Alibi and NetGalley provided me with an Advanced Reader's Copy of Darkness at the Edge of Town. The choice to review this book was my own.

Dr. Iris Ballard has become a media sensation, after helping to catch a serial killer. Looking forward to some well needed rest, Iris is called home because of her twin brother's troubles. Though loathe to get drawn into the small town drama, Iris has no choice but to heed her mother's call. Will Iris be falling headlong into danger, without warning?

I found neither the main plot nor the periphery stories to be all that interesting. Iris Ballard takes it upon herself to go undercover, in an attempt to uncover her brother's secret life. Her methods were unimpressive and totally unrealistic. I struggled to read this novel, finding the pacing sluggish and the characters uninspired. For these reasons, I would not recommend Darkness at the Edge of Town to other readers.

I didn't realise this was the second book in a series so I felt somewhat like I was missing parts of the plot/back story, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This novel has family drama aplenty! Iris is drawn back to her home town when her brother ditches his wife to join a cult.
The cult is very well written and its apparent appeal is demonstrated well. However, I found it a bit unrealistic that Iris wasn't recognised, as she had spent the last few months constantly on TV about the killer she took down in book one. That said, it was a plot hole I could forgive as the book was well written, had a good pace and a great way of making you want to read another page.

A compelling suspense thriller that runs the gamut of emotions, DARKNESS AT THE EDGE OF TOWN is Book 2 in the Dr. Iris Ballard series. Iris, now a national "hero" after killing a suave, wealthy, multiple rapist-murderer while still a forensic psychologist with the FBI. Against her better judgment, she returns to her Rust Belt hometown to locate her brother, who may have joined a cult.


Shades of Branch Davidian, Jonestown, and Heaven's Gate echo throughout the novel, which will appeal to readers of Sandra Brannan, Tess Gerritsen, and Iris Johansen. There is a plethora of obscenity, some violence and tragedy, and some sexual scenes, so 18+.

I received this book to review and realized I hadn't yet read Pretty Maids All In a Row, so I immediately went to Amazon to purchase the first book in the Iris Ballard series. You may be lost if you have not read that one before starting this book. Iris Ballard is back after escaping the Woodsman and she's a national hero. She's still conflicted from her past but rising from the ashes, is starting to put her life back together piece by piece...that might include her best friend , former partner and hottie Luke. But just as things seem to be going in the right direction, TV interviews, a new book on the table, national stardom, Iris receives a call from home that has her re-directing her plans to help save her twin brother, Billy who may or may not have joined a cult. Traveling back to Grey Mills means confronting even more skeletons from her past...a nasty step sister, a distant father, a not so compatible relationship with her mother and once again putting her questionable relationship with Luke on the back burner. One thing that unnerved me about Iris is her lack of confidence. For a woman who seems to come off so strong, she doubts herself more than ever especially when it comes to the people who love her. This book definitely brings out the inner struggle Iris has had to deal with over the years and has her searching for what she truly wants as well as reconciling old relationships she has played a part in damaging. This book was an edge of the seat page turner for me, but it was nice after reading Pretty Maids to see more where Iris comes from, how far she is willing to go to save her brother and repair her relationship with her family. And we may finally get an answer as to whether or not she finally takes the plunge with Luke.

I like this series and I like Iris Ballard. This is a thriller about an FBI forensic psychologist and her efforts to rescue her brother, if needed, from what may be a cult. I really enjoy how the author incorporates Iris's relationships with other people into the story and how she fully develops those other characters. Especially as you read the series, you get to know more about Iris and her family, friends, and colleagues.

The story in this one didn't grip me quite as hard as in the first book, which is probably just as well, because the villain in the first one was too creepy for me. It was, however, an interesting plot and completely different from the first book, which I consider a plus.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free e-ARC of this book.

Welcome to Book 2 in the Iris Ballard series! Iris is a forensic psychologist who previously worked for the FBI. Now she is an acclaimed author. While on a tour to promote her book, she is summoned back to her hometown in Pennsylvania because her brother has abandoned his life and joined a cult. Iris’s high-strung mother is fit to be tied and determined that Iris will get her brother back. To do this Iris must infiltrate the cult and try not to get killed in the process.

So, I have a little bit of an obsession with books about cults. I find the inner workings of these groups to be endlessly fascinating. This story is pure fiction, but takes the reader into the heart of the cult and exposes you to the tactics they use to gain followers. The main characters are a diverse group with some very complicated personalities. In particular, Iris’s family is highly dysfunctional and her mother can be scary at times. The story is about Iris trying to find and extricate her brother but at the same time she is working through some very intense personal emotions and relationships. The story itself moves at a quick pace and keeps the reader turning pages. My only issue with the book is the over use of the “F” word throughout and that’s why I’m giving it a lower rating. If that’s not a problem for you then you are in for a compelling psychological thriller.

