After three murders, they call you a serial killer. But what do you call a man after ninety-three?
Crime journalist Elara Vance has spent her life hunting the one man Iceland fears even in its darkest hours; the invisible executioner known only as Vapor.
When a contract is placed on her life, Vapor arrives, not to kill her, but to claim her. Abducted beneath the frozen earth into his bunker, where he experiments, mutilates, and perfects the art of untraceable death, Elara becomes the one thing Vapor never meant to keep alive. He feeds her, dresses her, tends her wounds with the same hands he uses to cut men apart. He forces her to listen while he kills. Forces her to watch when he wants her educated. Forces her to write his story in the dark with his fingers on her pulse.
In the polar night of Iceland, where twenty hours of darkness hides every sin, a journalist will meet her monster — and write her own ending.
I’m Myla, a psychology student from The Netherlands with a deep love for stories and the beautiful chaos of the human mind.
I started writing at seventeen, drawn not to the monsters hiding under the bed, but to the ones we carry within ourselves. I’ve always been fascinated by why people do what they do, what shapes them, what breaks them, and what makes them love anyway.
I write dark romances that explore the darker corners of the mind, the blurred lines between good and evil, and the fears we try so hard to outrun. But also the love we can find within the depths.
When I’m not writing or studying, I’m happiest spending time with the people I love, baking something sweet, or watching wonderfully bad reality television.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spice rate: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Tropes: crime journalist x serial killer, forced proximity (duh), dual obsession, she calms his tremor TW: yes, it's dark romance + the author listed the TW in the beginning of the book
Review: Myla Carbo did it again. When the author announced this book, alongside its tropes, I was instantly hooked. The combination of a crime journalist and the serial killer she writes about, instantly captured my attention. (I mean; HOW GOOD DOES THAT SOUND??) I know her books to be gripping, intense and addictive, and this one was no different. BUT the plottwists in this book were something that made my jaw drop, multiple times! This book is perfect if you're into dark romance, especially one with loads of tension and obsessive behavior. I FLEW through this book!
To start i have to say that this book has absolutely incredible setup and attention to detail. The switching between past and present worked so well and gave us context to the story adding that depth that i often crave when i read dark romances. Of course there was flashbacks that were honestly just down right sad, just really horrifying in a way that you get to see what makes a killer, or rather perhaps it would be more accurate to say would be who MADE a killer.
There was such a build up between our two main characters (Elera and Vapour) it didn’t feel rushed, like at some point i was thinking to myself when this romance gonna start because of the fast paced nature of books i read but, girl, did the romance start alright. 👀👀👀
About mid way through the book the twists started and the just kept coming, like one chapter something huge happens and im so sure nothing can top it and then of course ITS TOPPED. And all i have to say on this note is be prepared? And read this in the daytime to prevent yourself from gasping so loud you end up waking everyone around you (learn from me, guys)
Of course i’ll give you a lil context of what this story is about without rambling on further;
The story follows a journalist (Elera) investigating a series of killings tied to a name everyone is afraid to speak of and a cold blooded killer who believes he’s ridding the world of evil one victim at a time. When their paths cross under less than favourable circumstances, the story becomes far more complex than a simple romance or a thriller.
Thank you so so much Myla for trusting me with your babies and for sending me this arc! I hope you guys enjoy it as much i did
Thank you so much for an ARC of this book. wow. the authors writing is beautiful and detailed. the story is a lot more than just a romance, the characters feel flushed out and real. The setting is expertly done. chefs kiss all around. AND THE MAN IS SO HOT (sorry had to get that in there)
Okay so maybe I’m absolutely effed in the head .. because I looved this book DOWN- what I will say is this book is dark, very very dark so please keep that in mind before reading but I thought it was 100/10 😈
OMG I just finished the book and I'm speechless. First of all let me with a BIG THANK YOU to Myla Carbo for this ARC. It was also my first and I'm glad that it will be a memorable one. Let's get on to business now... 😛 My fav quotes: 🤭
"You made me human Elara. That was your mistake."
"A want. Do you understand what that means Elara? A man who carved desire out of himself years ago feeling something again because of you?"
" I want you like something I intend to own."
" I've scars older than you darling." These quotes got me literally kicking my feet and giggling. 😛
The story is about a girl named Elara and she's a journalist. Elara loves poisonous flowers.a She writes about him,the Vapor, and the way he kills like a career. The words she chooses to describe his victims and methods are uncommon. Some killings had been happening in Reykjavìk and since she's a journalist she's written about him. To the point where the name Vapor was given by her. But one night when she goes home what finds there surprises her...
