Find You in The Dark is marketed for fans of Dexter. I loved the books and the show, so I couldn’t wait to pick up something similar to fill the void Dexter left. Unfortunately, comparing Find You in The Dark to Dexter is setting up too high of expectations. The main character, Martin, is not who I wanted him to be until the end of the novel.

Find You in The Dark follows multiple perspectives: Martin, Sandra, a police detective, and another perspective that is introduced about halfway through the novel. This perspective is so long and drawn out that it effectively kills any momentum the story was able to muster with exposition given for seemingly no reason other than to convince the reader that the character is an evil person.

I enjoyed Martin’s perspective for the most part. I thought his internal monologues were well written and engaging, however, because of the comparison to Dexter, Martin comes off as underwhelming. Martin is portrayed as incredibly intelligent, yet makes quite a few stupid decisions. Perhaps Ripley’s intention was for these decisions to be born out of Martin’s confidence; unfortunately this was not communicated through the text.

Sandra’s character is portrayed as a stereotypical detective focused intently on the investigation. There was absolutely nothing special about her other than her relationship with her partner, Chris. The reversal of typical gender roles between Sandra and Chris was interesting, but, ultimately, leads nowhere.

Overall, Find You in The Dark has an interesting premise that fails to deliver. If you’re an avid reader of thriller/mystery novels, you will most likely find this novel underwhelming.

This book is marketed as being comparable to Dexter and The Talented Mr. Ripley. These are great tags to pull a reader like myself in, but you have to live up to your own hype. Once you get to know Martin Reese, the comparison of characters is there. Let’s see how the story holds up.

Nathan Ripley has created a unique story arc. It has a lot of great twists and turns, with a couple of “I did not see that coming” moments. It was lacking a little something – something that would have kept me riveted to the pages. Perhaps it was where I was with my reading, but I felt familiar feelings with other books. Nothing stolen, by any means, just not unique enough.

Find You in the Dark had an excellent cast of characters. They were all well developed and integral to the story, however, I lacked a connection to the protagonist. Martin Reese was rich, perceptive and intelligent, he was missing an idiosyncrasy/fatal flaw that I find helps me connect better with a protagonist who seems to have it all. In the end, I didn’t connect well enough with any of the characters. It dials down the suspense level when I don’t care who lives or dies.

As a debut novel, Find You in the Dark was good enough. The writing was well done, it was just lacking certain elements that would bring the story up to the next level. Would I read a book by Nathan Ripley again? I’ll say yes, but with all of the great debuts I’ve read lately, he’s got a tough row to hoe.

*3.5 Stars​

Debut novel for Canadian Nathan Ripley (real name: Naben Ruthnum) and it was outstanding. Retired tech millionaire Martin Reece has a hobby. With a little (well paid) help from a disgruntled cop, he finds the remains of buried victims of serial killers and anonymously calls the location in to the police so the families can get some closure. However, someone close to the situation has been watching Martin and isn't very happy about having his work disturbed, which leads to some very macabre moments.

The first 1/4 of the book I wasn't really hooked as the author set the table but after that it really took off and I couldn't wait to pick it up to see what came next. There are 7 main characters and although this was a relatively short book (336 pages) they were all extremely fully written. They all felt very real and I empathized with each of their individual struggles. A very dark, yet hypnotic book, I loved it and look forward to more from this author. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very fast read, compelling characters, with great twists along the way that kept me engaged in the story. While I may have thought I could tell what was coming, the way the author twisted expectations was fantastic and kept me turning the page.

Find You in the Dark is a chilling, dark thriller. It has been referred to as part Dexter and part The Talented Mr. Ripley. Martin Reese is indeed probably a bit of both of them. He has a hobby if you can call it that, Martin goes around digging up bodies that have been put in their grave by a serial killer. The serial killer is watching Martin. The police are watching Martin : is he the killer or the finder.

Martin is diabolically clever but that doesn't protect his family.

I couldn't decide whether I like Martin, he did bring peace to families by finding the victims bodies. On the other hand , there is something quite scary about Martin not to mention the people that surround him.

The pages turn quickly, you second guess how it is going to end. It will make a great movie.

I highly recommend it even if I will be looking over my shoulder for awhile and be very suspicious of shovels.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for my copy.
Don't miss this one

A thriller with a twist. Martin Reese is a family man with a dark side. As an outlet for his dark obsessions, he tracks and returns the bodies of murder victims. His actions have not gone unnoticed, by the police or by the criminals.

I love the cover. This book gripped me from the very first page and didn't let go until the very end. The concept is interesting - a husband and father leaves home for a bit every now and then to dig up bodies of missing women that the cops never found. Isn't that dangerous? How does he not get caught? Why is he doing it? This whole story was crazy but it also felt very real. Martin believed he was doing a good thing and he just got in way too deep. I was worried about him more than once. This was so well-written and such an intense page-turner that I felt like I was a part of it and not just sitting on the couch reading a book.

Fast paced thriller- like a cross between Dexter and Criminal Minds.