The Dark by Sharon Bolton #thedarkblogtour @Tr4cyF3nt0n

THE UNMISSABLE BRAND NEW THRILLER FROM RICHARD & JUDY BESTSELLER SHARON BOLTON – POLICE OFFICER LACEY FLINT FACES HER MOST DANGEROUS CASE YET

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…

I have always loved this series and so was incredibly excited when I found out that Lacey Flint was being resurrected! The Dark is obviously part of a series but I’m pretty confident that you can read this as a stand-alone although you would probably want to go back and read her other cases anyway!

A shocking incident draws Lacey into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, when she rescues a baby that has been snatched from their pram and thrown into the river Thames. The crime is claimed by an incel group who are livid that Lacey has interfered with their plans but who’s leader seems to develop a personal vendetta against her.

I have to say that this is the second book I’ve read recently which deals with a group of “involuntary celebrates” who hate women and like to terrorise them-it’s actually quite a scary thought that women can be targeted in this way but it is happening more frequently than we realise! Sharon Bolton has delivered a frighteningly realistic scenario with authentically developed characters that made me feel very uncomfortable.

It really was wonderful to catch up with familiar faces in The Dark. Lacey Flint is a strong character, stubborn but also vulnerable and that certainly applies to her relationship with Joesbuty. His team are trying to infiltrate this new terrifying trend and are very quick on the scene when the first crime is committed which brings him and Lacey together again unexpectedly. This was set up perfectly and I loved watching them interact with each other.

Past and present meet with some shocking insights into Lacey’s past but it is Lacey’s future that I’m excited to read about next! What a cliffhanger! I loved everything about The Dark. The gripping prologue raised my expectations and thankfully the narrative that followed certainly lived up to them. Dark, disturbing but utterly compelling throughout-I loved every single page!

Highly recommended by me.