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Chasing Darkness
The most dangerous place to hide is in the dark...
A tough special-agent with the Department of Justice, and a dedicated single mother to her orphaned nephews, Samantha Chase is unbreakable. Until two women, both from the shadows of Sam's past, are discovered strangled. For Sam, the most unnerving detail is the eucalyptus branch tucked behind the victims' ears-the signature of a notorious serial murder already convicted and executed for his crimes.
To detective Nick Thomas, the only link to the copycat killings is Sam herself. And when she becomes the target of threats-each one more menacing than the last-his feelings for her just might jeopardize the case. But to understand the killer's twisted motive is to explore Sam's past-and a crime she's spent a lifetime trying to bury...
A tough special-agent with the Department of Justice, and a dedicated single mother to her orphaned nephews, Samantha Chase is unbreakable. Until two women, both from the shadows of Sam's past, are discovered strangled. For Sam, the most unnerving detail is the eucalyptus branch tucked behind the victims' ears-the signature of a notorious serial murder already convicted and executed for his crimes.
To detective Nick Thomas, the only link to the copycat killings is Sam herself. And when she becomes the target of threats-each one more menacing than the last-his feelings for her just might jeopardize the case. But to understand the killer's twisted motive is to explore Sam's past-and a crime she's spent a lifetime trying to bury...
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
1697 people are currently reading
1059 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Girard
23 books1,077 followersDanielle Girard is the USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of sixteen novels, including the Annabelle Schwartzman Series, Chasing Darkness, and The Rookie Club series.
Her books have won the Barry Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and White Out was in the top 100 bestselling e-books of 2020. In addition, two of her titles have been optioned for screen. Her next thriller, Pinky Swear, will be out from the Emily Bestler Imprint of Atria books February 24, 2026.
Danielle is also the creator and host of the Killer Women Podcast where she interviews the women who write today’s best crime fiction. A graduate of Cornell University, Danielle received her MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. When she’s not traveling, Danielle lives in the mountains of Montana.
Her books have won the Barry Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and White Out was in the top 100 bestselling e-books of 2020. In addition, two of her titles have been optioned for screen. Her next thriller, Pinky Swear, will be out from the Emily Bestler Imprint of Atria books February 24, 2026.
Danielle is also the creator and host of the Killer Women Podcast where she interviews the women who write today’s best crime fiction. A graduate of Cornell University, Danielle received her MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. When she’s not traveling, Danielle lives in the mountains of Montana.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
September 2, 2023
This Book needs a huge trigger warning:
●DESCRIPTIVE Child molestation
This was a heavy read. Dark & uncomfortable.
My first time reading this author. The writing and character development was excellent actually.
My biggest issue with this one is that the POV of a paedophile went WAY too far and more than once. Going into graphic detail was absolutely unnecessary in my opinion and didn't further the story along. I have no issue with reading about uncomfortable topics, especially knowing these things happen in real life.
I think Danielle Girard is talented but she could have done a better job with this one. By the time I got through all of the graphic stuff I was exhausted and lost interest in the 2nd part of the book. The plot went all over the place towards the end. I'll probably be checking her other books just to see if I have a different experience.
The audible narrator was excellent. This audiobook is included free with your audible membership until 9/12.
●DESCRIPTIVE Child molestation
This was a heavy read. Dark & uncomfortable.
My first time reading this author. The writing and character development was excellent actually.
My biggest issue with this one is that the POV of a paedophile went WAY too far and more than once. Going into graphic detail was absolutely unnecessary in my opinion and didn't further the story along. I have no issue with reading about uncomfortable topics, especially knowing these things happen in real life.
I think Danielle Girard is talented but she could have done a better job with this one. By the time I got through all of the graphic stuff I was exhausted and lost interest in the 2nd part of the book. The plot went all over the place towards the end. I'll probably be checking her other books just to see if I have a different experience.
