“Dark Rooms’: Author conjures up creepy novel

The success of Lili Anolik's debut novel 'Dark Rooms” can largely be credited to the creepy atmosphere she conjures.

This story of a murdered girl and her sister's efforts to uncover the killer is awash in disconcerting images and themes. The book's claustrophobic setting and bevy of dark family secrets make 'Dark Rooms” reminiscent of Gillian Flynn's 'Sharp Objects.”

For much of the book, I wasn't sure the plot was well structured. The narrator, Grace, blunders about and fails to pick up on various clues she has in her grasp.

But Anolik's protagonist is a senior in high school as the book opens, and her dysfunctional family (an understatement, to be sure) and prep school life have not imbued her with worldliness.

And, of course, Grace isn't a police officer. She's a young woman who has experienced a trauma (multiple traumas, in fact) doing her best to untangle a mystery with very few resources at her disposal. Anolik depicts her convincingly.

Grace sees the world through a dark lens, and her narration reflects that: 'I pause on the sidewalk outside the studio. I feel as if I've just been sliced open from throat to pelvis, rust-colored blobs spilling out the slit. The street's hot, shadowless, the asphalt gummy beneath my feet. The few clouds in the sky are swollen and sore-looking.”

At times, this tone becomes oppressive (one might even argue that the quoted text is overly affected), but that's likely in keeping with Anolik's intent. 'Dark Rooms” is dark, indeed.