Book Review of The Lingering Darkness by Jim Mittler

Author Jim Mittler

This book is the inaugural one published by a former neighbor of ours by the name of Jim Mittler. I was not only pleasantly surprised but blown away by its description of characters, machinations of plot and page turning details which makes one wish to read the book from cover to cover without interruptions after opening and delving into this fascinating and exciting novel.

Written on the back cover, the last sentence sums it up perfectly! “A nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end, The Lingering Darkness is a contemporary political mystery that will keep pulses racing.”

Great Neighbors

It would never have crossed my mind that our friendly neighbor had the talent to write such a novel. That being said his wife kept telling me that Jim had lead such an interesting life to date. Who really knows the hidden talents of our friends and/or neighbors until one gets to know them better? That is certainly the case with respect to our getting to familiarize ourselves with Jim and his lovely family.

I was up on a ladder one day with a chain saw trimming a dying redbud tree in our backyard. My husband had back problems so was on the ground holding the ladder. Jim who was our new neighbor at the time was in his backyard. He could see me over the six foot wooden fence separating our two yards and he told me to get down.

He immediately came over to help and finished the job of cutting down that tree. Whether it was my age and grey hair or just being genuinely neighborly, we were both truly grateful for his help. That was one of our initial interactions and it was so wonderful to have Jim and his family for our neighbors for a time.

If wishes could be granted by some fairy godmother my husband and I both wish that they could have remained our neighbors for a long time to come. Jim's wife and children are all wonderful individuals and we loved hearing their children laughing and playing in the backyard. It was a melody that touched our hearts and made us smile.

Variety of Life Experiences

Much of what Jim has personally experienced on and in the water in various capacities during his life such as salvage diving, captaining a boat, knowing the ins and outs of mechanical details of small boats to gigantic sized ships and more lends credence to his writing the details of this thrilling novel much of which is based upon the water.

Jim Mittler currently works and has worked for some time in the offshore oil industry. Prior to moving back to Houston and becoming our back door neighbor, he and his precious family had lived in Scotland with Jim working for the same large international company.

It is with apparent ease that Jim is able to embellish this story with factual details gleaned from not only his life experiences but also his vivid imagination. It places the reader in the midst of this thriller with believable characters and events which rapidly build to the climax.

One of my favorite authors used to be John Ludlum who often wrote about conspiracy theories and terrorists with one main character being the centralized figure throughout the book and hero of sorts.

We collected many of Ludlum’s books throughout the years and I can see doing the same with ones written by Jim Mittler. He is already in the process of writing his second book.

The Lingering Darkness portrays a main character, that of Rip Atwater. He discovers and has to contend with a conspiracy which could portend a disaster of monumental proportions.

Obviously I don’t wish to spoil the book by telling too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that there are plenty of characters which make this book interesting and keep one on the edge of one’s seat as this sinister plot develops towards its cataclysmic ending. It leaves an opening to another possible book with the same main character just as the Ludlum books used to do.

I would highly recommend reading this book!

After reading this intriguing book I cannot wait for Jim to finish writing his second book. If it is anything like his first book, it is sure to be a winner!