This is an enjoyable, "small" crime fiction novel that I best describe as being a book where the good people try to do good things and the right things while those of lesser qualities try to prevent them from doing so mainly by being themselves.

The characters all know each other and for years. The story opens with an accidental death that takes on different meanings depending upon the perspectives of others and at times, for the use of different characters and their selfish motives.

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After Rookie Patrolman Ronnny Forbert stops a speeding car because of a burned out headlight, things quickly turn ugly. The road is icy, hilly, and dangerous. When the car finally stops, he realizes that he has a couple connections with the driver, Matt Laferiere, and two of the other passengers. The fourth passenger is still in high school. Ronny plans to issue a warning and let them go but Matt refuses to cooperate with Ronny’s routine requests, escalates the situation, and ends up being killed by a hit-and-run driver.
The town in which they live has political leaders who relish being big fish, even though it is a small pond. Police Chief Gordy Hawkins tries to conduct a routine investigation to find the hit-and-run driver and close the case but one set of parents, and their lawyer, insist that Ronny murdered their son. Things go downhill from there as Ronny fights to save his reputation and job.
There are several basic procedural errors, most importantly, perhaps, is not getting statements from the three others in the car before releasing them. The effect of that action affects the entire case.
Small town corruption, a very insecure police officer, and plain old gossip are further complications.
Interesting observations:
“Excessive speed on a bad road leads to bad consequences. But what we do afterward can lead to bad perceptions in the political world.”
“There’s a whole new ideology that government, in any form, is an unnecessary evil.” There’s nothing that’s looked at without suspicion.
“Loneliness is not a state of being, you know. It’s a reaction to a state of being, which is simply being alone. And you chose both of them.”
“The one thing that really fries me? It’s when someone sees a tragedy as an opportunity to advance themselves. The complete lack of decency.”
“Time is just something people make up to worry about.”
The story flows well and is basically well told. Much of it is in the form of flashbacks. There is some repetition and a couple errors that should have been caught during the editing process: “At approximately 24:30" and “He died of a staff infection.” ( )

I won this print and agreed to give it an honest review. This is a story of guilt, vengeance, and corruption in a small town. Ronny Forbert the son of a drunk carpenter, wanted to do more with his life, as a rookie officer, he was on patrol when he spotted a car with one head light moving too fast on the black ice. He hit the lights and gave chase, but it started the downfall of one tragic event after another. With his girlfriend's ex boyfriend drunk and behind the wheel, it was a recipe for disaster. ( )

Thomas Cobb's novel Darkness the Color of Snow is the story of a sudden and violent death and the repercussions of that death on the lives of the people inhabiting the town of Lydell. On a cold night in the last weeks before Christmas, Officer Ronny Forbert pulls over a Jeep Cherokee for speeding. Inside the Jeep is Matt Laferiere and three of his friends. All of them have been drinking and show signs of intoxication. As Forbert tries to detain Laferiere, there is a struggle, and Laferiere ends up sprawled on the highway just as another vehicle comes speeding over the rise. It's too late to do anything. Laferiere is killed and the other vehicle hardly even slows down before speeding down the highway out of sight. The tragedy occurs in the blink of an eye, but the aftermath fills the next 280 pages. Lydell is a small town and everyone either knows or has at least heard of everyone else. Matt--a small-time thief and general troublemaker--and Ronny have a history. Ronny, once a member of Matt's crew, is now dating Vanessa Woodridge, Matt's former girlfriend. The police, led by Chief Gordy Hawkins, start an investigation into the incident. Years earlier Gordy shepherded Ronny out of Matt's sphere of influence and gave him a chance to redeem himself, and Ronny made good on the promise Gordy saw in him. Gordy wants to protect Ronny from the fallout of the hit-and-run. But once Martin Glendenning, a corrupt and vindictive town counsellor, gets involved the whole thing goes off the rails. Matt's parents won't listen to reason and are convinced their son was murdered by his former friend. The media airs a story supporting that theory, complete with the testimony of an anonymous witness who claims it was indeed a murder. Soon the entire town has been whipped into a frenzy, and Gordy is being pressured to sacrifice Ronny to appease the loudest voices on the town council, who are willing to condemn the young officer before the investigation is even complete. On suspension and cast adrift, Ronny makes one bad choice after another. The story in outline has great potential and will probably make a terrific movie. Cobb is aiming for moral tragedy on the scale of Andre Dubus and Cormac McCarthy, but unfortunately falls far short. What's missing is any sense that these characters and their decisions matter. One problem is the sketchiness of the writing, which gives token acknowledgement to the emotional depth of troubled lives before skipping all too quickly on to the next event. Narrative momentum is to be commended, but in this case it comes at the expense of characterization. It's impossible to visualize the main characters because we hardly know them. We don't see the expressions on their faces. We don't see the gestures they make when they think no one is looking. The action also wraps up so abruptly it's jarring. It's as if the author grew tired of the novel he was writing and decided to move on to something else. Darkness the Color of Snow succeeds in telling an engaging story in an entertaining manner, but fails by not measuring up to the publicity blurb, which claims it is "haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly written." ( )

What really did happen the night of the accident?

Ronny kept asking himself over and over if it was his fault or if Matt caused his own death. Ronny and Matt had been friends throughout high school but now Ronny was a police officer and Matt was still the trouble-making kid he had always been.

DARKNESS THE COLOR OF SNOW takes the reader from present day back to Ronnie and Matt's high school days letting us in on their antics and how they fell apart and where they are today.

DARKNESS THE COLOR OF SNOW also touches on the topic of small towns and the way corruption can occur with its officials.

I truly did not like Martin who was the head of the town council. He was a corrupt official who was doing illegal things but made himself appear to be the good guy to the public.

Ronny was a sweet kid who seemed to always get the short end of the deal.

Matt was not a nice person and someone who caused Ronny grief during their teenage years as well as their adult years.

DARKNESS THE COLOR OF SNOW was a tense read, but very good. I am actually going to classify it as a psychological thriller. The situation and the characters kept me glued to the pages but also had me nervous for the decisions the characters made.

I was trying to figure out the significance of the title of DARKNESS THE COLOR OF SNOW and came up with the idea that the book had dark things happening in the small town of Lydell and the snow that was always falling made it an emotionally cold place to live.

Let me know what you think of the book and the significance of the title if you read the book.

I did enjoy the read. I live in a small town, and wonder what goes on here that we don't know about. :) 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review. ( )