The writing is definitely one of the reasons this book deserves 5 stars. It wasn't hard to understand and very expressive. I've felt every emotion with them. This being the second language of this author it is the best book I've read including the Beginnings duet by also Myla.😍 The tension between him and Elara every moment they were together, even behind closed doors was to die for. Also the romance... It always is on point 🫦 The main characters carry something broken inside and it defines them the most. This book is perfect for dark romance lovers with captive × captor trope also with blood kink. CHECK TW!!!⚠️ I hope y'all love it as much as I did when it comes out.🫶
🔥Tropes🔥: - crime journalist x serial killer - forced proximity / captor x captive - dual obsession - slow burn - age gap - she calms him
⚠️ check trigger warnings before reading
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i genuinely don’t even know how to start this without sounding dramatic but this book was actually insane in the best way
from the beginning, the setup alone hooked me. a crime journalist writing about a serial killer… and then becoming part of his story?? like that concept already had me but the execution was on another level. the pacing, the tension, the constant push and pull between elara and vapor it never felt rushed, and the slow burn actually felt necessary
the writing is one of the strongest parts. it’s very descriptive, almost poetic at times but still easy to follow. it genuinely felt like watching a movie in my head. the switching between past and present added so much depth, especially when it came to vapor. his backstory wasn’t just there for shock value it actually built him into something more than just “a monster”
and that’s what i loved most. this book constantly blurs the line between monster and man. vapor wants to be seen as the villain but elara (and honestly us as readers) start to see something else underneath. their dynamic is intense, obsessive, a little unhinged but it works so well. also the fact that his tremors calm around her… yeah that detail alone
also the twists?? every time i thought i had it figured out something else happened and completely flipped it. like especially the second half it just does not let up
elara was such a strong fmc too. she’s not passive, she questions things, she pushes back but she also understands him in a way that actually feels earned. their relationship isn’t instant it builds, shifts, and evolves
if you like dark romance that actually has plot, tension, and psychological depth (not just shock value) this is 100% for you
thank you so much Myla for the ARC. i’ve been following your work since your earlier books and it’s honestly been really cool seeing how much your writing has evolved. you should be really proud of this one ❤️❤️
After just a few chapters I could sense that this book was going to ruin me. Slowly and brutally.
This is a thrilling dark romance where even the soft moments come with a hard edge. Every word is written as a deliberate choice. Each one placed with surgical precision to elicit the desired response. A dark, twisted story told with calculated beauty.
While both narrators carry an abrupt tone, I really appreciate the difference in voice between the character’s POV. Vapor is cold and clinical. He teaches us that there’s a fine line between a monster and something bred from one. Elana is an analytical poet. She’s a passionate journalist with the mind of a detective and the soul of an artist. Typically in dark romance with a dual POV we learn to love our MMC through his chapters. Through the glimpses of truth his narrative provides. Here, he’s trying to make us, and Elara, hate him. To force the distance and frame himself as the villain of her story. Elara has the ability to make us find the humanity in her monster before he reveals himself to the reader. Despite his efforts to prove otherwise.
This was just such a unique reading experience. I can’t wait to read more of her work and thank you to Myla Carbo for the opportunity to review this book.
Elara is a crime journalist. Her father’s been dead for 14 years now, accidental drowning, they said. Ever since, she’s been trying to cope by being a crime journalist as it helps her feel closer to him and what she believes she inherited from him and consequently from his line of work : inner darkness. So she becomes obsessed with Vapor, a masked serial unaliver using all kinds of deadly chemicals and their variations. Until one day, because of circumstances, he kidnaps her. Elara has remotely flirted with her morbid curiosity almost all of her life, what will she do when she’s finally face to face with it?
Over all, I did enjoy ASTDF. The characters were amazing in their flawed, raw personalities. The plot was interesting. The dynamic between Elara and Lucan, hot. I loved the psychological aspect of the novel. It was dark, gritty, charged.
My complaint lies with the writing style. It is essentially beautiful and I haven’t come across that style in dark romance so far. Initially, something about how it’s written compelled me. It was inviting, reminiscent of a slow dance with morbid curiosity, while being simultaneously imbued with a touch of clinicality. It started strong. As I kept on reading, I admit I became mitigated: the writing style became overtly repetitive, the pace unsteady. I would’ve appreciated the story more if the in-between was polished: I loved the beginning and the ending, they were solid, I was engaged 100% during those times. As I said, loooved the characters and the plot. I truly liked the book, but the inconsistency of the pace and the repetitive, descriptive writing style dampened the experience for me.
