We’ve seen countless chilling page-turners hit shelves, but few have captured the dark and twisted mind of a psychopath as well as Nathan Ripley’s debut novel Find You in the Dark ... a well-crafted crime novel that proves utterly absorbing ... A deeply disturbing read, with vivid scenes and complex psychology, Find You in the Dark lingers long after the last page has been devoured ... An addictive debut.
While it starts off as a bit of a slow-burn, Nathan Ripley does ramp up the pacing and suspense as the story unfolds, though readers will need to suspend their disbelief at times to thoroughly enjoy the less-than-plausible plot. Martin is fairly well fleshed out as a character, but some of the secondary cast members are not ... I thought the overall feel of the story and Ripley’s style was more in step with early works from Paul Cleave, though there is a hint of a Hannibal Lecter-like presence lurking behind the scenes, which is disturbing (in a good way), to say the least ... Well planned and executed, Nathan Ripley brings a unique and fresh voice to the crime thriller genre.
Ripley does an effective job of deploying Reese as an unreliable narrator. As a reader, one's loyalty will be tested – and possibly pushed over the edge ... Find You in the Dark is a fast-paced book that one can blow through in a weekend, but it isn't exactly a beach read ... The book does have it downsides, though, particularly the dialogue, which especially in the first half of the book can feel amateurish and clunky. The ending arrives suddenly, too, and perhaps a touch too neatly – yet it remains satisfying despite that.
