In the Dark

This is the first book I’ve read by Loreth Anne White, and what a fantastic read! The story is set in the Canadian wilderness where a group of people meet under auspicious circumstances in a remote cabin. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t put this book down for the life of me! If you are looking for a fast paced thriller/adventure, this book will not disappoint. The story flowed well with great character development, and the ending in itself was compelling.

As a new reader of author Loreth Anne White, I was thrilled at the opportunity to read her latest release IN THE DARK. I’m always looking for new (to me) authors that can open my eyes to both new stories and characters. I can say that I was not let down with my first entry into White’s writing.Intrigued by the story of eight people brought together, trapped and secluded, is always an awesome deal when reading in the mystery, thriller, and suspense genre. Easily swayed by the seclusion of their remote destination and the unknown that awaits each person; fear settles in and trust is never established, well, of course, I was in! All I needed was some warm mint tea and a cozy spot to drop and enjoy!As a fan of Agatha Christie, I was immediately drawn into the reading as Christie’s own AND THEN THERE WERE NONE plays a role within White’s novel. Intricately weaved, our characters know that someone is out to get them. The unknown is if it is someone outside of their group or someone among them. Keep your eyes open as the story begins to roll quickly.One can quickly gain that two connected stories are unfolding within - one story of the secluded group of strangers and the second story of the rescue efforts to find them - and although there is jumping between the stories and timeframes each chapter, reading flow is never disjointed or choppy. Each chapter is purposefully positioned to flow into the next. With that said, one thing to keep in mind that I felt a bit chaotic about is the first half of the novel seems to do this quite a lot. It doesn’t take away from the reading, but it can seem to be a bit busy.There is a whole slew of characters that you will follow. Each character has a purpose and fulfills their purpose wonderfully. With such a large group - eight people - I honestly never got close to any one person. The tale is of the whole, and although you do learn the backstory of each - and one does eventually stand out - I was drawn to two characters that for me were central in the storyline, homicide cop Mason Deniaud and rescue expert Callie Sutton. Their storyline helps to anchor the entire read.There is a point within the reading where I felt the storyline become a bit obvious. This in no way means you should stop reading. At this point, there were still many questions that I had to get the answer to, so it’s not a point where you will know everything. However, I was able to pull a few scenarios together - one which was correct - of how it would all play out. FINISH READING - it is well worth it.I do feel a bit torn between feeling if the novel was too long or just long enough. There are a large group of characters that need to tell their stories, both past, and present. In that aspect, understanding that each needed time to develop their story within a story, I fell the length was just right. There are a few instances where I felt a story was already told and it was becoming repetitive reading. This wasn’t too often and not every reader is going to find those same spots.Loreth Anne White pulled together the perfect location for IN THE DARK. A remote, secluded and forgotten landscape is the perfect setting for a bit of mystery. This setting lends itself well to the psychological game being played out as the group has no way to reach the outside and with absolutely no trust among the group, characters begin to question everything.Overall, Loreth Anne White’s latest release, IN THE DARK, is a must-read mystery with a bit of psychological torture. I feel this is a definite read if you love the Queen of mystery, Agatha Christie. You will draw some correlations between the two authors, but White is definitely a writer that delivers her own mind games within her writing. I’m not sorry that I discovered White’s writing and will definitely start perusing her previous novels and keep my eyes open for all future reads.

I had to finish this today because it would have kept me up tonight wondering what was going on. This book was pretty awesome! Bunches of action. In the beginning, during the middle, and towards the end I had no idea who the culprit was.

It was a good story. But it seemed like the author was trying to meet a word count quota. It was written similar too a textbook Tell them what your going to tell them, then tell them, finally tell them what you told them.

I love the author's ability to build tension and mystery without giving too much away at once. My only hesitation was when it kind of info-dumped at the end. But a very interesting and quick read!

