The Darkest Secret

I would never have thought that I would have enjoyed a book so much with so many intensely selfish and obnoxious characters. It's testament to Alex Marwood's writing that the vileness of the group of friends is the main ingredient for such a dark mouthwatering recipe for disaster that is The Darkest Secret.

Sean Jackson changes wives almost as often as he changes his address. He marries them, has a couple of daughters then moves on to the next woman who catches his eye. When Sean dies suddenly in a compromising position, most befitting his character, we are taken back to 2004. It is Sean's 50th birthday weekend and his friends have gathered with their families for the celebration. During the drinking and debauchery, friendships are show more tested, relationships are ended and Coco, one of Sean's twin daughters, goes missing.

As the same friends gather for Sean's funeral 12 years later, the strain of keeping secret what really happened to Coco starts to show. With alcohol flowing and reporters hanging round, to what lengths will the friends go to keep the secret buried? Do they all really know what happened to Coco, or do they only know half of the story?

The Darkest Secret is a deliciously dark page turner; there are so many lies and cover-ups that I wasn't even sure what to believe at one point. I would never have guessed what really happened and completely missed the psychopath in the room. I would definitely be checking out Alex Marwood's previous novels and will certainly be looking out for more from such a talented author.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Little, Brown Book Group, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

The Darkest Secret – Another Winner

Alex Marwood returns to brilliant form with this gripping psychological thriller that leaves you gasping for breath to the very last sentence. This is a character led thriller where some of the characters, as in life, just leave you cold, and come across as looking out for themselves, while another is looking out for her sister, trying to protect her from this group of parasites around their father.

At times this is an incredible moving thriller where you can sympathise with some of the characters and just feel anger towards the others, who come across as self-serving. Marwood uses some brilliant techniques, of taking us back to events seen through each other the characters eyes and the narrative of show more now through the eyes of one of the sisters, Camilla, known as Mila.

Mila and Ruby who are the two most central characters in the story are attending their father’s funeral, and it is the first time they have met since events that happened in 2004, when Ruby was 3 and Mila was 15. Mila and Ruby both would like to know what happened to Ruby’s twin sister Coco, and throughout the book we are given glimpses back to 2004, when she disappeared. All the other characters we see the events through their eyes and actions.

Both Mila and Ruby know everyone of their father’s friends and his new wife know more than they are telling them, and do not who really they can trust. Their new stepmother is behaving the most strange even though she got what she eventually wanted, Sean Jackson.

The intertwined story of 2004 and the present day presents some interesting views and you have massive sympathy for Ruby and Mila, who seem to be dealt with like mushrooms. Shovelled with sh... and kept in the dark. If I go on to far I could give away so many of the interesting twists and turns in the plot.

Alex Marwood, like a magician uses slight of hand and misdirection to that you can never really work out who did what to whom, you have suspicions but that is it. This is the sort of plot that even Hercule Poirot would have struggled to solve as each of Sean’s friends stands out as someone you would not believe if they told you what time it was.

The Dark Secrets is yet another winner from Alex Marwood, in that you are really kept guessing to the very end, and still have hopes for Coco and Ruby. The prose that Marwood uses draws you in and before you know it you are half way through the book, this is an absolute stunner of a thriller. Alex Marwood’s writing will grab you by the throat and keep a hold on you until the final full stop. show less

Sean Jackson is a sociopathic narcissist whose extended family of cast off wives and children lack even the small comfort of their shared experiences thanks to secrets kept by his small group of friends, the so-called Jackson Associates - four couples linked by childhood friendship and adult profit. As the storyline alternates between Sean's 50th birthday weekend and the weeks surrounding his death a decade later his second daughter, Mila, finds her way to the truth behind her toddler stepsister's disappearance. Or does she? Among other things this is a belated coming-of-age story as twenty-something Mila comes to know her lost sister's now-adolescent twin and realizes that she can't continue her Trustafarian lifestyle indefinitely. In show more an amusing riff on our tendency to apply psychological labels indiscriminately, Mila and Ruby share a fascination with the DSM tho their insights miss the mark. A question remains: is truth always best? Perhaps there are times when truth does more harm than good or perhaps, as we so often elide, it's complicated. A character reminds us of the Buddha's qualifier, "is it kind and is it helpful?" (p. 274)
Mila: "Divorce - it might be your easy way out, but it'll stay with your offspring for the rest of your life." (p. 252) show less

In 2004, during a weekend away for her father Sean’s 50th birthday celebrations, three year old Coco Jackson disappears – apparently taken from the house where she slept with her twin sister Ruby and other children in the middle of the night. A huge media campaign follows but Coco is never found.

Twelve years later, following the sudden death of Sean Jackson, the truth about what really happened on that weekend is slowly revealed as his family and friends prepare for his funeral.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. Psychological thrillers are a favourite genre of mine but they can also be a real let-down when they venture into the realms of the ridiculous. However, this book seemed actually plausible and I think that may have been due show more to the writing. And, sadly, possibly also due to the fact that there have been some high profile disappearances of children over the years. Alex Marwood is a journalist and I can’t help wondering if this case was at least inspired by one particularly famous child disappearance.

