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Darkest Place
An adrenaline-pumping suspense novel from the author of Beyond Fear. What if a stranger is watching you sleep – and no one believes you?Carly Townsend is starting over after a decade of tragedy and pain. In a new town and a new apartment she’s determined to leave the memories and failures of her past behind. However that dream is shattered in the dead of night when she is woken by the shadow of a man next to her bed, silently watching her. And it happens week after week.Yet there is no way an intruder could have entered the apartment. It’s on the fourth floor, the doors are locked and there is no evidence that anyone has been inside. With the police doubting her story, and her psychologist suggesting it’s all just a dream, Carly is on her own. And being alone isn’t so appealing when you’re scared to go to sleep . . .
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2016
15 people are currently reading
1620 people want to read
About the author
Jaye Ford
11 books161 followersJaye is the award winning and bestselling Australian author of five psychological thrillers. Her first novel, Beyond Fear, was the highest selling debut crime novel in Australia in 2011 and won two Davitt Awards for Best Debut and Readers’ Choice. Her books have been translated into nine languages and are now available everywhere.
Jaye loves to thrust ordinary women into extraordinary circumstances and make them dig deep to survive. Her thrillers are set in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia, where she lives (and loves to turn into crime scenes).
When she’s not writing, she’s interviewing other authors in libraries and at writers festivals, running writing masterclasses and talking to readers. Occasionally she needs a break from the dark stuff and writes romantic comedy under the pen name Janette Paul.
Before turning to fiction, Jaye was news and sport journalist, becoming the first woman to host a live national sport show on Australian TV, and later ran her own PR consultancy.
Sign up to her newsletter for a free copy of her novella Already Gone, plus giveaways, author interviews and sneak peeks of upcoming releases. https://bit.ly/2R4SRPJ
Jaye loves to thrust ordinary women into extraordinary circumstances and make them dig deep to survive. Her thrillers are set in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia, where she lives (and loves to turn into crime scenes).
When she’s not writing, she’s interviewing other authors in libraries and at writers festivals, running writing masterclasses and talking to readers. Occasionally she needs a break from the dark stuff and writes romantic comedy under the pen name Janette Paul.
Before turning to fiction, Jaye was news and sport journalist, becoming the first woman to host a live national sport show on Australian TV, and later ran her own PR consultancy.
Sign up to her newsletter for a free copy of her novella Already Gone, plus giveaways, author interviews and sneak peeks of upcoming releases. https://bit.ly/2R4SRPJ
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
December 19, 2016
One of the best things about this book was a female main character who did not wait to be rescued by a man and who frequently made logical decisions all on her own. Okay so she had problems and was not always in control but at least she did not run around doing silly things and trying to cause her own death as is often the case in this kind of crime novel. I liked that.
Jaye Ford writes well and I always enjoy her books. This one was no exception. I enjoyed the romantic interest. I liked that Carly had faith in him. The story was great and the ending was creepy and full of suspense. I read it pretty much in one day, it's that kind of book!
Ms Ford now needs to knuckle down and write some more books - please:)
Jaye Ford writes well and I always enjoy her books. This one was no exception. I enjoyed the romantic interest. I liked that Carly had faith in him. The story was great and the ending was creepy and full of suspense. I read it pretty much in one day, it's that kind of book!
Ms Ford now needs to knuckle down and write some more books - please:)
January 9, 2023
Carly Townsend is trying to get her life back together after a decade of tragedy and pain. Now in a new town and new apartment, it was time for Carly to leave the past behind her.
When Carly is woken by a shadow of a man standing next to her bed silently watching her, she is frightened and calls the police who search her apartment inside and out and find no one. Although Carly is shaken, she does her best to get on with each day that is until it happens again and again. Carly is now fearing for her life, but the puzzling thing is that there is no way an intruder could enter her apartment. Her apartment is on the fourth floor, the door is locked and there is no evidence that anyone has been inside.
After several call-outs to Carly’s apartment, the police start doubting her story, and her psychologist suggests perhaps it’s all a dream. Carly knows that someone is entering her apartment, but who and why are they targeting her?
Darkest Place by Aussie author Jaye Ford is a fast-paced read which had me intrigued from the start. But I must admit after reading the blurb I couldn’t read this at night especially before going to sleep.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who enjoys reading a good psychological thriller. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.
When Carly is woken by a shadow of a man standing next to her bed silently watching her, she is frightened and calls the police who search her apartment inside and out and find no one. Although Carly is shaken, she does her best to get on with each day that is until it happens again and again. Carly is now fearing for her life, but the puzzling thing is that there is no way an intruder could enter her apartment. Her apartment is on the fourth floor, the door is locked and there is no evidence that anyone has been inside.
After several call-outs to Carly’s apartment, the police start doubting her story, and her psychologist suggests perhaps it’s all a dream. Carly knows that someone is entering her apartment, but who and why are they targeting her?
Darkest Place by Aussie author Jaye Ford is a fast-paced read which had me intrigued from the start. But I must admit after reading the blurb I couldn’t read this at night especially before going to sleep.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who enjoys reading a good psychological thriller. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.
January 31, 2016
Wow! Jaye Ford has done it again! So very good!
Carly Townsend had only been in her new warehouse apartment for three days when she was woken in the early hours of the morning to the presence of a man, standing over her, watching her. Terrified, she immediately called the police – subsequent searches of the apartment came up empty; when it happened again a few days later, then again, the police didn’t believe her. She was attention seeking; she had a mental problem; she would be charged with public nuisance if she kept it up…
Carly had left her home town in rural New South Wales after being swamped in guilt for the past thirteen years – determined to make a new life for herself, she saw Newcastle and studies as a new beginning. She loved the apartment she’d purchased – four floors up, the views were spectacular. But the unsettling events caused a change in Carly – would she revert to the Charlotte she had been previously, cowering and unable to face anyone?
As days turned into weeks, Carly began to make friends with other residents in the block. The elderly but sweet Elizabeth, bruised and damaged Brooke and Nate her next door neighbour to name a few. But still the night time visits occurred – her locks had been changed, the security was tight; how was he getting in – or was it just a terrible dream? Carly felt the need to find out what was occurring and especially how – she knew she would get no help from the police. But what would happen as she searched for answers? Would Carly have to leave her dream apartment and start over once again? And was her life in danger?
I absolutely loved Darkest Place by Aussie author Jaye Ford; so much so that I devoured it in one day! A brilliant psychological thriller, the heart stopping moments were intense! A gripping plot that is extremely fast paced, I have no hesitation in recommending Darkest Place highly. Jaye Ford just gets better with every book; she’s an author at the top of her game!
With thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest review.
Carly Townsend had only been in her new warehouse apartment for three days when she was woken in the early hours of the morning to the presence of a man, standing over her, watching her. Terrified, she immediately called the police – subsequent searches of the apartment came up empty; when it happened again a few days later, then again, the police didn’t believe her. She was attention seeking; she had a mental problem; she would be charged with public nuisance if she kept it up…
Carly had left her home town in rural New South Wales after being swamped in guilt for the past thirteen years – determined to make a new life for herself, she saw Newcastle and studies as a new beginning. She loved the apartment she’d purchased – four floors up, the views were spectacular. But the unsettling events caused a change in Carly – would she revert to the Charlotte she had been previously, cowering and unable to face anyone?
As days turned into weeks, Carly began to make friends with other residents in the block. The elderly but sweet Elizabeth, bruised and damaged Brooke and Nate her next door neighbour to name a few. But still the night time visits occurred – her locks had been changed, the security was tight; how was he getting in – or was it just a terrible dream? Carly felt the need to find out what was occurring and especially how – she knew she would get no help from the police. But what would happen as she searched for answers? Would Carly have to leave her dream apartment and start over once again? And was her life in danger?
I absolutely loved Darkest Place by Aussie author Jaye Ford; so much so that I devoured it in one day! A brilliant psychological thriller, the heart stopping moments were intense! A gripping plot that is extremely fast paced, I have no hesitation in recommending Darkest Place highly. Jaye Ford just gets better with every book; she’s an author at the top of her game!
With thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest review.
February 13, 2016
This is one creepy psychological thriller. Imagine you have just moved away from your old life and the memories of a very bad accident some years ago to move into a stunning flat in a warehouse conversion. Now imagine that you keep waking up convinced there is a man in your room. This is what happens to Carly Townsend when she moves to Newcastle to start a new life. The police can't find any sign of an intruder or any place one could have got in and tell Carly she must be having nightmares and suggest she see a psychologist. But this doesn't stop her waking up in the dead of night and feeling that someone is in the room.
