Reviews

Darling Jim by Christian Mørk

aliciasirois's review against another edition

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4.0

When I first began this book, I really thought I was not going to like it. I had a really hard time remembering this book takes place in the present because of the language and descriptions. I found myself thinking it took place in the 1800s, and when the narrator would mention iPods and Paris Hilton, I was confused for a split second but was reminded about the time period. However, what I really appreciated was the author's craft at story telling. Without giving anything away, this book really is 4 stories rolled into one, told by different people. It was amazing to me how easily the author was able to switch voice and genre within the book! I picked this up on a whim from the library, and I'm glad I did!

beastreader's review against another edition

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3.0

No one could have ever imagined that recluse Moira Hegarty could commit such a heinous crime. What the authorities found in Ms. Hegarty’s house is beyond words. The police discover three bodies including Moira’s. Moira died from several blows to the head that caused part of her skull to cave in. Another body of a young woman is found in an upstairs bedroom. She is holding a shovel in her hands. She was stabbed about nineteen times. As the police are clearing out the bodies; they locate the third body. This girl died slowly of malnutrition and internal poisoning. The identities of the two girls are twenty-four year old Fiona and her sister twenty-two year old Roisin Walsh. The disturbing part is that Moira are the girl’s aunt.

Niall, a mailman discovers a diary at the post office. It is written by Fiona. She writes about her and her sister’s time in the house and meeting a man named Jim. Jim is a travelling storyteller. He tells this tale of a prince and wolves. Fiona becomes spellbound by Jim but the closer Fiona gets to Jim, the more she realizes just how evil and sinister he really is. Just what exactly is Jim hiding and what drove Fiona, Roisin, and Moira to kill each other?

Darling Jim is author Christian Moerk’s debut novel. This is a dark, gothic, and memorizing tale. The way Jim’s story intertwined with the Walsh sisters and their aunt is very intriguing. There are not enough words to describe this book. Once you pick up this book and start reading, you will find yourself drawn into a world where are not who they seem and anything can happen. I dare you to try and learn what is real from fiction. I though Mr. Moerk did a fine job with Darling Jim. He definitely shows he can write and capture the reader’s attention. I look forward to seeing what Mr. Moerk comes up with next.

heatherg213's review against another edition

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4.0

I've read a lot of serial killer themed mysteries-I mean, A LOT! For a while there it felt like all I ever read was mysteries and thrillers, so my serial killer quotient was pretty high. But I have never come across a mystery quite like Christian Moerk's Darling Jim.


Darling Jim a multi-layered story of deception, obsession, and madness. Two sisters and their aunt are found dead in a house in rural Ireland. The townspeople are shocked to discover that the aunt had been holding her nieces prisoner, slowly poisoning them. In a final showdown, it appeared that the sisters had managed to kill their aunt before succumbing themselves. There was evidence that a third girl was also held hostage, but she was nowhere to be found when the bodies were discovered. A few weeks later, a postal worker, Niall, finds a diary in the post, written by one of the two slain sisters. It details the extraordinary events that led up to her death. Between the pages of her journal lies the tale of Darling Jim, a traveling storyteller who enchants the villagers in each town with macabre tales of love, obsession, and death-stories that eerily resemble real life crimes that happen in each place he stops. How the sisters get tangled in Jim's web becomes tragically apparent as Niall reads. As he is drawn into their story, Niall searches for the truth about Jim-and the elusive third sister-in a quest that brings him closer to danger than he ever expected.


This book was mesmerizing. Jim is beguiling, and ruthless. The sisters are strong and fiercely loyal to each other, but they are not immune to Jim's power to enchant. The whole novel is tied together by the macabre story that Jim tells as he travels across Ireland-a tale of betrayal, lust, and madness. As the story progresses it becomes more and more sinister, until the true face of Jim is shown, savage and deadly. The narrators-Fiona and Roisin-are deeply flawed, but honest in their account of their part in the events that led to their deaths. A modern Gothic novel, this book is a great read for anyone who prefers their mysteries on the sinister side.

meghan111's review against another edition

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4.0

A postman in a rural Irish village finds the dead body of an older lady in a house along his route. Then, the police discover other bodies: young women, her nieces, who have been poisoned and chained up inside the house. Then the book within a book begins, as the story of what led the aunt and nieces to die together in this house is revealed. Within that story is another story, of a man who is transformed into a wolf. Gothic and dark, not quite a mystery.

beth_diiorio's review against another edition

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2.0

Odd...this book started out fantastic with interesting characters and then began to get bogged down in some confusing fantasy aspects and outlandish character traits.

electablue's review against another edition

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5.0

I received the book as an advanced reader copy through Library Thing and had requested it because it looked like something I would enjoy.

The book begins when it is discovered that a woman has been murdered in her home in the town of Malahide, but the mystery thickens as her two emaciated nieces are found upstairs. Later a bored postal clerk finds the diary of one of the girls in the dead letter box and sets out by himself to solve the mystery of the girl’s death and trace the footsteps of Jim, a storyteller.
I found that I could not put this book down, in spite of the gruesome nature of some of it. The whole book read like a fairy tale. I found that some of it was unbelievable, but because it felt like it had this whole fairy tale thing going on , I was able to suspend my disbelief.

The characters are all compelling and three dimensional, even though they could be read as stereotypical it didn’t bother me. The only thing that really bugged me is that I was not sure how to pronounce some of the words and names, especially Aiofe, one of the sisters in the book. Hopefully, the publishers will include a pronunciation guide in the final version of the book.
I would recommend this book highly to anyone who likes good, old fashioned storytelling with fairy tale aspects.

kelihu_83's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mrsdragon's review against another edition

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2.0

This book bothered me in little ways. The overall story was great--I was compulsed to keep reading, wanting to see the reveal.

But....(spoilers ahoy) the entire conceit of it required some serious suspension of disbelief. You have two women locked in a room, poisioned, half starved, bent on murder, borderline insane...and they are going to write to non overlapping accounts that hand off at just the right spot, write in a fairly flowerly manner (describing small details, long sentence structure) including a detailed account of the story teller's stories? REALLY? (And where did they get the books anyway? And the pens?)

And Aoife's reason for being away? Completely predictable. The only bizarre thing is that it would necessarily last 3 years.

The story itself, although ostensibly about "strong women", is really a male power fantasy. Oh really, a male writer telling a story about a male story teller whose stories compel women to do his bidding, to hard core fan girl, to NEED to sleep with him? *rolls eyes* And of course, the women can only live on through Niall, even though Aoife AND HER DAUGHTER are both alive. And naturally the one woman who can resist the story teller's charms is a lesbian...So many obvious, stereotypical, tropes...

filipaavmonteiro's review against another edition

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4.0

A história começa com a descoberta dos cadáveres das irmãs Walsh e da sua tia. A história é contada por elas, através de diários que escreveram durante o seu cativeiro e que foram parar às mãos de Niall, um carteiro. A morte delas deve-se a Jim, um conquistador de mulheres que as enfeitiçava, qualquer que fosse a sua idade.
Um livro que se lê muito bem e que nos prende bastante!

mallorykjorgensen's review against another edition

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4.0

Extremely different plot than anything I have ever read.