The audible narrator was excellent. This audiobook is included free with your audible membership until 9/12.
Read
June 5, 2024Really gripping but way, way, WAY darker than I expected.
August 17, 2021
So, let me start by saying that I like Danielle Girard's work. I have read most of her series, and it is always a pleasant read.
Chasing Darkness, however, was not.
The heroine, Sam Chase, is the epitome of dark-and-broody, and ultimately felt very two-dimensional. Throughout the book, I kept hoping for her to evolve and was disappointed that she remained relatively flat.
(Trigger warning & spoiler: child sex abuse).
When Girard finally laid out the past trauma that I assume was supposed to be "veiled" throughout the storyline, I felt like the culmination was far too graphic. The book itself should have a very obvious trigger warning as the obscenely explicit content was disturbing, to say the least. And, to make matters worse, it didn't actually add anything to the character development or narrative.
The killer's big reveal at the end was not much of a reveal, as the hints were quite obvious in the lead-up. The 'why' factor really didn't add up and felt rushed, and there was a lot left to be desired.
TL;DR: Good author, bad book. Needs a trigger warning.
Chasing Darkness, however, was not.
The heroine, Sam Chase, is the epitome of dark-and-broody, and ultimately felt very two-dimensional. Throughout the book, I kept hoping for her to evolve and was disappointed that she remained relatively flat.
(Trigger warning & spoiler: child sex abuse).
When Girard finally laid out the past trauma that I assume was supposed to be "veiled" throughout the storyline, I felt like the culmination was far too graphic. The book itself should have a very obvious trigger warning as the obscenely explicit content was disturbing, to say the least. And, to make matters worse, it didn't actually add anything to the character development or narrative.
The killer's big reveal at the end was not much of a reveal, as the hints were quite obvious in the lead-up. The 'why' factor really didn't add up and felt rushed, and there was a lot left to be desired.
TL;DR: Good author, bad book. Needs a trigger warning.
August 6, 2013
Chasing Darkness is the first of this author's books and as of early last night - when I finished this one - I have become a dedicated fan!
Child abuse is appalling and the subject of this plot. I won't go into the synopsis as that has been done by many reviewers, but look at the effect this novel had on me.
Danielle Girard lured me into the story with the first page. I read it while waiting in the car for my husband to run errands in town and went to a meeting. I read it leaning against walls in the shopping centre, while I waited for him to buy things, get lunch for us and fill the car with fuel. Every time he came back - poor man - I felt resentful because I need to find out what happened next.
The plot was tight and scary. Every turn of the screw had me desperate for a good resolution.
Well done, Ms Girard.
January 9, 2023
what a thriller
Non-stop roller coaster ride from the beginning to the end. Well written murder mystery with twists and turns all the way to the end of the book.
Non-stop roller coaster ride from the beginning to the end. Well written murder mystery with twists and turns all the way to the end of the book.
October 15, 2024
Had to abandon this book. The graphic descriptions of a child being molested and then a man fantasising over children was too much! Absolutely unnecessary to include such graphic descriptions imo! You don't have to make this sort of thing more shocking than it is. This sort of description has to be written purely for the entertainment of perverts! No normal person wants to read it!
April 16, 2024
This story made me feel incredibly sad and depressed. The writing was well done but I just couldn’t see a way forward for the characters.
October 23, 2016
This is the third Girard police novel I've read. Like the other two unmemorably titled Adjective Noun books, this also has a vague title (albeit Verb Noun), and the plot also evokes the question as to whether there is a Mad Libs Murder Plot Edition floating around in author-space (and if there isn't, the idea is now my intellectual property and any replication is subject to litigation). This ranks as a solid 3, and I almost took points off because I cannot stand jazz music.
November 7, 2014
It's weird for me to read books that were writen yo be released in 2001. The bulk of the book takes place in June/July of 2001. It was an okay book, had an interesting plot but the killer kinda came out of left field. It's like they had an idea and realized they needed someone to actually be the killer.
