Into the Darkest Corner

When someone tells me that something is a psychological thriller, I am on it quicker than you can say the word TENSE. I love films, books, TV shows etc that brand themselves in this genre but after so many years, I am always desperately disappointed. I go into them full of hope I will be blown away by the twists and turns and normally, I can't put them down ... until the last 100 pages when everything drags and the disappointment sets in. This inevitable disappointment never phases me though and I am back for my next psychological thriller fix like a fickle child. (I am not going to mention the other books/films TV shows that have disappointed me as even though I am not a fully-fledged writer yet (I hope yet at least) I don't feel comfortable having a go at other writers). So when I heard about the psychological thriller Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes, I was excited for the chance to maybe not be disappointed ... AND I WASN'T!


The blurb:

When young, pretty Catherine Bailey meets Lee Brightman, she can't believe her luck. Gorgeous, charismatic, and a bit mysterious, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true.

But what begins as flattering attention and spontaneous, passionate sex transforms into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon discovers that Lee's dazzling blue eyes and blond good looks hide a dark, violent nature. Disturbed by his increasingly erratic, controlling behavior, she tries to break it off; turning to her friends for support, she's stunned to find they don't believe her. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.

Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—is trying to build a new life in a new city. Though her body has healed, the trauma of the past still haunts her. Then Stuart Richardson, her attractive new neighbor, moves in. Encouraging her to confront her fears, he sparks unexpected hope and the possibility of love and a normal life.

Until the day the phone rings . . . 


Mine and my mother's film mantra is 'When in doubt, watch Sleeping With the Enemy ... again' and this plot reminded me heavily of that so by this point, I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on the book.

The main character of Into the Darkest Corner, Cathy, suffers from severe anxiety and I thought the author did a brilliant job of the thought process that goes behind Cathy's decisions and the way she copes with her, at times, debilitating condition. The book has no chapters but dated segments that alternate between two periods in Cathy's life - four years apart. It is incredible how she changes in that time and it was written in a very subtle way. I spent the entire book in a perpetual state of unease - in a good way. It was very tense, leaving you almost with the feeling you were being watched while you read it. Instead of slowing down, the tension built towards the end and I am sure this tweet I wrote ninety pages before the end, highlights how I was feeling at the time:

I was desperate to know what was going to happen right until the last page.

I will say there were parts I wasn't as keen on such as Cathy's friends. They made me feel sad for my generation, in a 'To have fun we must get as wasted as much as possible', kinda way. Cathy's life before with her friends just seemed desperately empty to me. The other thing I didn't like much was how graphic it was in places but I think regardless of how hard it was to read, it was important to the plot. Neither of these issues took away from it being a brilliant book.

And one last fabulous thing I must mention was that the author wrote the first draft of the book while participating in NaNoWriMo which I did for the first time last year and loved! Anyone reading this, I 100% urge you to try it yourself.

Anyway, I must dash, I'm off to lock my front door again and NEVER DATE MEN EVER AGAIN.

Until next time.