Carly loves her new home and is getting to make friends amongst the residents, especially the handsome guy next door but can she trust them all? Is someone playing a trick on her or is it just her overstimulated imagination playing up?
Jaye Ford certainly knows how to write a high tension psychological thriller. My heart was in my mouth several times as the suspense slowly wound up as Carly tried to discover the truth. An excellent and original thriller - do read it, but maybe not when you're home alone at night!
With thanks to Netgalley and Random House Australia for an ecopy of the book to read and review
February 8, 2017
4.5★
Frying pan to fire. Cliff face and climbing tragedy in the country to stalker/intruder terror in the city. After the tragedy, she’s become infamous in her hometown, and her mother is so unsupportive she tells Carly “’It’s time you thought about something else. You might never have children, you need to come to terms with that.’” Gee, thanks a lot.
I liked Carly, and I could picture her friends and how and where they live. They seem like real people with their own real back stories. People you might like to meet again. Sadly, they don’t all make it to the end of the book. (No spoilers.)
She’s moved from the country and bought a flat in a renovated warehouse complex where the ceilings are so high that changing lightbulbs is a feat of agility with a very long ladder—something that confronts her almost as soon as she moves in. And the windows are so high and enormous, she can’t cover them with curtains. Exposed. And she’s already a bundle of nerves.
“A long time ago, she’d accepted the anxiety as a passenger on board her life—fighting it had always felt like denying responsibility.”
She signs up for uni courses, meets neighbours, classmates, and hopes to hide her past. But she wakes at night with nightmares, thinking there is a man in her room, and because the police find no evidence of intrusion, they assume she needs counselling and warn her not to pester them.
“She’d come here to start again, to be someone else. Not the reckless Carly . . . and not the guilt-burdened version who’d waited thirteen years for fate to exact its punishment. Someone better, stronger and less selfish; someone worthy—but she wouldn’t find that person if she was screwed around by a scary guy sitting on her bed.”
She keeps being haunted by this guy, a shadowy figure, all in black, that she can barely make out in the dark. She feels that she wakes suddenly but can’t move, like those dreams you have where you’re somewhere and need to run but can’t. She’s pretty sure she’s awake.
“He is on top of her. All of him on all of her. The weight is suffocating. It is crushing the air from her.
Her breath is short, sharp and panting.
His is warm and wafting over her face.
She doesn’t move. She doesn’t know if she can, she just doesn’t. His bones are hard notches in her flesh. Knees, hips, ribs. Feet beside her ankles are anchoring her legs together.
He isn’t raping her. Not yet”
Her bedroom is upstairs in the loft, and she frequently finds herself stumbling around after the episodes, covered in bruises and scratches. She tells her new friends she fell down the stairs, but there is suspicion that she’s self-harming. She begins to question her own sanity.
Intriguing, page-turning story I thoroughly enjoyed. I like Ford's writing style and will enjoy finding more of her books.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advance review copy from which I've quoted.
Frying pan to fire. Cliff face and climbing tragedy in the country to stalker/intruder terror in the city. After the tragedy, she’s become infamous in her hometown, and her mother is so unsupportive she tells Carly “’It’s time you thought about something else. You might never have children, you need to come to terms with that.’” Gee, thanks a lot.
I liked Carly, and I could picture her friends and how and where they live. They seem like real people with their own real back stories. People you might like to meet again. Sadly, they don’t all make it to the end of the book. (No spoilers.)
She’s moved from the country and bought a flat in a renovated warehouse complex where the ceilings are so high that changing lightbulbs is a feat of agility with a very long ladder—something that confronts her almost as soon as she moves in. And the windows are so high and enormous, she can’t cover them with curtains. Exposed. And she’s already a bundle of nerves.
“A long time ago, she’d accepted the anxiety as a passenger on board her life—fighting it had always felt like denying responsibility.”
She signs up for uni courses, meets neighbours, classmates, and hopes to hide her past. But she wakes at night with nightmares, thinking there is a man in her room, and because the police find no evidence of intrusion, they assume she needs counselling and warn her not to pester them.
“She’d come here to start again, to be someone else. Not the reckless Carly . . . and not the guilt-burdened version who’d waited thirteen years for fate to exact its punishment. Someone better, stronger and less selfish; someone worthy—but she wouldn’t find that person if she was screwed around by a scary guy sitting on her bed.”
She keeps being haunted by this guy, a shadowy figure, all in black, that she can barely make out in the dark. She feels that she wakes suddenly but can’t move, like those dreams you have where you’re somewhere and need to run but can’t. She’s pretty sure she’s awake.
“He is on top of her. All of him on all of her. The weight is suffocating. It is crushing the air from her.
Her breath is short, sharp and panting.
His is warm and wafting over her face.
She doesn’t move. She doesn’t know if she can, she just doesn’t. His bones are hard notches in her flesh. Knees, hips, ribs. Feet beside her ankles are anchoring her legs together.
He isn’t raping her. Not yet”
Her bedroom is upstairs in the loft, and she frequently finds herself stumbling around after the episodes, covered in bruises and scratches. She tells her new friends she fell down the stairs, but there is suspicion that she’s self-harming. She begins to question her own sanity.
Intriguing, page-turning story I thoroughly enjoyed. I like Ford's writing style and will enjoy finding more of her books.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advance review copy from which I've quoted.
April 10, 2017
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Setting: Newcastle, Australia
POV: Singular, third person
Charlotte "Carly" Townsend has moved into an apartment complex in Newcastle. For her, it's a new beginning--she's hit the restart button on her old life that once covered her in guilt and shame. The thirty-three year-old divorcee settles into her new community and focuses on old personal goals she finally plans to accomplish. Carly has only lived in her new home for three days when an intruder appears.
This story was full of intrigue and amusing side characters! The narrator frustrated me along the way, too. At times, I wanted to bop Carly over the head and force her to react, especially when the intruder kept appearing and Carly became so entranced with fear that she would close her eyes and freeze up. I thought: So a man comes to your home week after week, you're deathly terrified, then you close your eyes each time and WAIT for him to leave?
Say what now?
This story was a slow burn, but it only got better with each page as the unanswered questions and suspense kept mounting! The narrator became more and more unreliable with each chapter and I loved it! The uncertainty behind who the intruder was and the anticipation of the conclusion just about burned a hole through my fingers during the last 20 percent of this story and I had to pace myself not to jump ahead. I had some questions at the end, but I enjoyed this story and the author's writing style!
Setting: Newcastle, Australia
POV: Singular, third person
Charlotte "Carly" Townsend has moved into an apartment complex in Newcastle. For her, it's a new beginning--she's hit the restart button on her old life that once covered her in guilt and shame. The thirty-three year-old divorcee settles into her new community and focuses on old personal goals she finally plans to accomplish. Carly has only lived in her new home for three days when an intruder appears.
This story was full of intrigue and amusing side characters! The narrator frustrated me along the way, too. At times, I wanted to bop Carly over the head and force her to react, especially when the intruder kept appearing and Carly became so entranced with fear that she would close her eyes and freeze up. I thought: So a man comes to your home week after week, you're deathly terrified, then you close your eyes each time and WAIT for him to leave?
Say what now?
This story was a slow burn, but it only got better with each page as the unanswered questions and suspense kept mounting! The narrator became more and more unreliable with each chapter and I loved it! The uncertainty behind who the intruder was and the anticipation of the conclusion just about burned a hole through my fingers during the last 20 percent of this story and I had to pace myself not to jump ahead. I had some questions at the end, but I enjoyed this story and the author's writing style!
October 28, 2021
Wow this is a physiological thriller that will keep readers turning the pages, twists and turns had me wondering right till the end, the very suspenseful end, I really felt for Carly she has been through so much and then to have this happen it is enough to send anyone around the twist, I do hope you pick this one up it is a great read.
Carly Townsend has spent the last thirteen years thinking about all that has happened to her but now it is time to start fresh a new Carly, move where no one knows her and start over again. She has bought a beautiful apartment in and old renovated warehouse building, started a course at Tafe and is feeling good, that is until three days after moving in she wakes to find a man standing over her bed.
