Thank you so much for the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book. I thought it was okay and would rate it a 3/5 stars.

The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams was a fun read! I felt like the writing and mystery were done well and I enjoyed my time reading this book!
I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this book. This book instantly drew me and kept me turning the pages.
The plot is filled with unexpected twists that maintain a gripping pace till the end.
I’ve enjoyed Williams previous titles and The Hungry Dark was just as good!
A great atmospheric story with fantastic characters.

Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

In this spooky book by Jen Williams, a small town is scared by creepy murders. Ashley, who used to trick people as a psychic, tries to help the police during a series of awful child murders in the Lake District. She uses psychology and the internet to investigate. As she digs into the mysteries of the town, she starts seeing things from her childhood and finds a dead child in the woods.

The media and police get really interested in Ashley, wondering if she's really psychic or maybe involved in the murders. Ashley teams up with a podcaster named Freddie to figure things out. They discover a creepy connection between Ashley and the haunting mysteries of the Lakes.

Jen Williams, who is great at making things spooky, brings us another scary story full of murder, psychic stuff, and the eerie landscapes of the Lake District. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what's going to happen next.

I just reviewed The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams. #TheHungryDark #NetGalley

✨ About the Book ✨

Macabre murders plague a rural town as a scam-artist psychic races to find the answers in this haunting thriller from award-winning author Jen Williams, perfect for fans of Camilla Sten and Alex North.

As a child, Ashley Whitelam could often see odd things nobody else quiet, watchful figures she called the Heedful Ones kept a strange vigil wherever she went. As an adult, she keeps these visions to herself, but she’s turned her taste of the beyond into a career as a “psychic”­ – parting people from their money with a combination of psychology and internet research. When the Lake District is gripped by a series of grisly child murders, Ashley offers her services to the police for the free publicity. But as Ashley leads the police on a fruitless search around the small town of Green Beck, she catches a glimpse of those old ghosts of her childhood and, following them into the woods, she finds something she never the corpse of the latest missing child.

The press fly into a frenzy and the police grow either Ashley’s psychic abilities are real, or she is guilty of murder. Hounded by interviews and interrogations, Ashley teams up with Freddie Miller, a podcaster covering the crimes. As they investigate, Ashley realises that there’s no way to distance herself from these whoever or whatever it is that’s haunting the Lakes is haunting her, too.

Master of unsettling suspense Jen Williams is back with another chilling, dark read that will draw readers into a gruesome and atmospheric nightmare.

Author: Jen Williams
Release Date: Expected publication April 9, 2024
Genre: Horror, thriller
Pages: 352 pages, Hardcover
Star Rating: 3.2 /5


📚 How I See it 📚

The ‘fake’ psychic working with the Police has been done many times before, so I wasn’t really excited about the premise- but it didn’t disappoint. 

I think that the most interesting part of this book comes from how we are slowly given glimpses into Ashley’s traumatic past over the course of the entire story. It really gives the book depth.

I usually avoid anything that involves children being hurt or unalived - bout somehow the plot was disturbing yet captivating enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

I will be thinking of the Heedful Ones for a long time.

💛 Find Me Here 💛

Blog : themidnightbookclub.com
Instagram : @the.midnight.book.club


Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own thoughts

Ashley has always had dreams,visions and seen ghosts. As a child they haunted her, now she just keeps them to herself. the police have come to a dead end on a bunch of child murders, so ashley offers her help. One evening she finds the body of the latest murder and reality and visions become a blur. Police and the community nor longer trust her and her life takes a nsty turn.

I was very excited to read this latest book by Jen Williams and it started off really well but as it progressed it fell short for me and just didn't hold my attention I had to really had to push myself to carry on it was just an ok read
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the arc

Ashley is a stage medium, tricking people into believing she can commune with their dead loved ones. She's good at her job, although it makes her feel guilty sometimes, but her father and brother insist that she keep doing it to support the family – and their newest scheme is to start consulting with the police to “help” with a string of serial murders of children in the area. But Ashley has a secret she keeps even from her family – she really does have a sixth sense. She sees dark, shadowy figures that no one else can see. And when these figures lead her to the body of the killer’s latest victim, she must explain how she found him – to the police, who were dubious about her consulting to begin with, and to her family, who know she’s supposed to be a fake. The press are all clamoring for an interview, much to her father’s delight, but the only one she wants to talk to is Freddie, a handsome true crime podcaster who is covering the story. Together, they investigate, while the shadowy Heedless Ones continue to haunt her relentlessly.

