A clever book.

We start out with Martin, a 40 something tech dude who sold his company and is now living the good days! He is married to Ellen, who's sister Tinsley disappeared 20 years ago and is now considered murdered. They have a daughter named Kylie, who is in her mid teens.

Martin seems like the all american normal guy, except that he has a very weird hobby. You see, Martin likes to investigate and then dig up victims of serial killers at their burial site. He then notifies the cops of where the body is, all under the pretense of giving the family of the victim closure.

At one point, one of the serial killers takes an interest in Martin and a clever cat and mouse game begins. I don't want to give away any further spoilers, but I would suggest this book to anyone who likes a good and clever thriller.

I really liked this book, I'm blown away that it's a debut honestly. I was fascinated by the plot from the very beginning, it was creepy but also very unique. As a reader, I also felt put on the spot and wasn't quite sure who I was meant to be rooting for. I applaud the author for bringing to life such a great example of an antihero. There are points midway through the book that things get a little strange, and other parts that are far fetched but I was strapped in for the ride by then and fully enjoying myself so I didn't mind. I think the pacing has a lot to do with this- Find You In The Dark is a page turner. I always wanted to know what these people were going to do next. The ending was tied up a bit neatly but still satisfying. I'll look forward to more work from the author for sure.

Before I started reading this I’d heard mixed reports which is always intriguing – turns out I adored it and it was just the kind of story I love to get my head into. Not sure what that says about me…

ANYWAY, Martin spends his spare time looking through the cracks of various police investigations and very successfully digging up lost victims of serial killers. Sandra is a detective who is not as enamoured of this idea as some of her colleagues – rather than seeing him as a hero, she wonders about the psyche of a man who would do this sort of thing. Martin calls in his finds anonymously, but what he doesn’t know is that someone is watching..and Sandra is determined to track him down too..

There were several things that worked for me in this novel – first and foremost Martin himself, who tells his own story, allowing the reader to see inside his head. It was refreshing to see an exploration of a dark personality who has channelled that darkness into something that could be termed a public service – hence, I suppose, the comparison to Dexter, certainly both those characters are dangerously attractive, but this is a very different kettle of fish. So to speak.

Then we have Sandra, a divisive character, she is edgy and often annoyingly obtuse, yet you can see her side of things – wondering if this mysterious benefactor of closure for parents isn’t just working himself up to being the one who deprives said parents of their offspring in the first place. The yin yang between that and what you know of Martin makes for a fascinating reading experience, whose side you might take, whether you want Martin to “get away with it” or not…

The mystery elements are very well done but this one is all about the character study in many ways, descriptively it is dark and gorgeous and I loved how it ended – I’m wondering if we will get a sequel, I do hope so I’d love to see what happens next following the closure of this cat and mouse tale, I really would love to go back into Martin’s world again, I had a good if somewhat terrifying time there.

Recommended.

I really enjoyed this read, I'd like to thank netgalley for my copy. It was dark compelling and drags you in from the first page. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Find You In the Dark was a good read. There was enough suspense to keep me reading and several states twists that made the story fun.

I'm very impressed with this book, especially being a debut novel. I've actually steered away from this genre for the past year or so, simply because so many thrillers have fallen into the predictable pattern of "bad guy hurts people, good cop gears up in hero cape to save the day". Find You in the Dark broke that pattern, added plot twists that kept me guessing and ended not at all as I'd expected. I found myself thinking about the book, the characters, their flaws as human beings, their choices and motivations, even while I wasn't reading the book. I read a lot and can honestly say that doesn't happen often for me, which shows just how well Nathan Ripley crafted his tale. I will definitely look for future work from this author and recommend Find You in the Dark to anyone looking for a great read.

Find You in the Dark was an enjoyable read and I believe I found a new author for my growing list of favorites. The book description mentioned similarities to Dexter and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Full disclosure, I am not familiar with either, so I can't say if others who are would agree. I liked the central character, Martin, because, well he seems to want to provide closure for families of victims never recovered and what could be wrong with that. Even if a killer has confessed, without a body, the families are left with the inevitable, “ maybe it wasn't my loved one, maybe he/she is still alive” hope. This was different to me and I do enjoy new ways of looking at a story.
Martin studies old case files and interviews, and has an almost uncanny ability to dig up clues the police have missed, find bodies and end the uncertainty. Could anyone really be that much better than the police? Or does Martin have some additional insight into the killings? Those are the thoughts that nibbled at me while I was reading and with no spoilers here, you'll want to read the book the uncover the truth.
This wasn't a book that kept me up all night, but to be honest, those are the exception, not the norm.It did make 40 minutes on my stair stepper fly by without my glancing once at the time! What it did have were good characters, a different perspective than the usual serial killer storyline which pits the killer against the police and/or victim. Throughout the story, I rooted for Martin to be the good guy he appeared to be, albeit one with an unusual obsession. There were numerous twists and turns along the way and I stayed invested in the story until the very last page.
Thank you, Nathan Ripley, Text Publishing and NetGalley for the digital edition to read and review.

Thrillers always interest me and this one did have a good amount of mystery to it so. I did like it.