Carly calls the police and after a search they find that there is no way anyone has come in but when it happens a week later and this time he is touching her, when the police arrive and again find nothing after a third time the police tell Carly that she will be charged with mischief if she calls them again. What is happening to her is she going mad after talking to a physiologist he suggests a sleeping disorder and to try sleeping pills.
Carly is making friends with her new neighbours but still she is waking with such terror with a man in her apartment, she has changed the locks put chains on, can it really be a terrible nightmare, Carly decides that she is strong and is going to get to the bottom of this even if it is the last thing she does and with help from her neighbour Nate who she is forming a relationship with she unravels the mystery in a suspense filled story that had me on the edge of my seat and gasping for breath.
This is a fabulous story one that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a lot of suspense and lots of twists and turns and a fabulous strong heroine, Carly was so good she showed courage beyond courage to do what she did and I really loved Nate as well such a supportive hero.
My thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
Carly Townsend has spent the last thirteen years thinking about all that has happened to her but now it is time to start fresh a new Carly, move where no one knows her and start over again. She has bought a beautiful apartment in and old renovated warehouse building, started a course at Tafe and is feeling good, that is until three days after moving in she wakes to find a man standing over her bed.
Carly calls the police and after a search they find that there is no way anyone has come in but when it happens a week later and this time he is touching her, when the police arrive and again find nothing after a third time the police tell Carly that she will be charged with mischief if she calls them again. What is happening to her is she going mad after talking to a physiologist he suggests a sleeping disorder and to try sleeping pills.
Carly is making friends with her new neighbours but still she is waking with such terror with a man in her apartment, she has changed the locks put chains on, can it really be a terrible nightmare, Carly decides that she is strong and is going to get to the bottom of this even if it is the last thing she does and with help from her neighbour Nate who she is forming a relationship with she unravels the mystery in a suspense filled story that had me on the edge of my seat and gasping for breath.
This is a fabulous story one that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a lot of suspense and lots of twists and turns and a fabulous strong heroine, Carly was so good she showed courage beyond courage to do what she did and I really loved Nate as well such a supportive hero.
My thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
February 2, 2016
GRIPPING!
My View:
Gripping! Thrilling! Compulsive reading.
I loved this read from the very first page! This book should come with a warning; “If you start reading this book be prepared to ignore everything else in your world.” “Danger! Danger! Compulsive read ahead.”
This is a brilliant example of domestic noir and the unreliable narrator. I loved every word on every page. Just one problem – now I have finished reading there is a long wait till the next book arrives from this brilliant author. How fast can you write Jaye Ford?
My View:
Gripping! Thrilling! Compulsive reading.
I loved this read from the very first page! This book should come with a warning; “If you start reading this book be prepared to ignore everything else in your world.” “Danger! Danger! Compulsive read ahead.”
This is a brilliant example of domestic noir and the unreliable narrator. I loved every word on every page. Just one problem – now I have finished reading there is a long wait till the next book arrives from this brilliant author. How fast can you write Jaye Ford?
October 25, 2021
Wow! What A Page Turner!
Darkest Place is the 4th book I have read by award winning and best selling Australian author Jaye Ford. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every book!
The author writes about ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances and their will to survive.
To escape the tragedy from her past Carly moves to a modern warehouse apartment in a new city. But all is not well when she awakens to see the silhouette of a man standing over her bed. The police arrive to find no one there and no evidence of a break-in. As this continuously happens the police begin to doubt her story and Carly begins to doubt her sanity.
With many twists and turns involved and many interesting characters living in the same building (to keep you guessing) Carly has to determine whether she is losing her mind or is someone terrorizing her.
A tense and gripping thriller!
Thank you to Jaye Ford for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Darkest Place is the 4th book I have read by award winning and best selling Australian author Jaye Ford. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every book!
The author writes about ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances and their will to survive.
To escape the tragedy from her past Carly moves to a modern warehouse apartment in a new city. But all is not well when she awakens to see the silhouette of a man standing over her bed. The police arrive to find no one there and no evidence of a break-in. As this continuously happens the police begin to doubt her story and Carly begins to doubt her sanity.
With many twists and turns involved and many interesting characters living in the same building (to keep you guessing) Carly has to determine whether she is losing her mind or is someone terrorizing her.
A tense and gripping thriller!
Thank you to Jaye Ford for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
October 17, 2021
Firstly I would like to Thank the author Jaye Ford for a copy of her book to read.I found this book differcult to review as the first half of this book was fantastic, I was totally gripped. Then the middle started to get repetitive,and the rest of the book was an okay read.The story starts Charlotte known as Carly moved into an apartment something in her past haunted her,she wanted a fresh start.she got to know her neighbour's and joined a book club.An older lady was a great character in this book.She was in her apartment for a few days when an intruder in the middle of the night.she called the police after this happened a few times the police wasnt convinced there was an intruder there was no evidence. Was she telling the truth? Or is her mind playing tricks? This book is worth the read if you like a Thriller.
August 6, 2019
Aussie author Jaye Ford is brilliant! Wow! What a great book!
Carly Townsend has just moved away from 13 years of grief and sorrow to a new city and a brand new apartment. She's hoping the physical change will give her a chance to move forward emotionally start her life anew. She's been in her new apartment less than a week when she wakes and sees the shadow of a figure standing over her bed in the dark of night. The police convince her that she may not have secured the front door properly. Now, the figure reappears over and over again, each time getting closer and closer. He's laying on top of her, she can feel his body, his muscles, his breath on her face, his hands on her neck......
The police have come in the beginning but now are threatening to charge her with public mischief if she continues to call.
Carly is in a continuous struggle between validating what feels real and what the evidence proves is/isn't real. The problem? IS Carly crazy?? Or..... IS something truly terrifying happening and it's very, very real.
I own three other novels by Jaye Ford. Already Dead, Beyond Fear, and Scared Yet? which is currently on it's way to me in the post. And I can't wait to read them all!
Carly Townsend has just moved away from 13 years of grief and sorrow to a new city and a brand new apartment. She's hoping the physical change will give her a chance to move forward emotionally start her life anew. She's been in her new apartment less than a week when she wakes and sees the shadow of a figure standing over her bed in the dark of night. The police convince her that she may not have secured the front door properly. Now, the figure reappears over and over again, each time getting closer and closer. He's laying on top of her, she can feel his body, his muscles, his breath on her face, his hands on her neck......
The police have come in the beginning but now are threatening to charge her with public mischief if she continues to call.
Carly is in a continuous struggle between validating what feels real and what the evidence proves is/isn't real. The problem? IS Carly crazy?? Or..... IS something truly terrifying happening and it's very, very real.
I own three other novels by Jaye Ford. Already Dead, Beyond Fear, and Scared Yet? which is currently on it's way to me in the post. And I can't wait to read them all!
March 16, 2016
*Possible spoilers*
I did enjoy this latest thriller from Jaye Forde and found it hard to put down in so much as I kept waiting for the terrifying bits to terrify me some more ...... however, dare I say that, as scary as it did get, it never really brought me to the levels of "edge-of-your-seat" fear that Already Deaddid.
I think it had all the potential to be that way, but just fell short through missed opportunities.
I have to say that I think the story would have greatly benefited with a bit more attention to detail, and I believe it already has all the elements to be a real nail biter, but it just seemed to be missing a few of the connections to those elements and at times went a bit needlessly flat.
I felt there were plenty of well established clues that could have been explored in more convincing detail, such as historical facts which would have added to the overall building of suspense and given a bit more credibility to the characters, making it harder to guess at the culprit/s.
I wasn't convinced with the efforts, or seeming lack of interest from the police right from the start, it was as if they had already written the victim off as a nut case from the outset.
Likewise with the other tenants in the building who all had well crafted characters but not much of their histories were revealed or alluded to, which could have added some meaningful allure.
It was still a very good read and held me captive, and I will definitely be looking out for the next one.
4★s
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.
February 15, 2016
I should have known better, being familiar with Jaye Ford's previous novels. I picked up Darkest Place at 2am to read a few pages before bed and didn't put it down til I finished the last page, just minutes before my husband's alarm woke him for work at 5am.
After enduring years of guilt, heartbreak, and regret, Charlotte Townsend has finally found the strength to leave her past behind. In a new town, with a new apartment, and a new name, Carly has enrolled in college and is looking towards her future, but three days into her new life she wakes to find a stranger in her bedroom. When the police answer Carly's call for help, they find no sign of the man and assure her it was likely a crime of opportunity. Though shaken by the intrusion Carly refuses to let the incident destroy her fledgling confidence...until then it happens again, and then again.
