Another hit by Sibel Hodge! Love this author and all of her books!

Into the Darkness is told in three different narratives: The Detective, The Vigilante, and The Missing. This book explores the dark web and this author doesn't shy away from a dark subject matter but she does it very well.
Toni, an 18-year-old has a fascination with true crime and finds herself going deeper and deeper into the Web. She has suddenly gone missing and her mother reaches out to Mitchell, an ex Soldier (The Vigilante). Mitchell served with Toni's dad and feels an obligation to save his daughter.

This is a sobering look into the dark side of what happens in this world today, something I hope never ever to see or experience. Fast paced and well written, 5 stars from me. Thank you so much Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing/NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

The Bottom Line:

An interestingly told thriller that does not shy away from the gory stuff, hits you in the face with the truth that you’d rather never know, and spins an intricate, well-plotted tale that is not made any less enjoyable by its predictability.

My take:

Writing in the first person isn’t always easy. Not too many people like the approach so you have to be exceptionally good at it to ensure that your audience can associate with the character they’re following. Writing from different points of view consistently isn’t easy either. It’s altogether too easy to get their personalities mixed up, and end up with one’s style seeping into the other.

Yet, Sibel Hodge does both these things with brilliant precision in Into the Darkness.

The story follows a vigilante who believes that justice is best served instantly, a missing girl whose desire to help people takes her into the depths of unspeakable horror, and a detective who’s been worn down by the injustices he’s witnessed in his career but still, desperately, needs to trust in the legal system. All three are gray characters, and Hodge’s style allows you to follow their internal battles and really get into the story. She doesn’t break their characterization at all, which adds to the association that readers develop for the characters.

The story itself is quite interesting. It is based on a topic that has been done previously (in movies and books) – the dark web – but still manages to be fresh in its approach. It’s also painfully graphic, so those who aren’t used to too much gore may have a few cringe-worthy moments while reading. When you look beyond the near-horrific narrations though, you see that it’s less about the activity and more about the people behind it. Into the Darkness focuses a lot on what people, good and bad, are really capable of; on how far someone can go, how malleable their morals can become, if they’re motivated by greed and insane fetishes, or the desire to help people and enable justice.

The book proceeds at a good speed, taking you from one POV to another and back as you turn pages wondering just how (and even if) these three arcs meet. It’s not immensely unpredictable, but there are definitely some shock-factors. The characters within the story have apparently made appearances previously in other works, but the story is complete in itself. All in all, Into the Darkness is a well-paced, intriguing thriller; and while I wouldn’t say that this should be the next book you should read, it definitely should be on the TBR pile of anyone who enjoys the genre or wants to venture into it.

Recommended to:
- those who enjoy thrillers
- those who enjoy multi-POV or first-person focused books (both these aspects are done extremely well)
- those who like crime fiction

A big thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book. It led to me discovering some very interesting characters and a new author to follow.

Sibel Hodge is forever pulling great powerful dark stories out the bag and this is no exception. I love her style of writing, this book being told from three different perspectives, is clever and engaging. Surrounded by the dark crimes and strong characters, this book had me hooked.
The books starts with the murders of an older couple and a missing teenage girl, somewhat unlinked and a race against time where the characters literally jump into the darkness. This book pulls you into places you really don't want to go, the dark web, it's so near for us all to touch and what made this book even more chilling to read.

I usually read true crime and as I was reading this I had to keep reminding myself it was a novel ! Many psychological thrillers/mysteries have a point where you really have to stretch to find it believable. Not so with this one. Although it's a novel it's certainly possible for these events to have happened. It has all the elements of a good thriller. A likeable cast of characters, a little romance, a lot of nail biting action and enough suspense to keep you rapidly turning pages! I highly recommend both the book and the author! Thanks to #netgally for the ARC. #ChapterChatterPub

That Sibel Hodge! She's a one, isn't she?!? I thought this was a STONKINGLY good read. I loved the idea of Toni's late father's ex colleague coming charging in to the rescue. The relationship between Mitchell and Maya was exquisite and powerful. I thought the story flipping between Toni, Mitchell and DS Carter was very clever, and made sure the reader keeps reading. Totally engrossing and all consuming, I read this book in just two sittings. It was so fast paced, at times I was worried I'd get whiplash! A number of edge of your seat, teeth-gnashing, OMG moments kept the momentum going right up until the final word. Another corker from the inspirational pen of Sibel Hodge!

I hadn’t read anything from this author previously so read this not realising there was a previous book “untouchable” with some of the same characters. Having since read “untouchable” I would have preferred to read them in the correct order - but it didn’t spoil “into the darkness” which can easily be read as a stand alone. It just would have been good to understand the back story and references to a previous case.
I thought “into the darkness” was well written and I loved the characters - especially Mitchell.
A really good read that tells of two crimes and cleverly brings them together .
Some difficult subject matter - but a well told story.. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest return.

