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The Dark Within Them
A debut of twisted faith, betrayal, and the darkness that lurks within those we trust.
A TIGHT-KNIT MORMON COMMUNITY.
Faith-healer Amber is hopeful about Lehi, the safe Mormon town to which she, her new husband and two kids have just moved.
BODIES BURIED IN THE GARDEN.
After the sudden death of her daughter, Amber discovers the community will do anything to keep its secrets.
ONE FAMILY DIVIDED.
When nothing feels certain anymore, will Amber take a leap of faith, for love?
–‘intense and compelling…an enormously talented writer’ - Shabnom Khanom
–'a honed and beautiful writing style…not your usual psychological thriller’ - Debz Hobbs-Wyatt
A TIGHT-KNIT MORMON COMMUNITY.
Faith-healer Amber is hopeful about Lehi, the safe Mormon town to which she, her new husband and two kids have just moved.
BODIES BURIED IN THE GARDEN.
After the sudden death of her daughter, Amber discovers the community will do anything to keep its secrets.
ONE FAMILY DIVIDED.
When nothing feels certain anymore, will Amber take a leap of faith, for love?
–‘intense and compelling…an enormously talented writer’ - Shabnom Khanom
–'a honed and beautiful writing style…not your usual psychological thriller’ - Debz Hobbs-Wyatt
250 pages, Paperback
Published March 28, 2024
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Isabelle Charlotte Kenyon
18 books80 followersNorthern poet, author and novel-grappler.
Founder and Managing Director of Fly on the Wall Press.
Lover of dogs, coffee shops, theatre and dancing.
Always writing, always reading!
Founder and Managing Director of Fly on the Wall Press.
Lover of dogs, coffee shops, theatre and dancing.
Always writing, always reading!
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 3, 2024
A slick thriller and brilliant depiction of abuse in the family and by the church. A mother believes she is settling down to a normal family life with her two kids and a new husband, only to find that everything goes wrong in the worst possible way, and then the worst happens, and it happens again, and Kenyon does not hold back from dragging her main character through one hell, then another, and a further one, until the end. At the same time, she builds compelling tension between then leads in the story, and keeps the suspense razor-sharp, and the twists careen right until the climax. This is a book about how male and divine authority can corrupt and kill, and how those who are powerless must create their own justice.
April 1, 2024
A fascinating subject and a well written and fast paced thriller - I loved this debut from Kenyon. Would recommend!
March 31, 2024
This one had me gripped. It really is a fresh take on psyc thriller. Set ups and U turns, its a dark family drama that only gets darker.
April 14, 2024
This is one of the most gripping and intense psychological thrillers I have read to the point I ended up reading it in one sitting. I just couldn't put this one down and I was just desperate to know what happened next.
The fact that this is a debut novel just honestly blows my mind and it's so well written. The pacing was perfect and the mystery behind it all just has you on the edge of your seat with how tense and suspicious it makes you feel. Amber was such an interesting main character who you wanted to protect but also shake to make her realise what was happening to her and her family.
The Dark Within Them is such an amazing story that I really recommend picking up if you're a fan of psychological thrillers that have your heart racing!
The fact that this is a debut novel just honestly blows my mind and it's so well written. The pacing was perfect and the mystery behind it all just has you on the edge of your seat with how tense and suspicious it makes you feel. Amber was such an interesting main character who you wanted to protect but also shake to make her realise what was happening to her and her family.
The Dark Within Them is such an amazing story that I really recommend picking up if you're a fan of psychological thrillers that have your heart racing!
June 24, 2025
As the cover quote from Debz Hobbs-Wyatt proclaims, this is 'not your usual psychological thriller'.
Kenyon draws the reader into the lives of Amber, single mother and faith healer, and Chad orphaned only child, both brought up in Mormon communities and struggling to build a relationship and a new family unit in Chad's hometown of Lehi.