Darkest Place is an absorbing tale of psychological suspense. The tension builds slowly, gathering momentum until you realise you are holding your breath in anxious anticipation.
"She wants to scream. It’s building in her chest. Trapped there, scratching at her lungs as though her ribs are the bars holding it back. She hears breathing. Not her own. Deep and unhurried. It whispers across her face like a warm cloth. It turns her skin to ice. She lashes out. Hits, twists, kicks. She sees it in her mind, feels it in her muscles. But it doesn’t happen. She doesn’t move. Neither does he. She sees him now. A shape in the darkness. Above her, black and motionless. He is watching. She watches back. Fear roaring through her bones, pulse thumping in her ears. Her voice is wedged in her throat now and choking her. No. Something else is squeezing, pushing down, making blood pound in her face. Warm hand, hard fingers. She doesn’t want to see. Doesn’t want to feel. She shuts her eyes. Waits. "
Carly is a complex character, and given her emotionally fragility, I was never quite sure if I could trust her perception of events as the story progressed. The police certainly have their doubts about the reliability of her reports, and Carly's psychiatrist offers a rational opinion that could explain her experiences, but I was sympathetic to her distress.
"She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Hair a mess, face tear-stained. Dark-ringed, pale, wild-eyed. And she spun away, the image burned onto her retinas. Distraught, panicked, confused. She looked like Charlotte. No, worse than that. She looked crazy."
I have to admit I was ambivalent about the ending, though it works within the context of character and story, I didn't find it wholly satisfying, though I can't really reveal why I feel that way without the risk of spoilers. Nevertheless, there is closure and a sense of triumph and hope.
Darkest Place is Ford's fifth novel and I would say her best to date. Clever, thrilling and gripping.
February 4, 2016
How brilliant is Jaye Ford's new thriller!
I loved everything about this book.
Carly has made the move to Newcastle after 13 years of being in traumatic limbo in her home town 'out west'. Eager to start a new life standing on her own two feet, she buys an apartment in a old converted warehouse.
After her third night there, she has an intruder during the night. The police are called but there is nothing to show of a break in. These break ins start to happen regularly, being scared stiff she is passive when they occur but over time she notices scratches and bruises on her body. After the police are called to the third break without any evidence of an intruder, the police start to label her a nuisance caller...is she really going mad?
We are teasingly given glimpses of Carly's past life, enough to make us question everything. Flawed characters with hidden pasts and definite elements of romantic suspense that had me on the edge of my seat. Really......who could Carly trust?
I think I agree with a couple of other reviewers, that Jaye Ford's writing gets better with each book. I'm looking forward to the next one already!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I loved everything about this book.
Carly has made the move to Newcastle after 13 years of being in traumatic limbo in her home town 'out west'. Eager to start a new life standing on her own two feet, she buys an apartment in a old converted warehouse.
After her third night there, she has an intruder during the night. The police are called but there is nothing to show of a break in. These break ins start to happen regularly, being scared stiff she is passive when they occur but over time she notices scratches and bruises on her body. After the police are called to the third break without any evidence of an intruder, the police start to label her a nuisance caller...is she really going mad?
We are teasingly given glimpses of Carly's past life, enough to make us question everything. Flawed characters with hidden pasts and definite elements of romantic suspense that had me on the edge of my seat. Really......who could Carly trust?
I think I agree with a couple of other reviewers, that Jaye Ford's writing gets better with each book. I'm looking forward to the next one already!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
November 5, 2021
4.25 stars Thanks to author Jaye Ford for allowing me to read and review her book. Book released in the United States on October 20. 2021.
With the excellent touch of her pen this author developed a great thriller. Jaye Ford is one of my favorite all time thriller writers. Her stories are believable, scary and nightmarish, but not unimaginable. This is the third book I have read by Ford and am looking forward to her future work.
Speaking of nightmarish, this book takes you on a journey with Carly Townsend and her nightmares. But is it really a nightmare or is it real? Waking up thinking there is a man in your bedroom is hellish enough in itself, but then believing that you may be going crazy is an all together new concept. Once the police no longer believe you, where do you turn? Who do you trust?
Take this crazy ride with Carly and then settle down alone in your covers at night. Just how soon will sleep take you away? Good luck...
With the excellent touch of her pen this author developed a great thriller. Jaye Ford is one of my favorite all time thriller writers. Her stories are believable, scary and nightmarish, but not unimaginable. This is the third book I have read by Ford and am looking forward to her future work.
Speaking of nightmarish, this book takes you on a journey with Carly Townsend and her nightmares. But is it really a nightmare or is it real? Waking up thinking there is a man in your bedroom is hellish enough in itself, but then believing that you may be going crazy is an all together new concept. Once the police no longer believe you, where do you turn? Who do you trust?
Take this crazy ride with Carly and then settle down alone in your covers at night. Just how soon will sleep take you away? Good luck...
October 21, 2021
DARKEST PLACE is the fourth stand-alone psychological mystery/thriller novel and fifth novel to date by Australian best-selling author Jaye Ford.
Her first book, Beyond Fear, was the highest selling debut crime novel in Australia in 2011.
Her second novel, Scared Yest? Was released in Australia in 2012.
Her third novel, Blood Secret was released in 2013.
Novels
Beyond Fear (2011)
Scared Yet (2012)
Blood Secret (2013)
Already Dead (2015)
Darkest Place (2016)
This is the review of Darkest Place.
“What if a stranger is watching you sleep-and no one believes you?”
After a traumatic event and the breakdown of her marriage, Charlotte Townsend (Carly) decides to move to the city into an apartment, in a converted warehouse in Newcastle, and put the past behind her. There Carly meets some of the other residents of the apartment building, and now welcomes a fresh new start.
Then one night, Carly is woken by a man standing next to her bed, silently watching her. Yet there is no way an intruder could have entered the apartment.
Terrified, Carly calls the police, but despite an intense search of her apartment they cannot find any sign of illegal entry. Carly makes sure that her doors and windows are locked at all times, and installs a security chain on the door for extra protection. But a few nights later the intruder appears again and then again.
Without evidence, Carly’s credibility is at question, the police doubting her story and her psychologist suggesting it's just a dream, Carly is on her own. But being alone isn't so appealing when you're scared to go to sleep....
Darkest Place is a creepy read an absorbing story of psychological suspense. The suspense level builds slowly, with information being released on a need-to-know basis thereby increasing the
This was a well-written gripping psychological suspense novel with an intriguing plot, well- drawn characters, featuring a complex main character, Charlotte Townsend, who narrates the novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good suspense story.
Many thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy.
Her first book, Beyond Fear, was the highest selling debut crime novel in Australia in 2011.
Her second novel, Scared Yest? Was released in Australia in 2012.
Her third novel, Blood Secret was released in 2013.
Novels
Beyond Fear (2011)
Scared Yet (2012)
Blood Secret (2013)
Already Dead (2015)
Darkest Place (2016)
This is the review of Darkest Place.
“What if a stranger is watching you sleep-and no one believes you?”
After a traumatic event and the breakdown of her marriage, Charlotte Townsend (Carly) decides to move to the city into an apartment, in a converted warehouse in Newcastle, and put the past behind her. There Carly meets some of the other residents of the apartment building, and now welcomes a fresh new start.
Then one night, Carly is woken by a man standing next to her bed, silently watching her. Yet there is no way an intruder could have entered the apartment.
Terrified, Carly calls the police, but despite an intense search of her apartment they cannot find any sign of illegal entry. Carly makes sure that her doors and windows are locked at all times, and installs a security chain on the door for extra protection. But a few nights later the intruder appears again and then again.
Without evidence, Carly’s credibility is at question, the police doubting her story and her psychologist suggesting it's just a dream, Carly is on her own. But being alone isn't so appealing when you're scared to go to sleep....
Darkest Place is a creepy read an absorbing story of psychological suspense. The suspense level builds slowly, with information being released on a need-to-know basis thereby increasing the
This was a well-written gripping psychological suspense novel with an intriguing plot, well- drawn characters, featuring a complex main character, Charlotte Townsend, who narrates the novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good suspense story.
Many thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy.
January 6, 2019
3.5 stars.
