STORY • AUTHOR • characters • setting • Read

THE STORY

Darker Black is two novels: a hopelessly cliche detective story of Drake Darker, and the trials of the seemingly doomed man writing it, wanna-be author Hardy Better. Their stories intersect perilously as Hardy tries desperately to follow through for once in his life. Hardy’s struggles around inspiration, motivation and creative integrity manifest as dove-tailing plot-points in Drake’s world, and each guy is left playing tug-of-war with his own destiny. In the end, both characters learn about the costs and opportunities of taking their stories into their own hands.

“Darker Black is Sideways meets Chinatown.”

BACK TO TOp

ELLIOT MATSON

A longtime fan of detective and noir films and literature, Elliot Matson turns the hard boiled genre over easy. Supplanting a grim rum-runner case overflowing with tropes and cliches with a sinister look into Oregon wine country, Matson draws inspiration from his Pacific Northwest surroundings and his affinity for exploring the depths of creativity and metacognition.

BACK TO TOp

HARDY BETTER

Failed commercial director and hack writer, Hardy lives in his deceased famous actor father’s shadow. Everyone around him is successful and his life is in a spiral. Until he uncovers the nascent detective novel manuscript he gave up writing years ago and is reinvigorated with creative energy. But Hardy’s stubborn ways make him averse to feedback and he struggles to even start the novel he’s convinced will change his life if he finishes.

“Maybe I’m supposed to
write Darker Black. Maybe a collection of stars in haphazardly scattered alignment is aligned nonetheless.”

DRAKE DARKER

The world’s greatest detective and Hardy’s main character of his novel, Darker Black, Drake’s mission is to keep Specter City safe from the Black Mask. However, when his fiancé vanishes, Drake is torn between pursuing the case he’s written to and solving this new mystery. Hardy’s decisions in his writing process turn Drake’s world upside down and Drake is left picking up the pieces, looking for an invisible needle in a mercurial haystack.

“She smells like Christmas but she looks like Halloween. I’ve never been one for holiday spirit.”

BRIDGET NELSON

Hardy’s girlfriend believes in him, but that doesn’t mean she has to like him all the time. A journalist at a reputable Portland paper, Bridget suggests Hardy go down to Oregon Wine Country to research a story for her—partially to help him get his creative juices flowing, partially to get him to figure out his life. Maybe then she’ll decide to take him back.

“She’s the one who actually
creates for a living and takes home a steady paycheck. I’m an out-of-work low-budget commercial director. She’s an easy one to admire.”

VIVIAN ST. GERMAINE

Drake Darker’s secretary-turned-partner-turned-fiancé, Vivian is a red-headed bombshell who helped Drake take down the Black Mask and solve countless cases. However, she’s also pretty one-dimensional and therefore Hardy takes the advice to remove her from the story. But her sudden disappearance is only noticed by Drake and sends him into mania trying to figure out if he’s crazy or if everyone else is.

“She wears a tight black dress and loose wavy red hair. Her legs go on longer than miles—counties, cities, leagues, light years.”

THE GRAPEVINERS

The Grapeviners Association, or GVA, is a group of second-generation vintners who lead the Willamette Valley’s wine scene from their home base of Drummond, Oregon. However, the Losch siblings have plans to undercut the Baaken siblings by pushing them out of the association and taking over all operations to expand their hold on the wine industry. Hardy is investigating their shady dealings and gaining inspiration for a very well-trodden detective narrative.

“You’ve got to be one of the original family-owned wineries to be a Grapeviner. But all 20 wineries in Drummond are part of the Grapeviners Association because they own a piece of all of us.”

SPECS

A manifestation of Hardy’s creative integrity in his own head, Specs wants to preserve the original Darker Black story how it was. While Hardy is gaining inspiration and attempting to retool the narrative, Specs becomes Drake’s shadowy informant urging him to question his reality and find Viv so everything can go back to normal.

“He’s ensconced in darkness with his trench coat collar turned up so even more shadows shroud his face. The only light emanates from two glowing spectral glasses lenses.”

BACK TO TOp

DRUMMOND, OREGON

In the heart of the Willamette Valley, Drummond is a tourist hotspot and wine lover’s bastion. But there is a conspiracy lurking underneath the quaint main street, tasting rooms and antique shops. The GVA has a strangle hold on wine production and other small-time vintners are left choosing sides in a town where blood is thicker than tannins.

“You go about an hour outside of Portland and things get real country real fast. Eventually, vineyards start flowing like someone shook out a corduroy blanket.”

SPECTER CITY

A dark prohibition-era gotham, Specter City is a metropolis of haves and have-nots. The Black Mask rules the city’s speakeasy scene from his headquarters in the bougie north end, Gunwale. Meanwhile, Drake makes his home patrolling the seedy south side, Shipshull, where crime burns hotter than a kerosene lamp in hell. Despite its colorful cliched characters, Specter City is a dark mistress where Drake never leaves a stone unturned.

“Skyscrapers slice rolling gray clouds like cheese wire and the inner neighborhood streets are only illuminated by white neon and the occasional taxi headlight.”