A time to mourn. A gruesome find. A race for the truth.

After her husband and son are killed in a tragic car accident, Carolyn goes to stay with her mother in a quiet, rural town. She hopes the break will help her cope with her loss.

Soon, Carolyn discovers that the small town holds unforgivable secrets. One she stumbles upon when she discovers the body of a young boy down a well – only to find he has disappeared when she returns with the police.

The local residents, including Carolyn’s mother, doubt her discovery and blame it on her current state of mind. Rumours begin to spread.

With somebody determined to stop Carolyn uncovering the truth, she knows she needs to prove what she saw. Not just for the boy and his family but also for herself.

Will Carolyn be able to find the proof she needs? Or will her life be in danger if she continues her search?

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The plot had me at first bite. Very well written book. I liked the way it had me guessing all the way through. It certainly kept me on my toes. This was a great debut book and I hope there is more to come.

I enjoyed the mystery, the suspense, even though I did not like Carolyn much. I mean, she is morning the deads of her little boy and her husband and the next second she is pretending to be a private detective?!? She is determined to find out what happened to the missing boys from the town where her mother lives. Complicated.
Thank you Netgalley for this book.

The Boy In The Well’ is well written. I had a hard time believing that this is actually the author’s debut novel as his writing style is so polished and so confident.

Dan has created a tightly plotted story with more twists and turns than you know what to do with. I found ‘The Boy In The Well’ to be a gripping story, which kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

‘The Boy In The Well’ is one heck of a debut novel and I really enjoyed it! I look forward to reading much more of Dan’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book!

After the death of Neve's husband and son , she goes to stay with her mother. While staying there she discovers and boy of a child in a well behind her mothers house but by the time the police arrive the body is gone and everyone thinks she is having a breakdown. She is determined to find out what happened to 2 boys that have gone missing.
The story doesn't seem to flow along and is somewhat repetitive. Within the first 50 pages I had guessed what happened to one of the boys but was unsure about the other. The book is entertaining and exciting at the end but so much is going on at once. I would try another book by this author though.

Carolyn is grieving. Her husband and young son were killed in an auto accident. After spending weeks living in her son's bedroom, her mother convinces her to come stay with her in a small rural town. She hopes that her daughter will be able teo come to terms with her losses.

But this small town isn't as soothing as Carolyn might think. The cops .. and her mother .. .are worried about her mental health. She chases down a woman driving a car with a young boy in the back seat. Carolyn swears up and down that the boy is her son.

Things get worse. Finding an abandoned well at the back of her mother's land leads to even more confusion. She peers down into the well and sees a young boy. Panicking, she drives to the police station where once again, the cops aren't sure what to expect .. especially as the boy has disappeared when the cops take a look.

Now the police, her mother, and the local residents all think that Carolyn needs some mental health quickly. Carolyn swears she is not seeing things ...

But is she unbalanced because of her losses? Or is there something more malevolent at play?

Cleverly written plot guaranteed to keep the reader watching the twists and turns. Is Carolyn crazy? The characters are deftly drawn ... the local residents can be quirky .. or they can be very secretive. The ending was exciting ....and unexpected.

Many thanks to the author / Crooked Cat Books - Darkstroke / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The Boy in the Well fell kind of flat for me. There was just too much going on and none of it was really cohesive. None of the characters were very fleshed out so I didn't really care what was happening. Wish there would have been more suspense and more to pull it together.
Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Carolyn suffers a tragic loss, she takes a trip to stay with her mom for a couple of weeks. The time should have been about rest and recovery, but instead becomes a mystery when she sees the body of a boy in a well. But the only boy it could be disappeared eight years ago, and when the body disappears, not even her mother believes her.
A well paced first book for this author. It wasn't without its problems, but it held my interest. Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book is intense! It captured my attention from the first page and kept it until the very end. It had twists and I didn’t guess all of them, which is great because I read a lot of thrillers and usually guess correctly. The ending was perfect. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Being disconsolate over the death of her husband and son, Carolyn goes to stay with her mother. While on a walk she sees a boy’s body in a well, but by the time the police arrive, he’s gone. I love that the author gives us little nuggets from the villain. While Carolyn struggles with whether she’s imagined it or not and the town mocks her, we know the truth. Well, some of the truth. We don’t know who is watching her, so we get to try and guess who and why as the book progresses. And many a guesses I had.

I was surprised this was by a debut author. The story is well thought out and while I figured out a small piece, I was far from figuring it all out. The pace of the book is good and the danger she's in grows throughout the book.

The ending was slightly over complicated, but the building to the climax is substantiated throughout the story. I’m interested to see what the author writes next.

Unfortunately, this was not a winner for me. Carolyn seemed quite dim, so I didn't enjoy following her around. In addition, her characterization was confusing to me. For instance, she'll wander into anyone's house and ask them invasive questions or she'll break in to someone's house, but she won't tell a boy to stop torturing a dog? Nah. It just didn't read as true, sorry.

If you love thriller’s you need to read this debut triller by Dan Clark. This book was always keeping me guessing, and honestly, I can usually guess who the “bad guy” is before the big reveal, but this book had so many twists and turns I couldn’t do that, which was refreshing. I couldn’t put the book down! I was very surprised to learn that it is Dan Clark’s debut novel, it read like a book written by a seasoned thriller writer. It tells the story of Carolyn who, in dealing with her grief, goes to live with her mum to heal. There, to distract herself from her loss, she gets embroiled in the mysteries of Llandebr, two young boys who had gone missing years before. What’s makes this novel stand out is that instead of painting the police as incompetent, Clark has written Carolyn as suffering from grief, on medication to help with psychosis, and overall not in her right mind, someone that the police won’t believe. Despite all of Carolyn’s hang ups, she is determined to discover what happened to the two missing boys of Llandebr.

Carolyn is a plucky, tough, stubborn, determined, and slightly mad with grief woman. After she sees a boy in the well, yet no one believes her, she becomes determined to discover what happened. Dealing with her own grief, she channels that cloying grief into searching for answers for two other women. She chases down all leads and won’t stop until she succeeds in bringing peace to these two women.

Overall, I can not recommend this book enough, although I did receive a advance readers copy of this book, I will probably purchase the paperback when the book is released, it is that good.

Carolyn has moved in with her mother, at least temporarily, after the terrible loss of both her son and husband, who were killed in a car crash. She’s hoping the time in the small town will help her begin to come to terms with her loss, but instead she gets caught up in a bizarre murder. On a walk, she discovers the body of a boy in an old well, but when she comes back with police, the body has disappeared. Police, locals, and even her mother, believe the whole thing was some sort of grief induced delusion. But Carolyn knows differently, and sets out to uncover the truth for both the boy’s family and her own sanity

Now this book I really loved! This thriller is amazing. This book will have you guessing and you won't see it any of it coming!