Carly Townsend has moved to Newcastle for a new start after some traumatic events in her past. She buys an apartment in a pleasant warehouse renovation complex and enrols in a TAFE course. She is meeting some interesting people who also live in the warehouse development and things are good until one night she senses a strange man in her room staring down at her. The police respond quickly but cannot find any way an intruder could have entered the apartment. A week later it happens again but this time he lies on top of her. She is paralysed with fear. The police come again, same result. No way someone could have got in. By the third time she is told she will be charged with wasting police time if she calls again. But the nighttime visitations continue and Carly is terrified. And how did she get those bruises oner arm and around her throat?
One of her neighbours, Nate, an oil rig worker who is currently off work with a dodgy knee befriends Carly and tries to look out for her but she becomes suspicious of him as he always seems to be ready to help just after one of her visitations. Naturally the explanation is far more bizarre. Who would have thunk it?
I marked it down because it lagged in the middle. I know authors like to convey just how distraught their characters are at times but when its so repetitious and overdone I lose interest. Dear authors I am not stupid. If you tell me a character is quaking in their boots with fear I will believe you. You don't have to remind me every couple of pages. The same goes for the mothers of missing children. I get it, they are distraught. So, a good plot that could have been a bit tauter but overall - good reading.
Carly Townsend has moved to Newcastle for a new start after some traumatic events in her past. She buys an apartment in a pleasant warehouse renovation complex and enrols in a TAFE course. She is meeting some interesting people who also live in the warehouse development and things are good until one night she senses a strange man in her room staring down at her. The police respond quickly but cannot find any way an intruder could have entered the apartment. A week later it happens again but this time he lies on top of her. She is paralysed with fear. The police come again, same result. No way someone could have got in. By the third time she is told she will be charged with wasting police time if she calls again. But the nighttime visitations continue and Carly is terrified. And how did she get those bruises oner arm and around her throat?
One of her neighbours, Nate, an oil rig worker who is currently off work with a dodgy knee befriends Carly and tries to look out for her but she becomes suspicious of him as he always seems to be ready to help just after one of her visitations. Naturally the explanation is far more bizarre. Who would have thunk it?
I marked it down because it lagged in the middle. I know authors like to convey just how distraught their characters are at times but when its so repetitious and overdone I lose interest. Dear authors I am not stupid. If you tell me a character is quaking in their boots with fear I will believe you. You don't have to remind me every couple of pages. The same goes for the mothers of missing children. I get it, they are distraught. So, a good plot that could have been a bit tauter but overall - good reading.
February 19, 2016
This is the 3rd book I have read by Jayne and like the others it was brilliant.
Carly has moved to her new home to start a new life hoping to leave all her tragedies behind.
She buys an apartment in a converted warehouse.After a few nights in her new home she has an intruder in her bedroom he doesn't do much just lies on top of her and she can not move.She calls the police but there is nothing to find all the doors and windows are still locked, the intruder starts to come on a regular basis but it is always the same nothing to say he has been there, after calling the police out 3 times she is told if she does it again she will be charged for wasting police time.
Her next door neighbour hears her in the night and tries to help her but can she trust him?
Her locks have been changed but still he comes is Carly just dreaming but there are bruises and scratches on her body would Carly revert to Charlotte she had been before cowering or will she try to find out what is going on.
We are given glimpses into carly's past life when she was charlotte and what happened there.
What a brilliant book a solid five stars hope her next book is not to long coming I love this Author.
Thank you Netgalley Jaye ford and the publisher for a chance to read this book.
Carly has moved to her new home to start a new life hoping to leave all her tragedies behind.
She buys an apartment in a converted warehouse.After a few nights in her new home she has an intruder in her bedroom he doesn't do much just lies on top of her and she can not move.She calls the police but there is nothing to find all the doors and windows are still locked, the intruder starts to come on a regular basis but it is always the same nothing to say he has been there, after calling the police out 3 times she is told if she does it again she will be charged for wasting police time.
Her next door neighbour hears her in the night and tries to help her but can she trust him?
Her locks have been changed but still he comes is Carly just dreaming but there are bruises and scratches on her body would Carly revert to Charlotte she had been before cowering or will she try to find out what is going on.
We are given glimpses into carly's past life when she was charlotte and what happened there.
What a brilliant book a solid five stars hope her next book is not to long coming I love this Author.
Thank you Netgalley Jaye ford and the publisher for a chance to read this book.
November 15, 2019
Darkest Place is about how you can have a second chance of happiness after tragedy. Carly Townsend decides to leave her home town and move to Newcastle to study. Carly found an excellent apartment in a warehouse complex, and her life was finally getting better. However, that was not the case. Early one morning, Carly found a man in her bedroom, and when she called the police, they did not believe her. The readers of Darkest Place will continue to follow Carly and the twist and turns to find out what happens.
I enjoyed reading books by Jaye Ford, and Darkest Place did not disappoint. Jaye Ford did an excellent job of portraying her characters and the way they intertwine with each other throughout this book. Darkest Place is well written and researched by Jaye Ford. I like the way Jaye Ford describes her settings and the way they complement the plot of Darkest Place.
The readers of Darkest Place will learn about the dangers and the consequences of stalking and for everyone who is involved. Also, the readers of Darkest Place will learn the procedures and the role of a caretaker in an apartment complex.
I recommend this book.
I enjoyed reading books by Jaye Ford, and Darkest Place did not disappoint. Jaye Ford did an excellent job of portraying her characters and the way they intertwine with each other throughout this book. Darkest Place is well written and researched by Jaye Ford. I like the way Jaye Ford describes her settings and the way they complement the plot of Darkest Place.
The readers of Darkest Place will learn about the dangers and the consequences of stalking and for everyone who is involved. Also, the readers of Darkest Place will learn the procedures and the role of a caretaker in an apartment complex.
I recommend this book.
March 13, 2016
What if you kept waking up at night, paralyzed with fear and knowing there is someone in your room? Someone standing over you? Someone touching you?
Is it real or, as the police try to convince her, a cry for help from a disturbed mind?
Carly doesn't know who to trust - and that includes herself.
Talk about a page turner that will keep you up all night - and not just while you're reading! I've loved every other book Jaye Ford has written, but I think this is the best yet. I loved that it's set in an area local to me so I could really picture the scene - even down to the apartment block Carly lived in. I could not put this book down once I started reading, and flew through it, needing to get to the end and find out the truth. The ending, while unexpected in some ways, suited the character of Carly as she grew and regained her strength.
Thoroughly recommend and have already done so!
Is it real or, as the police try to convince her, a cry for help from a disturbed mind?
Carly doesn't know who to trust - and that includes herself.
Talk about a page turner that will keep you up all night - and not just while you're reading! I've loved every other book Jaye Ford has written, but I think this is the best yet. I loved that it's set in an area local to me so I could really picture the scene - even down to the apartment block Carly lived in. I could not put this book down once I started reading, and flew through it, needing to get to the end and find out the truth. The ending, while unexpected in some ways, suited the character of Carly as she grew and regained her strength.
Thoroughly recommend and have already done so!
January 31, 2016
Lock your door, pour a glass of wine and turn the phone to silent. A racey read with all Ford's usual ingredients; flawed heroine, hunky male who may or may not be the hero, a past that needs to be escaped, police that can't find a break in so maybe its all in her mind...
February 21, 2017
It's finally done! Good riddance! So bad and no thrilling aspect at all. Can't believe the ratings it had received. It dragged and drained it.
April 18, 2016
Jaye Ford has been on my to-read list for a long time, and I was very excited to receive a free copy of her latest novel from the publisher – and it did not disappoint!
After the tragic death of her friends in a climbing accident and the breakdown of her marriage, Charlotte Townsend finds the burden of guilt and grief too much to bear and decides to move to the city to leave her sad past behind. Reinventing herself as “Carly” she buys a new funky apartment in a converted warehouse and enrols in a TAFE course with the intention of reconnecting to her younger, confident self. The first days in her new home are wonderful – as Carly meets some of the other residents of the apartment building, she feels for the first time in years that she is not burdened by her past. Perhaps there is hope for the future yet?
On the third night in her new home, Carly wakes in the middle of the night to the presence of an intruder in her room. The dark silhouette of a man is sitting on the side of her bed, gently stroking her, his breath touching her skin whilst she feels pinned to the bed, unable to move. Terrified, Carly calls the police, but despite an intense search of her apartment they cannot find any sign of illegal entry. Shaken, Carly is determined not to let the incident shatter her new found confidence. She makes sure that her doors and windows are locked at all times, and installs a security chain on the door for extra protection. But a few nights later the intruder appears again – and again. Without evidence, Carly’s credibility is questioned, until she can no longer trust anyone around her – including her own sanity.