There is a dual storyline – the first part set in 2004 and told from the point of view of various characters. The truth of what happened is drip-fed bit by bit. The second part is set in 2016 and is narrated by Mila, one of Sean’s daughters from his first of four marriages. As Mila reconnects with Ruby, the twin sister of Coco, she revisits her own past and deals with her feelings about her father and the fragile ties that can bind a family together.

In any event, it’s an absorbing read. Sean Jackson is a deeply unlikeable, narcissistic and selfish character and indeed most of the adult characters in this story are the same. Pity the children who had the misfortune to be part of their families. Speaking of those children though, I did love Mila and enjoyed her character development. I also adored Ruby, who was entirely believable as both a typical teenager and a young girl who had had to live with survivor’s guilt her whole life.

As mentioned earlier, I did think that the final twist was pretty predictable, but there were still a few surprises along the way, and the writing was great and kept me reading on and on.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, and will definitely look out for more by Alex Marwood. show less

SWEDISH REVIEW

Den mörkaste hemligheten är den första bok jag har läst av Alex Marwood och kommer inte vara den sista jag tar mig an. Jag älskar mörka psykologiska thrillers och handlingen i denna bok var intressant med en försvunnen liten flicka vars tvillingsyster 12 år senare frågar sin storasyster vad som egentligen hände när de tillsammans åker till deras pappas begravning.

Ja, vad hände egentligen med Coco? Blev hon kidnappad, försvann hon, eller ligger någon av gästerna i huset vid försvinnandet bakom det? Det är några av frågorna jag grubblade över medan jag läste boken. Det är en mörk bok, men inte så mörk som jag hade förväntat mig, mycket pga. av att människorna i boken är så avskyvärda att jag show more inte förvånades över avslöjanden som kom fram i boken. Boken verkligen kändes som om en studie i människors värsta beteende. Från de som var vidriga i sin hela personlighet till de som med ett falsk leende kunde ljuga och manipulera omgivningen. Kort sagt, jag blev inte så överraskad över vändningarna i storyn pga av att jag redan misstänkte att de flesta människorna i boken var genomruttna och kunde begå vilka som helst brott. De enda som vann sympati var systrarna Ruby och Milly samt Claire när man började känna henne lite mer.

En intressant bok som kändes lite ojämn, speciellt framåt halva boken när jag kände att skiftningarna mellan nutid och dåtid kändes lite segt. Men helt klart en läsvärd bok!

Tack till Modernista för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

The Darkest Secret is the first book I have read by Alex Marwood and it won't be the last. I love dark psychological thrillers and the book was interesting to read. A little girl goes missing and twelve years later her twin sister is questioning her older sister on the way to their father's funeral.

What really happened to Coco? Was she kidnapped, did she disappear or is someone among the guests in the house at the time behind it all? That's some of the questions I was wondering about as I read the book. It's a dark book, just not as dark as I excepted it to be. Most of the people in this book are so rotten that I just didn't get surprised by the revelations that were revealed as I read the book. It felt like reading a study on human behavior, and the worst kind. All from those that have a disgusting personality to those that with a false smile could lie and manipulate everyone around them. In short, I never really got surprised when the story took a twist because I already suspected that most of the people in the book were bad to the bone and could commit any kind of crimes. The only people I found some sympathy for was the sisters Ruby and Milly and later on Claire when one got to know her better.

It's an interesting book that felt a bit uneven to read, especially around half the book when I felt that shifts between past and present started to drag the story a bit. But it's definitely an interesting book to read!

Thanks to Modernista for the review copy! show less

What a fantastic book! This is my first by Alex Marwood but I'm looking forward to reading more if they're all like this one.

The book is set in two different times. In 2004, at a house party for her father's 50th birthday, three year old Coco Jackson goes missing. And in 2016 the story is narrated by Mila Jackson, Coco's older stepsister, following their father's death. The story of what happened to Coco is drip-fed as we follow the events of that weekend and in turn find out what has happened since.

The plotting in this book is brilliant. As the story progressed I did start to guess what had happened but the author still had surprises and twists and turns in store for me. It's also a look at how good PR can do wonders for you and your show more reputation. There are some thoroughly unlikable characters, full of indulgence, back-stabbing and cheating. The ending is fascinating and really challenged what I thought I knew.

Absolutely gripping I thought. show less

These people are horrible. Seriously, they're all wacky and behave terribly. Their behavior is even worse considering there were young children involved.
So we have a bit of a mystery. Little Coco disappears while at her father's big 50th birthday weekend bash. The adults at the weekend (including her father) just can't be bothered enough to take care of the kids. They're all drinking and doing drugs with no regard to the kids around them. I find the premise very odd, because even though Coco's mom fired the nanny before the party, how hard can it be to find a local young person to babysit? And what about the others who brought their kids? Why didn't they have babysitters? A lot of wealthy people take their nannies on vacation with show more them, so why not these people?

But, the story overall was so disturbing. We find out the truth about Coco, and the truths about the others involved as well. I have to say I guessed what happened to Coco and who did it. There were a lot of clues leading up to it. And in particular, the one scene when everyone was eating dinner at the fancy restaurant really sealed the deal for me. I realized at that point exactly who did it and why and how.

This was a very engaging book, so even though I figured out the mystery, it was still interesting to read. And I have a feeling Linda's demise was no accident, either.

Received this book from GoodReads.com for review. show less