A review by eculatta
A Deeper Darkness by J.T. Ellison
3.0
Recommended for the couple who reads together (He Read/She Read) in What Should I Read Next Episode 164: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/164-episode/
What a fast, fun read. Like a Jack Reacher but with more female characters and better written. Definitely strains belief and some hard twists that amped up the suspense factor, but felt more than a little unbelievable. And some clues were total red herrings (like **SPOILER** Susan recognizing young Jennifer as looking like one of her own daughters **/END SPOILER**). I kept checking to see if this was the second in the series because there were so many references to an event that happened two years before these events took place but nope, this is #1 and they revealed all in the final pages. Susan is kind of shelved as is Fletcher - their storylines are clearly to support Sam's story. Enjoyable, for sure, read it in a suspenseful day and was kept guessing until the very end.
Oh! Okay! She has a whole other series with Taylor (the best friend she kept referring to but whom we never met so that was also confusing) as the lead, and this is the first in a spin-off series. Others were similarly confused/blindsided by the late-breaking romantic developments which also threw me. Enjoyable light (well, despite its dark topics) page-turner, but ready for something more substantial next.
"The universe isn't kind, Sam. It's indifferent. You can't punish yourself because of bad timing." 384
A play on the Stanley Kubrick quote from the first page: "The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death - however mutable man may be able to make them - our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."
What a fast, fun read. Like a Jack Reacher but with more female characters and better written. Definitely strains belief and some hard twists that amped up the suspense factor, but felt more than a little unbelievable. And some clues were total red herrings (like **SPOILER** Susan recognizing young Jennifer as looking like one of her own daughters **/END SPOILER**). I kept checking to see if this was the second in the series because there were so many references to an event that happened two years before these events took place but nope, this is #1 and they revealed all in the final pages. Susan is kind of shelved as is Fletcher - their storylines are clearly to support Sam's story. Enjoyable, for sure, read it in a suspenseful day and was kept guessing until the very end.
Oh! Okay! She has a whole other series with Taylor (the best friend she kept referring to but whom we never met so that was also confusing) as the lead, and this is the first in a spin-off series. Others were similarly confused/blindsided by the late-breaking romantic developments which also threw me. Enjoyable light (well, despite its dark topics) page-turner, but ready for something more substantial next.
"The universe isn't kind, Sam. It's indifferent. You can't punish yourself because of bad timing." 384
A play on the Stanley Kubrick quote from the first page: "The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death - however mutable man may be able to make them - our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."