Series: Lacey Flint #5
Release Date: May 26th 2022
Publisher: Orion Books
Pages: 464
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of the book to review
Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Synopsis

ONCE, SHE SAVED HIS LIFE…
NOW, HE’LL TAKE HERS.

When a baby is snatched from its pram and cast into the river Thames, off-duty police officer Lacey Flint is there to prevent disaster. But who would want to hurt a child?

DCI Mark Joesbury has been expecting this. Monitoring a complex network of dark web sites, Joesbury and his team have spotted a new terrorist threat from the extremist, women-hating, group known as ‘incels’ or ‘involuntary celibates.’ Joesbury’s team are trying to infiltrate the ring of power at its core, but the dark web is built for anonymity, and the incel army is vast.

Pressure builds when the team learn the snatched child was just the first in a series of violent attacks designed to terrorise women. Worse, the leaders of the movement seem to have singled out Lacey as the embodiment of everything they hate, placing her in terrible danger…

Review

Sharon Bolton is fast becoming one of my all time favourite thriller writers. Having read and loved The Split I immediately picked up as many of her books as I could and each has been, dark, twisty and difficult to put down. The Dark is absolutely no exception. The Dark is the fifth installment in Bolton’s Lacey Flint series and follows Flint as she stops someone attempting to throw a baby into the Thames. Flint soon learns this is just the start of a series of attacks against women and an extremist group might be the cause. The pressure soon builds as Flint and the team must work to stop the group before things get even worse.

Much like Bolton’s other books, I was hooked on this story right from the very first chapter. Bolton has a really compelling writing style and I was completely drawn into this fast-paced plot. As I have come to expect from Bolton there were twists I never saw coming and there were more than a few moments that had me on the edge of my seat. Bolton is brilliant at keeping you guessing, all the while building up the tension.

While The Dark has an utterly addictive plot, it also features some really well crafted characters. Flint is a brilliant protagonist, she is a strong female character with lots of mystery surrounding her past. I similarly liked DCI Mark Joesbury and I enjoyed seeing the relationship develop between the two. Altogether The Dark makes for some really compelling reading. If you’re a fan of Bolton’s work or in the mood for something twisty and hard to put down, The Dark definitely has you covered.