After Dark with Roxie Clark Annotation

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Author: Brooke Lauren Davis

Genre: Young Adult Thriller

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

Number of Pages: 352 Pages

Geographical Setting: The fictional town of Whistler, Indiana

Time Period: Present Day

Series: None

Plot summary: After Dark with Roxie Clark follows teenage horror and ghost-story enthusiast Roxie Clark. Roxie lives in the small town of Whistler, Indiana with her sister Skylar and her grandmother Gertie. She also runs a ghost tour based primarily off of ghost stories and legends about the Clark family, specifically the women who seem to face tragic and early ends. 

At the start of the novel, it’s been about a year since Skylar’s boyfriend, Colin, was found brutally murdered in a cornfield. Once Yale-bound, Skylar has seemingly given up on her life goals after his death. Roxie is desperate to get her sister back, but the plan goes awry when new details of Colin’s death and the secrets surrounding it come to light. Skylar throws herself full force into a murder investigation and Roxie can’t do anything but help. The investigation brings secrets and tragedies to light as the truth of Colin’s death is slowly revealed.


Subject Headings:

Murder - Fiction

Murder - Investigation - Fiction

Sisters - Fiction

Secrecy - Fiction

Teenagers - Fiction

Murderers - Fiction

Ghost Tours - Fiction

City and town life - Fiction

Indiana - Fiction


Appeal:

  • Story Line - After Dark with Roxie Clark is an intricately plotted murder mystery. The threads and details don’t all come together until the conclusion of the twisty story. The story line is also somewhat character-driven, with a particular deep dive into Skylar’s character despite Roxie being the lead.

  • Frame/Setting - The setting of the novel is in a fictional Indiana town called Whistler. This setting is a stand-in for any type of small Midwestern town with all the good and bad. One of the main framing details throughout the entire book is the ghost stories and legends about Whistler and the Clark family, which Roxie researches and presents on her ghost tour. Skylar’s fascination with Yale is also a framing device used throughout the novel.

  • Language/Style - The language of After Dark with Roxie Clark is fairly uncomplicated and simple. The style of the book is compelling, drawing readers in with new details and character revelations. Even at its slower portions, the story and style keep it engaging.

  • Tone - The tone of the book is fairly dark throughout. The themes it tackles are emotional, harsh, and weighty. Crime, murder, drugs, parental abandonment and diverse, and fraught family relationships also run throughout the entire novel. Some lighter moments exist alongside the darkness as well, especially with Grandma Gertie, but it is certainly on the much darker end of the YA scale. By the end, the tone takes a dive into the heart-wrenching.

  • Characterization - The characters of the novel are mostly all teenagers, in keeping with being a young adult book. They are all on the older side, around 18-19, however which informs the specific struggles of the characters as well as their actions. Roxie is a likable protagonist who seems easy for readers to relate to. She’s smart and resourceful. Skylar, meanwhile, is a deeply complex character struggling with grief and trauma. She is at times unlikable and frustrating, and at others deeply relatable and tragic. The Riley brothers, Colin and Tristan, are also complex and flawed characters that the reader slowly learns more about throughout the story.

  • Pacing - The pacing of After Dark with Roxie Clark is surprisingly on the slower side. Despite being both young adult and a thriller, the action takes a bit of time to ramp up and unfold. The inclusion of Roxie Clark’s ghost tours and the stories seemed to slow the story down a bit by adding something more than just the murder investigation. The last third of the book reads much faster than the first two-thirds as the action and investigation culminate.


3 terms that best describe this book: Twisty, Family, Secrets


Relevant Non-Fiction Works:

       


Relevant Fiction Works:

     

Comments

  1. Mary GraberApril 4, 2023 at 5:45 PM

    Oooo, this sounds like an interesting book. When I saw the words "Indiana and "murder" I was all in :) From your description it sounds like it's a slow burn kind of story that really amp's up towards the conclusion. I'll have to add this one to my tbr pile.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lexi OwensApril 5, 2023 at 8:13 AM

    Hi Laurie,

    This novel sounds interesting.
    Although this book is a thriller, the summary suggests that familial bonds, secrets, and relationships play an important role in the story. Furthermore, I appreciate how the female protagonist finds appeal in more stereotypically male interests (ghosts, murders), if you will. It also sounds like Skylar is, if not a dynamic character, a well-rounded character. All these aspects help to provide multiple nuanced layers to the plot. I think the darker tone is appropriate because this is a thriller, and thrillers are not happy and tranquil. Also, young adulthood is a difficult time for many, so this tone corresponds to more realistic experiences and feelings individuals in this age group might have. You mention setting briefly in your appeals section, but I have a follow-up question. Does the more rural, small-town setting in a non-descript location such as Indiana add to the mysterious or eerie feeling that thriller novels evoke? Individuals who enjoyed this book and who find true crime fascinating would enjoy your recommended nonfiction reads, particularly Haunted Indiana and The Best New Crime Stories. Both works focus on more rural or small-town areas, whether in Indiana or elsewhere in another state, like After Dark with Roxie Clark. Furthermore, for readers who enjoy thrillers involving crime but do not want to read true crime, or similar nonfiction works, based on the short summaries I found for each, I think your relevant fiction works are good choices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laurie FancherApril 6, 2023 at 10:53 AM

      I do think the rural, small-town setting added a specific vibe to the book. It was a place where everybody seemed to know everybody, so the crimes were that much more mysterious and shocking. The small town ghost stories and locations like an abandoned, supposedly haunted, manor added to the eerie vibe as well.

      Delete
  3. ElizabethApril 9, 2023 at 6:53 PM

    Hi Laurie! This sounds like a really interesting book to keep in mind for young adults, especially since it's set in Indiana. Does the book remain pretty realistic or branch into the supernatural? At least from reading your annotation, this book sounds like it could a good readalike for older teen fans of Stranger Things!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin CataldiApril 11, 2023 at 12:24 PM

    Fantastic annotation and I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. Brooke used to manage the bookstore down my street and she's even presented writing workshops at my library. She's awesome. Full points!

    ReplyDelete

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