Dark Domestic Noir..
Digital romance turns deadly in this dark domestic noir bubbling with suspense. When Eden’s divorce leaves her reeling she impulsively decides to turn back the clock and reignite a past relationship online. However, things soon take a bizarre turn and it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems. With a credible and deftly drawn cast of characters, a propulsive plot simmering with menace and twists aplenty this is a one sit, tension fuelled read highlighting the potential dangers of online relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me a free arc of this book. All opinions are my own.
I thought this book was really intriguing. The pacing was really fun. I binged it in 2 days. I just had to figure out what was happening! I did not guess the plot twist and was really surprised!
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a quick thrilling read!

A friend in the dark by Samantha Bailey splits its narrative between two key characters. The first is Eden, who is separated from her husband and reignites a relationship with an old college flame. The second, you'll have to discover for yourself as I don't want to give anything away.

There are a lot of twists in this novel and while I was interested enough to read it until the end, it got a bit gratuitous. That said, I definitely was satisfied with how justice was served.

Overall, a fast paced but a bit too convoluted for my taste thriller.

This is your standard thriller – lots of twists and turns, unreliable narrators, and wild moments that would almost certainly never occur sequentially in the real world. It's fun though, once I started it I was burning through it and read in an afternoon.

I loved Bailey's book "Watch Out For Her" and thought it was a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, "A Friend In The Dark" is just not my cup of tea. I would not necessarily put this in the thriller category, but thought that it would fit better as being labeled a dark romance. I do not enjoy dark romances and tend to steer clear of those books. However, I'm sure readers who regularly read and enjoy dark romances would love this book. It is well written and has a great pace. I look forward to reading more true thrillers from Samantha M. Bailey in the future.

4.75⭐️ which I’ve rounded up

A book friend was raving about this book, the FOMO was real, so I had to jump on the bandwagon. My first read by this author.
Eden has hit her 40’s and her life is spiralling, her husband wants a divorce, her teenage daughter who she has a tense relationship with is off to college. Eden feeling neglected reaches out to her first crush Jason.
Then suddenly red flags start madly sending semaphore warnings.

The story is told from dual points of view which works well.

This is one dark twisted story that takes you on a fast wild ride! brace yourself.
Eden at times seems very naïve for her age, her daughter Ava is the typical angst ridden teenager. Her husband Dave is having a midlife crisis.

At one point the story takes a very weird turn, do a quick eye roll if you must, but move on quickly because all is revealed, and everything makes perfect sense.

There are triggers in this book, so check it out if you need to. If you don’t have any jump into this book asap and enjoy this terrific psychological thriller. It offers so much more than the blurb suggests.
Now I want to check out her other books.

A Friend in The Dark is a domestic thriller to the extreme. It was a tense read that kept the reader wanting more with the sense of foreboding and not knowing what would happen next. The novel centres around 45 yr old Eden who in a drunken, self pitying late night Facebook scroll she friend requests a past college obsession, Justin Ward, From that moment on her life as she knows it has changed forever, opening up to a world she’s never experienced before filled with excitement and danger. I enjoyed the complex middle aged characters, the multiple POVs, and the multiple twists and turns with a satisfying ending. I enjoyed the flawed characters who I frequently second guessed their intentions and if they were who they appeared to be. There was both spice and darkness which added to the well developed plot and rollercoaster thrill ride read.

My rating: 4 1/2 out 5

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this eARC that will be published March 1 2024.

Wow, this was so good. I’ve binged it in one sitting I needed to know how it ended! It was one of the better thrillers that I’ve read recently. he kept me on the edge of my seat! I have not read anything from her before, but I definitely will check out more of her work!!!

Is the grass greener on the other side? Dave tells Eden he wants to live separately on the day that they drop their daughter off at college. Eden is devastated because Dave gives her no explanation. Feeling sorry for herself Eden decides to reach out to a former classmate that she had a mad crush on in college. Bad mistake!!! What happens next is a twisty and thrilling story that takes many shocking turns.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful book and highly recommend it. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This is not really an appropriate book for me to suggest to students due to sexual content. It does explore mental health issues and abuse and how abusive family life leads to abusive relationships and sexual assault so there are things that would be useful to discuss from this book

This was a fast easy read, the story had potential but it was too unrealistic, too melodramatic for me to take it seriously. Everyone was too much, too naive, too abusive, etc I think some people will enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer for an eARC of A Friend in the Dark by Samantha M. Bailey! I was thrilled to get approved for this one - I adore this author and her work.

What's it about?
Eden is having a crisis - She's going through a divorce she didn't see coming, and her daughter barely speaks to her. She decides to send a friend request to her college crush, beginning an online relationship that turns her into a new woman. One night in college, her life changed. Her relationship with Justin came to a close and she started seeing her husband, Dave. What if she could do everything over? And how does Justin know so much about her current life?

This one is both thriller and spice, a rare combination that you can truly sink your teeth into. I love the past and present storylines that somehow seamlessly blend together in the heart-pounding conclusion. WOW! As always, I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next.

Well……this read was not what I was expecting. It starts a little ‘Ohhh my!; gets a little creepy and then goes full force ahead into psychological/domestic suspense. This was a quick, ‘read it in one afternoon’ book for me.
Thank You to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Samantha M. Bailey for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book!! Was on the edge of my seat for the last quarter of the book. So many twists and turns!


Eden feels, in the first half of the book, felt like a woman easily susceptible to scams and it was a bit annoying reading from her POV, but also makes her somewhat a relatable/flawed character that you root for towards the end? Overall, loved it!

A bit of a slow start and I found the main character to be a bit lacking. She was portrayed as fairly weak. I thought the twist at the end with her daughter was interesting.

I was very excited to receive a copy of this book! I read this authors first book woman on the edge and loved it and knew I would read all her books!
A friend in the dark was so good. I could not put it down. I loved the characters, story, twists and kept me guessing on how this book would end. I will be recommending this book to all my reader friends!

3 star read for me, if I had not been reading for netgalley to review it would have been a dnf for me. Eden was such an unlikable character for me and found it hard to keep reading more on her, so much cringing. I was glad part 2 came and it was more about Olivia and less Eden. Calling this book a sensual domestic thriller was a stretch, it wasn’t the best in either category. Wish there were more twist and turns that kept me guessing and mindblowning up till the end. I was left wanting more from this book.

What a book!!!!! This was a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat thriller that is unputdownable! I literally finished it in record time! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, the plot twist of all plot twists drops! Run and grab your copy now!!!!

Part 1 was slow and kind of boring. Part 2 was where the book really started as a thriller. Part 3 was crazy, but the ending was meh. All in all, I give it 3 stars. Eden was not my favorite character. I really enjoyed the Olivia / Lila storyline in Part 2. That, to me, could have been a whole book. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I reallllly enjoyed this book! I was hooked from the start and could not wait to see how things would unravel. I was not disappointed. This was a quick, fun read for me. I would definitely recommend!