The book tells the story from alternating points of view of its two protagonists and Kenyon manages to make even their most outwardly absurd choices feel like credible and compelling consequences of their respective upbringing and circumstances. I've been watching a documentary series about Warren Jeffs and the radical polygamist Mormon offshoot sect FLDS inbetween devouring chapters of Kenyon's book. I was struck by the parallels between real-life Jeff's utter dominance of the Mormon town of Short Creek and fictional preacher Brett's dominance of Chad's home town of Lehi. While Brett's 'religion' doesn't embrace polygamy like Jeffs' did, there is the same infiltration of local police and administration which means that officers owe loyalty to the church more than to he people they are supposed to 'serve and protect'. In such a community it is easy to see why Amber, despite being surrounded by people, can feel alone.
The The Dark Within Them opens with a tense church meeting led by Brett to discuss some parenting difficulties that Amber and Chad have been experiencing in what it transpires are the early days of their new married life together. The narrative then jumps back four months to chart the couple's journey up to that pivotal moment before running forward to explore all the consequences of that opening meeting.
While you can tell that trouble lies ahead for trauma survivor Amber and the emotionally stunted Chad, Kenyon throws in a few twists of Hitchcockian unpredictability meaning the reader's assumptions are never safe. Other comparator works might include Sammy H K Smith's Anna about a woman struggling for human dignity and survival in an uncaring world (in Anna's case a near future dystopia), or even The Stepford Wives for the community of close knit subservience that Amber struggles to integrate into. As you can see from the range of those comparators this book rather defies categorisation.
The prose elegantly captures character and setting, for example in this early moment in Chad and Amber's courtship around a group campfire
It was around nine in the evening, and the gnat ballet had already begun. There were mosquitoes lovingly kissing scarf-less necks, liberal in their affections, and a rustling in the hedges, which Chad suspected might be crickets.
Or there is the moment Brett meets with Amber and discusses her previous work as an independent single-mother and woman of the Mormon faith.
"Someone told me you wrote a book."
Amber crossed her right leg over her left and sat up straight.
"Yes, I'm a visionary. The book is about my experiences."
Brett tilted his head and then opened the drawer to his left, retrieving and fanning out four holy texts onto the table in front of them.
"Do you know what these are?"
Amber bristled, and pinched the skin on her thigh before answering. "Yes, I do. The Christian Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price."
"What's this book, then? We have all the books we need here, I reckon." Brett leant back in his chair and smiled, but it was a smile which seemed to get stuck around the edges of his back teeth, like a shark.
The Dark Within Them is an interesting study in faith and delusion, and the lies people tell themselves. Everyone thinks they are the heroes of their own story, no one sees themselves as bad, just following the most reasonable course of action open to them. Chad and Amber, whether pulled apart or drawn together are honestly being the best parents they can be and if they do stuff up, there is always the 'bigger picture' to be considered - the trump card that excuses any misdeed.
Kenyon draws the reader through a chilling story always wondering when or even if, either of the flawed and damaged protagonists will do the right thing.
Kenyon draws the reader into the lives of Amber, single mother and faith healer, and Chad orphaned only child, both brought up in Mormon communities and struggling to build a relationship and a new family unit in Chad's hometown of Lehi.
The book tells the story from alternating points of view of its two protagonists and Kenyon manages to make even their most outwardly absurd choices feel like credible and compelling consequences of their respective upbringing and circumstances. I've been watching a documentary series about Warren Jeffs and the radical polygamist Mormon offshoot sect FLDS inbetween devouring chapters of Kenyon's book. I was struck by the parallels between real-life Jeff's utter dominance of the Mormon town of Short Creek and fictional preacher Brett's dominance of Chad's home town of Lehi. While Brett's 'religion' doesn't embrace polygamy like Jeffs' did, there is the same infiltration of local police and administration which means that officers owe loyalty to the church more than to he people they are supposed to 'serve and protect'. In such a community it is easy to see why Amber, despite being surrounded by people, can feel alone.
The The Dark Within Them opens with a tense church meeting led by Brett to discuss some parenting difficulties that Amber and Chad have been experiencing in what it transpires are the early days of their new married life together. The narrative then jumps back four months to chart the couple's journey up to that pivotal moment before running forward to explore all the consequences of that opening meeting.
While you can tell that trouble lies ahead for trauma survivor Amber and the emotionally stunted Chad, Kenyon throws in a few twists of Hitchcockian unpredictability meaning the reader's assumptions are never safe. Other comparator works might include Sammy H K Smith's Anna about a woman struggling for human dignity and survival in an uncaring world (in Anna's case a near future dystopia), or even The Stepford Wives for the community of close knit subservience that Amber struggles to integrate into. As you can see from the range of those comparators this book rather defies categorisation.
