Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

I read this back in 2018 but realized I didn't post the review I had typed up in my notes app. This book had a great premise that I haven't come across before. I can definitely see where the comparison to Dexter comes from. Nathan Ripley wrote a story that will suck you in and I would highly recommend for those that need a book that isn't your standard.

Thanks to Netgalley and Nathan Ripley for the ARC.

3.5/5 rounded up

Find You In The Dark by Nathan Ripley has been sitting around on my backlist on NetGalley and I decided it was time I finally read it. While I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it, it is a unique thriller and unlike any others I have read. I was incredibly intrigued by the plot of a man digging up graves of the victims of serial killers, and while I love the theory, I wasn't a huge fan of how it was executed. However, since this is a debut novel, I can understand how it might be lacking a bit, and I still really enjoyed it.

I listened to the audio and am a big fan of Corey Brill who narrates. He is also a narrator for The Troop which is a book I loved the audio of, and it was nice to be familiar with him going into it. There is nothing crazy about the audio, but Brill brought the book to life and he is incredibly easy to listen to which always helps. Find You In The Dark is also great on audio since it's a bit on the slower side. However, it was super dark and twisted, and this is definitely a disturbing read and not for the faint of heart. I love a gritty thriller, and that is exactly what this one was. I have Ripley's next book as well and am still looking forward to it even though I didn't love this one as much as I had hoped to.

Thank you to the publisher for my advance review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Interesting concept with a fast paced ending, but I found that the characters felt flat and lacked any real depth. The female detective in particular felt like she had little growth and her ending didn't fit what I did know about her character.

Dark and creepy, but not as outrageous as I was expecting from the synopsis. This one was disturbing, but it was also pretty original.

This is a crazy book, I love that it is so different from all the thrillers I am used to. This has a great concept.

Martin Reese has spent years looking and digging up dead bodies of serial killer victims and calling the police anonymously with their location. He is ready to dig up his last body, Tinsley Schultz, his wife’s long lost sister, victim of the infamous Jason Shurn. However, when he finds a freshly killed woman in the same grave where he thinks Tinsley is, he realizes he might be in danger. Somebody is watching him.
Martin Reese was an outstanding main character. He’s morally grey and extremely intelligent, which made him stand out. I didn’t like Detective Sandra Whittal as much as I liked Martin but I loved the discussion she had with the other cops to determine if Martin Reese, known as The Finder, was good person for digging up murder victims police were unable to find.
The story is fast-paced, which made Find You in the Dark a quick read. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about the book and what would happen next, and, when I was reading, I never wanted to stop.
This novel made me really excited to get Nathan Ripley’s other book, Your Life is Mine (which I, sadly, don’t own yet).

Wow, what a book full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed the book, and couldn't wait to see how all tied up in the end. Recommended.

What an amazing concept for a story. This was something completely different to what I normally read. I loved the relationships between the characters. The story slowed down in certain places before picking back up again. A terrific twist in the tale too.

I tried but I didn’t love this book. I gave it a break and I hoped a few months later I would be into it but nope. It had a great plot I just think the execution wasn’t my favorite because it didn’t suck me in like other serial killer books do.

Martin Reese has it all. He is a successful business man. A father. A husband. Everything looks rather normal on the surface, but Martin is hiding a dark and sinister secret. He will go to great lengths to keep that secret from being revealed to the world. Nathan Ripley makes Martin out to be a rather cut and dry, carpool type of dad, but at the same time, we get to see the darker side of Martin and his morbid escapades.

As Martin’s exploits become more frequent, people start to notice. One is a detective and the other is a stone cold serial killer. Martin must tread carefully. His marriage is on the rocks. His wife is starting her own business with another man. There’s some jealousy there. I love how Ripley looks at the family dynamic and how it plays a big part in the plot. Things will be revealed. There are tons of twists and turns along the way to that excellent conclusion.

You really don’t know who has the moral high ground in FIND YOU IN THE DARK, which makes it a fascinating read. It’s fast paced and smart. Ripley grips you from the start, and sends you reeling at the end. All the characters are dynamic, which is a very rare thing to have in a debut. I’m thoroughly impressed. And just when I thought Ripley was going to go the conventional route, he pulled the rug out from under me and did the unexpected.