Ford is a master of building suspense – once I picked up the book I could not put it down, which made for very little sleep! I loved the balance of suspense, drama and romance, which worked very well in this context. With well-drawn characters, each one coming with a complex and somewhat murky past, the shadow of suspicion falls heavily on many of them throughout the story’s progression, most of all on Carly herself. Can the reader really trust her account of events, given her fragile psyche?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good suspense story – especially one with an Australian setting. A couple of elements in the ending did not quite work for me, but as a whole these minor quibbles did not dampen the enjoyment of reading this book to the end. One of my favourite reads this year so far.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
http://butbooksarebetter.blogspot.com...
After the tragic death of her friends in a climbing accident and the breakdown of her marriage, Charlotte Townsend finds the burden of guilt and grief too much to bear and decides to move to the city to leave her sad past behind. Reinventing herself as “Carly” she buys a new funky apartment in a converted warehouse and enrols in a TAFE course with the intention of reconnecting to her younger, confident self. The first days in her new home are wonderful – as Carly meets some of the other residents of the apartment building, she feels for the first time in years that she is not burdened by her past. Perhaps there is hope for the future yet?
On the third night in her new home, Carly wakes in the middle of the night to the presence of an intruder in her room. The dark silhouette of a man is sitting on the side of her bed, gently stroking her, his breath touching her skin whilst she feels pinned to the bed, unable to move. Terrified, Carly calls the police, but despite an intense search of her apartment they cannot find any sign of illegal entry. Shaken, Carly is determined not to let the incident shatter her new found confidence. She makes sure that her doors and windows are locked at all times, and installs a security chain on the door for extra protection. But a few nights later the intruder appears again – and again. Without evidence, Carly’s credibility is questioned, until she can no longer trust anyone around her – including her own sanity.
Ford is a master of building suspense – once I picked up the book I could not put it down, which made for very little sleep! I loved the balance of suspense, drama and romance, which worked very well in this context. With well-drawn characters, each one coming with a complex and somewhat murky past, the shadow of suspicion falls heavily on many of them throughout the story’s progression, most of all on Carly herself. Can the reader really trust her account of events, given her fragile psyche?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good suspense story – especially one with an Australian setting. A couple of elements in the ending did not quite work for me, but as a whole these minor quibbles did not dampen the enjoyment of reading this book to the end. One of my favourite reads this year so far.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
http://butbooksarebetter.blogspot.com...
August 11, 2021
Man, that dragged on!
December 15, 2016
Darkest Place is Australian thriller writer Jaye Ford’s fifth book of stand-alones involving women under threat who are definitely not victims. Review at Newtown Review of Books
March 1, 2016
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, it's pitch black but you could have sworn there was someone in your room? Now what if that kept happening.... and there was someone actually there? What if no one believed you? That what if - well it just became Carly's reality.
Carly Townsend has only recently moved into her new warehouse apartment in Wickham, Newcastle. New to area she knows no one, and that's precisely why she chose the area. You see, Carly Townsend's life has been anything but easy, and everyone needs a break from prying eyes and haunting pasts once in awhile. So Carly brought an apartment in a suburb she knew nothing about believing it was her chance to escape a little, get her life back on track and learn to live again. And it does for a while, until it all goes horribly wrong. One night, not too long after moving in, Carly wakes in the middle of the night with the distinct feeling that someone is in her apartment. But not just in her living space, but standing over her while she sleeps. Terrified she calls the cops, like any sane person would do, and so the story begins.
I can pretty much sum up this book in two words: terrifyingly addictive. If you've seen my social media pages, or the blog, you know I went crazy about this book. Not only is it a captivating and addictive read that has you racing to turn the pages, but there is this lingering and eerie sense of unease that follows the reader throughout the novel. You never know who to trust, or where to look. I broke out in goosebumps on multiple occasions while reading the narrative. I also wanted to sleep with the light on!
In many ways this book is terrifying in just how mundane and common the fear is and crime could be. We've all woken up at some point during our lives swearing that there was someone in our room - at the foot of our bed, behind the door, etc -, that simply wasn't there. We've all experienced adrenaline pumping so fast through our body that we simply can't decide whether to run or stay as still as a statue in the hope that they might just leave. We've all turned the light on at least once. Some of us - myself included - have even left the light on. We also all know just how irrational the fear is, and that in most cases in reality there is nothing there other than an overworked and over-active imagination. I know mine is the worst. But what makes the narrative even more terrifying is the added dimension that Carly can feel the stranger's breath in her ear, and feel their body pressed up alongside hers. What's more, the night-time freak outs become more and more frequent over time, and to make matters worse, with each visit, less and less people start to believe the 'crazy new girl' with the wild imagination. So now not only is the narrative terrifying in the way that it could happen to any of us on any of these occasions, but its now just damn plain creepy and disturbing with the physical aspects!
This evoking of terror and the concept of just how common this fear and possibility could just be, makes this novel even more addictive to read. Because now not only is the story fast paced, snappy and a little unnerving, but we know exactly what Carly is going through due to our own experiences and can't imagine what it is like to live it day in and day out. I mean your home is supposed to be 'your place', that one spot where you can come home to and relax and veg out and just be who you are. It's where you feel most secure. It's where you feel safe. But when the recurring events that Carly faces keep happening, you can't help but wonder what it is that made her stay. Before you know it, you are so invested in getting Carly out of their alive and to prove what is happening to her isn't simply in her head, that your racing through the book accusing character's left, right and centre and screaming at Carly to run the other way from particular people.... who may or may not end up to be real or the bad 'person'.
Given the thriller aspects and criminal nature of this fear (and the narrative) it doesn't take the reader long to become suspicious of everyone around Carly. Quite early on in the novel, I found myself questioning the motives of other characters including her neighbours and the police investigating the intrusions. But when Carly's painful and traumatic past is brought to life (and this isn't a spoiler because it happens right at the beginning) I couldn't help but start to question Carly. Given her past, and the constant night time visits, the police findings and the pure context and situation of the crime, I started to wonder if Carly really was the most reliable narrator? Or was there something deeper psychologically going on there with her and her surrounds. Of course that just meant I started analysing everyone around Carly and her actions even more and it made myself question what would I do, should I ever find myself in the same situation. To be honest, I still don't really know the answer to that.
As far as characterisation goes, I think Jaye Ford really nailed every aspect of the characters in this book. Carly/Charlotte Townsend was a complex character who almost had two split identities. Charlotte of the old - a bright bubbly young adult devastated by the mistakes of the past and now the classic damsel-in-distress heroine - Vs Carly - a strong female lead who despite being frightened, traumatised and almost out of her mind with fear, won't take what is happening to her (real or imagined) sitting down. It's Carly that fights back despite the inner Charlotte wanting to sit down and cry and wait for the narrative's hero to come and sweep her off her feet and save her. In some ways, it's this split character and the underlying wavering question of what is and isn't real that heightens the narrative and makes the whole incident and situation so much more suspect, and suspenseful. I also loved the inverting of character type casting and typical narratives from where the male hero is the one expected to save the heroine from the big bad world. Without giving too much away, I loved the fact that when one of the two got badly hurt, it wasn't Carly who was laid up helpless and out of options.
Overall, Darkest Place is a thrilling and terrifyingly addicted narrative that is sure to stop you in your tracks and make you re-evaluate your preconceived ideals. There's also a chance you will never look at a darkened room the same again.
Ideal for fans of the crime thriller genre and anyone who loves a good fast paced, snappy read that will leave you second guessing everyone and trusting no one. Oddly enough (despite it not being a psychological thriller) I believe fans of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and SJ Watson's Before I Go To Sleep would enjoy this novel for its thriller complexities without some of the more nasty, over the top elements that dominate those books (particular the former one). It's almost like a pared back, Australian crime version that still has plenty of substance and content to keep the reader on their toes. Or in this book's case, sleeping with one eye open...