Serial killers, cult leaders, tv shows, publicists, and more. Darkness at the Edge of Town is a thriller, but perhaps it was intended for more a women’s audience.

Apparently, this isn't a stand-alone, as I spent some time a bit lost. Some series you can drop into, others need the whole series. This is the later. Anyway, there's gobs of drama. So many issues and things going on, almost to the point of a British TV series feeling. The focus is a cult, which can be a fascinating topic and it worked well for this book. I'd not mind getting caught up with the first book, but I do feel that I missed enough to lose a few stars for this review.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free choosing.

A great psychological thriller! I couldn't put it down, nor did I want to. Iris Ballard is an awesome protagonist. I just loved this book. A strong heroine is exactly what Iris is and made for perfect bedtime reading.

When Iris receives a frantic call from her mother telling her to come home, she rushes home. Investigating her brother's disappearance is going to be tricky, but Dr. Iris Ballard is on the case. A hunky love interest complicates matters even more. I hope this series will continue to grow.

In this great follow up to Beautiful Maids in a Row, main character Iris Ballard has been on the talk show circuit after taking down a notorious serial killer, and she is ready for some relaxation. Then comes a frantic phone call from her mother that takes her back home to Pennsylvania, the last place she wants to be. Her twin, Billy, has quit his job, left his fiancé, emptied their bank account, and joined a cult.

Iris has to try to rescue Billy from the sadistic cult leader, Matthias Morning. It will take everything she has to outwit the manipulative cult leader and make certain that Billy is safe. Iris is soon joined by Luke, her lover and former partner, and together, they will infiltrate this dangerous cult to see what vile things are happening there.

My favorite thing about this book is watching Iris pull herself together and investigate the goings on with the cult. She has so much baggage, yet is a great investigator! I love the interaction between she and Luke, and enjoy seeing them work together. Luke is a great character!

This book held my attention with the mesmerizing characters and compelling storyline. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Dr. Iris Ballard is a former FBI agent who is dragging herself up from substance abuse after her last case went very bad. She has been summoned to her hometown by her mother when her twin brother Billy has apparently disappeared into the clutches of a local new cult. Iris is very good at thinking up plans to help others, but she is not always so great at executing them, especially as a lone wolf. So she calls on her FBI agent Luke to come help her. Together, they tackle the evil that is Mathias and his sidekick Ken, the enforcer. They are using the members who have joined the cult as drug mules and are running a very profitable empire, so they are going to do whatever they need to do to make sure that Iris and Luke don’t topple it. The novel races to a fiery and explosive conclusion that the reader will not see coming, but it is a conclusion that is realistic as well as satisfying, in some ways. This is a great book that it’s part of a series. Now, I need to go back and read the first one, BEAUTIFUL MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, because I want to read more about Dr. Iris Ballard. She is a fascinating character with multiple layers, so I would love to see even more books that feature her!

Book Title: Darkness at the Edge of Town
Author: Jennifer Harlow
Publisher: Alibi
Publish Date: Nov. 14, 2017
Buy Link: https://goo.gl/4xzM98

Book Blurb: “He took away my credibility and made it so anything I said against the group or Mathias came from selfish close-mindedness.” 153
This book did not hold my interest but there were parts that were good. The basis of the story is that Miranda’s brother has joined a cult. Her mother asks her to go find him. As she is looking for him, she finds out that he joined a temple with a friend. The friend left but her brother stayed. He seemed to enjoy it. They have you go around handing out pamphlets. When she finds him she seems to not believe what is happening. And then I lose the story. It became hard for me to concentrate on it. I don’t know if it was the story or that I was busy. I think a little of both. But I did finish it. I believe in the ends she helps her brother out. They help the DEA bring down a drug trade.
I found two interesting scenes that made me laugh. But it was unusual for me to say that this book was a hard read for me. Slow but interesting. I kind of lost the story line and then lost interest. I think it was a good take but a book about cults is less than interesting sometimes as people still find them good television watching.
I give this book a 4 stars.

Disclaimer: I did not get paid for this novel but did receive it from the publisher.

