The premise of this book was intriguing, but I felt like the execution lacked somewhat.  The characters were all obnoxious, and I really didn't connect with any of them.  However, I thought the story was interesting, with as many twists as the Long Dark Road of the title.  

Overall, it's a decent read, and goes by pretty fast if you are looking for something to settle into on a rainy day.

The Long Dark Road is one of those books that you think you have the measure of and then it makes a fool of you, this is a good thing!  

Tragically Dr Georgia Healey’s daughter Stephanie vanished two years ago, most people assume she committed suicide and that her body will eventually turn up.  Georgia thinks otherwise and takes herself back to the university that her daughter attended before she went missing, she is going to go over old ground, speak to friends and lecturers, find something that the police haven’t.  

She is determined, she is unwilling to believe her daughter is dead and she in unaware of what is coming.

Georgia is a character that will divide, you do feel sorry for her as of course she has lost her child however some of her actions will make you dislike her.  But you know what you have to admire her dedication, she knows something isn’t right and she is going to risk everything to find out.  

The Long Dark Road was an enjoyable read, it was a little slow to start but once it got going I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an aArc of this book from NetGalley, and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

The Long Dark Road follows Georgia Healey as see returns to the town on Ferngate two years after her daughter's mysterious disappearance during a downpour on a backroad.  She's armed this time with new information and is intent on finding out what happened to Stephanie and where her body is.  The book follow's Georgia's investigation as she talks to all the usual suspects and revisits key places from Stephanie's final days. The town, Georgia and Stephanie's dark secrets start to come to light as with each new secret Georgia's resolve gets stronger. 

So, maybe P.R. Black isn't for me or maybe this book isn't for me. The concept sounded interesting to me:  a cold case, a family member looking for the truth, dark secrets, everyone is unreliable.  However, the majority of the book fell flat and the further I read the more questions I had.  For instance, the inciting action of the plot is Georgia receiving a copy of her daughter's journal from the police. As she investigates Georgia runs into the police several times. At each run-in, George tells them the new information she's discovered and ask why the police didn't look into it. Every time the police say "we did look into and it didn't lead anywhere." One would think at some point the main character would have a moment of realization- the police have been on this for two years with all the information I thought was new and got no where. What could our main character uncover in the span of a few days that the police haven't already uncovered?  Also, the majority of the secrets uncovered aren't' secrets at all to the majority of the players in the story. 

Georgia as a main character rang false in a lot of ways. Perhaps she was intended to be that way, but the logical jump from focused career woman to almost insane with grief over her daughters disappearance doesn't work in my brain.  There are some other character motivations that are revealed late in the book I don't want to spoil for readers, but even those didn't help fill in the gap.  

This thriller also suffers from one of my thriller pet peeves- pacing/groundwork for the big reveal. The big reveal comes pretty late in the story and honestly I didn't see the ending coming.  Maybe I need to reread this book to see the groundwork being laid for the reveal, but I didn't see any indications of what might be coming until the reveal happened.  Some may say that it's a mark of a good thriller.  I disagree.  Mystery and it's sub-genre of thriller  require some groundwork, some clues for the reader to put together ahead of the main characters.  In the case of the The Long Dark Road, it felt like Mr. Black wanted to tell the story of a grieving mother out to find the truth, then realized late in writing that this story is a thriller, I should probably have a big reveal.   

Also, as other reviewers have said, the last half of this book is very dark.  I would put trigger warnings, but those would give away the major plot points.  If you have triggers in your reading, just skip this book entirely. 

Honestly, I don't recommend this book.  If you're a fan of the family thrillers without detectives, thrillers with dark subject matter, or those who want to focus primarily on character relationships instead of the msytery. 

2/5 stars.

Dark crepyt and intrusive. This book is a fantastic dark psychological thriller. Highly recommended for Halloween xx

Two years ago Dr Georgia's Healey's nineteen-year-old university-student daughter went missing as she walked along the lonely A928 at Ferngate Bridge. There was a furious storm going on and she'd already refused the offer of help from one man in a big vehicle. We'll see - but no one else will know - that another car stops and Stephanie is bundled into the car and driven off. There has been no sign of her - or her body - in the two years since. Georgia is back is Ferngate, determined to find out what happened and she's not going to be stopped.

Jed Mulrine, who offered help to Stephanie has been interviewed and cleared. He was actually digging a ditch at Chessington Hall to clear some flooding. There were numerous witnesses, including Sir Oliver Chessington, to vouch for him. Martin Duke is keen to have everyone know that he was Stephanie's boyfriend but the more Georgia looks at the relationship, the surer she is that it was no more than a casual relationship. Why is Duke pushing this and why does his current girlfriend, Colette Browning support him? Georgia has seen Stephanie's diary and knows that her daughter was keen on Riley Brightman, who has since achieved rockstar status, but she seemed to have been devoted to someone she nicknamed 'Cornfed'.

Adrienne Connulty, the editor of the student newspaper, the Ferngate Ferret, knew Stephanie well, but Georgia can't get past the fact that Adrienne seems to have her own agenda and knows something she's not prepared to share. Someone who is prepared to share with her is DI Neal Hurlford: he tells her in confidence exactly where the investigation is but warns her not to interfere. He'd like Georgia to go home and leave to enquiries to the police. Georgia's husband, Rod, would like Georgia to go home too. They've separated since Stephanie's departure but Rod lets his frustration with what's happening bubble to the surface all too often.

Georgia's not going to stop asking questions and she's not willing to accept that her daughter is dead. She's certainly not willing to agree to the police view that Stephanie walked out along a dangerous road in a storm with the intention of committing suicide.

It's edge-of-the-seat stuff. Half of you will be willing Georgia on - and the other half will be urging her to be careful. We know that it wasn't a suicide and that there's at least one dangerous person involved. It quickly becomes obvious that there's a lot of murky business going on: people trafficking, drug dealing and journalistic plagiarism will all rear their ugly heads. The characters are great. Stephanie impressed me most, for someone who is probably dead. She's flawed: we're going to find out things which her mother probably didn't want to know but you get a sense of a young woman with principles who's determined to live life to the full. Georgia Healey is a nightmare: you've no problems understanding DI Hurlford's frustration with her.

The plot is good. I really couldn't see how it was going to work out, but - as endings go - it's a cracker. I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

Georgia Healy returns to the university her daughter Stephanie disappeared from two years previously or rather the longer dark road’ nearby.
Georgia and her husband Rod have split up and seem to be going through a nasty divorce.
Stephanie’s diary has been discovered by the police and her mother returns to the university to speak to those who knew her and uncover why their stories differ from her daughter’s account.
Georgia comes across as quite aggressive when she is meeting her daughters acquaintances which makes it difficult for her to uncover the truth.
Few of the main characters come across as likeable which makes the book difficult to read - I read this over the period of a week as I found it difficult to care about any of them, including Stephanie.
The Hunt’ was quite bizarre. The ending was totally unexpected and seemed disconnected from the rest of the story.
Not for me this book.

This book sounds intriguing and it had potential, but it just didn’t really carry through. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad book. It just was too slow moving and repetitive. The main problem in my opinion, is that I did not relate to a single character. I simply didn’t click with anyone. Sure, I wanted the mother to find her daughter, and peace, but otherwise she really was annoying, but very persistent, and I admire her for that.

I can see something like this happening in real life, but it quite frankly isn’t that interesting to read about. A mother is trying to find her daughter, who simply vanished. Who wouldn’t want to find out the truth? But, harassing students, drug abusers, band members, and working women, constantly following and questioning them, and annoying the police is not quite what I’d like to read about. I just think it could have been done in a different way. The book just didn’t make me feel much else that annoyance. As I said in the beginning, the book has potential, but the execution did not really work for me. 2,5 stars.

3 for neutral.  Unfortunately, this book was not for me, or not for me at this time.  I tried a few times to get into it, but was not able to.  Will update if able to enjoy at later date!

This was a truly amazing book, the character of Georgia was so real and the inclusion of excerts from Stephanie's diary brought her clearly to life. The conclusion was totally unexpected, one that the reader, and Georgia, could never have imagined. Fantastic book, loved every chapter. It shows you how treacherous so called friends can be and the hazards of fitting into university life while you're surrounded by lies and deceipt. Excellent, excellent.

The premise of this book sounded interesting which is why I requested it.  It didn’t deliver for me.  The characters weren’t likable and the story dragged.  Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

When you seek the lost, be prepared for what you find...

What a story! There’s a few books that have been on my read list for ages and they’re so much better than the books I chose to read first! Don’t just go off the synopsis because The Long Dark Road is a hidden gem and very different from other thrillers on the market.

This isn’t a perfect book but do they even exist? If you’re looking for a dark creepy thriller that will leave you reading late into the night then pick up this! It’s a strong 4/5.

My thanks to the Publisher, Netgalley and P.R. Black.
When I started this adventure into bookland, I truly had no freaking clue about how very damned odd it would get!
Stephanie disappears on that long dark road. 
I don't like when parents and not cops try to solve mysteries. Ah, but then there are mysteries...and blah...
Honestly? From 15% I was hooked! I loved each and every tense moment! I dreamt of these characters. I know darn well that I've read some great books this year, but this story had me strung tight!
I can't even say if I would recommend this book! A few people I know would love it...I think?
Either way, I was like a moth to the flame!

I liked the premise of this book, I could see where it was possibly going, felt interested at the beginning. But then it sort of lost steam and cohesiveness.  The main character (the mother) seemed very out of sorts and her interaction with those who knew her daughter best seemed forced and edgy. I didn't really understand why she went through a lot of what she did in order to get to the truth, which, in the end didnt really make sense or combine with the rest of the story, so the antagonist kind of came out of the blue and was not really explained. Still it was a good idea and intriguing but for me, personally, it missed the mark.

A grieving mother setting out in search of her daughter missing for two years. The premise is good and the story slowly progresses towards the finale. The pace picks up two thirds of the way and the suspense and twists are superb. The initial part of the story has been utilised for character building but some of them act differently later and I couldn't find the explanation for why the mother didn't do this much earlier. But for some of these glitches I enjoyed this book.After requesting the book I read the reviews and felt doubtful if I could read this book through. But I am glad my request has been granted and I would definitely recommend this book.

I never repeat the blurb. I really wanted to get into this, but just couldn't. Too disjointed and lacking real focus. Not for me...sorry.

Although this was a good story with some surprising twists it was also at times a bit unbelievable. Characters were not at all nice,not was their behaviour.

The Long Dark Road is slow to get going and doesn't really become interesting till after half way. Then it improves a lot. I liked the idea of the story but the characters were not likable at all. Not the best in this genre.

The book was well written, fast paced and a thrill ride until the end.  This is the first book by this author I've read, but I will look out for some more in future.  Recommended.

A slow-burning thriller with a twist ending that almost makes up for the pages it took to get there.

Georgia's daughter has been missing for over a year, but she's not giving up the search. While the police have ruled the case a suicide, assuming the body has been lost to a swift flowing current, Georgia refuses to accept her daughter is gone. Until there's a body, Georgia will continue to look. After all, she knew her daughter--an aspiring writer--and she never would have killed herself without leaving a note. Georgia knows, in her bones, that something happened to her daughter. On the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, Georgia returns to the town where she was last seen and starts her investigation all over again.

I normally love missing person thrillers, but unlike The Chain or What Kind of Mother Are You, The Long Dark Road doesn't pick up hours or days after the mysterious disappearance has taken place. The idea of the long-suffering, little-believed mother does make for an interesting hook, but Black doesn't lean into this potential. Georgia acts like a woman pushing through the first 48 hours, desperate to find her daughter alive. She assumes crime scenes (in a college town, at that) won't have been trampled, evidence won't have blown away or been destroyed after twelve months of weather, that witness statements won't be tainted by the false memories of time and prolonged media coverage. 

In fact, a lot about Georgia's character doesn't seem real. For the first third of the book I tried to give her a break (she'd lost her only child), but throughout the story she continues to morph into someone unlikeable, disconnected from reality, and with an odd mother-daughter dynamic that doesn't feel authentic. This is, perhaps, because we only see the story from her perspective and some short, clunky journal entries from her daughter before she disappeared.

These inauthentic relationships carry through to all the characters. Personalities flip for no reason. Everyone seems one question away from a physical altercation. Witnesses snap from helpful and sympathetic to outright antagonistic with little provocation. The dialogue is circular. The plot feels like an ouroboros. 

At about the 60% mark there's a revelation that changes the tone of the book and finally sets into the thriller pace I was hoping for from the beginning. From this point on there are twists, plots, and hope that Georgia may finally get some answers about her daughter. This last chunk of the book is exactly what I was hoping to read. The twists and plot shifts Black introduces here are ones I would have loved to see explored in more detail and earlier in the book. 

Do I feel like I wasted my time reading this book? Not entirely. Would I recommend it? Only if you're willing to put in the effort to get to the end.

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!