This book is part mystery, part horror. And the horror is part supernatural, part psychological and part good-old-fashioned creep factor (with some gore). I wouldn’t call it fast-paced for the most part, at least not until the end, but the mystery of it kept me moving forward. Ashley, in spite of her job as a con woman, is the kind of character you want to root for. All in all a solid read – 4 stars.

CW: child murder, gore

Jen William’s latest horror thriller is not to be missed. I’ve read Games for Dead Girls by this author and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was eager to dive into this new read. The premise of a ‘fake’ psychic (scam artist!) offering her services to the Police, only to find an actual body intrigued me and the novel that unfolded didn’t disappoint. The real gem of this mystery is in Ashley’s traumatic past which we are slowly drip-fed over the course of the novel. The story is chilling, eerie, and atmospheric. It's easy to consume this suspenseful nightmare in which the author skillfully introduces twists and reveals that will leave you shaken. In the present we have, the collaborative investigation in the present with Ashley and podcaster, Freddie as the reader joins the characters in unraveling the mystery. While we are also treated to a past timeline of Ashley’s childhood. Jen William’s latest works are a must-read for horror fans. She delivers a chilling page-turner filled with suspense, atmosphere, and well-executed twists.

Jen Williams' latest book presents a captivating premise featuring a fake psychic with a mysterious past that resurfaces, leading her to the body of a missing child. The narrative explores the intriguing world of psychic phenomena, delving into the privacy pitfalls of social media and the ethical dilemmas faced by those exploiting vulnerable individuals. The sci-fi element of premonitions adds an extra layer of intrigue, intertwined with a present-day mystery involving a serial killer. Despite these individually compelling elements, the story's cohesion falters, hindering their full development. An entertaining read, though Ashley's family dynamics feel contrived and detract from the overall believability.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane for gifting me an advanced copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

Thanks to Jen Williams, now I want to read more books about "fake psychics" with actual powers, and I'm not entirely sure where to find more!

I really liked this one. It checked a lot of boxes for me - creepy old house, ghostly apparitions, mystery, powers, characters with fleshed out histories...

While I did figure out the "twist" at the end long before I got there, I still think it was well done and quite a fun book to read. There were some repetitive things and some slow paced sections for me, so coupled with figuring out the big moment, I decided to give it four stars.

I'll definitely be picking up more from Jen Williams and highly recommend this book to horror/mystery/paranormal/creepy ghost story fans.

I really enjoyed The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams, it was a supernatural mystery that
highlighted a family of cons. Ashley and her family are cons, they use a tittle intuition with online research to take advantage of the vulnerable. But there is more to Ashley than her con as she has been seeing "ghosts" since she was a child. Quiet and lurking she refers to them as the Heedful Ones, and she has learned early on to keep that part of her life to her self. But when children begin to go missing in the Lake District she volunteers her services to help the police for a little publicity. Little did she know her visions of the Heedful Ones would lead her right to the body of a missing child. But what started out trying to help her career has got the police trying to decipher whether she is the real deal or a killer.
This sinister mystery with supernatural vibes had my attention all the way through, and I can't wait to read more by Jen Williams.

Like another reviewer the beginning of the book was good but I found the meat of the story lacking and it was just an okay read . The premise was excellent but it just didn’t live up to the hype
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

This book started out amazing. The prologue was great and I was excited to dive in. However, the content left me wanting. Ashley is a fake psychic, so a scam artist with a totally unlikeable family, yet Ashley is pretty unlikeable herself. There was a lot of potential with this book, however, I don’t think that it ever lived up to that promise. I found myself bored and annoyed for most of the book, which makes reading it a tedious task, so I struggled. This is one I found myself putting down over and over hoping it would get better.

