Labyrinth
Kat Richardson
Roc, 2010
U.S. hardcover, first edition
ISBN 978-0-451-46336-4
368 pages; $24.95

Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series is noir at its finest; and it reaches the darkest tones ever in the fifth book, Labyrinth. In fact, this book is unrelievedly dark, scary and suspenseful. Richardson topped herself with the fourth book in this series, Vanished; now she has topped herself yet again.

Labyrinth requires one to have read the earlier books in the series; it does not stand well by itself. In fact, I was astonished to find how many clues Richardson had lain about her fictional detective, Harper Blaine, as she told her earlier stories. The way she marshals all of the details previously set out reminded me of the way a lawyer writes a motion for summary judgment – grabbing this detail from that document, another from this deposition, a third from a bit of investigation by an expert, until they’re all woven together to form an airtight case – only here, what Richardson is doing, is formulating a plot that seems inevitable once all the clues have been assembled. It is skillfully done.

In Labyrinth, Harper returns home from London only to step into a nest of snakes – well, vampires, actually – immediately upon her return. Within the first fifteen pages of the book, Harper is attacked by a man – and I use the word “man” loosely – who wants her dead so that she can once again be resurrected, this time with further abilities to not only see but manipulate the Grey, the netherworld between life and death, the place where ghosts dwell and psychic energy has appearance, color and shape. Harper survives that encounter, but is forced to go into hiding at the same time she must be out and around in order to conclude her investigation and make sure she and her friends survive. Fortunately, the vampires she must avoid sleep during the day, but that isn’t sufficient protection when the Grey is constantly clamoring in her head, ever louder, and blood mages who remain fully human are laying traps.

Richardson has shown herself to be an able researcher in Blaine’s past outings, and, while history and geology are less necessary to this plot than in the earlier novels, she uses what information she needs here very well. Her mastery over her character and her character’s past is impressive as she weaves a tight net over Harper, but rarely lets Harper lose control. When Harper is overcome from time to time, Richardson makes us understand and even feel it, telling Harper’s story almost as if she is narrating a documentary instead of writing fiction.

I stayed up late a couple of nights in a row to finish this book, and would have stayed up through the first night to read it all if it hadn’t been that my husband, slumbering beside me, would probably not have appreciated a comatose wife on Thanksgiving Day. It is compelling; the writing propels you from event to event, and being able to listen in on Harper’s torment as the Grey reaches ever more deeply into her brain, her body and her soul is fascinating and frightening.

I don’t know where Richardson is going to take Harper next. It's hard to imagine that she could again reach the peaks she's attained with Labyrinth. I’m definitely signing up for the next tour, though, because Richardson has earned a devoted follower in me.