As a psychological thriller, this book transcends the genre. The writing is solid, the characterization believable, the procedures on the mark. Every page racks up the tension. If you like your protagonists dark and tormented, this one’s for you.

" ...no one can show you how to unswallow all that darkness."

"...wonders if outsiders could really comprehend how lost a child can be inside her own house. At some point you’re beyond saving; no one can show you how to unswallow all that darkness."

This is actually a book with two different storylines. One involves the lead character's past abusive life and her way of dealing with the pain and the other is about a kidnapped teenager. I enjoyed both.

Special Agent Elsa Myers, FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment division, is called in to a case in Queens, New York involving a missing teenager. She has mixed feelings about the call because her father is dying and she wants to spend as much time as possible with him.

She does go to investigate, teaming up with NYPD Detective Lex Cole. He had specifically asked for her assistance with the case.

Elsa had actually grown up near where the teenager is missing and this brings terrible memories flooding back to her about the abuse she suffered from her mother.

I thought the author tied Elsa's story and the evolving story of the kidnapped teenager together well.

This is book one in THE SEARCHERS new series with Elsa as protagonist. Book two LAST NIGHT is out and I'm headed off to read it next.

I received this book from Mulholland Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people and she has a very good knack at doing it. But this one is different and she goes astray for a little bit. I liked the book. She had personal things she had to deal with along with trying to find this missing girl.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ebook copy of this book, which is the first in The Searchers series, from the publisher via NetGalley while they are promoting the publication of book two: Last Night. Many thanks for a good read!

A Map of the Dark introduces Special Agent Elsa Myers of the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment division. Elsa is requested to look into the case of a missing teen named Ruby Haverstock from Queens, NY, who disappeared one night while leaving her job at a local cafe. But Elsa is torn about taking on the investigation because her father is in hospital in Sleepy Hollow, dying from cancer.

Elsa, who had an abusive mother who was found murdered in their home when Elsa was a child, is understandably very close to her father. Because of the childhood abuse, she is quite damaged both emotionally and physically.

But she does take on the case--if nothing else, it is close to home. She can't keep herself from returning to her family's old home which has now been sold and is undergoing renovations. What does she hope to find there? Closure? Or some kind of evidence?

Elsa works with a NY Detective named Alexei Cole and soon the two are deeply involved in police procedures. What they learn is shocking and will soon become more personal.

This is a very engrossing thriller with a damaged but likable hero. I am looking forward to reading book too and reading other books from this author.

This is a great start to a new mystery/thriller/police series and I love these sorts of novels. They tend to read quickly and are well-paced. This was no exception. Characters are intriguing and make you want to continue following them in future reads. This novel was a great start.
Thanks for the copy #NetGalley
#AMapOfTheDark

What a great book! This is a page turner and I didn’t want to put it down to even sleep but couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I love the way Karen writes!

I was drawn in pretty quickly to the action and the story of this book. Elsa is the main female lead, a FBI agent specializing in child abduction cases. But Elsa has her own dark past she's trying to deal with when a new case comes up involving a missing (2 days short of her birthday) almost 18-year-old girl. Trying to work the case and also cope with her father's impending death, we're drawn into Elsa's personal life and work. We also get glimpses into the mind of the missing girl as she's coping with her abduction. As we learn more about the abductor, we learn that there are more missing girls and the story becomes even more complex. As the story unfolds, the meaning of the title of the book comes into play for both Elsa and the missing girls. The book moves along at a fairly quick pace, and I ended up reading the majority of the book over 2 days. While the subject matter is heavy, both Elsa's past and the missing girls, I didn't feel the book was overly dark, though there is some strong language and action, though not dwelt on or described too vividly. In fact, the overall feel of the book reminded me of another series I enjoy -- Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series, partly because of the setting in NYC, the female lead, and the crime solving. There was one thing that felt unresolved to me, was more details of why the abductor did what he did with the girls. It was touched on briefly the relationship with his sisters, but no more details than that or the reasons for everything in his toolboxes that became clues.

Overall, a great and interesting read. I look forward to reading more in this series and more by this author.

Content: Strong language, minimal descriptions of violence.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

FBI Agent Elsa Myers is sitting by her dying father's bedside when she receives a telephone call about a missing seventeen-year old girl named Ruby Haverstack. Reluctantly, she responds to the call, for she can do no other. She meets Police Detective Alexi “Lex” Cole in New York City. Together, they work the case.

