Dark in the City of Light by Paul Robertson - REVIEWED

About the book (from the publisher)

What Evil Haunts the Shadows of 1870s Paris?

Baron Ferdinand Harsanyi — After his wife's mysterious death, this Austrian attaché holds control over mines whose coveted ore could turn the tide of war.

Therese Harsanyi — Swept up in new romance and the spectacle of Paris, the Baron's daughter is blind to the dangers stalking her family and the city she loves.

Rudolph Harsanyi — Unsure whom to trust, the Baron's son's grief over his mother's death twists into growing anger and a desire to break free.


As France and Prussia plunge toward war, one family is caught in a web of deceit, political intrigue, and murder that threatens to tear them apart.

My Thoughts:

Bethany House publishers is top notch when it comes to accurate, believable historical fiction. Dark in the City of Light is set in the 1800’s during the Franco-Prussion War. The central characters are Ferdinand Harsanyi and his two children, Therese and Rudolph, and the trials they undergo as this war overtakes their lives. There is a lot of secrecy and duplicity that the reader must try to understand, but all-in-all, it seems to be a very accurate portrayal of what life would have been like for an aristocratic family during that time.

Now, personally, this story did not appeal to me a great deal – but not because the story was uninteresting, but more because the layout and other editorial decisions were so distracting it wasn’t worth the labor involved to try to navigate it. For starters, the chapters are broken up into sort of min-chapters, and the constant division and change of scenery ect…gets very disruptive. The other thing that about drove me to distraction was the dialogue. Now I’m a huge fan of dialogue as a tool to move the action along…but these people uttered every thought that came through their head, and it made me want to scream. A lot of it was just unnecessary and cumbersome, and I think the story suffered because of it.

Dark in the City of Light contains a very interesting story, if you are brave enough and have the time to work your way through it.

P.S. I've read another of Paul's books, According to Their Deeds and in that one, the dialogue was what I liked the most! This is a very talented author, but this particular story needed a few more edits!!

About the Author:

Paul Robertson is a computer programming consultant, part-time high-school math and science teacher, and the author of The Heir. He is also a former Christian bookstore owner (for 15 years), who lives with his family in Blacksburg, Virginia