The prose elegantly captures character and setting, for example in this early moment in Chad and Amber's courtship around a group campfire
It was around nine in the evening, and the gnat ballet had already begun. There were mosquitoes lovingly kissing scarf-less necks, liberal in their affections, and a rustling in the hedges, which Chad suspected might be crickets.
Or there is the moment Brett meets with Amber and discusses her previous work as an independent single-mother and woman of the Mormon faith.
"Someone told me you wrote a book."
Amber crossed her right leg over her left and sat up straight.
"Yes, I'm a visionary. The book is about my experiences."
Brett tilted his head and then opened the drawer to his left, retrieving and fanning out four holy texts onto the table in front of them.
"Do you know what these are?"
Amber bristled, and pinched the skin on her thigh before answering. "Yes, I do. The Christian Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price."
"What's this book, then? We have all the books we need here, I reckon." Brett leant back in his chair and smiled, but it was a smile which seemed to get stuck around the edges of his back teeth, like a shark.
The Dark Within Them is an interesting study in faith and delusion, and the lies people tell themselves. Everyone thinks they are the heroes of their own story, no one sees themselves as bad, just following the most reasonable course of action open to them. Chad and Amber, whether pulled apart or drawn together are honestly being the best parents they can be and if they do stuff up, there is always the 'bigger picture' to be considered - the trump card that excuses any misdeed.
Kenyon draws the reader through a chilling story always wondering when or even if, either of the flawed and damaged protagonists will do the right thing.
April 19, 2024
Isabelle Kenyon’s debut novel, The Dark Within Them, is a beautifully written and intricately plotted literary mystery. Set in Lehi, a safe Mormon town in Utah County, where Amber settles with her new husband, Chad, and two children, Gilly and Ivan, Kenyon’s book explores themes of faith, motherhood and marriage with nuance. At the same time, the plot propels the reader forward with the claustrophobic tension of recent grip-lit classics like The Girl on the Train.
Following on the death of her husband, Amber works the faith-healing circuit, where she has found fame and following, making a name for herself as an independent force to be reckoned with. But, as we come to discover, Amber’s life won’t allow for complete independence: “There were only certain circles of the church open to single mothers. And most of them sought to patch the vacancy in your life for you. It was difficult to gain influence or an audience for her work as a visionary, as an unattached female. Folks around these parts attached derogatory terms to her. There was a sense of distrust, like the fear of witches concocting spells against the town.”
Chad, a practising Mormon, apparent good guy, and Amber super-fan, fantasizes about Amber being his trophy wife. Amber, meanwhile, dreams that Chad will provide her children with a secure home and father figure and Amber herself with conventional credibility: “A husband seemed to ground that fear, presented her as a caregiver, a sandwich-maker, the giver of cupcakes.” But the course of not-especially-true love never did run smooth.
One of my favourite things about The Dark Within Them is the moral ambiguity of the two main characters. Charismatic Amber flirts and charms her way through the book’s first chapters like a classic femme fatale, a question mark hovering tantalisingly over the circumstances of her abusive husband’s death. Compared to Amber, love interest Chad seems clumsy and insecure, often out of his depth: "He felt a little sick. Like an uncool dad about to surf his way through an Ariana Grande concert."
Hypnotic Amber, meanwhile, hides a bruised strength under her brittle exterior: "Amber's smile stretched and broke like cracked PVA glue." All the while, the sultry landscape lurks around them, described in lush and unsettling detail, which was another of my favourite aspects of this richly layered book: “There were mosquitoes lovingly kissing scarf-less necks, liberal in their affections, and a rustling in the hedges, which Chad suspected might be crickets.” Elsewhere, dubious characters merge with the landscape like chameleons taking on protective colouration: “A ruddy smear of a man. He stood in front of a huge house-much too big for one man living alone—of brown brick, the colour of soil. It blended into the arid farmland behind him." In the half-light of this noir setting, Chad seems a moth lured towards the bright light of Amber’s spirituality.
