I enjoyed this thriller about a detective who is after the serial killer who caused the deaths of her husband and child. Great characters, a haunting storyline, and lots of action made this one a winner! I'm looking forward to more of the series.

A serial killer dubbed the Storyteller has taken a Detectives family from her and she's out for revenge in this well written Romantic Suspense book that's a second book in the series. Not having read the first book I was easily able to read this but now will go and obtain a copy of the first book having read this and enjoyed it.

Detective Bobbie Gentry has one objective: to stop the serial killer who robbed her of her husband, her child and her life. Nick Shade understands Bobbie's painand her desire for vengeance. He's on a mission of his own, and the murderer known as the Storyteller is next on his list. Nick knows that the best way to find his target is to stick close to Bobbie. But as she becomes more and more reckless in her attempts to lure the Storyteller out of hiding, he has to make a choice. Will he protect her from herself even if it means passing up the chance to take out one more monster? As for Bobbie, she's forced to decide just how much she can trust this stranger who knows so much about her. And both of them are about to learn whether or not two broken people can save each other.



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I am very much on the fence about this book. I ended up absolutely loving it but the first two chapters I was totally lost. If I hadn't been reading it for a review, I would have given up at that point since one doesn't expect to be lost when you start reading the first book in a series. I discovered at the end of the book that there was a prequel but I don't feel that those should be required reading before you start a series.



Once you get past the first two chapters, you are given a chance to really get to know and care about the characters. At that point, NO DARKER PLACE turned into a really good thriller. Nick Shade fascinated me and I will definitely pick up more of the series.



So when it comes down to it, I would recommend NO DARKER PLACE but be prepared for the first couple chapters to be a waste of time. It really does get better after that.


*** I received this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed within are my own.

5 stars - This thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat & give you chills. It's a fast past story that I could not put it down.

A Deeper Grave by Debra Webb is
No Darker Place for Debra Webb creates a terrifying blend of murder and the will to survive. This book is dark. Debra and Reagan Black write books together. I've decided that Reagan must be the one that adds the romance. Debra is responsible for the suspense. Debra wrote this one without Reagan and it is very suspenseful, dark and gritty. No Darker Place opens with Bobbie just returning to work after recovering physically and mentally from being abducted by a serial killer, the Storyteller. She's the only person to have survived. She feels that she lost everything and all she wants now is revenge. The serial killer is a creepy, crazy villain. I absolutely loved Nick Shane. We knew he was going to have an interesting past because he was so mysterious. When it's revealed, it gives you an enlightening take on his character. I would have enjoyed more interaction between Nick and Debra on the romance side. It was probably more realistic how Debra wrote it. I'm not sure how Bobbie's going to feel when she finds out everything he's learned about her and how. There were several other characters in the book that I'm assuming will continue in the series as I did not see any other reason to share some of their scenes in this book.

This book is one of the reasons I have a book review website. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed this book and it is well written, however it was more violent than I like to read. If you have a hard time reading violence this may not be the right book for you.

No Darker Place is gripping, compelling, gritty, and intense.

Language F-word- 46, damn - 100, bitch- 39. Bastard- 52, Shit-30

Sex. No romantic sex. But it is obvious that he rapes women.

Violence. Serial killer. Keeps them alive and tortures them. Several people die or have died as a result of the serial killer.

4 1/2 STARS!

An intense continuation of The Storyteller's reign of terror! If you haven't read the prologue to this series THE BLACKEST CRIMSON, I highly recommend reading that one as well. It was a great kick off that had us already invested in Bobbie Gentry's story when this one started. The characters are well developed and the plot is thick. You will not want to put it down until you get to the end!

Detective Bobbie Gentry is alive for one reason ... to bring down the man that took her family from her. She lives and breathes revenge and will not stop until "The Storyteller" is no longer killing innocent people!

Nick Shade has a secret past that no one knows about, but it is the reason he has a life mission of bringing as many serial killing monsters to justice as he can. He knows he can help Bobbie Gentry, but as "The Storyteller" closes in, she begins to unravel even more. Will he be able to keep her safe long enough to catch the guy, or is she too determined to bring him down no matter what the cost to herself?

I had a really... really hard time with this book. Lately I've been picking out books with female detectives (love) but they're "damaged" somehow. They are former or current victim, even though they spend the whole book talking about how they're not a victim. And there's a serial killer of some sort after them, or haunting them.... this trope is pretty popular and it's kind of old for me. I'll be looking at future detective mysteries with further scrutiny.

This book is well written with great pacing. The characters don't seem very 3 dimensional to me, but that could be because I just had a hard time reading it. It's.... I like my books dark and gritty, but this was too much for me. Very rapey and graphic... After about 60% I skipped past a lot just to get to the end. Sometimes I wonder about what goes on in the minds of authors who can write that graphically. I had a hard time sleeping after reading this book.

