Book Review: DARKEST PLACE by Jaye Ford

Title: Darkest Place
Author: Jaye Ford
Publisher: Random House Australia
Read: February 2016



Synopsis (Goodreads):

An adrenaline-pumping suspense novel from the author of Beyond Fear. What do you do when your nightmares are real – and no one believes you?

Carly Townsend is starting over after a decade of tragedy and pain. In a new town and a new apartment she's determined to leave the memories and failures of her past behind.

However that dream is shattered in the dead of night when she is woken by the shadow of a man next to her bed, silently watching her. And it happens week after week.

Yet there is no way an intruder could have entered the apartment. It's on the fourth floor, the doors are locked and there is no evidence that anyone has been inside.

With the police doubting her story, and her psychologist suggesting it's all just a dream, Carly is on her own. And being alone isn't so appealing when you're scared to go to sleep . . .

My thoughts:

Jaye Ford has been on my to-read list for a long time, and I was very excited to receive a free copy of her latest novel from the publisher – and it did not disappoint!

After the tragic death of her friends in a climbing accident and the breakdown of her marriage, Charlotte Townsend finds the burden of guilt and grief too much to bear and decides to move to the city to leave her sad past behind. Reinventing herself as “Carly” she buys a new funky apartment in a converted warehouse and enrols in a TAFE course with the intention of reconnecting to her younger, confident self. The first days in her new home are wonderful – as Carly meets some of the other residents of the apartment building, she feels for the first time in years that she is not burdened by her past. Perhaps there is hope for the future yet?

On the third night in her new home, Carly wakes in the middle of the night to the presence of an intruder in her room. The dark silhouette of a man is sitting on the side of her bed, gently stroking her, his breath touching her skin whilst she feels pinned to the bed, unable to move. Terrified, Carly calls the police, but despite an intense search of her apartment they cannot find any sign of illegal entry. Shaken, Carly is determined not to let the incident shatter her new found confidence. She makes sure that her doors and windows are locked at all times, and installs a security chain on the door for extra protection. But a few nights later the intruder appears again – and again. Without evidence, Carly’s credibility is questioned, until she can no longer trust anyone around her – including her own sanity.

Ford is a master of building suspense – once I picked up the book I could not put it down, which made for very little sleep! I loved the balance of suspense, drama and romance, which worked very well in this context. With well-drawn characters, each one coming with a complex and somewhat murky past, the shadow of suspicion falls heavily on many of them throughout the story’s progression, most of all on Carly herself. Can the reader really trust her account of events, given her fragile psyche?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good suspense story – especially one with an Australian setting. A couple of elements in the ending did not quite work for me, but as a whole these minor quibbles did not dampen the enjoyment of reading this book to the end. One of my favourite reads this year so far.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.