As the plot unfurls, though, their relationship takes a series of break-neck twists and turns, causing the reader to question if Chad is at who he first seemed or something much more dangerous. When Amber’s daughter Gilly dies suddenly and under strange circumstances, Amber confronts a tight knot of secrecy in the Lehi community, who will do anything to protect their own. As she fights to find answers and a way out, she discovers that nothing in Lehi is as it seems.
Following on the death of her husband, Amber works the faith-healing circuit, where she has found fame and following, making a name for herself as an independent force to be reckoned with. But, as we come to discover, Amber’s life won’t allow for complete independence: “There were only certain circles of the church open to single mothers. And most of them sought to patch the vacancy in your life for you. It was difficult to gain influence or an audience for her work as a visionary, as an unattached female. Folks around these parts attached derogatory terms to her. There was a sense of distrust, like the fear of witches concocting spells against the town.”
Chad, a practising Mormon, apparent good guy, and Amber super-fan, fantasizes about Amber being his trophy wife. Amber, meanwhile, dreams that Chad will provide her children with a secure home and father figure and Amber herself with conventional credibility: “A husband seemed to ground that fear, presented her as a caregiver, a sandwich-maker, the giver of cupcakes.” But the course of not-especially-true love never did run smooth.
One of my favourite things about The Dark Within Them is the moral ambiguity of the two main characters. Charismatic Amber flirts and charms her way through the book’s first chapters like a classic femme fatale, a question mark hovering tantalisingly over the circumstances of her abusive husband’s death. Compared to Amber, love interest Chad seems clumsy and insecure, often out of his depth: "He felt a little sick. Like an uncool dad about to surf his way through an Ariana Grande concert."
Hypnotic Amber, meanwhile, hides a bruised strength under her brittle exterior: "Amber's smile stretched and broke like cracked PVA glue." All the while, the sultry landscape lurks around them, described in lush and unsettling detail, which was another of my favourite aspects of this richly layered book: “There were mosquitoes lovingly kissing scarf-less necks, liberal in their affections, and a rustling in the hedges, which Chad suspected might be crickets.” Elsewhere, dubious characters merge with the landscape like chameleons taking on protective colouration: “A ruddy smear of a man. He stood in front of a huge house-much too big for one man living alone—of brown brick, the colour of soil. It blended into the arid farmland behind him." In the half-light of this noir setting, Chad seems a moth lured towards the bright light of Amber’s spirituality.
As the plot unfurls, though, their relationship takes a series of break-neck twists and turns, causing the reader to question if Chad is at who he first seemed or something much more dangerous. When Amber’s daughter Gilly dies suddenly and under strange circumstances, Amber confronts a tight knot of secrecy in the Lehi community, who will do anything to protect their own. As she fights to find answers and a way out, she discovers that nothing in Lehi is as it seems.
April 15, 2024
I can't remember exactly when my association with Isabelle Kenyon and Fly on the Wall Press began but it's been a few years now and I have found her to be such a generous and supportive tour organiser. Some wonderful books have come my way, poets and writers who I might not have come across otherwise. I remember buying a copy of Isabelle's short story Andy and the Octopuses a while ago and being impressed by her quirky and original concept. So I had no hesitation in preordering a copy of her first novel, The Dark Within Them.
I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting from the book but it certainly wasn't this at all! A thriller set in a Mormon community in Utah! Oh my word! What a tale! It had me on the edge of my seat wondering what the hell was going to happen next!
From the opening chapter the story is a thrill ride with dips and turns that will have you open mouthed in disbelief. Using a dual narrative between Amber and Chad the story of their ill-fated marriage unfolds cleverly with a beautifully constructed narrative that drips feeds its readers with a smattering of clues here and there. And yet all the way through there is a chilling undercurrent of iniquity.
The characters are hard to like!! But I think that's intentional. You begin by starting to like both Amber and Chad but that doesn't last long, not for me anyway! I could smell trouble! The kids are more likeable but their teenage, hormonal attitudes irked me at times. However I'll let them off! Because they were catapulted into an untenable situation. I thought that if Amber could extricate herself from the toxic environment there was some hope and redemption for her.
The plotting is perfect and the way the tension is built up throughout the book creates such a state of unease and jeopardy. But much is achieved through the careful placing of clues and signs that aren't direct but more subtle, demanding the reader pay attention and interpret what is right under their noses.