Darkness at the Edge of Town is my first book by Jennifer Harlow. I realized partway in that this was second in a series, but I did not need to read the first Iris Ballard book to enjoy this one. Iris is a smart, tough, former FBI agent and forensic psychologist. She gets people, even if she doesn't like them every much. Iris has a checkered past and has plenty of personal demons, but at the start of the book she is riding a career high when she gets called to her hometown to help rescue her brother from what seems to be a cult. Iris has to face unpleasant memories from her troubled childhood along with creepy cult members in order to try to save her brother. Her best friend and former partner, Luke, helps her with her unofficial investigation. This is a fun, fast read with interesting characters and a plot that kept me entertained. Iris and her sharp tongue makes for snappy dialogue. I will definitely look for more by this author.

enjoyable read with likable characters. who have believable flqws

This was the second book in the Iris Ballard series, and I would definitely recommend reading #1 first since this was somewhat of a continuation from that. Iris Ballard is an FBI profiler that is about to start writing her autobiography focusing on her near death from a serial killer in the previous book. Unfortunately, Iris receives a frantic call from her mother that her twin brother Billy is in trouble and they need her help. Iris gets dragged back to her hometown to help Billy, while also relieving her horrible childhood and teenage years in Grey Mills, Pennsylvania.

Iris goes unofficially undercover to find her brother in a cult. As she uncovers what has happened and why Billy joined the cult, we learn more about Iris and why she went through so much turmoil in recent years. I really liked the first book in the series, and the second book was just as well done in my opinion. I thought that Jennifer Harlow built in a lot of mystery and suspense, and even some romance with Iris’s relationship with her former partner, hunky FBI Luke. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, as well as the story line. You can easily become hooked into their lives and hoping for the best in each one of them. (Except Iris’s mother, she’s a bitch that isn’t worth her time and it was frustrating to watch Iris go through constant situations with her.)

Want a fun book to read?  Then read this one!  This is is a quick, funny, suspense-filled thriller complete with longing love, a cult, undercover work, a millionaire's illegitimate children, and a highly dysfunctional family.  What's not to love?

I missed the first Iris Ballard novel, Beautiful Maids All in a Row.  However, I was given enough information to understand the background of Iris and Luke, her FBI partner, and former lover.  

Iris has many flaws, all which are played out openly.  She is cold, calculating, & cunning, but she is also intelligent, loyal, and loves deeper than she even realizes.  But when push comes to shove, her true personality comes out.  And I love her for it!  

The story starts with the aftermath of Beautiful Maids All in a Row.  It seems she is finally on top of the world.  Only for her family to call her to let her know that her twin brother, Billy, joined a cult.  She reluctantly goes back home, where she is known as the "Abortion Whore of Grey Mills," a decision made in her childhood that some will never let her live down.  However, she is also known as Nancy Drew, another title she hates, but rooted in her childhood curiosity and desire to always know what really happened. 

As Iris gets sucked deeper into the cult, her only way out is to finally face who she is, who she comes from, and where her heart truly lies.

Book Two of Jennifer Harlow's Iris Ballard thriller series. It picks up a couple months after the events of the first book, Iris has achieved some fame and fortune and even hopefully a spot as a consultant for CNN. She's even signed a book deal to tell her story but before she can settle back down at home and start writing her book she gets a frantic call from her Mother saying her brother is missing. The past internal problems Iris faced in Beautiful Maids All in a Row for the most part have been handled, she no longer drinks and has stopped abusing prescription drugs, but she still dealing with the death of her husband especially now that she is looking at Luke as someone who is more than a friend. Now she's dealing with a whole new/not so new batch of internal and external conflict in the form of her mother. Then there is the whole issue with her brother being suckered in by a con artist and his cult.

Mathias Morning and his New Morning Movement say all the right things the cater to the people who are at their weakest, recovering addicts who want someone else to blame for their decisions. After his fiancee miscarried, Iris' twin Billy was at his weakest and after he cleaned out their joint bank account and disappeared Iris knew nothing good was going ot come of it especailly the deeper she dug. While this is the main storyline of the book Iris family drama almost overshadows it, it does play a big part her interaction with her brother and mother and their past histories and in turn how Mathias is able to manipulate them because of it. Luke is seriously Iris' rock, he is there when she needs him and reminds her of her self worth and he just awesome.

Overall, this was a really good read. The internal conflict is even more important to the story than with the first one the family dynamics and all the past drama finally comes out with some revelations and closure. I really enjoyed how the story played out, it was a slow build up but a good one.

Darkness at the Edge of Town takes us back into the life of Iris Ballard not long after the events in the last book where she and her best friend and former FBI partner, Luke took down The Woodsman. Iris is just finishing on the talk-show circuit, and planning on spending a time with Luke when her mother calls begging for Iris to come immediately and help get her twin brother, Billie, out of the clutches of some cult.

