A large majority of our school consists of avid readers, a large portion of those students have an interest in reading but don’t particularly know what book, let alone what genre to read from. Herrin Tiger Journalism intends to help other students find an interest in books and reading by focusing on a single genre each month, while also introducing a new book of the genre each week.

Genre of the Month will introduce students to a wide collection of books that fit a variety of genres that are best suited for each month. Every week, a new book will be showcased as a part of that month’s lineup. Each book will feature not only the title, author, when it was published, and a spoiler-free description, but will also include how many times the selected book has been checked out in the past year, and lastly, a small, interesting fact about the author themselves. 

For the month of September, the genre selected is Thriller. So for the next four weeks, there will be a book chosen for each respective week. 

The first book of September is The Darkest Time of Night, by Jeremy Finley, published in June of 2018, with the sequel releasing the following year in July of 2019. 

The Darkest Time of Night is a fast-paced thriller full of suspense and government cover-ups. The story follows Lynn Roseworth, a homebody wife to a U.S. Senator after one of her grandsons unexpectedly vanishes from woods behind their home. The eldest grandson was a witness to the event and can only mutter one sentence, “The lights took him”. Lynn goes on a country-wide investigation, following the line of work she had long since abandoned, all to figure out what happened to her grandson.

The Darkest Time of Night is certainly a thrilling, and supernatural story many will enjoy. While it has not been checked out in this past year, it was heavily covered by our school’s Book & Cinema Club, as a part of their semester book talk. 

The author, Jeremy Finley, grew up in Carterville, Illinois, and graduated from SIU Carbondale, and the University of Illinois in Springfield. Finley is an investigative journalist, specializing in investigations into political corruption and criminal activity.