Soon, more than just one teen is missing. As Lex and Elsa search for the kidnapper, they run into several dead ends and false leads. They learn that the abductor might be the person responsible for a series of murders covering several years. The stakes rise.

Elsa is reminded of a past that she would rather forget. Her relationship with her mother, sister and father prey on her mind. For some reason Lex seems to engender trust and she drops him little clues about her past. Up to this point in their budding friendship, they have mostly talked about Lex' past.

This is an exciting read. It speeds along as the reader turns pages quickly to keep up with the action. I truly enjoyed this book by Karen Ellis. It is well written and plotted and Ms. Ellis ratchets up the tension in the story very well. The transitions in the book are smooth and nearly flawless. The use of language adds to the excitement. I am looking forward to reading the next (?) in this series.

I want to thank NetGalley and Mulholland Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Doesn’t the circumstances of our past determine who we become? In this book we flash back to Elsa’s past which helps us to gain insight as to who she is today. Elsa is a very strong and layered character. As an FBI agent she is haunted by the missing. This is a great start to a new series. Thanks to Mulholland Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

From the first paragraph, it was clear that this is a very accomplished creative writer! That said, sometimes that's not enough to make one want to keep reading. To me, this story swung back and forth between slow and intriguing. Elsa Myers is a disturbed FBI agent who is assigned to find a missing teen girl. However, it felt that the story was more about Elsa/her past/her insecurities, etc than about the missing girl. Frankly, I got tired of her whining.

A good thriller that kept me interested, entertained and curious. Some good characters that were all imperfect in some way.

Elsa Myers is an FBI agent who specializes in finding missing children. The NYC police department has requested her help in finding a missing teenage girl. Elsa is reluctantly drawn into the investigation even though she feels she needs to spend time with her dying father.
This is a well written book and I found it interesting on many levels but also struggled through it. My issue had more to do with liking Elsa. She continues dealing with the trauma of her own childhood which at times actually interferes with her ability to effectively do her job. I realize that childhood trauma has long reaching effects but if she is still so damaged from her childhood and it is impacting her job performance, why isn’t it obvious to coworkers and her superiors and why is she not getting therapy to deal with it? I found it hard to believe that she’s advanced so far in her career with all the unresolved trauma in her life. These issues add another layer to the story but should also add an element of more believability for the reader.
I plan on reading the next installment to see how the series develops. I never like to give up on a series too soon.

Thank you NetGalley for the reading opportunity.

A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis is a thriller from the start.
With a strong female FBI agent with problems of her own, but deeply involved in the cases of missing children.
This was tugging my heartstrings, a tear jerker for me towards the end, but a hallelujah ending.
Definitely worthy of five stars.

4.75 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy for an honest review.

The first book in The Searchers series is a definite must read. FBI agent Elsa Meyers has not had an easy life and things are not getting any easier as she tries to deal with the impending death of her Father.


When a teenage girl named Ruby from Forest Hills goes missing Elas is on the case. As the hours tick by she knows that the chances are getting slimmer that Ruby will be found. Can she find the girl before its too late?


The mystery/thriller part of this novel is well written but the best part of the novel is Elsa herself. She is an interesting and flawed character that you find yourself rooting for. I am definitely interested in spending more time with her.

This book is the first in a new procedural series. This has the ability to hook you right away, or turn you away. It all depends on if you like alternate narrators and different perspectives. Normally I am a fan of this type of storytelling. This, for me, was not a fast-paced read and took off a little slow for me. This is a rare case where I felt like I was making myself have to finish the book. I do not mean this disrespectful, and know this is my singular point of view, and there are many others who will love it. I do think, however, that I will give this author another shot and pick up the next to see if it is a one time thing.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the honor of reading the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Insofar as flawed protagonists go, this was a surprisingly satisfying novel. At "only" 290 pages, it isn't a dense novel, which works in its favor, honestly, as it keeps the plot moving. I can't help but compare and prefer it to Tana French's mystifyingly overrated Dublin Murder Squad series. Sure Ms French has moments of delightful prose, but her mysteries, when she bothers to solve them, feel inorganic, and the actual procedural parts are so annoyingly bad as to be almost laughable. Her characters are also lamentably stupid. Flawed is one thing, dumb as hell quite another.