This review was originally posted on my blog The Never Ending Bookshelf on 1/3/2016 and can be found here: http://wp.me/p3yY1u-No
Carly Townsend has only recently moved into her new warehouse apartment in Wickham, Newcastle. New to area she knows no one, and that's precisely why she chose the area. You see, Carly Townsend's life has been anything but easy, and everyone needs a break from prying eyes and haunting pasts once in awhile. So Carly brought an apartment in a suburb she knew nothing about believing it was her chance to escape a little, get her life back on track and learn to live again. And it does for a while, until it all goes horribly wrong. One night, not too long after moving in, Carly wakes in the middle of the night with the distinct feeling that someone is in her apartment. But not just in her living space, but standing over her while she sleeps. Terrified she calls the cops, like any sane person would do, and so the story begins.
I can pretty much sum up this book in two words: terrifyingly addictive. If you've seen my social media pages, or the blog, you know I went crazy about this book. Not only is it a captivating and addictive read that has you racing to turn the pages, but there is this lingering and eerie sense of unease that follows the reader throughout the novel. You never know who to trust, or where to look. I broke out in goosebumps on multiple occasions while reading the narrative. I also wanted to sleep with the light on!
In many ways this book is terrifying in just how mundane and common the fear is and crime could be. We've all woken up at some point during our lives swearing that there was someone in our room - at the foot of our bed, behind the door, etc -, that simply wasn't there. We've all experienced adrenaline pumping so fast through our body that we simply can't decide whether to run or stay as still as a statue in the hope that they might just leave. We've all turned the light on at least once. Some of us - myself included - have even left the light on. We also all know just how irrational the fear is, and that in most cases in reality there is nothing there other than an overworked and over-active imagination. I know mine is the worst. But what makes the narrative even more terrifying is the added dimension that Carly can feel the stranger's breath in her ear, and feel their body pressed up alongside hers. What's more, the night-time freak outs become more and more frequent over time, and to make matters worse, with each visit, less and less people start to believe the 'crazy new girl' with the wild imagination. So now not only is the narrative terrifying in the way that it could happen to any of us on any of these occasions, but its now just damn plain creepy and disturbing with the physical aspects!
This evoking of terror and the concept of just how common this fear and possibility could just be, makes this novel even more addictive to read. Because now not only is the story fast paced, snappy and a little unnerving, but we know exactly what Carly is going through due to our own experiences and can't imagine what it is like to live it day in and day out. I mean your home is supposed to be 'your place', that one spot where you can come home to and relax and veg out and just be who you are. It's where you feel most secure. It's where you feel safe. But when the recurring events that Carly faces keep happening, you can't help but wonder what it is that made her stay. Before you know it, you are so invested in getting Carly out of their alive and to prove what is happening to her isn't simply in her head, that your racing through the book accusing character's left, right and centre and screaming at Carly to run the other way from particular people.... who may or may not end up to be real or the bad 'person'.
Given the thriller aspects and criminal nature of this fear (and the narrative) it doesn't take the reader long to become suspicious of everyone around Carly. Quite early on in the novel, I found myself questioning the motives of other characters including her neighbours and the police investigating the intrusions. But when Carly's painful and traumatic past is brought to life (and this isn't a spoiler because it happens right at the beginning) I couldn't help but start to question Carly. Given her past, and the constant night time visits, the police findings and the pure context and situation of the crime, I started to wonder if Carly really was the most reliable narrator? Or was there something deeper psychologically going on there with her and her surrounds. Of course that just meant I started analysing everyone around Carly and her actions even more and it made myself question what would I do, should I ever find myself in the same situation. To be honest, I still don't really know the answer to that.
As far as characterisation goes, I think Jaye Ford really nailed every aspect of the characters in this book. Carly/Charlotte Townsend was a complex character who almost had two split identities. Charlotte of the old - a bright bubbly young adult devastated by the mistakes of the past and now the classic damsel-in-distress heroine - Vs Carly - a strong female lead who despite being frightened, traumatised and almost out of her mind with fear, won't take what is happening to her (real or imagined) sitting down. It's Carly that fights back despite the inner Charlotte wanting to sit down and cry and wait for the narrative's hero to come and sweep her off her feet and save her. In some ways, it's this split character and the underlying wavering question of what is and isn't real that heightens the narrative and makes the whole incident and situation so much more suspect, and suspenseful. I also loved the inverting of character type casting and typical narratives from where the male hero is the one expected to save the heroine from the big bad world. Without giving too much away, I loved the fact that when one of the two got badly hurt, it wasn't Carly who was laid up helpless and out of options.
Overall, Darkest Place is a thrilling and terrifyingly addicted narrative that is sure to stop you in your tracks and make you re-evaluate your preconceived ideals. There's also a chance you will never look at a darkened room the same again.
Ideal for fans of the crime thriller genre and anyone who loves a good fast paced, snappy read that will leave you second guessing everyone and trusting no one. Oddly enough (despite it not being a psychological thriller) I believe fans of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and SJ Watson's Before I Go To Sleep would enjoy this novel for its thriller complexities without some of the more nasty, over the top elements that dominate those books (particular the former one). It's almost like a pared back, Australian crime version that still has plenty of substance and content to keep the reader on their toes. Or in this book's case, sleeping with one eye open...
This review was originally posted on my blog The Never Ending Bookshelf on 1/3/2016 and can be found here: http://wp.me/p3yY1u-No
March 10, 2016
I went to university in Newcastle many years ago now and I love reading books set there. I loved my time living there, it’s a wonderful place, lots of funky suburbs, good facilities and beautiful beaches. When I lived there, it was cheap, you could rent a place close to the university or on a good transport line for next to nothing. It was my first real experience with “my own place” after living in dorms and I really enjoyed it. I was sad to leave Newcastle and I always love being able to get back for a visit. I’ll gravitate to anything set there and that plus the fact that Jaye Ford is a must read for me had me putting this one high on the priority list.
Carly has had some very bad things happen but she’s moved from the country to Newcastle in an attempt to start over, in a lovely apartment in a converted old warehouse. The problems begin when she wakes to find a man standing over her bed and even though she calls the police, they can’t seem to find any evidence that anyone was in the apartment, nor any way in which he could’ve gotten in. After several of these calls, the police become frustrated and warn her sternly about wasting valuable police time. Carly has had prior mental health issues and with nothing to suggest anyone is breaking in, it’s hard for them to believe Carly is experiencing what she claims. Her psychologist puts it down to particularly vivid dreaming and for a while, Carly is able to convince herself that it isn’t happening. That when she feels as though she’s waking up, hearing a person breathing in the room with her, feeling them lie on top of her, it isn’t real.
The suspense builds in the most awesome way in this novel and Jaye Ford weaves in several different elements of escalating tension – is there someone really breaking into apartments undetected in some way and if so, how are they doing it? Or is this a product of Carly’s fragile mind, is she feeling guilt or trauma at things that have occurred in her past and punishing herself somehow? Is she slowly losing her grip on reality? Or is there something so sinister going on that even the police have no idea where to look?
I’m a bit of a wuss, so I’m glad I read this in the daytime because my husband works nights and I’m often home alone well into the early hours of the morning and I often start a new book when I go to bed. If I’d picked this one I would’ve been in for a long and sleepless night for 2 reasons – one because it’s impossible to put down, I had to know what was happening and two, because I’d be jumping at every noise, real and imaginary! There’d be nothing worse than going to bed and not knowing whether or not someone was going to be able to get inside your safe space. If she’s imagining it, what does it mean for her journey and starting over? And if she isn’t….exactly what sort of sinister thing is happening to her and is she the only one experiencing it?
This book kept me riveted and kept taking me to unexpected places with each new plot development. I really found myself getting behind Carly as a character, feeling for her for what she’d experienced in her past but it didn’t stop me wondering just how much toll that’d taken on her psyche. I admired the way she was determined to get to the bottom of what was happening, whether or not it was her mind or if it was something else.
I’ve read nearly all of Jaye Ford’s books now – somehow I’ve missed the first one but have read the next four after that and they just keep getting better. Her protagonists are always believably flawed and have experienced things that leave deep impressions. The plots are tightly constructed and there’s always just enough creep factor to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I’m reading. I find them very satisfying and I hope they keep coming.
Carly has had some very bad things happen but she’s moved from the country to Newcastle in an attempt to start over, in a lovely apartment in a converted old warehouse. The problems begin when she wakes to find a man standing over her bed and even though she calls the police, they can’t seem to find any evidence that anyone was in the apartment, nor any way in which he could’ve gotten in. After several of these calls, the police become frustrated and warn her sternly about wasting valuable police time. Carly has had prior mental health issues and with nothing to suggest anyone is breaking in, it’s hard for them to believe Carly is experiencing what she claims. Her psychologist puts it down to particularly vivid dreaming and for a while, Carly is able to convince herself that it isn’t happening. That when she feels as though she’s waking up, hearing a person breathing in the room with her, feeling them lie on top of her, it isn’t real.
