I couldn't put this book down! It's not the mother/daughter story you would expect. I always love books with the gritty Ozark setting, and this novel is indeed riveting. Trigger warning that the content matter may not be for everyone, especially parents. Amy Engel is definitely one to watch, and I for one will be eager to read whatever she comes up with next.

Thanks, Netgalley, for this arc.

Eve has always been poor but she’s always done everything she could to raise her daughter well. Junie is a sweet and smart twelve-year old girl. When Eve receives the news that her beloved daughter was murdered while she was at the park with her best friend, her world falls apart.

They live in a very poor area in a city where everyone knows about the shady things that happen everywhere. Eve’s brother Cal is a police officer and he tells her not to do anything crazy because he’ll do his best to catch whoever did that to Junie. But Eve has nothing else to lose and she cannot let it go.

She finds out Junie’s best friend was seeing an older man and he immediately becomes a suspect. But who would have any romantic interest in a twelve-year-old child?

There’s a lot of filthy bribery going on in this case. Eve hides the secret of who Junie’s father is; this was a good plot twist in the story. Eve’s ex-boyfriend, Jimmy, is a guy that owns a strip club and is the head of the drug business in town. When Eve talks to him to see if he knows anything about it, he tells Eve that everything she needs to find out who did it, is right in front of her. And the truth will make her world fall apart even more.

There are so many plot twists and I was surprised every time a secret was revealed! That hasn't happened to me in a long time.

This was a very quick read because of all the plot twists that got me hooked. I couldn’t put it down until I found out who the murderer was.

Thank you to Emily at Dutton Books and NetGalley for this copy! Emily gave me the synopsis for this book coming off of a request for Riley Sager's newest, and it sounded like something right up my alley.
I was hooked from the first chapter, and lost sleep trying to finish it and understand what was happening. All of the characters felt so real, and I felt the intense heartbreak, sadness, and anger that Eve felt while trying to comprehend her daughter's murder and find the person who did it. I honestly never saw the ending coming, and even when I thought I knew what was going on, everything went in a completely different direction. I have never read any of Amy Engel's other books but I want to now, because this was the definition of a thriller, of a murder mystery - one that grabs hold of you and doesn't let go. I loved that it was set in the Ozarks and felt that Engel captured it well: how the small towns operate and how different they are from the bigger cities that surround them. This book is about so much more than finding out who the murderer is; its about the bond between families, between women who didn't think they had much in common but by the end are more alike than they knew, and how far a mother is willing to go for revenge.

Not too many books start the way The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel does. It startes with the death of two young preteen girls and it is haunting. We experience the grief of the parents throughout the book, and it is as heavy as you would expect. But we also experience class and social differences in the inhabitants of this small town. Really though, this story is about family. Family comes in many forms and they connect in different ways. It also shows struggles of not wanting to be like your family, and I think many can relate.
There were several twists in this book, one of which is about half way through. This one shocked me, in a totally fantastic way. I love it when I don't see it coming.
The author is so descriptive of the environment, describing growing up poor, and also about grieving. I felt like I could see, smell, and taste their grief. Not a book to be taken lightly, and not for everyone. However, I feel like we can all gain some wisdom from it. It is definitely a book that will stay with me a long time.

My favorite authors: Donald Ray Pollock, David Joy, Ron Rash, and John Hart....and now I can add Amy Engel to that list. The Familiar Dark is the story of a mother navigating her grief while fighting for the only thing she ever loved completely; her daughter. Having lost her only daughter to a gruesomely brutal murder, Eve Taggert is lost. And lost is a dangerous place for a hurt mother to be, especially for those around her. As Eve takes the murder investigation into her own hands, we are introduced to a wild cast of characters. These characters include her cop brother, her drug-addicted, cold-hearted mother, and a range of ex lovers, ex friends, and co-workers. They also include the parents of the other murdered girl. Maybe, just maybe, this violent crime was committed because of the family from the right side of the tracks and not because of her and her family. But who is she kidding really? This was always going to be about it, for she lives in the familiar dark.

Dark, Gritty, and Disturbing

“The world was ugly, especially for girls. There was no escaping it. You either fought back or you surrendered.”

The Familiar Dark is a suspenseful, intense psychological thriller about a grieving mother’s quest for vengeance.

Eve, a young single mother, has led a hard life. She grew up in an area in the Ozarks where the poor are separated from the poorer. It’s a fine line to survive and Eve grew up with an abusive, drug-addicted mother. Eve could have fallen into a similar life, but she managed to stay on the straight and narrow for her daughter, Junie. However, when 12-year-old Junie and her best friend, Izzy, are found with their throats slit on a playground, something is unleashed in Eve. Determined to find her daughter’s killer at any cost, she will have to choose to live in the light or find comfort in the darkness.