September 16, 2016
After reading Exhume I was excited to go back and read earlier Girard novels. This one had potential, but I just didn't feel it on a lot of levels - felt like an early book and that she's still developing her writing style. Still planning on reading more of her.
August 7, 2015
This story includes a twist I didn't see coming until I was right on top of it.
July 21, 2019
Definitely A Psychological Thriller
Chasing Darkness was a great gas lighting, psychological thriller. Same Chase is supposed to be one of the good guys, working in law enforcement and raising her two orphaned nephews. So either she is a cold blooded murderer or she is being gas lighted.
Nick Thomas is a Detective in San Francisco who seems to care for and just after Sam Chase. The book quickly starts off with Nick calling Sam to a crime scene with the same M.O. matching a convicted murderer that died years earlier on death row. From that moment the book moves at a great pace.
The only spots I felt dragged and seemed to halt the flow of the book were the chapters written in the voice of Whittney, a seven or eight year old, annoying, brat of a child. Things are mispronounced like an uneducated child might speak, and I had to endure the prattling of a snotty girl.
Chasing Darkness was a great gas lighting, psychological thriller. Same Chase is supposed to be one of the good guys, working in law enforcement and raising her two orphaned nephews. So either she is a cold blooded murderer or she is being gas lighted.
Nick Thomas is a Detective in San Francisco who seems to care for and just after Sam Chase. The book quickly starts off with Nick calling Sam to a crime scene with the same M.O. matching a convicted murderer that died years earlier on death row. From that moment the book moves at a great pace.
The only spots I felt dragged and seemed to halt the flow of the book were the chapters written in the voice of Whittney, a seven or eight year old, annoying, brat of a child. Things are mispronounced like an uneducated child might speak, and I had to endure the prattling of a snotty girl.
June 9, 2020
Chasing baddies
There are more than one protagonist at work within Danielle's pages. Two different law enforcement agencies with two different bosses, Corona and Cintrello, with their respective agent working the case. Throw into the mix diversity, disability, copycat crimes, twins and children; she makes a valliant effort to stuff this all into her carryon luggage. I loved the idea of the destination she was jetting off to, but half the passengers were not neceasary.
It was hard to justify the motivations for some characters' behaviours. They were a little comic book in my opinion, but her bold bright coloured heros kept leaping and bounding until all the villains are all delivered wrapped in a 'spidey' web on her 'doorstep' in the end.
There are more than one protagonist at work within Danielle's pages. Two different law enforcement agencies with two different bosses, Corona and Cintrello, with their respective agent working the case. Throw into the mix diversity, disability, copycat crimes, twins and children; she makes a valliant effort to stuff this all into her carryon luggage. I loved the idea of the destination she was jetting off to, but half the passengers were not neceasary.
It was hard to justify the motivations for some characters' behaviours. They were a little comic book in my opinion, but her bold bright coloured heros kept leaping and bounding until all the villains are all delivered wrapped in a 'spidey' web on her 'doorstep' in the end.
January 7, 2024
This is an unusual murder thriller. Sam Chase, a former homicide cop, is currently a DOJ investigator specializing in abuse, mostly of women and children. This author always writes extremely detailed stories, delving deep into her character’s background, including events in their family histories, good or bad, that have shaped them into the person they are today. This novel is no different. As Sam and the people she partners with, in this case Nick Thomas, a homicide detective, dig into grisly murders searching for the culprits, more bodies begin to pile up and the clues begin to pile one on top of the other as the search intensifies. Highly recommend this very exciting novel.
September 24, 2018
The past coming to a head
As a detective she was doing her thing and being alone till one day she gets news that her sister died and she now has custody of her sister's twin boys. Not knowing what to do she makes everything the best it can be but then something weird was going on and all her old cases the people that was abusers was ending up dead and she was prime suspect, so the best to do was find the killer. This book was suspense with a little romance to the very end, and i sure wasn't ready for it to end and wanted it to continue.
