Such Dark Things
By Courtney Evan Tate

3 stars.

An engaging start, with a plot that starts well, and fades towards the end.

Dr Corinne Cabot is living the American dream. She's a successful ER physician in Chicago who's married to a handsome husband. Together they live in a charming house in the suburbs. But appearances can be deceiving – and what no one can see is Corinne's dark past. Troubling gaps in her memory mean she recalls little about a haunting event in her life years ago that changed everything.

She only remembers being in the house the night two people were found murdered. Her father was there, too. Now her father is in prison; she hasn't been in contact in years. Repressing that terrifying memory has caused Corinne moments of paranoia and panic. Sometimes she thinks she sees things that aren't there, hears words that haven't been spoken. Or have they? She fears she may be losing her mind, unable to determine what's real and what's not.

So when she senses her husband's growing distance, she thinks she's imagining things. She writes her suspicions off to fatigue, overwork, anything to explain what she can't accept – that her life really isn't what it seems.

Good summer reading, but in the end, a book that will be read, and forgotten a week later.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

#SuchDarkThings #NetGalley

Reviewed by Heath Henwood
www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

Book blurb...
A horrific recurring nightmare is threatening to steal her sanity...
Dr Corinne Cabot is living the American dream. She's a successful ER physician in Chicago who's married to a handsome husband. Together they live in a charming house in the suburbs. But appearances can be deceiving – and what no one can see is Corinne's dark past. Troubling gaps in her memory mean she recalls little about a haunting event in her life years ago that changed everything.
She only remembers being in the house the night two people were found murdered. Her father was there, too. Now her father is in prison; she hasn't been in contact in years. Repressing that terrifying memory has caused Corinne moments of paranoia and panic. Sometimes she thinks she sees things that aren't there, hears words that haven't been spoken. Or have they? She fears she may be losing her mind, unable to determine what's real and what's not.
So when she senses her husband's growing distance, she thinks she's imagining things. She writes her suspicions off to fatigue, overwork, anything to explain what she can't accept – that her life really isn't what it seems.

My thoughts…
Totally absorbing, this compelling thriller has a dramatic conclusion. I certainly felt for the main character, Corinne, but disliked her morally deprived husband, Jude. I know that for the plot to play out Jude has to be portrayed a certain way, but he was weak and unlikable.
Without taking away from the author’s talent for storytelling, my personal opinion is that the story is unnecessarily explicit, sexually. I was not expecting this and if I’d paid money I would have been disappointed. Books need to come with a warning, especially with the ‘ ‘ and ‘ ‘ word are both used so freely.
I almost stopped reading because of it. Of course, it’s the author’s choice, but with some thought I’m sure there would have been other words/ways.
If you like thrillers and don’t mind sexually explicit scenes / language, then you might enjoy the clever plot line.

Such Dark Things was not quite what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I liked it but I did not love it.. but in saying that I read it in just a couple of hours.

It tells the story of Doctor Corinne Cabot who is an ER doctor on Chicago. She is married to Jude who is a therapist. Corinne has a dark past, a past that she can't remember much about, other than the fact that her father is in jail for murdering 2 people and she found them. The details otherwise are sketchy. She starts to have nightmares and become paranoid that she is losing her husband.

It is told from various points of view and from various times in the story. There is a lot of explicit language and detail that I was not a big fan of but it fit with the story.

Thanks to Harlequin Australia HQ and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest opinions.