If it's 'just' a story you want then you have one in abundance but if you want a little more from your fiction then you have that too for there is much to think about regarding organised religion and its attitudes, family life and relationships, friendships and spirituality, motivation and justification.
This is a cracking debut and I can't wait for the next book from Isabelle!
My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon and Fly on the Wall Press for sending me my pre-ordered copy early so I could have a place on the blog tour.
I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting from the book but it certainly wasn't this at all! A thriller set in a Mormon community in Utah! Oh my word! What a tale! It had me on the edge of my seat wondering what the hell was going to happen next!
From the opening chapter the story is a thrill ride with dips and turns that will have you open mouthed in disbelief. Using a dual narrative between Amber and Chad the story of their ill-fated marriage unfolds cleverly with a beautifully constructed narrative that drips feeds its readers with a smattering of clues here and there. And yet all the way through there is a chilling undercurrent of iniquity.
The characters are hard to like!! But I think that's intentional. You begin by starting to like both Amber and Chad but that doesn't last long, not for me anyway! I could smell trouble! The kids are more likeable but their teenage, hormonal attitudes irked me at times. However I'll let them off! Because they were catapulted into an untenable situation. I thought that if Amber could extricate herself from the toxic environment there was some hope and redemption for her.
The plotting is perfect and the way the tension is built up throughout the book creates such a state of unease and jeopardy. But much is achieved through the careful placing of clues and signs that aren't direct but more subtle, demanding the reader pay attention and interpret what is right under their noses.
If it's 'just' a story you want then you have one in abundance but if you want a little more from your fiction then you have that too for there is much to think about regarding organised religion and its attitudes, family life and relationships, friendships and spirituality, motivation and justification.
This is a cracking debut and I can't wait for the next book from Isabelle!
My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon and Fly on the Wall Press for sending me my pre-ordered copy early so I could have a place on the blog tour.
April 9, 2024
This is a compelling story of compulsion. The eponymous dark is not just within them, but around them: a murky carapace held close by the gravity of guilt. It is a deeply intimate tale charting the turmoil of a relationship founded by coincidence, nurtured by hope, fostered by faith and cracked by circumstance. It is a tale in which the eternal hinges on the momentary and then the latter becomes the former. An instant changes everything for ever.
The shocks are genuinely startling. They catch the reader off guard, but subsequently there is a satisfying – if deeply unpleasant – inevitability about them. Cause and effect can only truly be evaluated in hindsight, and this story supplies that perspective expertly.
This is an intimate tale with the focus kept tightly on the two central characters. Their compulsion is clearly exposed. They bond by choice but are fused by fate. Their actions cauterise their relationship, sealing a severely infected wound. The festering inflames their union and fascinates the reader. This is one of those stories from which you feel you cannot look away.
The language stings; spiky here, acidic there, always observationally sharp, often jarring with discordant tones that hammer home the ghoulish reality of being forced to live out a momentous lie. It is a haunting tale, all the more affecting, due to the reality of the narrative architecture. The frame of the story shows the corrupt handprint of humanity pretending to be at its best whilst hypocritically hiding the worst.
This illumination of inner darkness shines a light into places where those who hold the candles would prefer us not to look. The struggle it exposes is heart-rendering and revelatory, individual and institutional, captivating and inescapable.
The shocks are genuinely startling. They catch the reader off guard, but subsequently there is a satisfying – if deeply unpleasant – inevitability about them. Cause and effect can only truly be evaluated in hindsight, and this story supplies that perspective expertly.
This is an intimate tale with the focus kept tightly on the two central characters. Their compulsion is clearly exposed. They bond by choice but are fused by fate. Their actions cauterise their relationship, sealing a severely infected wound. The festering inflames their union and fascinates the reader. This is one of those stories from which you feel you cannot look away.
The language stings; spiky here, acidic there, always observationally sharp, often jarring with discordant tones that hammer home the ghoulish reality of being forced to live out a momentous lie. It is a haunting tale, all the more affecting, due to the reality of the narrative architecture. The frame of the story shows the corrupt handprint of humanity pretending to be at its best whilst hypocritically hiding the worst.