What a great surprise I’ve discovered in this new-to-me author, Loreth Anne White, & in her book, In the Dark!I picked it up on a whim, & I’m so glad I did.The character development, plus extensive histories for the whole cast, is exhaustive & phenomenally crafted. Especially as … nope.Can’t say THAT. That’d be a spoiler. And no one likes those! LolYou’ll see, however. The manner in which the characters are crafted (“the means to the end” for the purpose of this script…) is superb.White’s world building - I know I absolutely felt like I was there, as another member of this doomed group, from the start.And White’s use of language to describe the world around the characters, from the plush indoors to the harsh realities of wilderness survival, shows that she is a master of her craft in this area as well.She is able to make everything just feel so close, & so real. So effortlessly visible to the reader. (Which is a lotta work for her in the background to achieve! A testament to her skills.)Like the ever present misty fog in the story, a cloying fear clings to you during a good part of this reading journey. The truth of what’s really going on, who’s behind everything that’s occurring, is there — yet just out of view in the shifting mist. Sometimes when you think you have it all figured out…. You realize it was just a trick of the light; you’re still no closer to stable ground.In fact, things become even murkier, even more frightening, increasingly so in fact, far before reaching any type of place of clarity & release from the tension of the, “who done it.”I could say so much more about In the Dark. There are a million details I’d love to point out as genius little nuggets within the story. But it would only ruin the reading experience for the next person.You definitely have to go into this one understanding knowing the least about the book will increase your enjoyment of it.I am absolutely going to read another Loreth Anne White book. She has her own unique & individual style & voice, that’s clear. And I can tell already - her stories are totally addictive!Thus I’d love to say lots more about In the Dark, but I don’t want to wreck any part of the reading experience for anyone else about to embark upon this journey to the lodge.So I’ll just say — 5 Stars. Absolutely recommended.And don’t forget to pack your hiking boots, bug spray, gel sleep masks, & comfy pj’s. (Oh, & a secret personal weapon. That would be helpful as well. Maybe… If you get lucky enough…. )Enjoy your trip! ;)

What a great story. I had no idea what was going on, which is great when reading a mystery crime novel. The story takes so many twists and turns that as I kept trying to figure it out, I kept getting it wrong 😅. Well written, great characters and a cool story line. You'll enjoy this novel if mystery crime is your cup of tea.

I started to wonder: do BC people know what the word "sun" means?

Whilst a somewhat predictable story this is by no means a copy of Agatha Christie's "Then there were none". True we started with 8 apparent strangers tempted to an ideal holiday resort for various reasons. Once there they got bumped off one by one and it gradually became apparent that they did all have something in common after all. The ideal holiday resort turned out to be a semi-abandoned lodge up in the wilderness of the British Columbian forest but someone had thoughtfully provided them with basic food, generator and fuel and so on. Their plane was the sole way in and out, it was set loose on night one and floated away. It was found later with a body in it. This brought in the RCMP - both the police and the search and rescue team. They followed various clues and eventually determined that there were other people lost out in the backwoods with SAR determining the most likely spot to search. Meanwhile the other strangers were discovering more and more about their links and various of them were bumped off in a variety of gory ways. Each chapter is told by one of the characters and from their point of view, which worked well for once. The main police characters were interesting - the detective returning to light work after the death of his wife and child and his subsequent falling off the rails; but the light work was in the backwoods, not his familiar urban life. The SAR stand-in leader trying to cope with her new responsibility whilst coping with her husband, the main SAR leader, being in non-responsive vegetative state after an accident plus their 6 year old son. The characters at the lodge were perhaps more stereotypical and I'm afraid I guessed "who dunnit" very early on. Nonetheless it was a well written story that kept the reader's attention right to the end; the sense of cold and isolation crept into bedroom with you so you snuggled under the quilt whilst continuing reading. I enjoyed Dark Bones, I enjoyed this story and I look forward to other stories by Ms White

I love Loreth Anne White's books (except for In the Lake) and this one is superb. Loosely based on Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", which is acknowledged throughout the book, the story line and characters are excellent. One can easily relate to both heroes and villains and the ending was in keeping with the story. I might go back to "In the Lake" and give it another try.

I read this book in my project to read as many of the 2020 Arthur Ellis awards nominees. that appeal to me, that I can before the Shortlists are announced on Apr 15 2020. So ,again, I broke one of of my rules as I am usually reluctant to pay for a book by an author whose work I have never read but at $1.99 the price wasn’t going to bankrupt me but it sure turned out to be one of the better purchases I’ve made. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and some of the twists that were completely logical just left me gasping. Fabulous descriptions of the settings, weather, equipment and SAR procedures. The story is populated by a large cast of very well developed characters including the bad ones as well as the good ones. Callie is a very strong and likeable character doing a fantastic job while carrying a huge personal burden and one can have nothing but empathy for Mason, who is a very good cop, as his tragic backstory becomes known and he gradually grows to like the remote village of Kluhane Bay. There have been many retellings and modernizations of Agatha Christies classic “And Then There Were None” including Jeffrey Round’s “Endgame” which I just recently read but Ms White has produced an absolutely unique take on that story. At first I thought the jumping back and forth in the timelines with the POVs of the Mason/Callie and the group in the lodge was a bit annoying, even with the great chapter headings, as you just seemed to get invested in a part of the story when you jumped back or forward to the other POV but I really can’t think of any other way this story could have been told so effectively. This book gets added to the list of the best Arthur Ellis nominees that I’ve read so far and I’ll definitely try some more of Ms Whites mystery thrillers after the Arthur Ellis reading is finished.