I found the premise of the book interesting. An person searching for the victims of long dead serial killers. Anonymously giving the location of his finds to the police for the families to finally have closure of losing their loved ones. But there is someone out there that isn’t happy about these long dead victims being found. With one cop suspicious of this so called Good Samaritan and a serial killer zeroing in on Martin Reese, he needs to race to protect his family or lose everything.

The book was fast paced and a quick book to read. There was some suspense and it kept you wondering how he was going to get out of this mess. But I found that the more I read, the less I liked the protagonist. He is rich and plays the stay-at-home dad to his daughter after retiring and selling his tech company. But he was the stereo typical rich guy that gets whatever he wants and is way smarter than everyone else. Everything seems to go his way. Even when it isn’t it somehow works out in his favor. He is arrogant and it made him not very likable.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book’s synopsis and had such high hopes for loving these characters!

Martin sold his tech company and retired early. He’s wealthy and his wife, Ellen, is a loan officer turned shopkeeper. Their teenage daughter, Kylie, is a high school student with a love for swimming. Ellen’s sister, Tinsley, has been missing for twenty years and Martin has been spending all of his free time searching for her remains. Along the way, he uncovers the bodies of other murdered women and anonymously reports the findings to the police. Ellen doesn’t have any clue about how Martin spends his “camping” time, but his daughter soon finds out some interesting details when he becomes sloppy.

At first it seems as though Martin’s secretive search for his sister-in-law is a genuine one. He cares deeply for his wife but her sister’s disappearance/assumed murder is a very touchy subject. It’s also one that keeps bouncing to the forefront of their family life because their daughter wants to be more independent and Ellen is increasingly paranoid that some terrible misfortune will befall her. But does Martin have another motive for finding these buried women? What’s his true agenda?

Issues?
This story was very underwhelming for the first half and the pace was frustratingly slow.

Martin visited these burial sites regularly, dug up human remains in various stages of decay and returned home sometimes a smelly mess, and his wife NEVER suspected something was a bit odd?

Okay, so he mostly showered and cleaned up at hotels, but he did this solo “camping” activity for many years and if camping were a sport, then Martin was an Olympian! He lied to his daughter and wife about his whereabouts all the time and he still managed (somehow) to be a bore! His inner monologue for the majority of this book was dull, despite the nature of his exracurricular activities. Other issues? The two detectives assigned to investigate the finder of these uncovered bodies were one dimensional. Detective Chris Gabrielle felt inferior to his partner, Sandra Whittal, and she was about as likable as a migraine. Their dialogue together was only slightly interesting at the very end. Biggest issue?

Favorite lines spoken by Kylie?
“You smell like unwashed old man, Dad.”

▣ The author’s writing style was okay, but the pulse of this book was at flatline status for almost the entire story! There were occasional blips of life and some clever bits, yes. But these characters really skipped from gray to ultra high definition after the sixty-two percent mark. The last twenty-four percent of this book? That’s when Martin really came to life! That’s when he possessed some personality! Finally!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book.
I thought it was a well written and original thriller.
It was the author’s 1st book so I am interested in seeing what he writes next.

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This book started out so interesting with it’s secretive characters and their pasts. After reading the description, I decided that even though the story seemed really dark, I wanted to know what happens to the main character Martin Reese. A guy who uses clues to solve cold cases? The police should be hiring him. The only thing, is that Martin has his own agenda and quickly becomes a victim on the run hiding from both a killer and from the police. I liked the book until I realized it really didn’t have a good ending. The whole time I was waiting for one thing to happen, and while I’ll spare you the spoiler, it seemed like his main objective was never met. So what was the purpose of the whole story? A guy who gets into a big mess who then tries to get out of the big mess without dying. A solid story that had a quick fizzle at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Nathan Ripley and Atria Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this a very slow read. The storyline did not provide for me very much suspense or mystery. The one thing I did like about the book was the ending.