As a detective she was doing her thing and being alone till one day she gets news that her sister died and she now has custody of her sister's twin boys. Not knowing what to do she makes everything the best it can be but then something weird was going on and all her old cases the people that was abusers was ending up dead and she was prime suspect, so the best to do was find the killer. This book was suspense with a little romance to the very end, and i sure wasn't ready for it to end and wanted it to continue.
March 26, 2019
Interesting read
This novel started like most thrillers, a memory, a murder, something from the past and then we're in the present. There were twists and turns throughout, however for me, Sam was a little too guarded, too naive considering what she'd lived through in her past and at times I was confused about memories taking place and whose memories they were. I would recommend Chasing Darkness, as it was entertaining. I felt this was written for a younger audience, and perhaps I'm somewhat jaded!
This novel started like most thrillers, a memory, a murder, something from the past and then we're in the present. There were twists and turns throughout, however for me, Sam was a little too guarded, too naive considering what she'd lived through in her past and at times I was confused about memories taking place and whose memories they were. I would recommend Chasing Darkness, as it was entertaining. I felt this was written for a younger audience, and perhaps I'm somewhat jaded!
May 12, 2021
Abuse, secrets and jealousy
Special Agent Sam Chase escaped an abusive childhood only to end up in a verbally abusive marriage…that was years ago. Now Sam is balancing life as a single mom to her twin nephews and all is well until it isn’t. Mothers who have abused their children are being murdered…but with the MO of a dead serial killer. The evidence points to Sam. Can Sam and her friend, Detective Nick Thomas, solve the case before her career is destroyed? I really enjoyed this story…the ending had me in tears…
Special Agent Sam Chase escaped an abusive childhood only to end up in a verbally abusive marriage…that was years ago. Now Sam is balancing life as a single mom to her twin nephews and all is well until it isn’t. Mothers who have abused their children are being murdered…but with the MO of a dead serial killer. The evidence points to Sam. Can Sam and her friend, Detective Nick Thomas, solve the case before her career is destroyed? I really enjoyed this story…the ending had me in tears…
January 27, 2018
Tough subject, good mystery.
DOJ agent Sam Chase goes after child abusers. Someone is killing the abusers. Once again Ms Girard had me racing through the pages of this mystery. Strong characters, interesting plot and subplots full of twists along with a touch of romance satisfied me to the end. Enough intrigue and tension without needless tormenting or torture of victims, too. Bonus. Be aware strong subject and descriptions of child abuse.
DOJ agent Sam Chase goes after child abusers. Someone is killing the abusers. Once again Ms Girard had me racing through the pages of this mystery. Strong characters, interesting plot and subplots full of twists along with a touch of romance satisfied me to the end. Enough intrigue and tension without needless tormenting or torture of victims, too. Bonus. Be aware strong subject and descriptions of child abuse.
January 19, 2020
Chasing Darkness
It was okay. After the death of their parents Sam’s nephews came to live with her. On top of learning how to deal with teenagers she was dealing with two murder victims and all evidence was pointing at her.
I didn’t care for the ending. Parts of this book was almost like another book she had written. I was not a fan of this book but that’s just my option.
It was okay. After the death of their parents Sam’s nephews came to live with her. On top of learning how to deal with teenagers she was dealing with two murder victims and all evidence was pointing at her.
I didn’t care for the ending. Parts of this book was almost like another book she had written. I was not a fan of this book but that’s just my option.
November 28, 2020
One of the best thrillers I've ever read
I was enthralled with this book from the moment I started reading it. Learning about Sam Chase and her past as someone is trying to destroy her at the same time. You get mystery, romance, and thriller all in the same book, what more could you ask for.
This is definitely a book I would read again.
I was enthralled with this book from the moment I started reading it. Learning about Sam Chase and her past as someone is trying to destroy her at the same time. You get mystery, romance, and thriller all in the same book, what more could you ask for.
