I did not like this book very much. The plot was iffy at best and the main character was extremely unlikable.... not for me at all.

Nathan Ripley attended the Grimsby Author Series to read from and share insights into this book. This raised the interest level in this title but the writing and storytelling craft that Nathan has makes this a wonderful read. Everyone who is interested in this genre should read this.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel follows Martin who is a retired tech start up entrepreneur who has the off hobby of digging up not yet found victims of serial killers and reporting it to the police in a taunting way. You get a glimpse into his home life as well as hookups for obtaining information for his digging.

Intertwined with this, we learn that his wife’s sister Tinsley was murdered by a serial killer and that Martin is obsessed with obtaining enough information to locate her body 20 years later.

When I had requested this book I wasn’t in my true crime peak yet, but glad that I did because this book was just want I needed this Halloween season. We got a big glimpse into Martin’s brain and POV instead of it being mostly procedural with the investigation as a lot of books in this genre tend to me.

The pacing was a bit slow but it was addicting to keep reading to find out if he’ll ever get caught, who he will find next, and how the relationships between all the characters change throughout as new facts are revealed about one another.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. I would have liked a few more pages to provide a more wrapped up ending and an epilogue to see how these events affected all the characters. I would be interested in picking up another one of Nathan Ripley’s books!

Wow! A great murder mystery, detective investigation journey via wonderfully crafted characters. I appreciated being drawn into squad room and felt I was part of the investigative team.

A real page turner, some of the characters are a little stock, maybe, and some of the plots work out very conveniently for the bad guy. It was hard to put down though.

FIND YOU IN THE DARK is the chilly, creepy debut thriller by Nathan Ripley.

Martin Reese has a strange hobby, and one that his family is not aware of: he is obsessed with serial killers. He researches and digs up murder victims. He buys stolen police files on serial killers, and uses them to find and dig up missing bodies. Calls in the results anonymously, to the police. He feels worthy that he can secretly solve mysteries, ones that the police can’t solve.

But Martin keep a scrapbook of his discoveries. Why?

Detective Sandra Whittal is suspicious of the mysterious caller, who she calls the “Finder”. Is he the one leaving the bodies behind?

But then Martin comes across a shocking discovery…and one which shows that someone is not happy with him digging up bodies.

Now, in order to keep his family safe, Martin is on the run from the cops as well as the killer.

This debut novel had an interesting plot, and was an okay read with a creepy dark aspect to it, but I was looking for more WOW in the delivery.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley for my digital copy.

I received this book from Netgalley to review.
Martin Reese is retired and has sold his tech company. Now he has the time to do what he wants. What he wants is to search and find the remains of serial killers. His sister in law was kidnapped and persumed murdered and Martin has been searching for her body. But his family does not know about his secret obsession. One day while while on a find he discovers that there is somebody that knows exactly what he is doing and then Martin's life begins to unravel.

While this has a good plot, the characters are very annoying and not very likeable. Everyone from Martin, his wife, his daughter to the police officer investigating are not very likeable. As a result it was very hard to get through. I just did not care what happened to anyone. Maybe if Martin was a more sympathetic character I would have rated it better.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It did take me a little bit to get into it, because it takes about 100 pages to get to the crooked cop disappearing, though there was a bit more to the story than that. in the beginning, Martin was coy with giving us readers information about what he was doing, even if the synopsis already told us. But once we got to the good stuff, things really got going!

I think that Martin was morally grey. Digging up murder victims does some good, the families get that bit of closure, but he doesn't do it for that. He does it to keep his darker urges in check, feeding them this. So it's not right, but it doesn't harm anyone.

One thing that I really loved, as a Canadian, is when they got directions to one of the serial killer's victim's bodies. But they were in the metric system, not imperial, so course the body wasn't where they were looking. That was a bit of cleverness on Martin's part, figuring that out. Of course, he had gotten a lot of practice in looking for clues from various recordings, and this one plain out gave the directions, which were very precise!

So in the end, I only have 2 questions. Who was the other body in the grave besides it's original inhabitant and the newest one? And where was Tinsley buried? Other then that, I'm satisfied, it ended on a good note!

This book was dark and thrilling and awesome!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t think I’ve read anything like this book before and it had a really neat concept. Martin buys old case files and information from a crooked cop and goes about finding and digging up past murder victims, hence why he is given the name, The Finder. Apparently he chooses the wrong serial killer’s victims to dig up because him and his family are soon targets themselves. It’s a face paced, nitty gritty dark dip into the realm of serial killers and those that track them.
It was definitely a good read and I’d recommend.

This book started off on a good pace then it seemed to have slowed down towards the middle part of the book and it felt like there were parts that weren't needed with some of the secondary characters. The final quarter of the book was very well paced and that part had me hooked the most to continue reading and not want to put the book down. I read the first and final quarter of the book quicker than the middle basically but I would recommend to others looking for a good read.

