From Black Rooms
Stephen Woodworth
Bantam Books
U.S. paperback original
ISBN 0-440-24253-3
368 pages; $6.99

Stephen Woodworth has a gimmick, and it is four books old now. His world is like ours in every detail except one: a small number of men and women are born with violet eyes, which gives them the capability of speaking with the dead. Or, perhaps more accurately, of being possessed by the dead. They fulfill a number of functions in society, such as painting “new” Matisses, Picassos and Van Goghs, assisting in archaeological digs, and writing “autobiographies” of long-dead historical figures. Their most important work, however, is done in law enforcement. They are able to become possessed by the victims of the most brutal crimes, relive their last moments on earth, and point out the perpetrator of the deed.

This is not a pleasant life for those Violets involved in police work. Reliving the violent deaths of murder victims scars the psyche. And murderers themselves, eager to get revenge on the Violets who sent them to the death chamber, sometimes invade their consciousness or haunt them into insanity. It is something of a mystery, then, why so many non-Violets practically worship the idea of being a Violet, mimic their supposed habits, and inhabit chat rooms where they can pretend to be mysterious creatures of the night, much as some kids in our own world become thoroughly entranced with the idea of being vampires.

It is the story of these Violet wannabes that Woodworth tells in From Black Rooms. Worse than their obsession with the idea, however, is that it is shared by the North American Afterlife Communications Corps, the shadowy, vicious organization that governs how, where, when and why the Violets may use their powers. Natalie Lindstrom, the protagonist of Woodworth’s series, has been battling the NAACC since the first in the series, Through Violet Eyes, and has suffered mightily at its hands through In Golden Blood and With Red Hands. This time, the NAACC – or at least a renegade doctor from its ranks – has her and her young and gifted daughter in his hands to experiment upon and with, and he knows no mercy. He has already driven many experimental subjects to insanity, and now he is even torturing the dead. It seems as if there is nothing he will not do in order to be able to artificially create new Violets, a gift to the NAACC and to himself.

From Black Rooms is an enjoyable addition to the series, but there are indications that Woodworth is tiring of his invention. This book is rather too full of sturm und drang, too much derring-do, too much action and too little exploration of this alternate universe. While Woodworth has no trouble managing the combination of science fiction and mystery plots and devices, he does have trouble making his characters believable this time around -- especially Calvin Criswell, an art forger who comes in a short time to play a large role in Natalie’s life. Cal seems to undergo a complete change of personality far too quickly, making Natalie’s interest in him, and his in Natalie, difficult to believe. But Woodworth’s treatment of art in this book is excellent, and Natalie’s “conversations” with Edvard Munch linger in the imagination.

All four of these books are paperback originals, making them ideal stocking stuffers for mystery lovers who can accept the science fictional premise. They aren’t for youngsters, but adults will gobble them up on snowy or rainy weekends or winter getaways to somewhere warm.