Four Corners of Night

Chicago Tribune Books

Craig Holden creates a compelling and heartbreaking story that is as much about family ties and loyalty as it is about catching a criminal.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Four Corners of Night...is not without its flaws....Yet everything becomes more or less justified by the surprising turn the plot eventually takes...[it] makes you reread the first half of the book in wonder at how the story has fooled you....draws you into the knotty dilemma it poses and makes you feel just the right degree of fear.
—New York Times

Detroit Free Press

It leaves us breathless....Few writers are able to balance the plot of a mystery the way Holden can: slowing down to allow his characters to develop, then picking up the pace of the action. A spine-tingling read.

Marilyn Stasio

A talented writer...a multilayered tale about the breakdown of trust between husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend.
—New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly

The kidnapping of a teenage girl nearly tears apart a close friendship between a pair of cops in Holden's powerful, lyrical third novel (after The Last Sanctuary). Max Steiner is the first-person narrator, an investigator in the Personal Crimes Section of the police force who gets emotionally involved after a 12-year-old girl disappears while riding her bike in the unnamed Ohio city where he and his partner, Bank, have worked for years. The investigation seems straightforward, but the kidnapping pushes a number of hot buttons for scarred police hero Bank, whose daughter disappeared a decade ago in a similar case that was never solved. The case quickly spills over into the personal lives of both protagonists, giving Holden the opportunity to examine the problematic relationship between Max and Bank's wife, Sarah. Meanwhile, Bank distances himself from their brief involvement by resorting to a series of strong-armed tactics to locate the missing girl. The personal entanglements become even more complicated when Max's rebellious daughter disappears and his efforts to track down his own child seem to implicate several members of the department's kidnapping task force. Holden gracefully sustains narrative tension, shifting from the effort to recover the kidnapped girl to the darker, psychological effect of loss on two families. Aside from the astonishing ending, what makes Holden's latest work noteworthy is the depth of his characterizations and the assuredness with which he handles chronological leaps to develop parallel plots and subplots. Holden is an accomplished storyteller who delves deeper beneath the surface with each successive book.

Library Journal

The author of acclaimed novels like The River Sorrow crosses over into literary suspense with this story of Bank Arbaugh and Mack Steiner, two buddy-buddy cops whose new case--that of a missing girl recalls the disappearance of Arbaugh's own daughter.

Kirkus Reviews

A veteran cop questions his fitness for the work he's in as this action-packed, multi-layered suspenser gets underway. Mack Steiner probably spends too much time pondering abstractions. The fact is, he's been on the force for 14 years, getting the job done. Moreover, he has this friend, Bank Arbaugh, who supplies enough self-confidence to cover the both of them. Bank's a paragon of a policeman, generally acknowledged as the best in the mid-sized Ohio city where the cronies ply their trade. He tells the world Mack's okay; and when Bank speaks, the world listens. Then one frightening, gut-wrenching night, Mack's introspection goes by the board, replaced by the compelling need to act: a 12-year-old girl is kidnaped. Or could she have just run off? Either way, the circumstances are dismally reminiscent of an earlier case, one traumatic enough to have scarred each man. The investigation gathers speed, beginning to generate some information. Instead of clarifying the nature of the crime, however, what the men learn merely obscures it. Meanwhile, Mack is feeling increasing pressure at home. The war between his daughter and his wife (her stepdaughter) has heated up, demanding his intervention-but what kind? It's also now inescapable that the missing child and his own child shared a connection. When in turn she disappears, the pressure intensifies exponentially, and Mack and Bank find their friendship both more fragile and more complex than either had ever imagined. Holden is becoming expert at serving up the tried-and-true elements of a competent thriller (The Last Sanctuary). What gives this one distinction is the interesting commentary he has to make about male friendship-both howit works and about the way it can hurt men.