This illumination of inner darkness shines a light into places where those who hold the candles would prefer us not to look. The struggle it exposes is heart-rendering and revelatory, individual and institutional, captivating and inescapable.
February 24, 2024
Just finished this amazing debut novel and am waiting for my heart rate to calm down after a gripping finale! Kenyon has created a novel which will make you feel the whole range of human emotions, within the space of only 250 pages.
Following single mother Amber as she strives to give her children Gilly and Ivan a more secure and stable life. We watch as an obsession with status causes everything she took for granted be speedily destroyed.
Luring you in with promises of happily ever after, Kenyon quickly removes any feelings of comfort by putting Amber in direct conflict with everything and everyone around her. Isolated and without even her faith to call on, Amber is left to determine how much darkness is really within her.
Involving elements of mental and physical abuse, including drowning, we are left reeling as once appealing characters show themselves to have less than desirable (or acceptable) attitudes and beliefs. We're also left feeling sorrowful at the losses experienced in the book as well as the knowledge that while a piece of fiction, some of the noted practices do still go on today.
Moving, gripping and at times anger inducing...I do love having characters I can loathe! This is a great first novel and I look forward to seeing what Isabelle comes up with next.
Following single mother Amber as she strives to give her children Gilly and Ivan a more secure and stable life. We watch as an obsession with status causes everything she took for granted be speedily destroyed.
Luring you in with promises of happily ever after, Kenyon quickly removes any feelings of comfort by putting Amber in direct conflict with everything and everyone around her. Isolated and without even her faith to call on, Amber is left to determine how much darkness is really within her.
Involving elements of mental and physical abuse, including drowning, we are left reeling as once appealing characters show themselves to have less than desirable (or acceptable) attitudes and beliefs. We're also left feeling sorrowful at the losses experienced in the book as well as the knowledge that while a piece of fiction, some of the noted practices do still go on today.
Moving, gripping and at times anger inducing...I do love having characters I can loathe! This is a great first novel and I look forward to seeing what Isabelle comes up with next.
March 31, 2024
Although not religious myself, I find the subject fascinating, especially in fiction when a character’s unshaken belief can cause them to question their own better judgment.
The concept for The Dark Within Them is excellent: dark and intriguing, with a hint of foreboding.
However, it doesn’t quite deliver. At around 250 pages, the plot does not have sufficient time to unfold; nor do we get a true sense of the characters. Gilly is dead before we get a chance to understand her and more time to get to see the children’s side of the story – and their relationship with their mother – would have been helpful to engage more with the story.
There are also a few instances where characters drink coffee or alcohol, despite this being forbidden by their religion; it is not clear if they are breaking the rules or if it is an oversight. In fact there is very little time spent understanding the Mormon religion, which would also help to locate the reader deep within this community.
Chad is perhaps the clearest character, but there is no surprise in how his relationship with Amber progresses. Too much is given away too quickly in both the early chapters and the synopsis. Brett’s role feels incomplete and a few scenes between him and Amber earlier on, as well as the end would have shown the depth of her belief and why she made her decisions.
It is a good debut and as dark as it promises, but there is not quite enough development of plot or character to fulfil expectations.
The concept for The Dark Within Them is excellent: dark and intriguing, with a hint of foreboding.
However, it doesn’t quite deliver. At around 250 pages, the plot does not have sufficient time to unfold; nor do we get a true sense of the characters. Gilly is dead before we get a chance to understand her and more time to get to see the children’s side of the story – and their relationship with their mother – would have been helpful to engage more with the story.
There are also a few instances where characters drink coffee or alcohol, despite this being forbidden by their religion; it is not clear if they are breaking the rules or if it is an oversight. In fact there is very little time spent understanding the Mormon religion, which would also help to locate the reader deep within this community.
Chad is perhaps the clearest character, but there is no surprise in how his relationship with Amber progresses. Too much is given away too quickly in both the early chapters and the synopsis. Brett’s role feels incomplete and a few scenes between him and Amber earlier on, as well as the end would have shown the depth of her belief and why she made her decisions.
It is a good debut and as dark as it promises, but there is not quite enough development of plot or character to fulfil expectations.
