Courtney Evan Tate

Wow, this book is a total one hundred percent improvement over the prior novel by Ms. Tate. The prior novel I could not stand the characters and even did not finish the book. However, with this book, I liked the characters and could not read it fast enough.

This book is told from the two points of views of Leah and Emmy. I liked this as it drew me in and brought me closer towards both Leah and Emmy. I really felt the emotions of Emmy. Where Leah was involved; I have mixed emotions towards show more her. On one hand I wanted to protect her but at the same time I wanted to yell and shake her and ask her to wake up. The relationship she found herself in, it very scary. This is because it happens in real life. You read about it in the news.

Because of the nature of the story; I felt uncomfortable but also guilty that I enjoyed this book so much. Fans of thrillers should pick up a copy of this book. You don't want to be the one that misses out. show less

Genevieve is getting divorced. She and her sister, Meg, decide to go to NYC for a girls weekend. They get a little tipsy and Gen goes out for a little air and to clear her head. She never returns. Meg is the last to see her and the first to become a suspect.

Todd, Genevieve’s cheating husband, is a character everyone loves to hate. He is materialistic and a cheater. I just wanted to punch him a time or two! Then there is Meg! Meg is over the top. As a reader, you really start to like show more her…until you don’t. I just did not understand her thought process. I just wanted to shake some sense into her. And finally there is Genevieve…you will just have to read it to find out.

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive! This book is deceiving in more ways than one. I thought I figured it out…then it twisted again and again. I love a book which keeps me guessing. This one does it!

Grab your copy today! You will not be sorry! This book has a little bit of everything!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion. show less

This book starts with a bang and keeps you enthralled until the last page. The mom is so well written that the reader is able to feel her sorrow and understand her feelings of betrayal. It's a story of family and love and friendship with lots of other unsavory pieces.

Emily is 36 and owns a hotel in the Florida Keys where she lives with her daughter, Leah. Emily and Leah have always been close and Leah is a popular person in her circle of friends. Right at the beginning of the book, Emily show more allows Leah to go on a night time swim by herself and when Emily goes to check on her, Leah is gone. Even though a body is never found, the police quickly turn this from a search and rescue to a death by drowning incident and they close the books on it. When Leah is finally able to go into Leah's room - weeks after her drowning - she finds a diary that Leah had been keeping and is shocked. Not only are there nude pictures of an older man (no face is showing) but there is a blog that describes Leah's infatuation with an older man who she refers to as Ry. Emily's heartbreak turns to deep rage as she sets out to unmask who this monster is who has stolen her daughter's innocence--and perhaps more. Who is this man? Is it the new youth minister who spent extra time with some of the girls, is it the man who lives in bungalow 3 at her hotel who no one knew much about, is it his son who visits on summer vacation or someone else on the island who was more than interested in her daughter and was luring the romantic Leah into trying things that she is uncomfortable with.

This book had me guessing throughout and it wasn't until the last 50 pages that the older man was revealed. It came as a bit of a shock and I wish there had been a few more clues along the way pointing toward this person so it wouldn't have been so much of a surprise.

Overall, this is a tense and exciting book that will have you turning the pages until the end.

thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own. show less

Such Dark Things by Courtney Evan Tate is a chilling and suspense-laden mystery about a woman who has blocked out memories of a double homicide committed seventeen years earlier.

ER Doctor Corinne Cabot's long hours are beginning to put a strain on her marriage. Her husband, Jude, is a therapist whose practice rarely intrudes after his daytime clinic hours. He is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of quality time spent with Corinne due to her schedule. In the weeks leading up to show more Halloween, which is always a stressful time for Corinne due to double murder she witnessed while babysitting, her anxiety levels are ramping up and she is suffering terrible panic attacks. Although Corinne does make an effort to reconnect with Jude, his fascination with twenty-four year old waitress Zoe is taking him down a ruinous path that could have lasting repercussions on their fifteen year marriage.

Corinne is a very sympathetic protagonist who has never quite dealt with the events of that fateful night seventeen years earlier. Her memories of that day are relatively clear up to a point but she has no clear recollection of the murders. She also experiences an overpowering sense of dread whenever she tries to recall what happened that night. In the month leading up to Halloween, Corinne begins experiencing auditory hallucinations and she loses segments of time where she has absolutely no memory of what happened. After things spin way out of control, Corinne voluntarily commits herself to a mental facility where she works with Dr. Phillips to process events both past and present.

In the beginning, Jude is extremely understanding of Corinne's work schedule and her difficulty with during the month of October. However, he soon loses patience with his wife and despite his close relationship with his brother, Michel, Jude begins spending a lot of time at his favorite diner. He is absolutely enthralled by the overtly sexual and extremely provocative new waitress Zoe. Despite his psychology training and his work as a therapist, Jude follows a predicable path where he rationalizes his decisions and makes pathetic excuses for his questionable behavior.

Corinne's struggles to keep those long ago events behind her are realistically depicted and it is very easy to empathize with her throughout the novel. Just as her situation is spiraling dangerously out of control, Jude, who is the one person she could always depend on, becomes closed off and emotionally as well as physically absent. He is making one bad, cringe worthy decision after another which makes him a difficult character to like. Zoe is incredibly aggressive and refuses to take no for an answer. She is a determined young woman who stages some very sexually explicit attempts to ensnare Jude which result in some very erotically charged sex scenes.

Such Dark Things is an extremely suspenseful mystery. While some of the plot twists are relatively easy to guess, others are completely unexpected and rather shocking. Corinne always remains a sympathetic character but Jude is extremely difficult to like for much of the novel. Zoe is sly, cunning and manipulative throughout the story. Courtney Evan Tate ratchets up the tension as the novel weaves back and forth in time and hurtles to a dramatic and action-packed conclusion. show less