THIS BOOK IS INSANE! ik was echt zo verbaasd om wat ik allemaal las. Hoe het verhaal in elkaar zit, de setting, de characters echt wow. Heerlijk die serial killer, thriller, black market, romance vibes Ik ben redelijk nieuw in het dark romance wereldje dus dit boek heeft mij echt verbluft, het is echt een dikke aanrader om te lezen ook als beginnend dark romance lezer. Ik moest aan het begin echt even wennen aan de schrijfstijl de setting en het verhaal waardoor het even duurde om erdoorheen te komen maar toen ik op de helft was van het boek heb ik het in een zitting uitgelezen… dat zegt al genoeg hoe tof het boek is. Het is net even anders dan verhalen die je vaker tegenkomt en dat maakt dit boek speciaal en onwijs verfrissend. Ik zat echt op het puntje van mijn stoel.
Dit verhaal beschrijft heel mooi wat gevoel met je kunt doen en dat er meer achter iemand zit dan dat mensen alleen zien, lezen of horen.
Ik wil Myla Carbo super bedanken dat ik dit boek mocht lezen als ARC❤️ echt onwijs lief! dit voelde enorm speciaal en ik weet zeker dat zij groot gaat worden want wat was dit boek een partij GOED!
I really tried. I swear I wanted to like this book but the metaphors are unbearable. The author is taking way too long to get to a point. She is making every single thing sound so deep. I quote and this is just an example of MANY “The bike is salt and voice and a kind of promise you make to the road.” I see what she is trying to do but the description are in general cringe. It didn’t hit the way it should have. I must admit that she did a good job with the setting and overall immersion but other than that no. Just no. DNF.
"I miss him like you miss gravity when it stops working. Like you miss the edge of a cliff when you’ve spent too long staring down into it and suddenly the ground is flat again."
Age gap Serial unaliver x journalist Captor x captive Obsession Blood & Breath play
Firstly thank you Myla Carbo for the Arc of this beautifully written book.
Myla writes almost lyrically, very descriptive, expressive, she makes sure you can feel like you are there with the vivid details she creates. I will be honest the writing was different than what I am used to, it was just so... Poetic.. is that the word I'm looking for 🤔.. but it pulled me in like a dance, twirling though the words on the page (Its hard to explain the feeling) it was just.. beautiful..
Myla Incorporated twists and turns thought the book that I just didn't see coming, some that I thought I had a grasp of in spots, then I was flipped a different way. It takes a lot for me to not know what's happening so I was pleasantly surprised.
Elara the journalist and Vapor the serial unaliver... These two.. captor and captive.. Elara was a breath of fresh air, she stood her ground when she needed but she also provided the space for vapor to show her his growth. vapor tried really hard for Elara and us to hate him, he tried to show us the monster he believes himself to be but with elaras help and obviously the flashbacks, they really opened our eyes to the creation of vapor, the man and the 'monster' and why he is the way he is.. it makes it hard to hate him
The romance was a slow build, slow burn.. but it didn't feel slow, it felt needed.
I think my favorite part of the book is when he starts to let go just a little, we see the vulnerability, the hesitation, the want to be more than what he is perceived to be.. the snow angels and motorcycle scene had me kicking my feet! And the fact that his tremors calm when she is around, when everything seems to calm.. she is his anchor*
"maybe monsters aren’t born. Maybe they’re built, one scar, one silence, one unbearable choice at a time."
First of all, I LOVED her writing & how descriptive this author is, I love when a book is like a movie in my head & I’m addicted to it! Both main characters are very complex & I liked them together & separate as well. I think it’s important especially with duel pov that you like both characters when they aren’t together so you’re not bored when one is off on a side quest that doesn’t have the other mc around. Elara also doesn’t take any shit from anyone & doesn’t let certain people get away with being assholes. Lastly I haven’t read many dark romances that deal with the black market & of course I’m very intrigued by that which she does a great job imo describing what that world is like. Anyways loved this, had a great time & think everyone who loves darker romances to add it to your tbr !! 🫶🏻
wow. what a story. so intense, twisted, emotional story. it started off a bit slow, but in no time did things speed up a bit and just wrap up in such a way that you were grateful for the slower start. Elara is a journalist, who I simply just loved. her character was so relatable in ways. loved her fascination with toxic flowers and plants. and Vapor. she was very fascinated with him and his crimes. always wanting to cover the stories on his latest murder. who knew that she'd get some very good intel from a source never before recorded. 🤭 at a cost though. but honestly.....lets face it, we'd all pay the price to be in Elara's place. right ?..... or am I just unhinged and need help ? 🤔🤣 oh man but yea, Vapor. his character was intense. so intriguing. his story though..😭😭😭😭 my gosh his story was a heartbreaking one. but don't pity him, he'll hate that. don't try to change him. just see him.
