This is the second book that I have reviewed by Alan Gibbons and let me start by saying that I was not in the least bit disappointed. "The Dark Beneath", in effect, picks up from the previous book: not in the storyline; but in the moral dilemmas within it. It seems to me that Gibbons is a man on a mission to create awareness for many forms of discrimination and make us see that there are two sides to every story.
Imogen is a sixteen-year-old just looking for a bit of fun in a lazy summer; whereas the ghostly pale Anthony, is looking forward to a summer full of Imogen. Brought up to fight for what is right she ends up meeting three refugees, who are seeking asylum in England yet who are going to be sent back to their countries to face whatever hells they have run from. Farid is a secretive, un- communicative man; that Imogen can't help but perceive as a mystery to be solved. Throughout the book, Gibbons leads to us to a conclusion that we cannot help but believe to be concrete. Yet, with a twist halfway through, when the reader believes s/he has solved the "mystery"; we are all proven wrong. This then furthermore ignites interest within the reader and subsequently paralyses them in a sense of anticipation; s/he is unable to put the book down and is permanently held in the same position of the afore-mentioned anticipation for the duration of the book.
Gibbons has yet again created a book that will, most likely, ignite a mental epiphany within the reader; that then forces him/her to question, not only the beliefs they have been brought up to follow, but also the beliefs that we are fed from the Government. Yet again, Gibbons creates a sense of paranoia at its fiercest.
Rating: 4.3/5
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