February 20, 2024
What a gem this story is. A fast paced psychological thriller with everything you need. Suspense, surprise and an unexpected ending. It explores the influences of religion and the interpretation of it by the world and how some use it as a weapon and/or leverage to gain power over the ones they ‘love’.
The Mormon community is at the heart of this novel and some elements are certainly echoes of stories we’ve heard in the news over the past few years. Chad is a devout Mormon and lives by the word of God and influenced even more so by the local pastor Brett. Amber brings her two teenage children to live with Chad at his house in Lehi and on the first car ride they experience as a new family there are red flags immediately raised.
Throughout my sessions of reading this I wanted to reach through the pages and shake Amber into realisation that her new relationship was beyond toxic. If it was written to be a frustrating read Isabelle Kenyon has certainly succeeded. I lost count of the amount of times I put the book down in frustration at Amber or anger at Chad, but I couldn’t help but pick it straight up again.
The Mormon community is at the heart of this novel and some elements are certainly echoes of stories we’ve heard in the news over the past few years. Chad is a devout Mormon and lives by the word of God and influenced even more so by the local pastor Brett. Amber brings her two teenage children to live with Chad at his house in Lehi and on the first car ride they experience as a new family there are red flags immediately raised.
Throughout my sessions of reading this I wanted to reach through the pages and shake Amber into realisation that her new relationship was beyond toxic. If it was written to be a frustrating read Isabelle Kenyon has certainly succeeded. I lost count of the amount of times I put the book down in frustration at Amber or anger at Chad, but I couldn’t help but pick it straight up again.
September 2, 2024
4.25/5 ⭐
🛻 During one of her week-long retreats, faith-healer Amber, meets Chad, a simple man who is from a small and safe, Mormon town, Lehi. Taking her teenage daughter and son with her, she is hopeful and ready to embark on a new life with her new new husband in a new town. However, after the sudden death of her daughter, Amber finds herself keeping secrets just like the rest of this faithful community.
🛻 Kenyon's debut novel is a powerful and compelling read, characterized by its intensity and gripping narrative. The story is beautifully dark and intricately twisted, leaving a lingering sense of unease that resonates long after the final page. The characters, particularly Amber and Chad, are so vividly portrayed that their experiences feel palpably real. Despite its brevity, the novel remains fully engaging, avoiding any sense of incompleteness or haste. From the very first lines of the prologue, the reader is hooked, making this book a page-turner that is difficult to put down.
🛻 During one of her week-long retreats, faith-healer Amber, meets Chad, a simple man who is from a small and safe, Mormon town, Lehi. Taking her teenage daughter and son with her, she is hopeful and ready to embark on a new life with her new new husband in a new town. However, after the sudden death of her daughter, Amber finds herself keeping secrets just like the rest of this faithful community.
🛻 Kenyon's debut novel is a powerful and compelling read, characterized by its intensity and gripping narrative. The story is beautifully dark and intricately twisted, leaving a lingering sense of unease that resonates long after the final page. The characters, particularly Amber and Chad, are so vividly portrayed that their experiences feel palpably real. Despite its brevity, the novel remains fully engaging, avoiding any sense of incompleteness or haste. From the very first lines of the prologue, the reader is hooked, making this book a page-turner that is difficult to put down.
February 11, 2024
This book is a tension-filled psychological thriller with a difference. It's set in a Mormon community and gives the reader an insight into the Mormon Church in the US while also building tension from start to finish.
What I loved most about it was the characterisation. Isabelle has written flawed characters to draw a picture of a marriage. I am a big fan of flawed characters as they ground a novel, and this is no exception - they make the novel and add depth to the story. The raw emotion from Amber and the events that carried her and Chad through this novel made me want to read more from the first chapter.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the plot is heart-rending in places, desperate and heartbreaking in others. It is a close examination of a family and the people who surround them, and one mot to be missed.
What I loved most about it was the characterisation. Isabelle has written flawed characters to draw a picture of a marriage. I am a big fan of flawed characters as they ground a novel, and this is no exception - they make the novel and add depth to the story. The raw emotion from Amber and the events that carried her and Chad through this novel made me want to read more from the first chapter.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the plot is heart-rending in places, desperate and heartbreaking in others. It is a close examination of a family and the people who surround them, and one mot to be missed.
