DCI Mark Joesbury has been expecting this. Monitoring a complex network of dark web sites, Joesbury and his team have spotted a new terrorist threat from the extremist, women-hating, group known as ‘incels’ or ‘involuntary celibates.’ Joesbury’s team are trying to infiltrate the ring of power at its core, but the dark web is built for anonymity, and the incel army is vast.
Pressure builds when the team learn the snatched child was just the first in a series of violent attacks designed to terrorise women. Worse, the leaders of the movement seem to have singled out Lacey as the embodiment of everything they hate, placing her in terrible danger…
Hello there! Today is the publication day for The Dark by Sharon Bolton, the fifth title in the Lacey Flint series, now available in hardback, e-book and audiobook format! Thankyou to Tracy for the invite on the tour, and to Orion Books for sending a lovely finished copy for me to read in preparation for the tour.
As I previously said, The Dark is the fifth instalment of the Lacey Flint series, but please don’t be discouraged to pick it up on that account, I feel like this book could be read as a standalone, as I have, maybe a little previous character development would be highlighted but I enjoyed The Dark all the same.
The first line of The Dark is:
𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺.
From this point I knew that I was in for a rollercoaster of a reading ride, Sharon’s writing never dipped in levels of suspense or pace. An edge of seat rolling boil of a crime thriller novel which had me flying through the pages. When Lacey witnesses a baby being thrown into the River Thames she flies into action, while us readers are left with our heart in our mouths. THE TENSION!! What transpires is a sequence of events that are both shocking and for Lacey, personal!
The Dark’s storyline predominantly revolves around an incel movement, a movement carried by involuntarily celibate men, who blame women for societies downfalls, mixed with their anger of women not wanting to have sex with them. Clearly, Sharon had dug deep into the pits if these realms, the storyline shows that she researched their aims and the anger that leaked from the pages felt authentic. It was hit-you-in-the-face scary!
As Lacey Flint becomes the subject of the incels hate, her and Mark’s team must race against the clock, while being watched from the shadows. The Dark is quite the crime thriller ride, one that you’ll stay glued to until the very last moment! Recommended for all crime thriller fans!
The Reading Closet 