NIGHT
CRIMES

Most of us who travel the New York City subways have moments of paranoia. We squeeze ourselves into a narrow space between two robust fellow travelers and then feel threatened when someone’s hand accidentally brushes against our thigh. We are convinced that everyone is looking at us strangely, or perhaps it’s just that man in the red shirt who dared to smile at us. groundless fear that accompanies us on our daily journeys. Lara Bello, a Jamaican-American artist, has been having these feelings lately. She is convinced that someone is following her, watching her every move. But no one believes her, not even her loving husband, Police Sergeant Tony Bello. Why should he? There is no reason why someone should want to follow an art instructor.

This is the argument Lara uses to convince herself while riding the subway. She was being paranoid. No one was watching her. What was there to watch? However, Lara is being persistently pursued by the man in the blue baseball cap, and he is on the train with her. He goes everywhere she does. He keeps vigil outside her Brooklyn brownstone while she, her husband, and three sons sleep. He follows her into her classroom, and tracks her to her farm upstate when she flees there to escape him.

At the same time, Lara’s husband is immersed in his own mystery. Someone is poisoning derelicts and leaving their bodies for him to find.

These two distinct scenarios begin the world of Night Crimes. The plot is intricate and riveting, weaving a complex tale of murder, obsession, and duplicity. How this ordinary couple act and think when confronted with such extraordinary circumstances is a crucial part of the narrative.

Night Crimes is exciting and suspenseful, holding the audience’s attention to the last page. The police work is authentic and well researched, but above all this lies the story of an average middle class family who find the courage and strength, that lies within us all, to overcome extraordinary and terrifying circumstances. We can all relate to the Bello family. We can even understand the motives of the villains, and this is what makes Night Crimes so real and terrifying at the same time.

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