Light At The End

PARANORMAL: Gordon Fulmer is a good father. But he failed his son when he lost Wyatt to a parent’s worst nightmare—a child’s death. Now, Wyatt is asking him to combat the evil that preys on society’s most innocent and helpless citizens, the same evil that stole him from Gordon. Wyatt silently points the way from beyond the grave, leading Gordon from one target to the next. Reluctant but desperate, Gordon quietly carries out his son’s wishes in hopes of freeing him from purgatory. Gordon’s vigilantism attracts the attention of Ruben Keller, a homicide detective with a personal stake in the recent string of pedophile murders. Ruben’s daughter was kidnapped five years ago, and he has been searching for her ever since. Could the latest serial killer be the ally he needs to finally find her?

“Light At The End” is smart and riveting. The victimization of children is a chilling and ugly reality, but Henry G.M. Jones gives it empathy by authentically showing us two fathers desperately seeking redemption for what they have lost. He gives it hope by imagining what the voiceless could hope to say. He gives it a soul by envisioning the cosmic connection that unites us from one plane of existence to the next. Gordon and Ruben’s single-minded commitment to pursuing justice, and closure, for their children, makes for a very plot-driven novella. Reflecting on whether retribution is the only form of that closure brings some needed depth. This story is beautifully written, thoughtfully crafted, and classy in its delivery.

Joan Lai