Why would dedicated family man Martin Reese be so obsessed with murder that he would spend his days picking apart crime files? And his nights "camping" so that he could find the remains of women killed years ago? He believes that he is helping the victims families. Doing something that the police could not.....bringing their girls home for closure. He also taunts the police for not doing the same thing in voice distorting messages and specific instructions on where to find the remains. He treats each burial site with dignity and respect, but takes photographs to keep in a digital 'scrapbook'. One of the women he hopes to find.....Tinsley Schultz, who just happens to be his wife Ellen's sister. The police call him The Finder. 
Detective Sandra Whittal is not impressed. In fact, she's pretty certain that whoever is doing this was a part of the acts from the beginning. So when Reese's daughter, Kylie, is kidnapped, Whittal's not entirely sure that Reese didn't have something to do with it himself. But the real killer's accomplice, the Ragman, has a bone to pick with Reese for destroying all of the careful work done decades before.

I received a free e-copy of Find you In The Dark by Nathan Ripley from NetGalley for my honest review. This book is Nathan Ripley‘s debut thriller.

This book is about a wealthy retired man, Martin, who has a family of his own. He is bored and is obsessed with serial killers. He secretly researches and digs up missing victims of serial killers. He feels like he is doing people a favor by helping solve mysteries secretly and doing thing that the police don't do.

Martin's most recent dig is the body of Tinsley, who is his wife's sister who has been missing for 20 years. When he arrives at the burial site to dig up his victim, he discovers something extra that sets him in a tailspin of events. Now he is on someone's radar and he is being chased by someone who isn't happy that Martin is digging up his work.

Mystery, suspense, serial killers and crooked cops. Need I say more . . . .

Find Your in the Dark is a bit hard to swallow at times, especially as the majority of the violence in the book is directed towards women. While the story is incredibly captivating, I found the change of narrators frustrating. I understand the desire to tell the story from different perspectives, but more often than not the switch from first person to third person made me want to throw the book.

FIND YOU IN THE DARK is Nathan Ripley’s debut novel, although it feels like a book written by a far more prolific author.

The family dynamic between Martin, Ellen and Kylie was probably my favorite part of the book. The character interactions were terrific, as was their development. I grew to care for all of these people.

The detective, Sandra, was especially well written. It’s always nice to find a strong female character in a novel written by a male writer. Many female detectives are poorly conceived and lack depth when created by men, but Sandra was an interesting, take-no-shit, capable detective. Her partner Chris balanced her perfectly, but didn’t steal the show, which can often happen in thrillers with female leads.

I appreciate that the Ragman was just as flawed as the rest of the characters in the book. He made mistakes, and that made him feel all the more real.

What makes this book stand out in a congested genre is the heart and humanity Ripley brings to the table. This isn’t DIE HARD or TAKEN. This is a human tale of family and loss and the mentally unstable. Come for the cool premise and stay for the engaging characters.

One of the best thrillers I've read in years. Highly recommended.

This is a solid addition to the crowded thriller genre that will appeal to fans of Jeff Lindsay and Graeme Cameron. It has a unique hook and great dialogue.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Martin Reese digs up the bodies of serial killer victims, hoping to provide closure for their parents. However, a serial killer out there does not like that, and goes on the hunt for Martin. There is also a cop who is very interested in why a man would dig up these bodies. This book was very different from anything I've read before, but I just couldn't bring myself to like Martin Reese. He just seemed too 'odd to me. Some elements of the book also just didn't add up to me, but I'll blame that on this being an unofficial ARC with some editing yet to be done. I do think this book would make an excellent movie, however.

Martin Reese spends his spare time searching for missing woman's bodies. So far he has found some bodies and reported them to the police anonymously but some police aren't too happy about it. With the help of a crooked cop, Martin has no problem coming up with the files he needs to track the women down but now someone has taken a interest in what he's been doing and they aren't happy. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse.
The main character of this story is too obsessive and creepy. I had a hard time with him being that obsessive, he couldn't even spare his wife a few minutes to listen to her while he planned his next move. The only time he was likeable was when he talked to his daughter. I was stuck between wanting him to get caught and rooting for him.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to preview Find you In the Dark by Nathan Ripley. I read this book since I really liked Carolyn Kepne's books about a serial killer who takes you into his mind. Well this one will defintely not disappoint.
Martin Reese has a hobby - he researches serial killer's and their burial sites. Martin has been doing this for over 20 years. Some might say he is an obsessed crazy man following famous serial killers, but Martin is looking for the site of his dead sister in law who was killed by an executed serial killer. Martin is a family man; he has a wife an daughter. When he goes on "digs" no one knows and when he finds a body, he calls the cops anonoumously - taunting them that he has done their job.
But someone is following Martin and he doesn't know until his last dig - he finds three bodies, but one is a fresh kill. And that someone watching may just be the serial killer companion and he is taunting Martin now. What does he want - but Martin will soon find out when he comes face to face with true evil - and he must face what's inside of him - is it evil as well?
This is really a good novel - fast paced, great characters, and stunning ending. RECOMMEND!!!