Elara and Vapors story is so intense together. the freaking ending !!!!! ahhhh the ending 🥹🥹🥹🥹
I just loved it. loved the whole story. loved these characters. couldn't get enough. to be honest I struggle to give yall a decent review without spoiling anything. so you just get this. lol but just know, you're in for a ride...a slow, but on the edge of your seat intense ride. with an ending well worth it.
this book was absolutely perfect. myla knows how to entrance her readers with her poetic writing and characters that are so easy to love. the plot was so insanely specific and different from anything i have ever read. the chemical components brought into the story gave it such a real feeling and i loved every second of it.
elara, my baby, i absolutely adore her. she is such a strong character especially after everything she has gone through and goes through in this story. no matter what people say, she always does what she wants no matter the consequence.
vapor, my love, i just want to squeeze him and tell him everything is going to be okay. his back story broke my heart into a million pieces and they’re still left floating around without a place to go back to. he is perfect and i will not take any other definition of him.
this is a story built from heartache, pain, betrayal, abandonment, obsession, and consequence. a story to die for.
thank you so much to my girl myla for the honor of arc reading for you. your words are dark lyricism drenched in possession and anyone that has the honor of reading it will be changed for life.
For the first time, I find it hard to write a review. It feels like any words I choose would be painfully ordinary compared to the depth, the atmosphere, the raw emotion woven into the pages by Myla Carbo… but I’ll try. In the heart of Iceland—where the cold seeps into your bones, where days are fleeting and nights stretch endlessly, where snow groans beneath every step—journalist Elara Vance hunts a story. A serial killer. A ghost. No face, no name… just a monster. Her words, her obsession, pull her closer and closer to his world—until she crosses a line she can never uncross… and finds herself inside the monster’s lair. Vapor—half ice, half endless winter night. His world is built on precision. Control. Numbers. Lines. Angles. Everything calculated, everything contained… until something slips through the cracks. Her. The anomaly. The obsession. “Between the two, there’s a thin place where I exist; half man, half monster—haunted by a journalist who sketches lethal flowers and doesn’t yet know that monsters can read.” And that’s how it begins… A story carved in sacrifice, in impossible choices, in fragile boundaries waiting to be broken. A story about monsters that aren’t born… but made. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was totally hooked on this unique dark romance. The MMC, Vapor, is a walking red flag. Luckily, red is my favorite color. Vapor is a chemical serial killer with a twisted past. The world calls him a monster. Something he agrees with, but he becomes obsessed with Elara, a crime journalist. He reads every story she writes about him. His obsession grows as he stalks her, and even he is unsure why she holds his interest in a way no one else has.
Elara has a fascination with things others may find disturbing. Poisonous plants that are both beautiful and dangerous, and killers, especially Vapor, whose unique way of killing doesn't leave a trace of evidence behind. Her curiosity has caught the attention of a man who is called a monster. Despite the warnings of concerned family, colleagues, and friends, she is determined to write Vapor's full and honest story. The question is, will she survive it?
This story follows Elara, an Icelandic crime journalist, and Vapor, a masked serial killer/hit man with a complex backstory. When Elara's obsession with Vapor's crimes leads her down a path that causes a hit put out for her, their paths are forced to cross. Will Vapor prove he is the monster he believes he is, or her ultimate savior?
I ate this upppp. The amount of detail and research that went into this was absolutely impressive. I loved the dual POV and character development, the internal struggles and psychological battles. Obsessed.
If you're a dark romance girly- don't sleep on this one. 🏃♀️
I had the pleasure of receiving this book as an ARC by Myla Carbo. I’m so very grateful and thrilled to be given the opportunity to meet these brilliant characters and discover how talented Myla is with her writing!! I can’t wait to see where 2026 and the future takes her!!🖤
If you love your romance drenched in danger, obsession, and morally BLACK tension, A Story to Die For is the type of book that grips you by the throat girl and whispers, “don’t you look away from me” 😏
This isn’t just a dark romance, oh no it’s a psychological seduction wrapped in a cat-and-mouse thriller. Boy does it deliver 🤌🏻😘 From the start, the hunter vs. hunted dynamic is electrifying. One of my absolute favorite tropes!!! So we have this crime journalist who’s determined to expose a killer. A serial murderer who is always one step ahead...seriously frustrating 🙄 As someone who has a Forensic Scoence degree that’s definitely frustrating! .. However what makes this story addictive isn’t the this killers body count it’s the fixation this killer has. The way his attention narrows onto her. The way fear slowly tangles with fascination. Don’t know why I find this sexy😍🥴 (Maybe it’s because I’ve always enjoyed true crime TV, podcasts. Having a bachelors degree in forensic science. Or maybe the fact I’m just fascinated with the psychology behind what makes someone become a SK)
The tension between these two is so thick🤤 Talk about suffocating, but in the best possible way. The obsession trope is executed with razor precision. This isn’t playful possessiveness it’s hott and heavy consuming. There’s a constant sense that the heroine is standing on the edge of something dangerous, and instead of stepping back, she leans in. (Sooo many red flags but he’s hott 🥵 sorry not sorry) The moral lines blur chapter by chapter, until you’re questioning not just the characters… but yourself… Umm yess daddy 😍
What really makes this book seductive is the psychological intimacy. Their connection isn’t built on softness it’s built on understanding each other’s darkness, their trauma bonding and their shared secrets. The terrifying realization of “you see me… and I see you.”… has an entirely new meaning…..swoon 😍
This book is a slow burn , but baby let it burn you, it’s not gentle by any means. Every interaction feels like a loaded weapon. Every conversation carries double meaning. The cat-and-mouse tension becomes foreplay and mental chess that’s just as intoxicating as physical chemistry. The hero who is morally black, he’s not redeemed, not sanitized. He’s dangerous, calculated, and unapologetic. Yet somehow, against your better judgment, you find yourself wanting him to win…I know I definitely did!!! What can I say I have a thing for bad boys🖤
That’s the magic of this story it seduces the reader as much as the heroine does!
