Review: Find You In the Dark by Nathan Ripley

Title: Find You In the Dark

Author: Nathan Ripley

Published: June 2018, Atria Books

Format: ARC Paperback, 368 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary:

Martin Reese is obsessed with murder.

For years, he has been illegally buying police files on serial killers and using them to locate long-lost victims. Then he calls the police anonymously and taunts them with his finds. Martin sees his work as a public
service, a righting of all the mistakes cops have made for years.

Detective Sandra Whittal sees it differently. A case-closer and on a meteoric rise in police ranks, Whittal is suspicious of the mysterious source — the Finder, she names him. Even if the Finder isn’t the one leaving bodies behind, who’s to say he won’t start soon?

On his latest dig, Martin
searches in a graveyard for the first kill of Jason Shurn, the murderer in the nineties who
may have been responsible for the disappearance of Martin’s sister-in-law.
But at the site, Martin finds a
fresh body lying among decades old remains. Someone knows where Jason
Shurn buried his victims…and that someone isn’t happy about
Martin’s finds. Hunted by a murderer and by Whittal, Martin realizes
he will have to go deeper into the world of death than he ever thought.

A chilling thriller that glimpses into the mind of a killer in a way that is both fascinating and provocative – and that you will remember long after you’ve turned that last page.

My thoughts: I love when a thriller keeps me guessing as to how it will all play out from beginning to end and that’s how I felt with this book. Add in that you get inside the mind of a killer and you are definitely in for one creepy, disturbing read!

This book is unique in that it is a different take on the usual serial killer thriller we have all come to like. This time around, we have not only our serial killers at work here, but there is also Martin Reese, who gets his hands on police files to find the bodies of those women killed by said serial killers. He then taunts the police, letting them know he was able to do their job. He’s known as “The Finder” and does a pretty good job finding these bodies.

What I loved about this book is that it really keeps you on your toes – it will have you questioning everyone and everything. I was glued to the pages once I started reading it – and surprisingly, it’s more of a slower-paced book than other thrillers. But the story line is what kept me going…I needed to know what was going to happen next and how everything was going to come together. I also loved the pitting together of Martin and the detective – Sandra Whittal. Both are very strong personalities and you really go back and forth as to who’s side you might ultimately be on…do you want Martin to “get away” with what he is doing or should he be held responsible in some way?

This thriller has some crazy twists and the tension is there, slowly building up to the finale…and I think it was well-worth the wait! Add to that the overall feeling of unease that is seamlessly built into the story and it will have you looking over your shoulder a time or two while you are reading it.  I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be keeping Nathan Ripley on my radar.