April 6, 2024
This book is brilliant! Chad, Amber and Brett are such interesting and complex characters. I really loved learning about them throughout the book and watching their relationships develop and change. I was worried about how the story was going to end but in my opinion it was the perfect ending. There was one particular bit of description on page 139 that I feel perfectly captured what it can feel like you feel overwhelmed and just want to escape - "She bunched her hands into fists under the island, imagining herself evaporating out of the top of her skeleton, like water vapour, and pooling herself across the ceiling. From up there, her voice would be irrelevant. It could flow, it could formulate whatever words it wanted. It could have a life of its own."
December 21, 2023
4.5* - AD/PR - The Dark Within Them is one you do not want to miss when it comes out in March! What an intense and gripping psychological thriller 😱. It’s full of secrets and lies within a tight-knit Mormon community and it is impossible to put down!
I found it so hard to believe that The Dark Within Them is a debut 🤯🤯. It takes a lot of skill to write a slow burn thriller this intricately plotted and make it feel addictive and not boring compared to its fast-paced counterparts. Isabelle treads this fine line PERFECTLY! The book is simmering with tension and a build up of quiet menace. I love that we aren’t specifically told or warned of the dangers but rather left to pick up on the subtle signs and red flags on our own. You just KNOW something feels off in certain conversations or situations and it gives you such a feeling of suspense and unease!! It’s an almost instinctive sense of danger lying under the surface of these seemingly kind characters and this welcoming community. When the events happen it’s almost a relief but then you’re like “wait, whaaaaat?!! 😱😱”. It makes me shudder just to think about it!!
The Dark Within Them is a brilliantly plotted and executed debut that you just can’t look away from. It would be fantastic for a buddy read or book club and Isabelle has confirmed there will be reading group questions in all copies!
I found it so hard to believe that The Dark Within Them is a debut 🤯🤯. It takes a lot of skill to write a slow burn thriller this intricately plotted and make it feel addictive and not boring compared to its fast-paced counterparts. Isabelle treads this fine line PERFECTLY! The book is simmering with tension and a build up of quiet menace. I love that we aren’t specifically told or warned of the dangers but rather left to pick up on the subtle signs and red flags on our own. You just KNOW something feels off in certain conversations or situations and it gives you such a feeling of suspense and unease!! It’s an almost instinctive sense of danger lying under the surface of these seemingly kind characters and this welcoming community. When the events happen it’s almost a relief but then you’re like “wait, whaaaaat?!! 😱😱”. It makes me shudder just to think about it!!
The Dark Within Them is a brilliantly plotted and executed debut that you just can’t look away from. It would be fantastic for a buddy read or book club and Isabelle has confirmed there will be reading group questions in all copies!
June 28, 2025
The setting for this thriller is an interesting and unusual one. I didn’t know much about Mormon communities in the USA before reading it. (Most of that knowledge coming from Jeanette McCurdy’s memoir). The small, Mormon town of Lehi provided a perfectly smothering, closed, self-protecting environment for the terrible deeds which happen within it (I won’t spoiler by saying any more).
Kenton’s writing is tight and fast-paced, pulling the reader along as the plot twists and characters develop and surprise.
Kenton’s writing is tight and fast-paced, pulling the reader along as the plot twists and characters develop and surprise.
August 29, 2025
This debut is a haunting and unforgettable read! The author weaves faith, love, and betrayal into a chilling story that grips you from the first page. The setting of a seemingly safe Mormon town is both fascinating and unsettling, and Amber’s journey through grief, secrets, and shocking discoveries is written with such intensity that you can’t put it down. The buried truths, the fractured family, and the question of trust kept me hooked until the very end. Beautifully written and deeply compellingthis is not your typical psychological thriller, it’s so much more.
September 25, 2024
Will keep you guessing as to the main character's motivations and real plans. Lots of unexpected twists and thought provoking moments which make for great discussion if you read with a friend. Definitely felt a lot of things while reading, which for me is the marker of a great book.
June 17, 2024
A difficult book to read I felt because of the topic and it is certainly Dark, but I found this a challenging and interesting book. Recommended.
June 29, 2025
A gripping exploration of a difficult subject - a mother's unconditional love, tested by the faith community in which she lives. This book is beautifully written, compelling and thought provoking.
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