Really enjoyed reading this book. Lots of twists and turns in the storyline. Interesting characters in there too. All very good and easy to read.

Adam is driving home from a family outing one afternoon, when a speeding car nearly causes his car to crash. Like anyone would, he tries confront the driver. But a glance into the backseat of the speeding car reveals a woman fighting to escape.

Soon, what starts as an ordinary case of road rage ends with Adam and his family being taken hostage. What starts as a fun day out with family turns into One Dark Night.

The book wastes no time getting right to the action part. The crux of the story itself was exciting & the constant ‘this could happen to anyone, including you’ is a terrifying thought. An exciting and tense read, One Dark Night is full of action and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

The book can be roughly divided into 2 parts. The first half with the family’s abduction is thrilling and full of tense moments. The pacing in this book is fairly fast and keeps the reader engaged. The author weaves a terrifying story using the real life scenarios. Having said that, there are many plot lines that felt quite far-fetched and unbelievable. Even as a work of fiction, it requires you to suspend disbelief quite a lot. (view spoiler)

The story loses a momentum in the second half and it felt like reading a different book altogether. It became very hard to keep track of everything that was going on in the story. Even the ending felt a bit far-fetched. The characters too lacked depth and felt one dimensional.

Having said that, there are plenty of twists and surprises to keep you engaged. If you like your thrillers to be intense and disturbing, this book will entertain you.

Many thanks to the publishers Bookouture, the author Tom Bale and NetGalley for the ARC

Tom Bale is a new author to me but after reading One Dark Night I can't wait to read the rest of his books.
Adam, his wife Katy and their two children are driving home when a car cuts them off almost causing them to crash and Adam gets out to confront the driver but then he hears a scream and when he looks there is a woman in the back of the car and she screams for help and he realizes they have stumbled into a kidnapping situation which results in himself and his family getting abducted too leading to an absolutely epic tale that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. One Dark Night was a thoroughly fantastic read that had me hook line and sinker the whole way through!!!

Thank you to Bookouture, Tom Bale and NetGalley for the arc of One Dark Night my review is honest and unbiased.

A story that begins with what seems like road rage and turns into Tom and his wife Kathy with their two children also being kidnapped. The author takes you through the minds of both the husband and wife and some of their issues, and the problems that the kidnappers are having with the entire plan. What really makes this story work is that when you think you have it figured out another twist happens, but it goes along with the story. You feel the worry the two have for their children and the frustration for Tom starting this whole and for the other woman who yelled for help. A good book that will keep you going all the way to the end.

This story line could be from today's newspaper. An afternoon outing turns into a life and death situation when an out of control driver almost causes a family to crash. The father decides to confront the driver and finds he has placed his family into danger. The story has many slower parts but pulls it all together in the end. A good thriller with an exciting ending.
Ive not read anything by this author before but I'll definitely check out his back library now.

One Dark Night by Tom Bale, this books starts off with a snap when a family gets taken hostage after a minor rock to car light incident, good mystery for me it was not a quick read as it tended to plod in places but it was an interesting read. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC and give my opinion to you.

My rating probably won’t be that popular among Tom Bale fans, but I myself have loved all of Tom’s previous books and just didn’t think this one met up to those. The synopsis seems to have it all and with a story that could seemingly happen to anyone, I was eager to get reading.

The beginning of the book was absolutely brilliant with a scenario that many people could find themselves ion and what was seemingly a driver making his point to somebody who ran him off the road. However for Adam and his wife Katie along with their two kids, a normal scenario suddenly turns into their worst nightmare. I found myself speeding through the first part as Adam and his wife Katy along with his children are separated and the terror and fear comes across the pages like nobody’s business. Then, well it just seems to kind of fizzle out.