Eve’s voice is raw and real. Her grief, as much as she tries to keep it tamped down, permeates the pages. She shares a very open story of her life and covers her abusive childhood and relationships. She doesn’t sugarcoat her behavior, nor does she blame others for her mistakes. Having nothing left to live for after Junie’s death, she doesn’t blink when putting herself in danger and finally can face the evilest of all, her mother. She has fought her whole life to not become her mother’s daughter, but now without Junie, she finds that she is more like her mother than she wants to admit.

This is a fast-paced tense page-turner, and as dark as it was, I enjoyed Eve’s voice. The Familiar Dark explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, family, love, and trauma. This is not a pretty story and some parts are uncomfortable to read. I didn’t love how the events played out, but in the end, they make sense. The ending stunned me and left me shaken.

This is a tautly written story that explores class and relationship dynamics. Eve is a strong female lead with a compelling voice. This isn’t a book for everyone: it’s intense, harsh, and unsettling. Despite its disturbing nature, I found The Familiar Dark to be a worthwhile read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel is a dark and disturbing story that will burrow into you and hold on tight until the very last page. Eve is a powerful character and an excellent depiction of the strength of a mother's love and her unrelenting persistence to find justice for her murdered daughter. The setting is gritty and atmospheric and was so well-described that I felt like I was in the Missouri Ozarks right alongside Eve. There are some unexpected twists that I probably should have seen coming but the author was able to lull me into a false sense of security about certain characters. A captivating and gritty story that I couldn't stop reading.

When Eve’s brother, Cal, shows up to the diner she works at, she instantly knows something is wrong. Her world comes crashing down when she learns her 12 year old daughter, Junie and her friend Izzie, were murdered at the playground. With nothing left to lose, Eve is determined to get justice for her daughter. In the poorest part of the Missouri Ozarks, with a town full of secrets, Eve must tap into her tough upbringing and channel the harsh lessons her mama taught her. It only makes sense that brings her back to where it all started, her mother’s house, for one final lesson.
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Right from the start, this book pulls in you in and grabs you by the heart strings. Opening with a mother’s worst nightmare, you instantly feel for Eve. You understand the deep feeling and need for revenge and justice against the person who took her daughter. While there weren’t any major twist in this, I still felt an urge to keep reading to find out who did it and if Eve gets her justice in the end. I wasn’t too thrilled with the killer and why they did what they did. It kind of fell flat for me in that aspect. I wouldn’t recommend this off the top of my head, but I definitely wouldn’t discourage others from reading it.

Eva lives in the middle of practically no where, where everyone knows everyone. Her mom is a cold hearted, drug addict with zero regard for the law. Her brother Cal, who just to prove he could do better becomes a cop. Her twelve year old daughter Junie and best friend Izzy are murdered in the middle of park and no one sees it and if they did they aren't talking. Eva is determined to figure out what happened to her girl and why someone would do something so horrendous. My only peeve about this book is all the build up and you think it's building to this epic ending and it just like "light bulb" and its over.

The opening chapter of this book sets you up with so many questions about the murder of two young girls. Set in a rural and poor part of the Missouri Ozarks, one of the girl’s mother has nothing left to lose as she seeks revenge for her daughter’s killer. This is a dark and twisty book that hits on themes of systemic poverty and family brokenness. It brings up grief, pain, and what actions are worth the consequences. I flew through this book in a day. It is a page turner for sure.

An excellent mother/daughter addition to the domestic noir space. A first purchase title for most general fiction collections.

“We grow accustomed to the Dark—
When Light is put away—“
—Emily Dickinson

It’s is with this quote that Amy Engel’s The Familiar Dark begins and it really sets the tone for the story. The story starts dark and gritty with the death of Junie, who is Eve’s only child. Eve is barely scraping by in a small, rather desolate town that seems to be left behind and forgotten by most of metropolitan America. Eve is pretty much a tough badass who decides she need to figure out who her daughter’s killer is. She doesn’t have anything to lose because she’s lost pretty much the only thing she’s ever cared about.

Gritty is actually the best way to describe this book. The characters were gritty, the setting was gritty—everything was just a little bit dirty and a little bit on the wrong side of right. This book was a solid, suspenseful read with twists that surprised me. Eve was like able and easily relatable and you hoped that if you were in the same situation that you’d do the exact same thing.

Overall I loved this book. I identified with Eve as a mother. The loss of a child would be utterly numbing and the fact that Eve remained so strong and got so much done made her an absolute badass. Five amazing stars.

Less than a thriller and more of an examination of familial relationships (primarily mother/daughter and brother/sister), The Familiar Dark is a gritty story with an of-the-moment setting. Anyone who has watched Ozark on Netflix will easily be able to picture Eve's tiny, poor town in Missouri. The book gives off the same gray, unsettling vibe as the show, too.

After Eve's daughter and her best friend are murdered on a run-down playground, Eve takes it upon herself to investigate the murders and exact revenge on the killer. What she uncovers is more horrific than she could have ever imagined.

There are some heartbreaking twists/reveals in this story, and the entire thing feels very desolate and hopeless. I wasn't impressed with the ending when I first read it - some of it seems very out of character and almost like a stretch. But the more I think about it, and the more I think about the setting and the personal background of each character...i'm not ENTIRELY convinced that it's plausible, but i'm starting to come around that maybe it was an inevitable conclusion for these characters. Just be forewarned: it's dark and it's sad and there are no winners in this book.

The Familiar Dark is a powerful story of poverty, murder, and family ties that grabs you from the first chapter and keeps you guessing until the final word. Eve is a tough, young mother whose twelve year old daughter, Junie, is murdered alongside her best friend Izzy one cold, snowy afternoon. With her entire world thrown upside down and the one thing keeping her sane taken from her, Eve struggles to keep it together. Her small, poverty stricken and drug infested Midwest town is closing in on her and she knows someone knows something. With the help of her brother Cal, abusive ex-boyfriend, estranged mother, and Izzy's parents, Eve is determined to hunt down her daughter's killer if it's the last thing she does. The Familiar Dark follows Eve to places to she never thought she would go again, uncovers buried secrets that threaten the lives of everyone close to her, and tests the strength of the family ties Eve thought were long forgotten. A masterful storyteller, Engel drags you down into the depths of grief and despair and leads you on the fight for justice.

The Familiar Dark is a chilling, atmospheric murder mystery in a town plagued by drug abuse and corruption. When Eve Taggert's daughter is murdered, her life is turned into a tailspin - having suffered at the hands of her drug addicted mother - her and her brother swore they'd always be there to protect Eve's daughter, but when the unthinkable happens, all bets are off.

Engel does an excellent job with the prose in this story and the pacing moves right along - coming in at under 300 pages, this one is definitely a quick read and one that will have you turning the pages - desperate alongside Eve to solve the case!

Amy Engel has written a taut and engrossing page turner of a read with The Familiar Dark. Well worth the read!

"the baby snuffled a little, burrowing against her chest, seeking. She had a sudden urge to pinch her daughter, show her, right from the start, that the world was full of ugly things. That way her daughter wouldn't be surprised later, wouldn't be weak, expecting the world to do her any favors. Trying, in the best way she knew how, to teach her daughter something worth learning. "

I was expecting something else entirely when I picked up this book. I was ready for an atmospheric, twisty thriller, except it wasn't. I wanted to love this book, and I loved the sound of it. I think my expectations were somewhere else entirely, and that is completely on me.
I figured it out about 25% into the book, and kept reading hoping to find a big plot twist along the way, something unexpected, but It fell flat for me.
I was stoked to start a book with a strong female protagonist, especially a mom seeking vengeance for her murdered daughter, I mean, a woman scorned, right? Instead she kept breaking my heart with her "we are nothing but white trash hicks" lines, and constantly belittling herself throughout the entire book. (not to mention terrible decision after terrible decision along the way. ) I couldn't bring myself to like her, and I couldn't relate to her at all. I was really hoping for more from her as a character.
I am giving this book 3/5. This one was too easy to predict, too many clues left to pick apart, to many breadcrumbs to follow.
**Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for my copy in exchange for an honest review**

An unforgettable look at a woman's reaction to the worst pain a mother could suffer. Not just the death of her child, the cold blooded murder of her child. The book launches with the murder. Then you meet the young girl's mother and hear her history and you know, this will not end well for the killer. Amy Engel weaves in a mother's pain and vow of vengeance among a cast of characters so hard you hope you never meet anyone like them. She demonstrates a skill that not enough authors have, she pulls you into the middle of this story and keeps you there. My husband says he can tell when I'm reading a GOOD book by the sound effects and I made a lot of them while reading this one. This book rates a WOW and 5 stars!

13 year old best friends Izzy and Junie, are murdered in cold blood. When police officer Cal comes to tell his sister, Eve, her daughter died, Eve realizes she’s been holding her breath for the past 13 years waiting for this tragedy to happen. Cal and Eve’s upbringing was terrible, filled with an addicted nasty mother and those who surrounded her. Trying to find out what happened to her daughter brings her back to the seedy side of her life filled with good and bad nasty people, and forces her to once again have contact with her mother. But in the end she and Izzy’s mom find out exactly what happened to their babies, and what they need to do for justice.
Well written but at the same time sad, and hard to read! I still enjoyed this book.

The Familiar Dark follows a mom, Eve Taggart, who is determined to identify her daughter’s killer after she is brutally murdered on the local playground. Along the way, she uncovers secrets she isn’t prepared for...secrets that alter her life course AND reshape the memories she had growing up. ⁣⁣
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My main problem with this book is that there was no sleuthing. Almost at all. The first few pages were INCREDIBLE. And then the rest of the book never followed through. It felt as though Eve just ran around the for awhile with no real “detective work” transpiring to find answers. ⁣⁣
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BUT the second half did pick up a bit and by the end, the overarching theme and the character arc of Eve brought this book up to a 3.5 for me. The author’s ultimate big picture is very well written and her character development is excellent. But the plot and lack of true “thriller” type events and sequencing left me wanting more.⁣⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5⁣⁣