Themes: Dark On-page violence Heavy psychological tension Intense possessive energy Chemistry that simmers until it scorches
This is not a cozy romance. It’s the kind of book you read late at night when the house is quiet and you want something that makes your pulse race among other things maybe 😏
If you love dark romance that leans into obsession, morally corrupt heroes, and the blurred line between fear and desire this one will absolutely sink its teeth claws into you. Baby be ready to let it!!
And the worst part? You won’t want to escape. Then again do true masterpieces ever escape us or are they meant to stay with us forever🖤
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
After three murders, they call you a serial killer. But what do you call a man after ninety-three?
Elara Vance, a crime journalist, is obsessed with an unknown killer known only as Vapor, a ghost who leaves behind nothing but bodies and a single signature: “V.” But when a series of murders brings her face to face with death, she finally meets the man she’s spent years chasing.
And he doesn’t kill her.
Instead, he saves her… and takes her captive.
Now, Elara is forced to question everything—is death more dangerous, or surviving a man who has never spared anyone before?
Review:
“A Story to Die For” by Myla Carbo is a dark romance with a gripping thriller edge and psychological depth that pulls you in and refuses to let go.
The author truly delivers what she promises—a nightmare that lingers long after the last page.
Vapor, aka Lucan Grímsson, is a chilling character: cold, calculated, and utterly detached from the world. A killer with ninety-three victims, he’s never allowed anything or anyone to become his weakness. Until Elara. His “little scribe,” who sees him not just as a monster but as a man beneath it all.
Elara, on the other hand, feels like someone drifting through life—until she’s forced to confront death and, in turn, herself. Through Lucan, she discovers parts of her own darkness she never acknowledged. Their connection is unsettling, raw, and strangely intimate—two broken souls finding something that resembles comfort in each other.
What stood out most for me was how unapologetically dark this story is. It doesn’t try to soften its edges. The emotions, the vulnerabilities, the twisted dynamics—they’re all laid bare. And surprisingly, I didn’t mind the darkness at all. In fact, I found myself embracing it.
The Icelandic setting adds an eerie, almost haunting atmosphere, and the bunker feels like a character in itself—holding their secrets, their tension, and their breaking points.
The thriller element didn’t disappoint. I haven’t read many romances with a thriller subplot, but this one completely raised the bar. The twists were unpredictable, and the stakes remained high throughout, keeping me hooked till the very end.
One aspect that didn’t fully work for me was the dominance/submission dynamic during intimate moments—it felt a bit unsettling, though that’s more of a personal preference.
Overall, this is a bold, intense, and deeply emotional read. Perfect for dark romance lovers who enjoy morally grey characters, psychological depth, and stories that are meant to disturb, challenge, and stay with you long after you finish.
This story you can really tell the depth of research that has been done to complete it! It was absolutely so well written and honestly at some points felt like a chemistry lesson which I wasn’t mad about!
You will fall into this world and these characters and truly get lost within the depth! This book is dark so be warned but if you’re ready to dive between these pages, have fun getting back out!
such a good read. tbh i read it faster than I expected but I kept coming back whenever I put it down. genuinely so good. and let's be real im a sucker for the journalist/serial killer trope. its delicious always.
I can't wait to immerse myself in more of this authors work~
"Used wrong, it stops a heart. Used right, it saves one. That balance always fascinated me - the thin line between cure and catastrophe."
Firstly, thank you to Myla Carbo for letting me read your book.
