Narrated by Stephanie Cozart; Christina Moore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author Terri Parlato ⭐⭐⭐ 3.5
At first this felt like two separate stories. One about an killed husband and one about an old crime but then came together beautifully.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Goodreads for giving me copies of this book for review. At times today I both read and listened to this book and I while I enjoyed both formats, I would definitely recommend the audiobook. The two narrators who did both perspectives were wonderful.

I am not going to go into the synopsis of this book because I know that I prefer to go into thrillers as blindly as possible.

So, what I will say is this. This is a sort of "locked room" whodunit mystery thriller. While the writing was good, and the story was definitely decent, it isn't anything particularly new. I feel like I have read this same story or seen this idea in movies before. However, don't let that deter you if you like these kinds of stories because it was fun and a quick read either way. I will also say that it has quite a large cast of characters, and unfortunately none of them are particularly remarkable or memorable. They all felt super interchangeable and while I knew it was obviously someone in the friend group, I found myself not caring WHICH friend it was because none of them stood out more than any of the others in terms of relatability or how much I cared about them and their individual lives. On the other hand, for a bit of positivity, I thought that it made a perfect cold weather read and the setting was just detailed enough to make it lovely for winter and this time of year.

Trigger warnings for death, rape and kidnapping.

I think that readers who enjoyed The Guest List or other Lucy Foley books may enjoy this.

It's a great story, intriguing. I really enjoyed the audiobook, narrated by 2 different narrators.
Molly's husband Jay was murdered after his 40th birthday party, during the night, while Molly was sleeping....but who is the murderer. Everyone likes Jay, Molly has a past that haunted her.
ISBN13 9781496738561 on Good Read

I wanted to buy into this story so much, but it felt a bit out of order. Dual story lines, plus some flash backs keep it moving. It is an interesting read, but there are some gaps that feel like they are key to the story line.

The audio narrators were a good choice for the age and tone of the story.

All the Dark Places by Terri Parlato was only okay to me. I didn't relate to either woman in the book, finding Molly to be too entitled and Rita too stereotypical. I was never able to feel sympathy for Molly.

For the majority of the time that I was reading it, I kept saying that it feels like a debut novel, and, after looking up the author, I see that it is. Given that, I rate it 3 stars instead of 1 or 2.

Stephanie Cozart and Christina Moore were fine narrators.

Thank you to RB Media for providing me with an ALC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this audio ARC of All The Dark Places! This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to that had 2 different narrators, each for a different POV.

First of all, five stars, this book was so good!

Molly throws a 40th birthday party for her husband, Jay. All of their friends are there and they have a great night. When Molly wakes up in the morning, Jay has been brutally murdered in her home, and she slept through the whole thing. In the search for what happened to Jay, we explore Molly’s past (if that is even her real name), what truly happened to Jay, and how the two are intertwined.

The duel POV between Molly and Detective Rita flow flawlessly. I love the back and forth between what Molly is dealing with and how Detective Rita works to solve the case. The only thing that was difficult for me was the number of characters introduced, I would have preferred to have read this book in print.

Very impressed by this debut novel by Terri Parlato and cannot wait to listen/read more from her!

Let me begin by sharing that this was an audiobook and not a physical page-turner… but I was still excited for the story nonetheless.

This read surrounds the unexpected murder of husband and psychologist Jay the day after his birthday celebration with friends at their home.

From the start and even up until the last few pages, the characters were ever-evolving and confused me. Perhaps there were a few too many that came into play? Neighbors, family, detectives, childhood relatives, etc. You name it, it was probably in the book.. children and pets.

The book has a few unexpected turns, such as the connection between Jay’s killer and his wife Molly’s traumatic childhood, which excited me a bit. But I haven’t left craving the next page.

I admire the story's overall plot, but I felt it was a bit jostled and encompassed a chaotic writing style. I felt the author had many great ideas and twists brewing, and then the execution was poorly done.

I love a mystery, but I couldn’t wait to finish this one as I was hoping for an exciting pull-through ending that would make it worthwhile. Sadly, I was left with an average subtle ending.

I hate giving negative reviews, but I always want to be honest. That being said, perhaps if I’d read this book verse and listened to the audiobook, I would have had a different experience. Also, please note if you enjoyed this read, I am so happy you did! Everyone has a book preference, and different writing styles apply to different readers. 🖤

After thinking on it for a bit, I believe I was equal parts entertained and confused by this one. I can see why the ratings are all over the board. So, there were a whole lot of characters and yet the character development wasn't there. There was a lot of back and forth in order to get Molly's back story, but I found myself frequently losing interest. And a lot of what Rita did (her drawings, her conversations with her neighbor, etc) that led her (and us) nowhere. I've read a lot of thrillers lately that hit the mark. This one just didn't do it for me. A huge thanks to Kensington Publishing/RB Media, Recorded Books, NetGalley and Terri Parlato who provided me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a wild ride and I loved every second of it. The killer was twisted and nuts. This book had so many twists that left me guessing which made the book so gripping. I devoured this book in one day because I just could not stop.

This book had several layers of mystery, first we wondered who the killer was and why? It seemed like an innocent celebratory dinner party and the next morning nothing was the same! Later we find out there's more to Molly's story than we originally thought. Molly isn't just dealing with the loss of her husband Jay, she's dealing with secrets from her past she want's to keep in the past. With Jay gone, what's the way forward for Molly? This book was a good mystery book, at times I felt as if it were hard to keep up with the events, however, I still wanted to figure out what the conclusion would be and what was actually going on with Molly and why terrible things seem to follow her. It was a good book.