This is definitely a book I would read again.
December 7, 2020
Mayhem
Sam had a job with the DOJ and was content with her life following her divorce.
Her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car accident leaving her as the guardian to their 8 year old twin boys. Her life is turned upside down when two murders occur. The m.o. of the murders is the same as the ones a man was executed for. Did they execute the wrong man?
Sam had a job with the DOJ and was content with her life following her divorce.
Her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car accident leaving her as the guardian to their 8 year old twin boys. Her life is turned upside down when two murders occur. The m.o. of the murders is the same as the ones a man was executed for. Did they execute the wrong man?
February 5, 2022
wow what a twist!
I love Girard’s book and was excited to lick this one up. In true form, there is a lot of mystery and plenty of things that happen making you think one way when really it’s going to turn out different than you imagined. I loved the characters, especially Sam and Nick.
I love Girard’s book and was excited to lick this one up. In true form, there is a lot of mystery and plenty of things that happen making you think one way when really it’s going to turn out different than you imagined. I loved the characters, especially Sam and Nick.
July 23, 2023
My oh my was this her best book I’ve read!!! It felt like multiple criminal minds episodes in one book. I would have NEVER guessed the ending and was convinced I knew who the perp was until the last 50 pages! She really outdid herself with this literary genius! I’m thankful to have a large stack of her books to read…I’m going to be in for a real treat!
August 22, 2023
Huge trigger warning on this one for mega child abuse (sexual). This book went into far more detail in that subject than I felt was necessary. The ending felt rushed and really didn't make sense once you discovered who the killer was. The reasons behind the killings made even less sense. No real likable characters for me. Predictable and unbelievable in so many places.
January 7, 2024
This book should absolutely have a trigger warning! EXPLICIT CHILD MOLESTATION AND RAPE!
This book is well written and I finished it in 1 day but I was very triggered (having been molested by my step-father as a young child). I would never have chosen to read or more exact listen to this audio book if I had known beforehand there would be CHILD MOLESTATION AND RAPE!
This book is well written and I finished it in 1 day but I was very triggered (having been molested by my step-father as a young child). I would never have chosen to read or more exact listen to this audio book if I had known beforehand there would be CHILD MOLESTATION AND RAPE!
December 5, 2016
Excellent read
A grab you and don't let go book right out of the gate....awesome book by an amazing author. Show stopping ending. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and ultimately, the author. Definitely a five star rating for both the book and the author!
A grab you and don't let go book right out of the gate....awesome book by an amazing author. Show stopping ending. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and ultimately, the author. Definitely a five star rating for both the book and the author!
January 22, 2018
Great book. Really good plot with a massive twist at the end. Disturbing storylines but nothing graphic. Child abusers are being killed and made to look like a previous murderers MO, who’s dead as he’s been given the death penalty. As the story unfolds the plot thickens for Sam.
July 24, 2018
Indeed taut!
Sam's anger and frustration were mine as I felt so sure the murders and strange things happening to her were related. How could it be otherwise? Anyone that loves to go beyond a surface crime will enjoy this .
Sam's anger and frustration were mine as I felt so sure the murders and strange things happening to her were related. How could it be otherwise? Anyone that loves to go beyond a surface crime will enjoy this .
February 1, 2019
Psychological Thriller
I give your books 5 stars because I read to escape and that's exactly how I feel. It is great to venture into the feelings of new relationships. I love mysteries and thrillers and you meet that craving every time....on to the next!
I give your books 5 stars because I read to escape and that's exactly how I feel. It is great to venture into the feelings of new relationships. I love mysteries and thrillers and you meet that craving every time....on to the next!
June 7, 2019
Girard really knows how to grab you from the get go. She always has complex main characters that are hard to understand or like, but they are worth peeling away the layers to find out what has made them who they are. Then add on a complex thriller and you can’t put her books down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews