Dark Falls by Gregg Olsen is the third in the Detective Megan Carpenter Tapes series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)

Megan Carpenter is a detective in Port Townsend, Washington.  Her childhood was a nightmare, with a mother who did little but lie, and a father who was a serial killer.  Her uncle was just as bad.  Her brother Hayden, who she tried to protect, joined the Army, and has never forgiven her for what she did.  She is re-living her childhood by listening to tapes made by a therapist, who is the only one who knows her full story. As a detective, she works under her friend and mentor, Sheriff Tony Gray, and now has a young partner Deputy Ronnie Marsh.


My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

The body of Monique Delmont, an advocate for victims of violent crimes,  shocks Megan.  Not the fact that this woman had first helped, then betrayed Megan years ago, but the fact that she has been skinned, and two photo's of Megan, one when she was 16 years old, are left at the crime scene.  The fact that Megan knew Monique and why, is going to be difficult to conceal.

Megan is almost positive that Monique's murderer is one of two people.  Her uncle, Michael Rader, has not forgiven Megan for killing his brother, her serial killer father Alex.  The other possibility is someone named "Wallace" who has been sending Megan emails.  Both these people know that Megan is still alive, although she has moved repeatedly, and changed her name.  Only three other people know she is alive, but neither her brother, her therapist, nor her ex-boyfriend are capable of murder.

However, the murder of Monique Delmont definitely has ties to Megan's past, and it looks like that is where she will have to look in order to find the killer.  It will be difficult to do this without sharing her secrets with her team.  If her secrets get out, she will have to run again.  But if she can kill the perpetrator before she ends up dead herself, perhaps she can move on.


My Opinions: 

I am enjoying this series.  Megan is flawed.  She has had a rough life, and although she has killed, she doesn't regret the bodies she has left behind.  They deserved what they got.  She is honest with herself, if not with anyone else.

I like the other characters that surround Megan as well.  I wasn't sure about Ronnie at first, but she grew on me. Olsen has built a great support network around Megan, even though she doesn't always see it that way.

This book further delved into Megan's past,  creating a wonderful plot, and lots of suspense.  I liked the way the story was told from both Megan's and the perpetrator's perspective, so that the reader was able to see when Megan's thought process was right, and when it was wrong.

I guess my main problem with the book, is the constant re-capping.  Yes, I understand if you didn't read the first two books in the series, re-capping is good. There was just a lot of it.

I know that there are 3 more books planned for this series, and I assume one of them will center on Megan's brother, but I am having problems imagining more books about Megan's past.  Sooner or later you would think she'd stop lying and move on.

Anyway, I am still looking forward to the next book.

Gregg Olsen’s “Dark Falls” is third in a series of Detective Megan Carpenter books. Megan has a very dark and nightmarish past that consistently haunts and at times consumes her. Her past just might succeed in killing her.

Gregg masterfully and absolutely grips you in the first paragraphs detailing where and how a woman’s body is found. Detective Carpenter knows the victim Monique Delmont - now Megan has to find out who and why she was murdered. Monique helped Megan in her past - could that play a part of why Monique was murdered?.... and just who did this.....why? Megan is tormented again. Megan thinks she knows who’s behind this. Could she be dead on?

Megan and partner Ronnie Marsh are on this case, including how Monique’s daughter’s murder many years ago may play into this. Yet all those years ago, are enveloped in Megan’s dark past - she’s got to walk that fine line between hiding her horrific past and using everything that she is and
can muster to find the murderer and put and end to this and them - before the murderer puts an end to Megan.

Gregg Olsen, the number one New York Times, USA Today’s, Wall St. Journal’s, Amazon’s and Goodreads best selling author, is the master of the psychological thriller and is unmatched in creating, building, weaving, and detailing a most intricate web of the most gripping, edge of your seat and best stories ever.

I highly recommend Dark Falls and all of Gregg Olsen’s books. You’ll be jolted and hooked. Enjoy!!

This is the third book in the series and best to read in the order. The story is more about Megan and her past, pushing the plot and the suspense behind. The story and conclusion doesn’t add much to the series except character development. The positive is, the tapes take a minor role unlike the previous books. As the author is planning three more books, I hope he moves from Megan’s past and write about her present and the future.

Gregg Olsen is a quite prolific writer, and Dark Falls is his latest book in the Detective Megan Carpenter series. Full disclosure: I haven't read the first 2 books in the series, but Olsen does a great job of introducing the reader to the Megan Carpenter world. Enough background was given to catch me right up.

If you enjoy police procedural/detective-style mysteries, you will like this book. Olsen is as always a fantastic writer who keeps the tension taut and the story moving right along in Dark Falls.

Megan Carpenter is called to the scene of a crime where she recognizes the victim, and in fact, has quite a past with said victim. Megan must find the killer before he finds her, while keeping secrets that could cost her quite a lot, including her career and life.

As well written as this book was, as twisty as the mystery was, I struggled with Megan as a character. She seemed similar to just about every other detective with a past I've ever read, AND it bothered me that she didn't actually sound at all like a woman. As in--after I read the first few chapters, I went back and made sure I hadn't somehow gotten confused and was reading about a male detective.

The voice just doesn't sound like a woman, even a woman who doesn't fall along traditional lines of feminine vs. masculine. For some reason her reference to "eye makeup" which apparently mascara is not a part of really stuck out to me. I don't know a single woman who calls eyeline/eyeshadow "eye makeup", nor wouldn't include "mascara" under the heading of "eye makeup" if they did. This very much felt like a man writing a woman, and that made it hard for me to stay in the character's head. I knocked it from 5 to 4 stars for that reason.

Twisted and somewhat disturbing story. Definitely read the others first. 3.5 STARS
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I made a technical error with this book. This is definitely a continuation in a series so I did feel a little bit lost here and there.

The author did a good job recapping other books in the series to try to keep the reader on top of it all. But it seemed like a lot of the book was recapping prior situations and stories. While it was great for me to get a handle on the missing pieces, it also made me feel like the story never really moved too far along the way.

Many times I did lose concentration and with the number of characters, I was losing track of who was who. Or maybe the author just did not grab me or suck me in enough.

Megan the Detective is certainly not your average heroine. She is definitely a bad girl and for much of the book, she is lying and covering her tracks while looking for her stalker and a murderer. The plot is tied personally to Megan and they are targeting her specifically. She seems to have a history of people trying to kill her. But I can see why as her background is definitely questionable!

Dark Falls is a bit of a disturbing story when you look at the main character with her issues and flaws. The story is engaging and really would have been more interesting had I read other books prior. Twisted characters and strange plot twists made this an exciting yet mildly suspenseful read.

This is my first book by Gregg Olsen but the third in the Megan Carpenter’s series.
Although I feel like I would have enjoyed the book more if I read the first novels, I still managed to follow the plot.

What I really loved about the book is that you get the point of view of the killer as well as the detective.

My favourite character was Ronnie and she really kept me interested in this book.
The plot was interesting and fast paced. I thought the book wouldn’t be so interesting because I knew who the killer was, it was really interesting to follow how Megan was going to catch the culprit.

I felt like Megan had a lot of baggage and I didn’t entirely engage with her as a main character but I loved to see the duo between her and Ronnie and their relationship.

I really enjoyed the twists as well as the ending of the book and I am really curious to see what other adventures will come the detective’s way.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and am quite curious to read previous books by the author.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

I'm a big fan of this series and characters. I don't recommend reading it as a standalone. There is a lot that is being revealed as Megan develops. Her past is a big part of her character. I highly recommend also reading the books about her from when she was a girl named Rylee. Things will make a lot more sense and enhance this series for the reader. Megan is a complex character that is sometimes hard to like but you can't help but root for her. I really enjoy Ronnie. She is also coming into her own and their partnership is fun to read.
Once again Detective Carpenter is facing the ghosts of the past. I enjoyed the cat and mouse game but felt like the reveal was underwhelming and not very clear. This one is more about the characters than the case. I am excited there will be three more books. I can't wait to see where the author goes from here.

Thank you to Bookouture for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this outstanding book! The opening scenes grab you, pull you into the mystery of who could possibly have committed such a heinous crime. There is an anonymous stalker leaving Megan Carpenter to wonder who could possibly be leaving pictures of her from her past at the crime scene. The book moves quickly with action and tension. I found myself reading at any free moment I had! I had to figure out what was going to happen. I enjoyed the book immensely and thought the ending left it open for another book in this outstanding series.

Detective Megan Carpenter is back with a vengeance. Oh, maybe I should not say this but I love Megan. She lies through her teeth, she is not very good in obeying orders, she is cold blooded, but she has a heart of gold even if she would deny it if you would say it in her face. Her only goal is to protect and bring justice, but in her own way.
It seems though she has found her equal in her partner. She is not as easily deceived as you would think at first sight and maybe that’s just what Megan needs.
I also admire Sheriff Tony for all the trust he puts in his detectives. I really like him too.
To make a long story short, it’s a great series that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up constantly and I love it.
I can’t wait for the next book to be published. 5 stars

Thank you, Gregg Olsen and Bookouture

At this time I will not be reviewing this book because after reading book 2 and seeing how unlikable the main character has become I do not feel comfortable continuing this series. I really enjoyed book 1, but Megan became overwhelmingly narcissistic in the second book. Additionally, the writing style was not for me.

I love this series with Megan and her side kick Ronnie. They are a great team.

I cheered them on even as I was cringing at the risks they were taking.

The pages turned themselves as I held my breath waiting to see what would happen to Megan.

I am so happy to read there will be another 3 books in the series: can't wait to read them and see how Megan and Ronnie evolve.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture for letting me spend time in Megan's messed up world.

This book is the third in a series, and I have not read the first two. It works okay as a standalone, but I did feel like I was missing part of the story as there were a lot of references to events that obviously took place in the first two books in the series. I was able to pick up most of the previous storyline but it felt a bit disjointed. I would definitely recommend reading this series in order. Despite that, I did enjoy this fast-paced thriller enough to give it 4 stars.

* Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first book by Gregg Olsen, I haven't read the previous books in this series, but it wasn't a big deal. Though I believe my experience would have been more fulfilling if I had known what happened in the earlier books.

Yet, I managed to get to know the main character, Megan, quite well. Thanks to the author's good work, even with only this one book Megan looks like a complex and multidimensional character. I love that her dark and uneasy past isn't the only interesting thing about her, and Megan has a fascinating personality too. I also like her relationship with Ronnie. I believe that these two women, although so different, make a remarkably interesting duo. I'm also glad that Ronnie is also a more complicated girl than just a cute overzealous talker.

The plot is fine too, although it might be a bit too dark for some people. Just like the choices Megan made in previous books. Personally, it didn't bother me. It's a fast-paced story that you can read very quickly, with just the right amount of more or less unexpected twists and turns.

If I had to change anything, I'd probably leave out the murderer chapters. I believe that if we had not found out at a fairly early stage who the murderer is and what motivates them to kill, the stakes would be much higher and we would be much more surprised at the end. But this can also be just my problem because it seems to me that recently I more and more enjoy being surprised by the identity of the murderer.

It is a very good book that makes me want to check out other works by this author. Including the previous books in this series.

I would like to thank the author (Gregg Olsen), the publisher (Bookouture), and netgalley.com for the e-ARC of Dark Falls in exchange for my unbiased review.

Dark Falls, Detective Megan Carpenter’s third outing, starts almost a month after she and Ronnie Marsh – the trainee deputy – stop a serial killer and almost get themselves killed in the process. Megan is being stalked by someone who knows all about her murky and violent past. Whoever it is has upped their game now, by gruesomely killing a woman who had helped Megan in the past and was one of the very few friends she has had in her turbulent life. Megan has only one suspect – the sibling of the person responsible making her what she is. Now, she has to catch the killer and neutralize him, in order to avenge her friend’s murder and to prevent the secrets of her past from derailing her somewhat agreeable present.

Megan’s is a difficult character to readily like or dislike. Her aversion to playing by the rules and her readiness to use people to achieve her ends make her quite unpredictable. She seems to be living in her past most of the time, replaying often the old tape recordings of her sessions with her psychiatrist. Her longing to put her past to rest and lead a normal life like so many others shows a vulnerability inside her tough veneer. Intriguing though she is, her cynicism, her unsociable behaviour, and her obsession with her past starts to grate a bit. But, to lighten all that bleakness, the author has created Ronnie, whom he has made more endearing in her second appearance. Sheriff Gray is another fine character, but the reason for his trust and leniency towards Megan in spite of her faults is as yet unclear.

Dark Falls, like its predecessor Water’s Edge, is atmospheric, fast paced and is quite gripping in its narration. These factors, along with the strong central characters, make this novel a compelling read. However, I dearly wish that Megan’s obsession with her past is finished with this book and that the future ones in this series have her fighting crimes unrelated to herself. I would recommend Dark Falls to those crime thriller buffs who like powerful female protagonists and would advise that they read the series from the start for a better experience. My rating for this intense thriller is 3.5 out of 5, the extra half being exclusively for Ronnie.

Here you can see the problem with writing first person POV; when you want to tell us things the main character doesn't know you have to put in chapters with third person POV. It's messy, and here it's not even necessary, because Megan doesn't care about this bad guy's history, and then neither should we.Otherwise, this is a well written and entertaining story with good characters.

Unfortunately, I found this third novel in the Detective Megan Carpenter series a somewhat tedious read. It could be because I am tired of novels where the investigator is also the one being targeted by the murderer. We know from previous books in this series that Megan is haunted by her past. With her mother and brother she was constantly on the run and even now with a new identity to keep her hidden is constantly looking over her shoulder.

When a woman from her past, who helped Megan and other victims of crime, is found hideously tortured and murdered and a photo of Megan as a teenager is left at the scene, Megan immediately assumes that someone connected with her past is responsible. She decides who it has to be without any evidence, except for the photo and the link to the victim, not even considering other suspects and the Sheriff seems happy to let her do that. Although the Sheriff doesn't know all her secrets, he know something of her past and that she is connected to the victim, but yet lets her continue to run the case with only a trainee detective to assist. It felt to me that Megan was overly obsessed by her past, if not a little deranged, and I wasn't at all surprised when she later put herself directly into harm's way. I also wasn't terribly convinced by the psychotic murderer's motives for the people killed or for targeting Megan and even the action packed ending wasn't enough for me to feel invested in the suspense.

I think if Megan can now move on from her past, this could be a good series. She is a good detective with good instincts and a character you could warm to, especially if she can learn to relax and open up to people a bit more. I really like Ronnie, the smart, over-sharing rookie detective and Megan's love interest, wood carver Dan is an interesting character (who puts up with a lot from her). However, if Megan is still the target for ripples from her past in the next book then I think I'm done with this series, although I'm sure Gregg Olsen will remain a favourite author.

What a fabulous dynamic duo with Detective Megan Carpenter and her partner, Reserve Detective Ronnie Marsh, as they work to find the killer of Monique Delmont who was a friend to Megan years ago.

This is the third book in the Detective Megan Carpenter series, but works well as a standalone. Megan has a lot of baggage in her past that she is still struggling to deal with including a stalker. Reserve Detective Marsh has finished her rotation and is being hired as a full-time deputy. Marsh is assigned to work with Megan on the case and what a great team they make. This is a fast-paced book with a lot of action and suspense to it.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this outstanding nail biter that I really enjoyed in exchange for an honest review. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Megan Carpenter, Gregg Olsen's lead character and Detective in Dark Falls, is a fantastic character - deeply flawed (and she knows it - and rationalizes it), but for me the star of this book was Ronnie Marsh (is she her assistant.? Megan is unclear)... the relationship between the two women is such a fun dynamic. In Dark Falls, Megan's past comes back to haunt her - all the she's trying to keep it under wraps, especially from Ronnie. Megan is thrust into a case helping to solve the murder of a woman from her past that has ties to the present. It's a solid, well-thought-out mystery that will keep you turning the pages long after bedtime. I hope Mr. Olsen keeps developing the women's relationship in further books, as it's going to be so fun to see where he takes them next.

A strong, character-driven suspense hinged on the main character's past catching up with her. Gregg Olsen's veteran writing skill shines through as he adeptly maneuvers a furtive storyline around an intriguing and gruesome crime investigation. New readers can feel comfortable jumping right in with book three but veteran fans are offered a pretty hefty development in Carpenter's character. Loved it!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #DarkFalls which was read and reviewed voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#MeganCarpenterSeries #crimefiction #suspensenovels #booklove #bookish #bookit #booklists #bookstagram #bookblogging #booksontour #TeamBookouture #bookoutureanonymous #kindlegoals #greggolsen

Gregg Olsen has done it again! Dark Falls pulled me in from the very beginning- as all his books do. The story flowed so well and I thoroughly enjoyed going through and trying to figure out the twists- and being ultimately surprised. 5/5 stars!