Book Review: Into the Dark by Stacy Green

This is a solid suspense with an unusual, obsessed stalker.

Into the Dark

by Stacy Green

• File Size: 443 KB
• Print Length: 292 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing (November 27, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00AEVPQ2M

Genre: Suspense

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2012

Suspense Romance

A two-hundred-mile labyrinth of dark storm drains serves as refuge for the delusional stalker who will go to any lengths to possess fragile, emotionally isolated Emilie Davis. To survive, Emilie will have to confront the secrets of her past she has kept locked away from everyone, including herself.

Emilie is a master escape artist—she’s fled a manipulative mother and a controlling ex-husband. But it’s impossible to evade a stalker who uses a bank robbery as a ruse to kidnap her. He’s still out there, hiding in the Las Vegas tunnels and dodging police. Emilie’s life careens out of control as her assailant continues his pursuit. She has nowhere to turn but to Nathan Madigan, the hostage negotiator who worked the robbery.

Nathan is haunted by his failure to protect a loved one fourteen years ago and has dedicated his life to saving others. Determined to catch the lunatic hunting Emilie, he finds himself losing his professional detachment. He fears history is about to repeat itself if he cannot protect Emilie from the Taker’s obsession.

The police close in on the Taker’s identity as Nathan and Emilie grow closer to each other and to resolving the misery of their own pasts. At the height of The Taker’s madness, his attempt to replace someone he’s lost will either kill them all or set them free.

Review:
Emilie has had pain in her past that resulted in a fragile, but determined young woman. She is a bank manager and when the bank is robbed and people taken hostage it seems strange that she is pulled aside to sit with one of the robbers. Her captor is clean, soft spoken, controlled and likes to chat about history. The other robber is dirty, smelly and frenetic.  The swat team sneaks in and brings down the anxious partner while she is forced to the basement. If she hadn’t fought, she would have been dragged into the tunnels that had been hidden under the bank. Before he escapes the man who held her makes it clear he will be back for her.

Nathan is a Swat negotiator whose life has been shaped by guilt from his past. He first talks to Emilie while trying to determine who is really in control of the hostage situation. Nathan is disappointed in himself for not figuring out sooner that the second man was focused on Emilie, not the robbery. He urge to protect Emilie grows into desire even when he knows he shouldn’t be involved with a victim.

The Taker is clearly twisted and obsessed with making Emilie his own. He is a charming manipulator who manages to get others to help him. He has laid out quite a plan through the old drainage tunnel system of Las Vegas but he is too refined to really be part of that underground world. He has missed one chance to snatch Emilie but he is patient and he won’t miss again.

I really enjoyed the suspense of the plot, the side betrayals that occur and the dark history of the tunnels. I appreciated that the childhood pains that Emilie and Nathan suffered helped create their current strengths and determinations. I wasn’t always happy with Emilie who had fortitude at some times but other times struck me as very volatile, whiny and impulsive. It was just too much when she sneaked out on her own to get a key piece of evidence.  It was clearly one of those ‘this will turn out bad’ moments.

I liked how Ms. Green pulls in the past players to make Emilie and Nathan face their damaged psyches and move on. Their romance had good chemistry and intensity. The writing is clean and fast paced. The story starts with a good hook and the suspense continues until the end. Other than the negatives for Emilie’s character and behavior I totally enjoyed the book. I would be glad to read more by Ms. Green in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emilie has to cope with shock and flashbacks:

She stared into the mirror and watched the tears fall. So many shed over Claire and Evan. But Emilie had locked that old pain away a long time ago. She would not allow it to resurface. Location 1424.

I received this ebook to provide an honest review as part of Partners in Crime Tour review.

This story is set in Las Vegas, NV for the 2013 Where Are You Reading Challenge. This is also a New Author for me.