Sadly, this one never picked up or lived up to the premise and hope of a great story for me.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Reading Jen Williams creepy thriller in October turned into a nice little tradition for me in the last couple of years. A perfect Halloween read and I think everyone would benefit if publisher would push them during pumpkin period. The thing with her books is that even if they don't necessary scare you, they simply ooze atmosphere. It's vibes and folklore and Williams is really good at those.

This latest book from her has the instantly hookable premise of a fake psychic who used to see strange figures in her young years and they came back just in time to lead her to the body of a missing child raising questions from her family, from police and some of her own.
Like in many of her thrillers, there is a lot of things happening here:
First, I think that she could have written an entire book about the psychic scene and it would still be interesting. How it actually works, what's happening behind the curtain and just how much improvising is involved was just bizarrely fascinating. It opens up a myriad of different topics like how sharing too much of your privacy on social network can be used against you. And how on earth did they do it before? There is also a nice character development because Ashley is conflicted about her role in this and aware they are taking advantage of the people who are in vulnerable position. It's despicable and that's not the light many authors like to show their main character in.
Add to that a proper sci-fi premise of Ashley actually having some sort of premonition. The first thing you ask yourself is: how did Ashley came to this career of a psychic? It is alluded in opening chapters that something happened to her when she was a child, something that made her famous. We also know she was able to see lone figures with a corner of her eye when she was a kid and she called them "Heedful Ones". It was built as this background mystery and told through chapters set in the past and the part where you actually get to answer is by far the best written: it's deliciously creepy with nail-biting tension.
Than add to that a proper mystery happening in the present day: the one about a serial killer dubbed The Gingerbread Man who kidnaps children Ashley gets entangled into. I was not a fan of resolution, but mostly because I thought it was predictable and I've read something similar in The Woods are Waiting and left with the same feeling of needing more for this entire concept to work for me- it needed to be built into a story as a long-generational thing, something happening for so long that it grew into a local legend.
There is also a romance developing with a guy who is making the podcast about the murder. We saw authors integrating podcasts into mysteries in recent years in many ways and it is a very effective way to tell a story, but it especially suited Jen Williams because, as podcasts often start with presenting the history, the myth and the atmosphere of the place something is happening in and it gave Williams a good reason to show off her strengths.

This all sounds amazing, right? Yes, individually these are all interesting concept, but somehow thrown together they make less of an interesting story. They kept coming in the way of one another and thus preventing either of them to be properly developed and at the end are left standing on thin legs with a few frowns and question marks and I thought her endings are particularly strong in previous two thrillers. Still, I wasn't bothered by this as much because it's set up to be entertaining rather than deep and logical considering the themes of ghosts and psychics, but would I like Jen Williams book entirely about psychic industry? Yes.
My main complaint about this book is Ashley's family, particularly her father. I know this sounds very specific and shallow, but I'll try to explain: the way they were behaving was so baffling and sometimes even divorced from reality. In truth, they seem to be entirely contrived because author needed some reason to explain why is Ashley, in her age and with her latest spur of conciseness still doing what she does. In times she is trapped, treated like a child with limited freedom and then we saw her go for days and not returning calls to her family without much care? I kept reading and asking myself: "Who does this!?" Not a first time family dynamic doesn't seem believable in a book I've read, but, I think Williams dropped the ball because she couldn't think of any reason to explain their business arrangement and I think I would liked it more if she took the page from Flynn's Dark Places and just shown Ashley doing it purely for the money. Not a favorable look, but certainly better than this contrived inclusion that threw me out of the story every time.


All in all, fun October read, but I don't expect anything less from Jen Williams.

Ashley is a scammer posing as a psychic, cheating people out of their money by using her “abilities” to commune with their dead loved ones. A secret she keeps to herself though, is her very real ability to see things that are otherworldly, like the Heedful Ones, who creep on the outskirts, and just plain old freaking her out. She has seen them since she was a child, but hadn’t for some time now in her adult life.

Now, a grisly set of child murders have awoken not only her gifts, but the presence of the Heedful Ones. When she helps police find the body of a missing child as a publicity stunt, it catapults her into a terrifying situation.