I'm declining to rate it because I don't feel my rating would be fair. I'd say if you're into tough, gritty graphic writing, you'd like this book. I was disturbed and would probably rate based on my personal reaction, which isn't fair to the author. Most other people seemed to enjoy it so I'll sit in my OMG THIS BOOK WOW Corner.

A spine-chilling thriller that had me mesmerized, completely under the spell with the masterfully crafted twists in the plot, in the hunt for the serial killer who has returned to finish what he failed to do before.
I wasn't aware that there was a prequel to this series, The Blackest Crimson, and even though the story can be easily read as a standalone, I think I would have enjoyed the beginning of No Darker Place more if I had read the prequel first. But this story on its own pulled me in and held my interest, there's no doubt about it.
The culprit in the story, the serial killer, known as the Storyteller, has couple chances to give his point of view into the events unfolding. The ways he tortures his victims with are callous, horrifying, brutal, and unthinkable (reader be aware of rape scene). The only one who has survived him is Detective Bobbie Gentry.
​Bobbie was still alive, but her soul had died in the hands of the monster, as he took away everything she held precious in her life, her husband and her son. Now with determination, she is after him like never before. She has nothing to lose, this is the moment that kept her going through the rehab, to eliminate the Storyteller so he will never hurt anyone else again. She was ready to die for the task, just come and get her, she was waiting.
I admire Bobbie, I am not going to say she was easy to relate to since I can't imagine what she had to go through in the hands of that beast in the prequel. But I could understand the need she had to seek revenge, to eliminate him. She is a complex character, and the healing process she goes through on the pages of the tale is a miracle in itself, that miracle being the only hope and light in the utter darkness of the sick minded serial killer's world.
Nick Shade fascinated me. His personal past has driven him to live in the shadows of the world, hunting the cruelest criminals there is, the serial killers. He lives on the edge of the law, he has his own rules and ways to get the information he needs to accomplish what he seeks - elimination of the threat. His secrets hold the keys to understand him, as well as to his success with his crusade.
The connection between Bobbie and Nick might have been fragile but it was obvious. The bond is unique, even physical in nature, yet there's no romantic texture to their relationship at any time during the story. What they share wakes the feelings alive again inside Bobbie, helping her to embrace life and living again, leaving a tiny possibility of maybe something developing between them down the road, if they survive the mission they are on.
The story is told from several different points of view and even thought Bobbie and Nick do get the majority of the screen time, the other detectives in the team are also introduced. As often is the case, when many characters have their time to share, the intensity of the main plot development lessen. There were some scenes that were building up the series and had nothing to do with the plot twist of this story, and I found them distracting.
No Darker Place is a riveting story that took a fast hold of my mind, an intriguing plot with twists that left me gasping with horror and fear. There were times that I realized I was covering my eyes to stop myself reading the vile acts of the horrid man. Yet the capable and bright detectives with their ability to find clues allured me into the tale convinced me there was justice and gave a prospect of the righteousness to win. A compelling and engrossing start to the new enthralling series.
~ Four Spoons

This is my first book be Debra Webb but won't be my last. Although it's listed as the first book in the series, I felt that some background was missing as I was reading, and I have learned there is another book that kind of fills in those gaps. it might actually give Bobbie a little more depth which was lacking.

I loved the plot, the story line, the writing. The characters didn't draw me and to make me feel super invested in the story, but overall a good read that hit the psychologic thriller level nicely.

To appear on my blog on Feb 26 2017 at 6PM
Holy Cow! Talk about jumping right into the action! This book is pretty much one you can't put down after the first few pages. While you can't put it down it's one of those all consuming reads that you don't want to end so you try to slow it down to make it last just a bit longer. The great thing is that book two is due out in May and book three in August. Alright! I love it when a author can immerse us in a series as fascinating as this one in about six months. It's definitely not going to be a one read book in a series and you forget it and move on.
There is also a 60 page prequel,The Blackest Crimson, out already that really should be read before this one. I didn't know about the prequel before writing the review and though I know it would have made Bobbie's need for revenge more palpable, there's more than enough details of her husband's and son's death to curl your toes and make you scootch just a bit closer to hubbs while reading this.
This is a great psychological thriller and the addition of the mysterious Nick Shade adds another layer to the story. The Storyteller reminds me a bit of the type of killer from Criminal Minds, really totally scary and almost unbelievable but yet still possible.
The only thing I hate about reading a book this fascinating so early in the year is that everything else I read is going to have a hard time measuring up. I also did not realize how many of Debra Webb's other books I'd read until I checked her out on my go to author reference, Fantastic Fiction. I've read oodles of her more than 50+ Colby series books and found that she has another series involving serial killers, Faces of Evil. I've already ordered the first four books in this series from PaperBackSwap and I'll be letting you know about them later. So if you're ready for that first perfect/scary/thriller read of 2017 get started on The Shades of Death series by Debra Webb.

The story was good but there was no mystery or romance. The beginning of the story tells you who did it and the rest of the book is just chasing the serial killer