There’s a lot happening in FIND YOU IN THE DARK, but Ripley manages it with style and grace. The loose ends are dealt with and there are no plot holes. There is a sense of urgency when you start this book. Once you start reading this book you can’t stop–this is due to Ripley’s style and prose. The short chapters keep you on the edge of your seat, too. I can’t get over that ending. FIND YOU IN THE DARK is unrelenting and unputdownable.

I truly enjoyed this book. The characters were very relatable and the story kept me interested. Great suspense read!

It’s a little different than most psycho thrillers. I read that it was similar to Dexter type but I didn’t think so much other than the main character Martin Reese is obsessed with digging up bodies of murdered girls and then reporting it to the authorities without letting them know that it was him. Parts were a little slow which is why it took me a little longer to finish it. Overall I give it about a 3-3.5. The detective was my least favorite person in the book.

I was all in after reading the blurb, it sounded amazing. Creepy, horrible, with a mystery and a bit of horror, sounded right up lane. Yeah I was a bit disappointed. The characters were not what I was expecting. Martin could have been written amazingly well. He just seemed like a Dexter and that was a compelling character. It could have been great. Sandra and her partner were no better. I think I just wanted more from a novel touted as a thriller. I wanted fast paced, edge of my seat, makes my heart pound, and that just did not happen. The story was slow, too slow, especially for how fast paced I imagined it would be. I wanted to like it. The premise was fantastic but I was let down by the character development and pacing issues.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

The synopsis had me really excited to read this one but it wound up being too much of a slow burn for me with an ending that seemed much too tidy for the complex and thrilling story I just wish read. It was a little long and seemed to drag at times but overall wasn’t bad. 3.5 stars.

*I requested a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

This took me a while to get through. The story was interesting - a man who lives a quiet suburban life was actually The Finder, the person who was digging up the bodies of missing persons that were abducted and murdered by serial killers, and this hobby of his becomes cause of his woes when the wrong person uncovers his identity and goes for revenge. The novel is told from multiple perspectives - The Finder, the policewoman who was in charge of his case, and the current perpetuator of the Finder’s woes. While it provides more information on the narrative, the multiple perspectives angle is also its biggest weakness.

Having multiple perspectives took out a bit of the thrilling aspect because when it shifted perspectives to the other characters, it goes astray from the main plot. Because of this, only one perspective was really developed, and I wished the author just focused on that or approached the entire narrative in the third person POV. One of the perspectives is from the detective who was in charge of the Finder case, and we barely see her do any police work, let alone anything helpful with the case or the situation because she was too busy portraying herself as a tough cop. Even the other person’s perspective doesn’t help at all even if it was written to add to the chilling aspect of the narrative because it was so sparse and lacks descriptions. The other two perspectives were written in third person, while the main character’s was in first person so the readers are privy to his thoughts - and he does a lot of thinking and plotting. He was supposed to be the more developed character and yet there doesn’t seem to be any urgency about the man. Even if the detective describes his attitude as cold and aloof and suspicious, there still should be semblance of personality in the main character because of his direct connection to the reader.

The very big positive on the novel was that it was easy to keep track of the main plot even when I would put it down for long periods of time.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Martin has a weird hobby in that he is interested in murder. He digs up dead bodies.

This book was creepy and really made you think about the disturbing habits of others. This was an interesting and unusual premise that drew me in from the beginning.

A bit of quick read but not an especially enjoyable one. It moved very slow to me and just didn't seem to be all that interesting.

Can't say that this book was an easy read. Although only three hundred or so pages, it read like a book that was a lot longer. Unfortunately, that is not a good thing as often there was a great deal of repetition and the story which might have been a wonderful one with a great concept became long and drawn out.

Find You in the Dark is said to be in the same league as Dexter and that alone catch my attention. Reading the blurb had me sold. It sounds dark and just plain creepy. This started real strong on the first few chapters. Starting off with a murder scene and introducing Martin in the middle of his hobby. The plot is original and I had high hopes. But it pretty much slows down after that. And despite some curveball thrown in along the way, I am not that invested as I hoped I would. I don’t find any of the characters interesting. And I even don’t care much about what happens to them. I also don’t get most of the conversations between characters and I find myself skimming the pages. Despite the promising plot, I am bored. What keeps me reading, though, aside from hoping that things will get better, is the desire to know what will happen next. Plus the tension was built quite good, so there is that. At the last 20% of the book, the story finally picked up to make up for the slow pacing. So, considering some issues, I still find it an okay read. A decent thriller but definitely could be better.