I found this to be really disturbing and interesting simultaneously. Child death is something I’m not too keen to read about, but this book kept me right on the edge, desperate to know what was really going on. There was a twist I could see from VERY early on, but I absolutely enjoyed this book.

Pub Day 4-9-24
Thank you to Jen Williams, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Hungry Dark. This is my first Jen Williams book and I will keep her on my radar for the future. I am a huge fan of all things horror. I seek out scary, paranormal, horror, mystery, suspense ahhhhhhhhhhh books and this one checks a LOT of boxes for me. Also, just because you think you are getting a scam artist psychic horror book that has been played an replayed ---- think again.
It is so hard to write a blurb without giving anything away. So this round I am going to use my highlights:
*The Heedful Ones – Not going to lie last night I dreamt of them and I woke up so scared I woke my husband up. I do NOT want to see a shadow
* The language in this book is so detailed I could feel the atmosphere ex. ‘thick and syrupy darkness’
*The changlings – go ahead and google it.
* Fed the Fell… The first time I read that I was like hmmmm….. you will be afraid of The Fell when you finish this book.

When Jen Williams, releases a hot new book, you run, you do not walk to your nearest bookstore.

I was introduced to Williams via “bookstagram” and I have to say, it is one of my best finds. Williams, is not only an extremely talented writer but a bad ass, humorous, and genuine person. So if you are looking for a new author that you can appreciate on paper AND in person, Jen Williams is for you.

Enough of that sappy stuff…

The Hungry Dark

Gah!!! How does Williams, keep doing this to me! You would think I’d be accustomed to these twists having read her entire collection, but I promise you, I am not.

I still shriek and gasp, every time.

As the suspense grew I found myself tightening my grip on my bed sheets, white knuckling my pup’s paw for comfort .

This book is what nightmares are made of.

Here is a little teaser :

Macabre murders plague a rural town as a scam-artist psychic races to find the answers in this haunting thriller from award-winning author Jen Williams, perfect for fans of Camilla Sten and Alex North.

As a child, Ashley Whitelam could often see odd things nobody else could: quiet, watchful figures she called the Heedful Ones kept a strange vigil wherever she went. As an adult, she keeps these visions to herself, but she’s turned her taste of the beyond into a career as a “psychic”­ – parting people from their money with a combination of psychology and internet research. When the Lake District is gripped by a series of grisly child murders, Ashley offers her services to the police for the free publicity. But as Ashley leads the police on a fruitless search around the small town of Green Beck, she catches a glimpse of those old ghosts of her childhood and, following them into the woods, she finds something she never expected: the corpse of the latest missing child.

The press fly into a frenzy and the police grow suspicious: either Ashley’s psychic abilities are real, or she is guilty of murder. Hounded by interviews and interrogations, Ashley teams up with Freddie Miller, a podcaster covering the crimes. As they investigate, Ashley realises that there’s no way to distance herself from these murders: whoever or whatever it is that’s haunting the Lakes is haunting her, too.

Master of unsettling suspense Jen Williams is back with another chilling, dark read that will draw readers into a gruesome and atmospheric nightmare.

So the plot of ‘plucky psychic helps police solve terrible crimes’ really seems trite and played out…and I really wasn’t sure I was going to be all in on this one.

Well, color me surprised!

I really liked this one. Our main character is absolutely a scam artists – she’s a sham psychic who (oops!) can actually see some odd and terrifying things. The book gives us a couple of timelines – both chilling for different reasons – and absolutely kept my interest.

Now, I did figure out the who of things very early. For a scammer, our girl certainly is just a little naïve. But I liked her very much and was rooting for her.

Definitely a good read. Hugely suspenseful and definitely eerie.

• ARC via Publisher

This was very well written and told an intriguing story. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I believe it will be right in the wheelhouse for a lot of readers who enjoy their mysteries with a little supernatural flair. My enjoyment was about a 5 out of 10, but because I can see how this would be appealing to a lot of folks and the quality is unquestionable, I’m giving 4 stars. I don’t want to deter anyone who just looks at a star rating and doesn’t read these full reviews.

I really loved this book. It was a great mystery with supernatural elements that kept me engaged the whole time.