I didn’t connect to any of the characters, and frankly they just irritated me. There seemed to be an underlying secret to practically every conversation between Adam and Katy and that grated after a while. I don’t want to go into the whole story line which could potentially contain spoilers for people that haven’t read it, but as the book progressed there were far too many situations that arose that seemed more and more unrealistic as the book progressed. I have read Tom’s other books and really liked them, but for me this one fell flat. A wonderfully promising start, let down by a weak middle, a lack lustre ending and frankly a very odd title (NO clue why that title was chosen).

A minor incident while driving home after a morning outing leads Adam and Katy Parr and their two children Freya and Dylan into a nightmare of abduction, threat, murder and arson. Even when their ordeal is over they can’t help thinking that their lives will never be the same again. It quickly becomes apparent that not all their captors have been discovered and Adam has to take matters into his own hands.

A book that grips the reader from the first chapter - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Tom Bale for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

** spoiler alert ** Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am so relieved to be done with this book, which took me an unheard of 3 weeks to finish! I am giving it a 3 because I reserve 1's and 2's for totally incompetent authors and this author is clearly not incompetent, but I did not like this book. It started out okay. I was somewhat interested in what was going on with the people who had taken the woman hostage. But sadly, the family who got mixed up with them on the road would soon be taken hostage in a basement and I lost all interest. I read the Exes' Revenge and Don't Close Your Eyes and maybe I am just done with the hostages in a basement scenario but it took all my strength to plod through this one and finally finish. I have to say that by the time they got out of the basement at about 50%, I was spent and didn't care how this ended, and it just kept going and going. Even when I thought it was resolved it still had several more chapters to wrap it all up. There was so much about this book that was far-fetched. It just didn't work for me. I think Tom Bale is a fine author, I just don't think his stuff is for me.

Tom never fails to disappoint with his books. Always intense and gripping, it takes a while for my heartbeat to return to a peaceful rhythm when reading them.

I look forward to his next book with anticipation.

A brilliant thrilling read! I have never been disappointed with books I have read by this author and One Dark Night is no exception. Gripped from the very first page of this book plus the tension and intrigue throughout made for some great reading. The book starts with a minor, believable road incident between 2 cars and whoosh, it got completely out of control. The journey that follows is terrifying.
I would highly recommend One Dark Night

EXCERPT: Waking in a rush, she sat up, heart already thrumming, registering sound and movement and danger. The lounge was in darkness but there was a little illumination from the hall. Enough to make out the moist gleam from the eyes of the man who held a blade to her throat, while someone else pressed a thick cloth over her mouth and nose.

Suffocating, she writhed in panic and tried to cry out, but could already feel her strength ebbing away. As they pinned her to the floor, it felt as though she was melting into a useless liquid.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: He sees his wife’s eyes watching him in the rear-view mirror, the kids up on their knees to get a better look. That’s when he hears the scream…

You’re driving home from a family outing one afternoon, when a speeding car cuts you up, nearly causing you to crash. Like anyone would, you pull over to confront the driver.

But a glance into the backseat of the speeding car reveals a woman fighting to escape. She is terrified and she’s screaming for your help: these men have murdered her husband…

What would you do?

MY THOUGHTS: I struggled to connect with this book. It took me somewhere around half the book to get interested, and that was only briefly. I put it down last night with less than 2% still to read, and debated picking something else up to read this morning. It was a book that if I thought 'I will just read one chapter and then I will go and . . .', I would only read one chapter. Not my normal operating style at all.

I wanted to like this book. I loved the last book I read by this author, See How They Run. It earned 4.5 breathless stars from me. One Dark Night is not in the same class - nowhere near it.

There was no depth to the characters, or the plot, which I felt was contrived. I didn't find it thrilling, or mysterious. My heart didn't pound. My blood didn't race. Had I been given this book to read minus the author's name, I never would have guessed who had written it. In fact, I probably would have said that it was a debut novel by a previously unpublished author that still needed a lot of work. So, not a read that I would recommend. 😕😕

Would I read another book by this author? Definitely. I know how well he can write.