I will start by saying that I really liked the story, but I don't think the writing style was a fit for me. I loved how original it felt, both with the story and the setting. Personally I have never read a dark romance set in Iceland before, or any book for that matter, and that was pretty interesting.
"She shouldn't have found me, yet she did. I shouldn't be near her, yet I am."
I liked the characters. Elara was definitely a curios one, and I think that fit her character very well. I felt like she was an intelligent young woman who will make up her own mind about a situation and not just listen to what people say around her, and that's a trait I really like. Vapor was definitely the kind of MMC you want in a dark romance. I loved they layers there is to this character. And once you learn about his backstory I feel like you can't help but love him a little. Every time he shows Elara love, in the way that he loves, my heart melts and my knees go weak. These two definitely had chemistry between them. (This joke is funny because he is a chemist). I just wish there would have been more of the romance aspect in this book, because those moments worked so well for me. And so did the parts of the book that were more plot heavy. It did feel a bit more dark and a little less romance...
This book is long, and I think it could have been shorter. I felt like it had a very long build up, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are so many long unnecessary descriptions, and sometimes some of it felt like it was being repeated. Some times the author would describe how it wasn't and then afterward describe it as it was. And personally that slowed my reading flow a lot. I do think the writing made the book a bit mor mysterious which worked well for the story, but at times it just felt a little bit confusing.
There was a good chunk in the middle of the book where I was absolutely loving it. I think because a lot happened in the book at that time the pace felt a little faster, the descriptions weren't as many and there was just a lot to keep up with. This was the part of the book I liked the best.
That said; there were things I liked, things I didn't like. There were some great moments in this book and while it felt like it took a long time to read it, I'm happy that I did red it and that I finished the book. And I'm so happy to see that so many other people already loves the book.
Huge thank you to Myla for trusting me with this arc!!! I’m so grateful to have experienced this story early.
I’m genuinely considering a career change into crime journalism just on the off chance a man like Lucan Grímsson exists somewhere in the shadows… because what do you mean this man is fictional???
Myla didn’t just write a dark romance, she built something clinical, eerie and almost disturbingly intimate. The writing in this book is so precise it feels surgical. Every scene, every emotion is dissected, observed, measured. It doesn’t just tell you how something feels, it breaks it down into something almost scientific which somehow makes it hit even harder.
I absolutely LOVED the whole setting of this book! Iceland was literally the perfect choice for this story. It adds this whole extra layer of isolation and unease that you can feel in every scene. The freezing landscapes, the endless darkness, the silence all mirror Lucan so well. Cold, controlled, almost lifeless on the surface but hiding something far more dangerous underneath.
The plot itself is so addictive. The chemistry, the experiments, the black market elements. It all feels so intentional and well thought out. Nothing is there just for shock value. Everything ties back into control, identity and what it means to be human when that’s something that was taken from you.
I really enjoyed the plot twists and how they weren’t just one big reveal but constant little shifts that keep you on edge, especially in the second half!!! They do not let you breathe.
Now…let’s talk about Lucan😌😌 That’s where this book completely consumed me.
Tattoos? Check. Rides a motorbike? Check. Is a hitman? Check. Just. My. Type.
He isn’t just “dark” or “morally grey”, he’s a man who was never given the chance to be human in the first place. A failed test subject, shaped and used by systems that stripped him down to nothing but function. Lucan never got to experience human connection, softness or any normalcy. The only things he understood were rules, control and survival. He learned early on that bodies are disposable, that precision matters more than feeling, that pain and purpose can become the same thing if you’re taught to see them that way. He didn’t grow up, he was manufactured. And you feel that in everything. The way he speaks, the way he moves, the way he processes the world… it’s not emptiness, it’s distortion. Every human instinct of his has been rewired into something colder, sharper, more controlled.
“I don’t desire you the way men desire women, I want you the way predators want territory. The way obsessions want to consume. The way violence wants a witness.” ⋆。‧₊°♱༺𓆩❦︎𓆪༻♱༉‧₊˚.
Elara isn’t just a love interest. She’s disruption in it’s purest form. She challenges him without trying to fix him, sees him without romanticising what he is. She’s strong in a quiet, grounded way. Elara questions, resists but she also understands. This understanding doesn’t feel forced, it feels earned. especially when you consider her own past and how she was shaped by loss, by a father who chose ambition over her, leaving her to carry grief like it was collateral damage.
Lucan and Elara mirror each other in ways that hurt to think about. Their dynamic is obsessive, tense and a little (VERY) unhinged but it works because it builds. It’s not instant. It’s this slow, suffocating pull where control starts slipping through Lucan’s fingers and something else, something dangerously close to attachment starts taking it’s place.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I whisper. Lucan stands beside me, hands in his pockets, posture relaxed but alert. “Yes,” he says. But he isn’t looking at the sky. I turn my head and catch him watching me instead.” ᥫ᭡.ִֶָ𓂃𓂃۶ৎ ❤︎
Also…the branding scene???? Yeah. I’m not okay. And the blood play?? I’m not even going to unpack why I enjoyed that as much as I did because that says more about me than i’d like.
