what had happened to Laura when she was younger so he does well on flashbacks, realistic details, and many surprises. Thought each chapter there was a lot of suspense. I am really not sure if the book She Said Yes has the same genre but this is the book that it is compared too. This book may remind readers what the family of the girl that died went through. Also it gives specific details on how the boys were sentenced. As readers may read through the book the feelings are very different through each chapter. An audience that would really like this book would be people who are very open minded.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.