This Little Dark Place

Brilliant read, thrilling at times slightly creepy

I had this book on my shelf waiting to be read for a while, and I’m not sure why I didn’t pick it up and read it instead of waiting until it was nearer it’s due date for release. I would like to thank netgalley and Serpents tail publishers for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

I have just finished this book and I absolutely loved it, it was somewhat different to what I expected and I’m not sure why, or even what I expected, to be honest. The story is told by Daniel, although we don’t find out his name until a page or two in, he is writing a letter to Lucy. Again we have no idea who Lucy is, but she is obviously important in some way to Daniel. As he says he wants to tell her everything from the beginning.

Daniel loses his father at 12 years old, his mum soon remarries a man named Frank, he is not a nice man, he claims to be a Christian, but he beats Ivy, Daniels mum. A few years later Christmas Eve 2010 to be precise, Daniel meets Victoria and after a year of dating they move in together. I’m not sure about Victoria’s character she never seems to be satisfied, and Daniel does everything he can to make her happy.

New Years Eve a few years later, a very low time for Daniel, he decides he needs a hobby, so he gets onto the internet and Mr Google and searches for hobbies. How did we manage before the internet, I really have to ask that! Anyway, one of the things that crops up is being a pen pal to someone in prison, Daniel knocks up a brief letter and off it goes, the following day he receives a reply from someone called Ruby, this comes as a surprise, as he believed it would be a male prisoner he would be writing to.

All this is going in the letter that Daniel is writing, but occasionally he will say he has to go, because Gordon has just come in asking about the mirror frame for his wife, as Daniel is a carpenter, and then Robbie comes in to watch television with him, Daniel doesn’t mind as he feels sorry for Robbie as he seems lonely.

Unfortunately to tell much more of the ins and outs of the story will give spoilers and I really don’t want to do that because I really feel this is a book to be read to really appreciate the story. It is a psychological thriller, there are a few twists and turns, but I was literally hooked from page one until the end, because I really wanted to know who Lucy was. I really felt for Daniel, whether I was supposed to or not, I don’t know but I liked him. I liked his character, yes he had faults but who doesn’t.

The way the author describes things, for instance when Daniel was planing some wood, the way he described the feel of the wood, the shavings, the sawdust you felt like you could smell it and feel it yourself. This is done throughout the book, some great descriptions very well written. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. I give it five out of five stars.

Great writing, great plot, great story, what more could you want from a book.