Thanks for the opportunity to have read this thrilling book.
This is the second book in a series of thrillers featuring Lieutenant Danielle Lewis of the Royal Navy Kill Team. It picks up a few months after the events in the first book, "Tenacity". I was thrilled to see that there was a followup book to Tenacity, and I couldn't wait to finish it! Well done, now we are waiting for book 3!

The Fear Within by J.S. Law

Natasha Moore, only just 18 years old, has vanished without trace from HMS Defiance, the warship on which she serves. The ship was due to be in port for some time, with most of the crew enjoying the leave due to them, and so it took a while for Natasha’s absence to be noted. Naval investigator Lieutenant Danielle (Dani) Lewis is given the case. Dani is the Navy’s star investigator. The media love her and it’s not surprising considering the times that Dani puts her own life in danger to rescue the vulnerable. But it’s won Dani no favours with her bosses and, as ever, Dani must work to prove herself.

The case takes Dani deep into the ship politics of the Defiance. She is better aware than most of the nature of navy life, its maleness, the bullying, the long absences and the discomfort of the cramped living conditions and the isolation it brings. But the navy is in Dani’s blood. As she investigates Natasha’s disappearance, further clues emerge about the conspiracy that Dani unearthed during her previous case aboard the submarine Tenacity. The past daunts Dani. She must resolve it. But all the time she must keen an eye on the young woman that the navy almost forgot, Natasha Moore.

The Fear Within is the second novel in J.S. law’s series to feature naval investigator Dani Lewis. Things have moved on from Tenacity, now renamed The Dark Beneath just as Dan has now become Dani. The Fear Within is a tighter thriller, the case more complex, and Dani strides through it with the perfect mix of confidence and vulnerability. She might be far too headstrong on occasion, rushing in to situations when she should know better, but she is also so easy to like. This navy society is extremely rigid but Dani manages to cross its boundaries, bridging worlds and ranks. And in The Fear Within, Dani is at her very best. If you haven’t read The Dark Beneath yet and intend to then I certainly suggest you read that first (this second book does reveal some important details of the first).

The structure works very well, moving between Dani’s investigations onshore and aboard Defiance and the past story of Natasha during the months and weeks leading up to her disappearance. But there are more stories at play here which take Dani even deeper into her past. This movement and the layers that bring these cases together make this novel such a fascinating and absorbing novel. I enjoy the mix of new mystery combined with an older one that hangs over events like a shadow. Natasha is also a powerful presence and her story is the one that dominates.

It is, though, a disturbing novel. Navy life is shown here at its most unappealing, not least for the isolation of its young sailors, especially the female ones. I was troubled by it and found some aspects of the tale challenging to read. But I love how the author brings to his writing his experience of navy life. The prose is full of nautical terms. It feels very authentic. And the setting of the ship is fantastic. It doesn’t have the claustrophobia of the submarine Tenacity in The Dark Beneath, and most of it is set on a ship that’s docked and not at sea, but it’s nevertheless extremely atmospheric.

The Fear Within is a gripping and moody crime thriller with an unusual setting. This series certainly brings something original to the genre while also being extremely well-written. Dani is a fascinating main character. There is still so much to learn about her (and her family). I hear another book is on the way. Good news.

Other review
Tenacity/The Dark Beneath

This books continues several themes and threads that began in the series opener, Tenacity, or as it has now been renamed The Dark Beneath so, to get the very best from this book, I would definitely recommend reading that first. Especially as lead character Dani is a bit complex and her motivations and behaviour is better understood with this background.
We open with RN Investigator Dani doing what she does best, going out on a limb to save an innocent. Breaking protocol inevitably gets her in trouble... again! But there are those above her who still believe in her and look out for her so, although reprimanded, she isn't cut loose and is assigned the job of investigating a missing young female sailor on ship Defiance. Apparently she arrived at work one Friday and appears to have gone missing sometime during the day. Assumed she had just taken off for weekend early, she is not reported as absent until she didn't return to her post Monday. As her investigations continue, as she uncovers secrets, lies and more than a bit of duplicitous and nasty behaviour which also lead her in the direction of what happened on Tenacity, a bone she has never really dropped. Her personal life gets included into the mix when she has to face some hard truths from her own past. But Dani has spirit and, indeed, tenacity of her own. But will it be enough to cut through the noise and get to the bottom of things once and for all.
Oh my, this was a rather convoluted and interconnected story. Many threads meander along the way converging and diverging several times along the way until we finally get to the crux of the matter. Dani has to face her fears and revisit her old nemesis too, loved these scenes. But Dani has matured loads from book one. She still has that devil may care attitude to her own safety but she is a little more clued up in the ways she needs to employ to stay as safe as she can. Her investigative skills are also well honed in this book. Cutting through the noise in a close knit community such as a ship is not the easiest task but she manages to peel the layers back to get to the core truth.
Coming from Portsmouth and being of Navy stock myself, I do have a bit of a background to the setting to this book and I have to say that the author manages to keep it real, well, as real as I recall it being from what my parents told me! I always love reading a book based somewhere I know well, it just makes for a better connection in my opinion.
The author wraps up this book as he wrapped up the previous one, the main story complete but with more than a few threads dangling and definitely more than a few questions yet unanswered. Not to mention a few shocks that need further explanation. But, instead of being annoyed at this as I usually am, it has done no more than intrigue me and make me hanker for book three. I really do hope it comes soon.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A multiple character viewpoint novel, told at breakneck speed which made me feel immersed in the story in 'real time'. A most excellent second book which it adds significant value to the first in the series which was also a very good read. I am looking forward to the next in the series, and hope it isn't too long before it is available to read.

The fear within by js law.
A young Naval Wren disappears from the warship Defiance.
With no trace of the girl on board, Lieutenant Dani Lewis, star investigator in the Royal Navy's Kill Team, must work her way through a complex web of witness accounts to uncover why she might run, or what might motivate a predator to take her.
But even as Dani hones in on the truth, threads begin to emerge which take her back to the recent conspiracy uncovered aboard the submarine Tenacity, and even further to the serial killer who continues to taunt her from prison.
A very good read with good characters. Lots of action it really had me thinking too. I hope there is more to come too. 4*. Netgalley and headline.

I had been eagerly awaiting this book from the second I closed the last page of The Dark Beneath and I was definitely not disappointed.
I really enjoyed this one. Great characters, a really gripping plot and a very pacy writing style meant I flew through it!
I am already dying to read book 3, and The Fear Within isn't even out yet!!!!
Highly recommended!