Iris, although not pleased, rushes back to her hometown, a town that holds many a bad memory, and discovers her brother has been going through some tough times, and is vulnerable. Just the kind of prey a manipulative cult leader like Mathias, the New Morningstar’s charismatic leader, and his followers are in search of. Iris must put her natural talent and training as an FBI profiler to use, to stay one step ahead and outsmart Mathias. The more Iris finds out, the more she’s worried for her brother.

I couldn’t wait to get back to Iris and Luke after the events in Beautiful Maids All in a Row. It was clear that the feelings between Iris and Luke were finally going to come out soon. I had hopes that their unrequited love would go somewhere, as they’ve clearly been tortured by being apart. I think my biggest complaint with this installment is that there wasn’t more Luke in the beginning, but boy-oh-boy was I thrilled with how things played out once he’s fully in the picture again! Luke is everything I want in a man, or fictional hero! Totally devoted, protective, while fully confident and proud of Iris’s abilities. They knew each other so well, had a wealth of history between them. The irresistible pull of attraction a palpable thing between them! I just love a friends-to-lovers sort of romance! The love between them was obvious to anyone looking, and yet each were hesitant to take the next step. I read with bated breath every interaction and crossed my fingers they wouldn’t screw things up!

The romance isn’t the only pull in this story. I was awed by Iris’s skills in reading people, and treading in just the right way to get what she needed. It was unfortunate that others in law enforcement didn’t always heed her advice here.

This is the second book in the series, and I don’t recommend reading this as a standalone. The mystery/conflict part could be read and understood, but you’d miss the best part: the history and relationship between Luke and Iris. Their interactions and final outcome wouldn’t mean as much without the first book for reference. I loved both books!

Initial impressions:
Loved, loved Luke!! Iris is pretty bad-ass and great, too, but I LOVED Luke!

A copy was kindly provided by Alibi via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review is also posted at The Readers Den.

I would definitely recommend starting with the first Iris Ballard book if this one interests you. I read it, and I still found myself looking at reviews of the first to refresh my memory because I was getting lost. Unfortunately, I enjoyed the first one a lot more. I read a lot of novels in which the main character is an investigator of some sort, and I love getting to know them "outside of work". What their personal lives are like, who they love, who they lost, how they tick. This book was just a little too much of it. The case almost felt like an afterthought. If you're very interested in love lives and family situations, this is the book for you. It's full of drama, will they or won't they, old grudges, and family secrets. I just wasn't connecting with Iris as much as I did in the first book.

Iris has a lot going on... she's making rounds at talk shows, sitting down for interviews, and will soon write a book... all about catching a serial killer. All she wants to do is go home, get her dog, and relax. Her plans change when she gets a phone call from her mother. Her twin brother Billy has left his fiance and cleaned out their bank account. He's gone to be with a group that seems to have the makings of a cult. Terrified for his well-being, the whole family wants Iris to come bring him back. Grey Mills, PA may be her hometown, but it's not the home she wanted to go back to... though with her brother in danger, what choice does she have?

Going home again means canceling plans with Luke, sexy FBI agent and her former lover. All to return to her dying hometown and get berated by her mother. Doesn't seem like a fair trade, but family is family and she's determined to bring Billy home. It won't be easy... she's not even sure exactly where he is. Reckless and without any other ideas, she decides to infiltrate the cult to try to get some inside information. Everyone seems to be happy and safe, but something just isn't right...

I'm going to give this one a 3.5. It kept me reading, but I could have done with a little more realism and a little less drama. Some of the dialogue also came across as a little stilted and unnatural. If the word "smirk" could be used less, I think that would be for the best. It's used ten times in one of the chapters and really started to bug me. However, the cult angle was intriguing and I thought the ending was done well! Recommended to fans of books with abrasive but determined women and some drama and romance.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Alibi, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Within the first five minutes of reading this novel I realized I had a serious girl crush on Iris (and yes, I'm aware she's a fictional character)! She's incredibly smart, sexy, sassy, and acerbic--all qualities I admire in strong women.
After suffering guilt over killing a madman and recovering from an alcohol and pill addiction, she is called back to her hometown when her twin brother has abandoned his fiancee and joined a cult. This is one big dysfunctional family with flawed characters but whose love we see lurking beneath the surface. With the help of FBI friend (and sometimes boyfriend) Luke, Iris tries to infiltrate the cult and winds up realizing just how dangerous these people really are. While I usually race through thrillers to get to the end, I found myself reading more slowly to savor the humor and enjoy the ride! I do hope there are more Iris Ballard books in this series!