A clever, fast paced and different take on the typical crime novel. Works well as a standalone read, highly recommended

Absolutely loved all Sibel's books and all worthy of five starts. I find with her writing she gets you involved in the storyline straight away and this was a gripping page turner.

I particularly liked the short chapters and how the story was split into three people giving you the background which gets you involved immediately. I was excited to read more from Mitchell and Mays who appeared in Untouchable and D.S. carter who was in Duplicity, two of my favourite books from Sibel and I hope they feature in future books.

Overall this book was brilliant and extremely well written and worthy of five stars.

Into The Darkness by Sibel Hodge is a thriller about the dangers of the dark web. The police are called to investigate the murder of an elderly couple. A teenage girl is missing and it's a race against time to find her before it's too late. I liked the characters in this book and found it to be a well plotted story.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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‘Into the Darkness’ by Sibel Hodge published by Amazon Publishing on July 3rd

Hey, I have read previous books by Sibel Hodge so I knew that she doesn’t shy away from the ‘darker’ side of crime and nor does she sugar coat her stories or the information and detail in them....this book is no different and is a hard hitting novel about dark and disturbing crime
It is based on the ‘dark web’ and what is available on there and it is shocking, uncomfortable and at times distressing but powerful
The story is told in 3 narratives, from the perspective of the missing teenager, the policeman tracking a seemingly unrelated double murder of an elderly couple and a vigilante, an ex SAS friend of the missing teenagers Mum..all 3 work well together and give 3 totally different angles ( obvs ) to the story, and it works
Its a tense, claustrophobic race against time, in more ways than one and one that has you willing the ‘good’ on and wanting the ‘evil’ to fail
Intense and not a book you can read and forget, it left me shocked and appalled at fellow humans ( parts are based on research of proven crimes similar to the ones in the book) and when it was over I wanted to contact the vigilante and policeman to say ‘Well Done’, daft anno but thats how real the book was
Sibel Hodge writes perfect hard hitting dramatic stories and if you haven’t discovered her yet then let this be the book to do so
10/10 5 stars

What a good read. Frightening because it has a grounding of truth. We all enjoy the internet because we are not aware of the dark side. This story makes you aware of many aspects of it. The story is told by three caractures. The policeman, the vigilante and the victim. The ending shows that there is justice. I don't want to give to much away but I really recommend this book, especially if you have children. There is a lesson to learn from this book.

this book was was very good. enjoyed the characters. good story line. would recommend to friends very suspenseful. also liked the cover

Brilliant dark and twisting keeps you on the edge of your seat . 3 stories that are all intertwined together.

Another book by Sibel Hodge where she is not afraid to tackle the dark side of crime. I felt the three points of view - The Missing, the Vigilante and the Detective - were depersonalised in not using their names - deliberate to indicate this sort of crime is not a one-off? Yet again a good plot which moves at great pace to a conclusion.

Many thanks to Netgalley/Sibel Hodge/Amazon Publishing for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

4-5 stars. Disturbing and fast paced. I enjoy the more disturbing books, so this one definitely had me gripped from the start. I thought it was written perfectly, with the multiple points of view, and definitely will be recommending in Chapter Chatter Pub!

I have been very lucky and read quite a few good thrillers so far this year,and this is up there with the best of them.I really enjoyed it, I loved the story being told from different points of view and I liked all of the different narrators ,I wanted to know more about them and was on their side.This was a truly horrific tale and maybe not for the feint hearted although the violence was more hinted at than described in great detail.The story was fast paced and was also believable and I thought it was an exciting and well written read.,it kept me page turning and is definitely up there with the best thrillers I have read recently.Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC.

A fantastic storyline, edge of seat drama makes for a nail-biting read. A must read for all crime/thriller fans.

The story starts off with a murder of two pensioners of which DS Carter is sent to investigate. There are not many clues and he has limited staff on the case and is being pushed into cracking the case quickly. While this investigation is going on we meet Corrine, whose daughter has suddenly gone missing which is unlike her. The police seem to be doing nothing so she calls on Mitchell, an ex SAS Soldier. Mitchell will do whatever he can to find Corrine’s daughter Toni as he feels guilty about how her husband died whilst on duty with him.

The chapters are told in sections of The Detective, The Vigilante and The Missing. They are easy to follow and the characters are well developed and likeable. I enjoyed the story, it was fast paced, didn’t give much away until the second section when it all came together very nicely.

Many thanks to Amazon Publishing and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book.

I devoured this book in one setting. Another triumph for this author. The books tosses and turns between the three main characters stories as the mystery of a double murder is investigated. The clever way the stories are intertwined kept me gripped until the last page!

A gripping story told in short, alternate chapters from the different prospectives of the vigilante, police and victim.