Karen Ellis isn't quite as good a prose stylist as Ms French, but she's 100% better at story and characterization. A Map Of The Dark follows FBI Special Agent Elsa Myers as she's pulled away from her dying father's bedside to consult on the case of a missing girl. The police officer who originally caught the case, Detective Lex Cole, has specially requested her expertise, as something doesn't feel right to him about Ruby's disappearance (and let me tell you, it's super duper nice to read of different jurisdictions coming together with very little friction to stop criminals and save lives. For this and quite a few other reasons, Lex is awesome.)

Elsa tries to focus on the case, but her father's illness and the recent sale of her childhood home are bringing up unwanted memories of the abusive mother she adored. Her relationship with her younger sister Tara and her niece Mel are also tested as Mel insists on helping to find Ruby, even as the stress of the situation begins to affect both Tara and Elsa in ugly ways.

I really enjoyed how Elsa's past was slowly revealed as the search for the missing girl progressed, and how the kidnapper's own hideous childhood came into play. Elsa's conflicting feelings were moving and wholly convincing. I did have qualms about what she did in her showdown with the kidnapper, but the final revelation as to her past went a long way towards explaining her drastic <font color="#ffffff">and highly illegal</font> reaction. I also enjoyed the authorial tricks with perspective, even if I couldn't call myself truly surprised by any of the plot twists. Still, a very entertaining novel that is more than competently written, and honestly head and shoulders better than some of the more acclaimed thrillers out there. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel soon!

I received a free e-copy of A Map of the Dark (Searchers, #1) by Karen Ellis from NetGalley for my honest review.

Seventeen year old Ruby Haverstock disappears on her way home from her after-school job in Queens, New York. The investigation is assigned to FBI special agent Elsa Myers. Elsa specifically finds missing children and she is darn good at it. Unfortunately, Elsa is also dealing with her father's failing health.

While Elsa investigates to find Ruby alive, her attention isn't completely focused as she is dividing her time and energy between work and her father deteriorating health in the hospital. Time is of the essence in finding Ruby, but many obstacles are getting in her way. Will Elsa find Ruby before it's too late.

This book focuses a lot on abuse and pain, suffering and lots of emotion for. It is a tough read.

Very well written story. Realistic. Strong characters Keeps the reader wanting to read more and more. How can one catch a kidnapper and murderer? Poor FBI Agent Elsa Myers has more than her share of personal, internal demons, let alone the demons who kidnap and kill young girls.......

Elsa's childhood is an abuse filled nightmare. She lives an isolated existence in an unimaginably stressful job os an agent on the FBI's rapid response team for kidnapped children, Unable to allow anyone too close lest they discover her issues and her past she manages her stress poorly. Add a dying Father and a missing child with a rookie detective and she may reach her limit. Especially when pure evil is hiding in plain sight. A thrilling psychological adventure awaits in this book.

Book Description
Even as her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, FBI Agent Elsa Myers can't ignore a call for help. A teenage girl has disappeared from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads obscures the fact that she did not go willingly.

As the hour's tick by, the hunt for the girl deepens into a search for a man--who may have been killing for years. Elsa's carefully compartmentalized world begins to collapse around her. She can find missing people, but she knows too well how it feels to be lost. Everything she has buried--her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother's death--threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

Can our most painful childhood secrets be forgotten? Or will they always find their way back into our adult lives? These questions lie at the heart of A Map of the Dark, a riveting portrait of a woman haunted by her family legacy, and a race-against-time thriller.

My Thoughts
This book introduces us to FBI agent Elsa Myers. She's known for her skill at finding missing children and that is the type of assistance that the NYPD needs right now. Ruby is a 17-year-old who hasn't been seen since she left work. Lex Cole of the NYPD along with Elsa know that time is not their friend and struggle to find out what happened to Ruby.

The other part of the story revolves around Elsa, her dying father, her sister, and her niece. This exposes us to Elsa 's childhood demons and we come to understand what motivates her. It's a nice mix between Elsa's personal story and the suspense involved with the missing girls( actually three girls). I don't want to give any part of the story away, but I wasn't left wondering how any pieces of the puzzle fit together and it held my interest from beginning to end. My favorite mystery /suspense/ thrillers are ones where the ending took me by surprise, and A Map of the Dark didn't disappoint. I read that this is the beginning of a series, and I thought the author did a nice job setting the stage for what lies ahead. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
I received a DRC from Mulholland Books through NetGalley.