James Hayman' thriller an e-edition first

On Oct. 1, HarperCollins launched “Witness Impulse,” a new digital-first imprint for thrillers, mysteries, and the like. The lead title for the launch was James Hayman's “Darkness First” (Witness Impulse, 338 pages, $2.99), the author's third novel featuring detectives Michael McCabe and Maggie Savage.

Digital-first imprints are, of course, a logical development as publishers try to find the right model for releasing books of all sorts. This particular release is interesting because the first two books in the series - “The Cutting” and “The Chill of the Night” - do not appear to be available as e-books, while this third entry is only available as an e-book, suggesting that a fully coherent strategy for these titles is still in the offing.

Regardless of its format, “Darkness First” is a fairly solid mystery. Hayman upended my expectations on several occasions, demonstrating a keen ability to point the reader (and his detectives) in one direction before it becomes clear we're on the wrong path.

Maggie Savage is the primary protagonist of this novel, and she's a strong character with a robust back story that comes into play when she returns to her hometown to investigate a brutal murder. Her interactions with McCabe are of just the sort that keeps series readers who like a little romance intrigued.

Hayman's efforts at building suspense aren't always successful, however. A key scene in which a killer invades a home in order to silence witnesses and reclaim stolen drugs never acquires the momentum and menace that make a reader's heart pound. The elements are all there, but the scene doesn't quite come off. That sense of palpable danger is what keeps thriller readers devouring the pages, whether physical or digital, and “Darkness First” falls just a bit short in that regard.