What really got me is how their relationship never tries to be clean or easily justified. It’s messy and at times uncomfortable but emotionally it makes sense.
Lucan’s relationship with his sister was actually one of the softest, most human parts of this entire book. The way she grounds him, guides him and offers him something close to normal. It adds this layer of depth that makes his character even more tragic because you see what he could have been.
Can we take a second for the character art throughout this book??? I am thanking whatever higher power is out there for giving me eyesight because I got to experience that. I was genuinely feral over it. It just elevated the whole book into something that felt like a full experience rather than just a story.
This book was dark, intelligent, obsessive and extremely unhinged.
🩸Serial Unaliver x Crime Journalist 🥸Masked Man 🥺Scarred MMC 🇮🇸Icelandic Crime Thriller 🫦Age Gap (24, 38) ❤️🩹His Tremors Stop While She's Around 💥Hitman
Well this was a glorious, thrilling ride that I was intoxicated by the deeper I read! A story that makes drama and characters the focus and adds a bit of Phantom of the Opera vibes paired with riveting mystery, chills, high stakes, and propelling action.
A black market unaliver, Vaper is a man to be feared, a masked (bodily scarred) and efficient alpha predator with a steely gaze that mesmerized you as much as his formidable presence.
He captures Elara, a journalist he's been following for years, but his reasons for her seclusion are more complicated than she and we are led to believe...along with her past. Vaper has had chemical experimentation done on him which has caused his psyche to be a bit "off balance" shall we say. He's very sharp but feeling in certain ways emotionally, are numbed...and Elara starts to make those dormant nerves spark to life.
The underground time together was beautifully built and allowed us to see inside his head how he's conflicted with everything he knows and trying to come to terms with her brightness and his feelings for her. I liked her patience in wanting to understand him but how she was rightfully angry and somewhat fearful in the beginning. What I love is that the romance is fully balanced in this deeper mystery and thrilling drama.
I don't want to spoil, but the third act is where this really grabbed me by the throat, had my knuckles white, and had me completely strapped down in the best way! It ratchets up the adrenaline, threads come together, twists revealed elegantly, and intimate beats between Vaper and Elara just tug at you. Moments with just us feeling what Vapor's feels, the internal battle he's fighting...those were my favorites.
This man is warring with himself, struggling and straining to maintain a grip on humanity, to find that bit of love and affection from Elara and hold it tightly to him so that he doesn't become a monster. The psychological angle mixed with manifestation of physical effects that happens to him were written with stunning prose that echoes of gothic flourish.
I loved this! Give me Vaper and let me caress and kiss every scar on this beautiful man. He fights so hard, he loves so intensely that he doesn't even recognize how deep it is since he's never had it before. Elara sees him, understands the darkness, has had her share of loneliness and being outcast.
I can't say it enough, I loved this! The large canvas of this story is inspiringly cinematic (film rights anyone?), complex, exciting, nail biting, romantic, intense, and compelling. This story stays with you...Vapor will stay with you and never let go and I couldn't be happier for that!
Thank you for your honest answer. As I mentioned, I'm not very experienced with relationships as a whole so, forgive if my questions sounded confusing. I only mean them as a way to understand and stay transparent. That's why I wanted to check in and see if you were liking talking to me in this way, I suppose.
He's no longer a self imposed monster that he's labeled himself... in a way this was the scared little boy in him that never recovered and it breaks my heart. He prevents himself from thinking he could be loved, that he has done good despite his vicious methods. And he feels the compulsion to hold on to this version of himself, his anger, his volatility, his predator-like focus. It reminds me of what Pacino's character in Heat (one of my most favorite films because its essentially two apex predators at the top of their game but on opposite sides, equally obsessed, dangerous and driven) said "I gotta hold on to my angst, it keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I gotta to be".
Self imprisonment of mind and body is a powerful thing, i love that complexity in characters. A constant torment..of what you are, what you've become and what you can't come back from. It's a version of redemption arc of sorts for him...a personal one, a silent one. One that speaks of giving himself grace. He is scarred but she loves him, scars and all. He has to believe in her love for him and that he isn't truly a monstrous thing that will ruin her, and this last bit of the story is a beautiful elegy to that.