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. The story itself was really a very good one - a man who digs up the victims of serial killers - come on, how good does that sound?! But something about the writing just didn't pull me into the story and wondered if I would finish. I found the main detective character entirely too crass. I get that she was supposed to be bristly and independent but I thought the author took her to an unpleasant mean/rude, bitchy place. I also had some trouble with the transitions from the current action of the story into the memories of the characters. I guess my problem was that I missed them and ended up confused. But again, let me emphasize the originality of the story and the twists in the path. They were phenomenally original and really got me thinking about how well we know people and what monsters really lay within

I really liked the plot development of this book. Martin Reese is obsessed with finding the long-forgotten remains of women who were the victims of a serial killer. His own wife, Ellen, is the sister of Tinsley (who vanished 20 years ago and is the suspected victim of a serial killer). Martin, himself, has a dark past and a juvenile record. I had mixed feelings about him as part of me wanted to feel that what he was doing was a great service to the families of the missing girls, but the other part of me questioned his true intentions (suspecting that finding the bodies was more to feed his own compulsions). This book kept my interest and the end had me wanting more.

The premise of this book completely drew me in, I had several friends ask what I thought. This book has a unique storyline unlike anything I’ve read before. The characters just weren’t likeable to me. The female cop was completely stereotypical and the Reese family was dull with no redeeming qualities in any character. I wasn’t rooting for Martin I almost wished the Ragman killed them all. At the 50% mark the book really picked up and held my interest until the 75th when it got slow again. I found myself scanning pages because of lack of interest. I will recommend this for fans of serial killers and unique plot lines and there is a fan base for unlikeable characters that I could see really enjoying this. I wish the book had more outer dialogue several chapters had nothing but descriptors and inner dialogue which made the book drag. 2 1/2 stars I’ll bump to a 3.

Yet another thriller. There are so many out there. Never heard of the author, but looked interesting, nice name, why not. This one was in a word…competent. It just wasn’t enough. In fact the entire book in all its aspects was almost good enough in a pretty frustrating way. The only real success here was the representation of the Reese family, realistic dynamics, great dialogue. The rest…well, there’s the almost but not quite unreliable narrator, Martin, the man with serious sociopathic tendencies, which are so under control, too under control, it basically makes you wait the entire novel for him to go off the rails and he just doesn’t. On the obverse there’s the real (actively so) sociopath that just isn’t that interesting or complicated or even fun. There’s a woman cop who’s too stereotypically tough as nails to take seriously and her male partner/lover, who’s too generic. There are some side characters, but nothing really special. In fact, nothing special is kind of the theme here. What is there is well done, sort of a mixture of man alone thriller and a procedural, but it’s the amount of unrealized potential is just too trying. Also the length of the story is quite trying, although it reads easily enough, it does go on. There was no redeeming last minute ending twist either, so this isn’t a mystery as such. There’s suspense, some excitement, murders (of course), but you won’t really have to use your brain for any guesswork. If only this one had been plotted as decently as it was written…what fun it would have been. The narrative was well done actually, drew and maintained the attention, passed the time. Just wished there was more to it than some mindless entertainment of the mediocre ish variety. Then again it’ll probably make a fun movie, seeing how the rights were sold. Thanks Netgalley.

It's hard to find a unique read and writing style in this genre but Ripley pulls of one of the best thrillers I have read in ages. The characters were interesting and developed, the pace was a steady build that kept readers engaged and eager to finish.