Find You in the Dark was fast-paced, and gritty, just how I like my thrillers, but this one, while it started out strong, fizzled out for me about halfway through. I felt like it could have probably been a lot shorter. I will still likely read more from this author in the future, it's just this one didn't do it for me.

I really really wanted to love this book, and I had high expectations for it because the premise just sounded so amazing. However, it just didn't work for me.

I think one of my big problems with this book is that it has a very slow pace. It took a long time for the story to get going and even when it did, it wasn't necessarily presented in the most interesting way. I wanted things to be fast-paced to keep in line with the intensity of the premise. But this was definitely a slow burner of a story, and I don't know if it really worked well for this type of novel.

I also didn't really like any of the characters and found the style of conversation between different characters to be very stilted and awkward. It really wasn't realistic at all, which is one of my pet peeves. I wish the interactions had been developed better as that really hindered my ability to enjoy reading this book. I also felt that the characters lacked the depth I was looking for. Martin is just very, very dull for the longest time and I found him annoying. I didn't like the two police detectives as they were very cookie-cutter and one-dimensional; I wanted something more unique from them. 

Overall, this novel had an interesting premise but it didn't meet my expectations. I wanted deeper characters and a faster pace, so for these reasons, I'm giving it a 2/5 stars.

This book gets you hooked right from the start. It's a wonderful "who dunnit" with a twist. Rather than look at a series of murders through the eyes of either the detectives or the murderer, we see them through the eyes of someone who finds the bodies. New twists and turns on every page. Loved it!

3.5/5

When I first read the synopsis for this book, it reminded me of Dexter. Maybe not quite the same, because this guy is just digging up bodies instead of burying them. At first that seemed like a unique angle, but I quickly found out that it made the story lesser. Not less interesting, but the pace was slower. The intensity was low.

The intensity was low.

How couldn't it be? The victims were already dead, and the people that killed them were already in jail or dead themselves. Then, suddenly, the intensity picks up. New lives at are stake, complete with real danger.

And, honestly, once the plot picks up, it was great. And while its surprises didn't have me gasping, I didn't see most of them coming. By the end, it was a very fast-paced and satisfying read.

The biggest win, and the biggest miss, for this book is the relationship between characters. The Detective, Sandra Whittal, and her partner have a very complicated and dysfunctional partership/relationship. Our main character, Martin, and the 'someone who isn't happy Maritn is digging up his work' also spend some time together. Both relationships were my favourite aspect of this book, but there was very little of either.

Considering I usually run when the synopsis has the word 'Detective' in it, this premise intrigued me, and I'm glad it did. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and would recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of a crime thriller.

When a crooked cop with a weak tie to Martin vanishes, Whittal begins to zero in on the Finder. Hunted by a real killer and by Whittal, Martin realizes that to escape the killer’s trap, he may have to go deeper into the world of murder than he ever thought.
There were major plot points that happened in each chapter and regulated so well, that it made me want to keep reading. It was hard to put this book down once I started reading.

I really enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for an exceptional thriller, this is the one for you.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher on NetGalley.

Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publishers, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: 
Martin Reese has a secret that his wife and daughter know nothing about. His wealth has allowed him to retire early, and he spends his spare time on a treasure hunt of sorts. He hunts for the dead bodies of murdered victims. He hopes to find the missing body of his sister-in-law at some point. By purchasing police records from a rather unscrupulous police officer, Martin has been rather successful in his searches. When he finds a body, after many photographs and documenting every nuance for himself, he re-buries it, and leaves a computer-generated message for the police as to the location of said remains. He emphasizes that the police should have been put in a little more effort. To Detective Sandra Whittal, these phone messages have been a taunt that she could do without. She has a good track record, and she is intent on getting this man she calls “The Finder”. Others may think he is doing the families a service by giving them back their loved one to bury, but Sandra wonders if perhaps he may start killing next.

Meanwhile, Reese may have overstepped. He thinks he has discovered the 20-year-old remains of his sister-in-law, but when he opens the grave, he finds the body a current case, and of a current murderer….who is now hunting him. The “Ragman” as he calls himself, is not happy that Reese is finding his kills. This killer has been working with others in the past to create his own little path of destruction, and he needs a new partner. Perhaps Reese could fill that vacancy.

In order for Reese to keep ahead of both the police and the murderer, and to keep his family safe, he may have to up his game.

My Opinions: 
Although the premise of the book is great, I felt it moved a little slowly. As well, I didn’t connect with the main characters. Martin seemed a little wishy-washy, his wife a bit**, and the detective arrogant and unprofessional. I rather liked the daughter and the serial killer. Told from the perspectives of Martin, the Detective, and the Ragman, everything moved smoothly. It is an easy read. It just somehow missed the punch it needed. I kept waiting, and although the ending was fair, overall it just lagged.