Elara has spent years writing about the infamous serial killer known as Vapor, obsessively digging deeper into his crimes, his psychology, and the darkness that surrounds him. What she does not realize is that while she has been studying him from a distance, Vapor has been watching her just as closely. As her curiosity gets her kidnapped and pulled into his world, both of them are forced to confront the parts of themselves they have tried to keep buried. For Vapor, it’s his humanity and for Elara, it’s the darkness she keeps hidden within.
I am not going to lie, the concept of this book was WAY outside of my usual comfort zone and that is exactly what made it SO appealing and special. But of course, in Myla we trust so I moved forward and boy did it pay off. If you have ever wanted to dip your toes into a darker murder or crime focused story but did not know where to start, this would be the one I would recommend! Even the violence and the aftermath of the crimes were written so poetically, which sounds wild to say, but it worked so well. It honestly made me want to analyze the writing like an English student again, the way I used to during my International Baccalaureate days. Myla has this insane ability to create such a descriptive, movie-like world that I could picture everything so clearly in my head.
What really got me was how Elara and Vapor (I’m not going to spoil his real name here) felt like two sides of the same coin. There is this quiet darkness around both of them, this methodical way they think and observe the world. Their energies matched so so soooo perfectly! He challenged her, she humanized him and the chemistry between them was unreal, especially with how forbidden everything was and what was constantly at stake. I loved that her presence and her touch slowly awakened the human part of him, the part he had buried so deeply. Man, I was in my feels throughout this book and looking back, there really wasn’t a dull moment.
“And yet,” he says, breath brushing my cheek, “Every time I see you, I go to war with myself”
A word of warning, Vapor is pitch black, like truly dark, no sugarcoating it. And yet, I could not look away from him cause he’s been through so much and in some ways, the motivations that he had to murder, some things that were well out of his control even, made sense.
Elara was just as compelling. She has her own inner darkness, but what really stood out to me was how brave she was. The fact that she did not let being kidnapped by a serial killer stop her from being herself (LOL), from holding onto her curiosity and strength, made me admire her so much. She was resilient, sharp, and strong in ways that really stuck with me.
This was a DARK story, but it also had so much depth and emotion. It was not just about murder or obsession, it was about connection, understanding, and love in the most twisted way. And the way everything came together? Ugh, IT HIT PERFECTLY. The timing, the reveals, the emotional impact, all of it landed exactly how it needed to, the red strings of fate tied these two in ways that were beyond anything. And the ending was chef’s kiss, I would absolutely read an epilogue set way in the future because I could not get enough of these two, but honestly, it was perfect as is.
It is so clear that Myla does not just write stories, she creates entire experiences. And just like her previous works, this book was haunting, emotional, beautifully written, not to mention completely unforgettable. I closed it and just sat there for a minute like…wow.
💨 Chemical serial k*ller x Crime Journalist 🩸 Age Gap 💨 Stalking 🩸 Blood play 💨 Breath play 🩸 Hidden Identity 💨 His tremor stops when she’s around
After three murders, they call you a serial killer. But what do you call a man after ninety-three?
Crime journalist Elara Vance has spent her life hunting the one man Iceland fears even in its darkest hours; the invisible executioner known only as Vapor. When a contract is placed on her life, Vapor arrives, not to kill her, but to claim her. Abducted beneath the frozen earth into his bunker, where he experiments, mutilates, and perfects the art of untraceable death, Elara becomes the one thing Vapor never meant to keep alive. He feeds her, dresses her, tends her wounds with the same hands he uses to cut men apart. He forces her to listen while he kills. Forces her to watch when he wants her educated. Forces her to write his story in the dark with his fingers on her pulse. In the polar night of Iceland, where twenty hours of darkness hides every sin, a journalist will meet her monster — and write her own ending.
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W O W! This book y’all! Such a wild ride and I was here for it!
I have to admit this type of writing style that the author writes, absolutely perfected by the way, was something new to me. Very expressive and detailed. Metaphors that blow you away with how descriptive they are. She sucks you in and makes you literally feel everything these characters do.
Right from the beginning Vapor and Elara were end game for me. I didn’t care how they got there as long as they did 😂 The chemistry right off the bat. Even when it was something that should have never been, it was there alive in the room with them.
Vapor. My man. 🤭 He isn’t quite the monster he feels he is. With his hard edges, Bad-Ass demeanor, killer tendencies, has such an amazing heart deep inside. All he wants is to express it, to be given the chance, to have it returned in the same manner. That love and care that he should have gotten all along but never did from the one person it should have never even been an option to give. And the way he softened for Elara everytime! 🫠 Add him to the book boyfriend list ✍🏼 • • ‼️Such an amazing story! Make sure to check it out come March 31, 2026!!!! Make sure to check triggers‼️
Thank you so much to Myla Carbo for giving me the opportunity to read this masterpiece! 🫶🏼