A modern twist on a classic “whodunnit” type story. Molly wakes up the morning after her husband’s birthday party to find him dead. The story follows Molly and detective Rita Myers as they unravel the mystery of who killed him. I enjoyed this book more towards the second half. It just went in too many different directions for me and was hard to follow at times. Overall, it was a good twisty mystery but could have had some parts left out. I did really enjoy this writer’s style and will be reading more of her books.

Thank you NetGalley, RB Media and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to this ARC ahead of publication!

Loved this. Really kept me on the edge of my seat. Definitely didn’t see that ending coming. Thanks so much for the opportunity to listen to this one!

I enjoyed this book. at the very beginning it felt DeJa'Vu, but I read a lot of thrillers. I got over it. it kept my attention quite well. there were quite a few characters to keep track of, in each POVthey might be called by Mr or Mrs last name, or by first name, but I eventually caught on and managed. I listened to it, and the narration was good. thank you netgalley for the opportunity to review your book. I enjoyed it!

Great story that kept my interest. The MC's husband was killed and she also had something to hide...who wouldn't like that premise? Furthermore, their little friend group all had secrets so it added to the suspense! Just when I thought I had it figured out, the plot twist was good! The narration was great too, I liked the back and forth between Rita and Molly!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Molly wakes up the morning of her husband’s 40th birthday party to discover his body in their garage. Rita is the detective assigned to the case, who initially starts looking in the couple’s circle of friends for clues and suspects. When a clue links the case to a cold case in another town, Molly begins to realize her husband had secrets, but will what Rita doesn’t know about Molly prevent her from solving the case?

At first I was afraid this was going to be a pretty generic, straightforward murder mystery about solving a husband’s murder, but the story quickly grew more complicated and interesting. I picked up some of the clues along the way but definitely did not figure everything out. I loved both main characters’ stories equally, and I appreciated how different they were: Molly in her mid-30’s, Rita a much older, seasoned professional. I listened to the audiobook and thought both narrators were well cast and did a great job. All in all it was a fun, suspenseful read. 4 stars.

ALL THE DARK PLACES
Terri Parlato

In the first couple of pages, maybe even within the first few lines, you could tell there was a hesitation to the writing.

We open the book from Molly’s perspective and if there wasn’t another POV my rating would’ve been lower. Molly’s character from conception to execution including the narrator's choice was built for a lighter piece of fiction. This book however is crime fiction.

Molly’s character is ungrounded and feels like she was created secondarily, as an afterthought. She is presented as the main character, yet she is not the one who the light is shining on. She amongst the other, very well-formed characters, stands out as weak.

When we are in the other perspective, we are with Rita. Rita is a veteran and is constructed as such. She is chiseled and intimidating. I think her character was strong enough for her to be continued on in a series.

When we are with Rita, in her chapters it is reminiscent of listening to older Sue Grafton novels. There is an expectancy to what is coming; if you miss it the first time, don’t worry. The author will most certainly rehash the important details.

Imagine that when you are with Molly you are reading women’s fiction and when you are with Rita you are reading crime fiction. It felt like that big of a difference, from tone to pacing, dialogue, and narrator choices. Rita’s perspective felt better executed.

The mystery is very straightforward, so much so that other things must be introduced to make the first storyline seem more interesting and twisty. And I didn’t feel it was very successful in doing so. The action is tepid. There are several passages where things are wrapped up with little explanation, skipping over scenes where action-filled details are required and then in other cases, too much explanation is given, bogging down the reading experience.

I did appreciate most of the characters and I think Parlato’s strong hand is creating characters that feel real and are distinguishable from one another.

I gave this one three stars and think it will split the line between readers who want a solid mystery and those looking for something a little soapier.

This one comes out December 27, 2022

Thanks to Netgalley, RB Media, and Recorded Books for the advanced copy!

ALL THE DARK PLACES… ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved this thriller!

It took me a day to listen to All the Dark Places because I wanted to know how this book was going to end! I went back and forth with who killed Jay, and up until the end I was certain of the culprit, but nope, I was wrong.

What stood out for me in this book was all the characters involved with this story, at times it was a little difficult to keep up with what was going on, but I also think that’s what made the story great. Your head was swirling trying to figure everything out!

I would definitely recommend the audio or even the written copy, the book was really good!

Eventhough this seem yet another mistery / police thriller , what made my day was the fact that the main detective is an old lady, which was refreshing. I simply love her. I hope for more of Rita Myers in the future

Great Riveting story told by a great narrator who brought this to life. The narrator/s had a perfect speed and timbre as well as reading the character well and using suitable voices to enact them.
The story was suspenseful and full of twisty dark paths.
There were some seriously horrifying moments especially when talking about the past. An epic fear laden finale that will take your breath away!

I didn't love this one. It was a debut, but unfortunately I think it felt too much like a debut for my taste.

I think the writing and dialogue needed some work. The dialogue all felt so forced - like it was a bad play where the actors had to explain everything out loud. There also felt like a decent amount of recapping pointless narrative. Maybe I'm being harsh here, but I tuned out a lot of the small talk and the book lost points for me there.

The reveal was okay, but I don't think you had enough hints to really be surprised or invested when the mystery was revealed? When we learned who it was and their motivation, I just didn't feel much. Sure it was explained, but it all felt forced and wasn't done in a way to get a reaction from me.

I wanted something a little more dark and twisted, and this one was somewhat straightforward and predictable. Maybe I've read too many thrillers, but this was too slow and didn't keep me engaged.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.