This was not a bad for a debut novel!  Again, the actual plot was really good, and it read well, but perhaps this one just wasn’t for me.  Guess they can't all be.

Martin Reese has an unusual hobby. He finds the bodies of murder victims that have not yet been discovered. Using old case files for reference, he looks for seemingly random or unimportant clues that police working on the cases originally missed. He keeps photos of the bodies, along with detailed records of how he uncovered them, stored in his 'scrapbook', an old computer which is hidden away in a locked drawer in his house. Once he uncovers the remains he phones 911 anonymously on disposable cells, leading the police to where they are buried. Unfortunately for him, he has caught the attention of a serial killer who is not entirely happy with Martin's activities and is recently making those feelings known. Also hot on Martin's trail is police detective Sandra Whittal who believes he has escalated from being a 'finder' to a murderer.

Martin and his wife Ellen appear to have a good marriage with arguments mainly revolving around her overprotectiveness of their daughter, Kylie. Ellen's sister Tinsley went missing twenty years ago and Ellen believes she was murdered. She's worried the same will happen to Kylie, so she sets heavy boundaries and rules for her. Martin looks specifically for female victims of serial killers in an attempt to find Tinsley and put his wife's mind to rest.

The insight into Martin's personality is fascinating. There's a complexity to him as he conceals what he's doing from his wife and daughter to create some sort of balance within his life and family. He believes he is providing a public service for the victims’ loved ones. However, there might be another motivation that drives him other than providing closure and finding Tinsley's remains. Martin also has a history of secret impulses he's trying to suppress, so there could be an even deeper reason why he is digging up bodies.

The dark and rainy streets of Seattle create the perfect backdrop for the narrative. Author Nathan Ripley conveys such a sense of unease, I was frequently looking over my shoulder as I was reading. Find You in the Dark is a disturbingly sinister novel with plenty of suspense, intriguing characters and a story that kept me riveted.

I find it impressive how vile and tormented someone could be, how a sick mind can operate... This book give you an inside view on how a serial killer thinks, and that is something. Ok, I'll say it, it's disgusting. This book was good, but I found it difficult to read.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books that sticks with you for a while, it's dark and gritty and that keeps you from putting it down. The story is about Martin, a retired tech millionaire that has a gruesome hobby. He loves to find the bodies of missing women suspected to be the victims of serial killers and send taunting pics and messages to the police. His little hobby didn't start out like most peoples hobbies. He was a stalker that realized he needed to make a change or end up in jail so why not become obsessed with finding the bodies? He wants the crowning glory to be finding the body of his missing sister-in-law, a presumed victim of a serial killer that had been put to death years before. When he thinks he has finally found her grave and starts his ritual dig he quickly realizes that things are not as they seemed and quickly finds himself in a tailspin trying to save not only himself but his family.

Sandra, the tried and tested detective on the case doesn't think of Martin as a hero, but as a potential predator, unlike her colleagues that view him as a sort of "hero" that is getting the job done through means that legally they cannot use. Sandra is determined to bring him down at all cost.

this exciting novel was a real page turner right to the last page. If you like dark and twisted suspense this is for you! Cannot wait for more by this debut author!

Find You in the Dark is Nathan Ripley's debut novel - and if you like suspense fiction, its one you're going to want to pick up!

The premise is deliciously dark....... Martin Reese is obsessed with serial killers, specifically with the victims not found. He's been buying up police reports for many years and has managed to locate (and dig up) the bodies they couldn't find. But, he's doing all of it anonymously and taunts the cops with a tip off of each new body located. Oh, and he takes only photos as souvenirs. Uh huh. He's been branded as The Finder by the cops. And it's all going along as it has for many years until.....you got it - a serial killer figures out who Martin is and what he's doing - and......

I know, I couldn't wait to start reading either! Martin knew something would happen eventually with his 'hobby', but "I didn't know yet that I'd made deeper mistakes I wouldn't ever be able to put all the way right." Martin didn't engage me as a person, rather I found myself observing him, somewhat dispassionately.

Now, someone else is after The Finder as well. Detective Sandra Whittal. I loved this description of her...."She was thirty-two and lacked the penis that functioned as a skeleton key to acceptance, but she had the competence and could properly talk shit, which went a long way." Whittal is clever, dogged and determined. This is the character I really liked.

Find You in the Dark is a delicious cat and mouse game. It is a plot driven novel, with numerous twists and turns and some great foreshadowing. Now, yes there are some moments in the plot that I thought were a bit of a stretch, but I quickly let them go and kept turning page after page. For this reader, Find You in the Dark was definitely an entertaining read. I look forward to Ripley's next book.