I understand that reading is an entirely subjective experience and that, while this book wasn't one I enjoyed, you may well love it, as many others have. So if the excerpt piques your interest and you like the sound of the plot synopsis, please get a copy and read it.

THE AUTHOR: Tom Bale has had a variety of jobs including retail assistant, claims negotiator and project manager, but none was as exhausting as the several years he spent as a househusband with two pre-school children. Tom has been writing since the age of seven, and completed his first novel at fifteen. After twenty years and hundreds of rejection slips he landed an agent and a book deal with Random House, and he now writes full-time.

He lives in Brighton with his family and swims in the sea as often as the weather permits. He also enjoys walking, cycling and reading, and he probably spends far too much time on the internet.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of One Dark Night by Tom Bale for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Loved this book. The first title i have read by this author, will definitely not be my last. Was hooked from start to finish *****

I was so excited when I heard that Tom Bale had a new book coming out and I couldn't wait to finish the book I was reading at the time so that I could get started on One Dark Night!


If this isn't a book to make you think twice about road rage, then I don't know what is.


Adam and Katy have enjoyed a trip out with their two young children when, on their way home, they almost collide with another car. Although they avoid a crash, they do sustain some minor damage to their car. Angry at the damage caused, Adam follows the other car with the intention of at least making the other driver aware of the damage he's caused but he ends up endangering the lives of not just himself, but his whole family.


Tom is the master of dropping ordinary people into extraordinary situations. The families are always so relatable that I usually end up reading with my heart in my mouth, never sure of what's coming next and One Dark Night was no exception. It starts out at breakneck speed and is packed to the rafters with tension, which is one of the reason's I enjoy reading them so much.


Adam and his family are very relatable characters, who could easily be you or your loved ones, neighbours or people that you know and that just makes the events even more terrifying. Admittedly, there are parts where you do have to suspend your belief, but it doesn't detract from the story at all and, let's be fair, a lot of us read books to escape from the world around us, so if you like your escapism to be adrenaline fuelled then this could be a perfect book for you to read.

I really like Tom Bale's style of writing. This book is very addictive right from the start with an ordinary family plunged into an extraordinary situation. Plenty tension, twists and turns and kept me hooked until the end. This is my third read by Tom Bale and the best yet. My thanks to Net Galley for my copy. Reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really enjoyed this book it was very tense in places but would highly recommend. I shall certainly be looking out for books by this author in the future.

This was a book full of promise. It drew me in at first when Adam, Katy and their two children are abducted after a road rage incident. But then the plot turned so unbelievable that I lost interest. Sorry, not the book for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book
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Enjoyable, thrilling novel. I was intrigued from the premise before I even began the novel. Would highly recommend to others.

It's safe to say that I was pretty happy when I saw that there would be a new book by Tom Bale. Maybe even a little happy dance ;) So what did I think...

The start of this book is pretty ordinary and that is one of the things that made this book so so good. After all take an straightforward day, then flip it and it then turns into something all together different and more dangerous. In this book we follow Adam, Katy and their two children and after Adam makes a split second decision their lives change dramatically. Tom Bale easily pulls the reader in with well written characters especially as they are normal people who have their flaws going about their day. Which to be honest makes the plot even more scary as this family find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time! There were some pretty tense scenes throughout as this family got pulled deeper into a very dangerous situation.

The plot to begin with moves quickly which easily kept my attention but one of the things I liked was how the story then changed direction moving to a more steadier pace, at least it gave me chance to catch my breath for a moment! Although still keeping that simmering undercurrent of tension to keep me on my toes wondering how it would all end. I think it's safe to say that actions definitely have consequences and this story has a little bit of everything danger, bad choices, tension and of course engaging characters that I was rooting for. Even when I wasn't reading (I blame work) I was thinking about the book, this for me is a true sign of an addictive kind of story.

Very exciting from start to finish, what more can you expect from Tom Bale, I certainly will think twice before stopping my car in a secluded spot, yikes