The suspense builds in the most awesome way in this novel and Jaye Ford weaves in several different elements of escalating tension – is there someone really breaking into apartments undetected in some way and if so, how are they doing it? Or is this a product of Carly’s fragile mind, is she feeling guilt or trauma at things that have occurred in her past and punishing herself somehow? Is she slowly losing her grip on reality? Or is there something so sinister going on that even the police have no idea where to look?
I’m a bit of a wuss, so I’m glad I read this in the daytime because my husband works nights and I’m often home alone well into the early hours of the morning and I often start a new book when I go to bed. If I’d picked this one I would’ve been in for a long and sleepless night for 2 reasons – one because it’s impossible to put down, I had to know what was happening and two, because I’d be jumping at every noise, real and imaginary! There’d be nothing worse than going to bed and not knowing whether or not someone was going to be able to get inside your safe space. If she’s imagining it, what does it mean for her journey and starting over? And if she isn’t….exactly what sort of sinister thing is happening to her and is she the only one experiencing it?
This book kept me riveted and kept taking me to unexpected places with each new plot development. I really found myself getting behind Carly as a character, feeling for her for what she’d experienced in her past but it didn’t stop me wondering just how much toll that’d taken on her psyche. I admired the way she was determined to get to the bottom of what was happening, whether or not it was her mind or if it was something else.
I’ve read nearly all of Jaye Ford’s books now – somehow I’ve missed the first one but have read the next four after that and they just keep getting better. Her protagonists are always believably flawed and have experienced things that leave deep impressions. The plots are tightly constructed and there’s always just enough creep factor to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I’m reading. I find them very satisfying and I hope they keep coming.
March 2, 2016
There is a reason that Jaye Ford has become one of Australia's leading ladies of suspense thrillers - she never fails to deliver. Just when you think she has covered all possible scenarios her latest book appears with a fresh, original plot that is guaranteed to have you turning the pages and checking your doors and windows are locked in equal measure!
Charlotte Townsend aka Carly has been through the mill over the past ten years and has finally taken some positive steps towards getting her life back on track. Settling in Newcastle, Carly has a nice apartment, is enrolled at TAFE and has made some new friends in her new community. But just when she feels like she is almost "normal" again she is awoken in the early hours of the morning to the terror of a man next to her bed watching her sleep. The police are very helpful the first time, dusting for fingerprints and explaining how a not properly locked door could have provided an entry point. So Carly diligently ratchets up her security only to have the same experience a week later. After the third time the police are less than sympathetic, pointing out that there is no evidence of an intruder and no possible way in. They suggest psychological help or risk being known as a nuisance caller.
Carly feels her carefully constructed new life begin to unravel as the middle of the night intrusions continue. Accepting advice from her psychologist that trauma in Carly's past could actually be a dream she does her best to keep moving forward but with an increasing sense of dread. Is her neighbour Nate as kind as he seems or part of some sinister plot? For that matter are all her new neighbours in the complex on the straight and narrow or is there something much bigger happening?
Darkest Place is a compelling thriller. The tension begins in the very first pages and continues to build at an increasing place as Carly's so-called dreams intensify. Once the intruder has taken to lying on top of her and she bears physical scars of her nocturnal encounters Carly is truly on a tightrope between rationality and paranoia. But where can you go when nobody believes you? Who do you turn to for help when the police won't take you seriously? She has to make a choice, to go quietly or to stand up and fight the hidden monster who is ruining her life.
Once again I enjoyed the Newcastle setting of Darkest Place, as always it is nice to read books set outside the major cities. I also enjoyed the character of Carly. Despite her fragility she has a core strength that I liked and I enjoyed the development of her character through the story.
For those who enjoy a page turning thriller Darkest Place will not disappoint. Just don't read it alone in the middle of the night!
Charlotte Townsend aka Carly has been through the mill over the past ten years and has finally taken some positive steps towards getting her life back on track. Settling in Newcastle, Carly has a nice apartment, is enrolled at TAFE and has made some new friends in her new community. But just when she feels like she is almost "normal" again she is awoken in the early hours of the morning to the terror of a man next to her bed watching her sleep. The police are very helpful the first time, dusting for fingerprints and explaining how a not properly locked door could have provided an entry point. So Carly diligently ratchets up her security only to have the same experience a week later. After the third time the police are less than sympathetic, pointing out that there is no evidence of an intruder and no possible way in. They suggest psychological help or risk being known as a nuisance caller.
Carly feels her carefully constructed new life begin to unravel as the middle of the night intrusions continue. Accepting advice from her psychologist that trauma in Carly's past could actually be a dream she does her best to keep moving forward but with an increasing sense of dread. Is her neighbour Nate as kind as he seems or part of some sinister plot? For that matter are all her new neighbours in the complex on the straight and narrow or is there something much bigger happening?
Darkest Place is a compelling thriller. The tension begins in the very first pages and continues to build at an increasing place as Carly's so-called dreams intensify. Once the intruder has taken to lying on top of her and she bears physical scars of her nocturnal encounters Carly is truly on a tightrope between rationality and paranoia. But where can you go when nobody believes you? Who do you turn to for help when the police won't take you seriously? She has to make a choice, to go quietly or to stand up and fight the hidden monster who is ruining her life.
Once again I enjoyed the Newcastle setting of Darkest Place, as always it is nice to read books set outside the major cities. I also enjoyed the character of Carly. Despite her fragility she has a core strength that I liked and I enjoyed the development of her character through the story.
For those who enjoy a page turning thriller Darkest Place will not disappoint. Just don't read it alone in the middle of the night!
February 18, 2016
Jaye Ford first caught my attention when I read her first book, Beyond Fear. I knew immediately after reading the book that she was an author to watch. I also feel Ford is a standout in the field of Australian authors who can write a solid psychological thriller. Ford’s latest and fifth novel to date, The Darkest Place, is another cracking read full of thrills and chills. It features an unreliable and complex main character, Charlotte Townsend, who narrates the novel. Charlotte has recently made the move to Newcastle after trying to overcome a devastating accident some years earlier, leaving her emotionally damaged and racked with guilt. She takes up residence in an apartment block, changes her name to Carly and begins to carve a new life for herself by enrolling in a local college course. Only days into her new life, Carly/Charlotte has a terrifying encounter in her new home, waking from her bed to find someone watching over her. She calls the police immediately but she is only able to recall scant details on the ordeal. A police search of her apartment proves fruitless. This lack of evidence of an intruder leaves Carly feeling terrified. When it becomes a regular occurrence, complete with unexplained bruises and marks to her body, the police begin to question Carly’s frame of mind. Local law enforcement suggests she may be having nightmares and should seek the help of a psychologist. Carly is certain someone sinister attacking her but needs the evidence to back her claims. When neighbour Nate takes an interest in her Carly begins to question who she can trust.
The Darkest Place is a well crafted, extremely gripping psychological suspense. Ford’s execution of the novel is very good. It is a novel that skilfully builds the tension slowly, in combination with drip feeling the reader details of Carly’s secret life. The setting, an apartment block in Australia, had a strong sense of realism for me, making many moments of the story creepy. I could get a sense of how on edge Carly felt, Ford is able to make the reader feel like they are walking in Carly’s shoes, which gets very uncomfortable. Carly herself is an intricate and flawed character, I enjoyed trying to unlock her secrets. Despite questioning Carly’s version of events and her frame of mind for the bulk of the novel, I did think she was a well constructed main character. The secondary characters , mostly those who reside in Cary’s apartment block, add further intrigue and a spot of romance to the novel.
I would have no hesitation in recommending The Darkest Place to read, it is a consuming read from start to finish, guaranteed to have you on the edge of seat. I would suggest avoiding reading this one at night due to the nail biting moments!
The Darkest Place is a well crafted, extremely gripping psychological suspense. Ford’s execution of the novel is very good. It is a novel that skilfully builds the tension slowly, in combination with drip feeling the reader details of Carly’s secret life. The setting, an apartment block in Australia, had a strong sense of realism for me, making many moments of the story creepy. I could get a sense of how on edge Carly felt, Ford is able to make the reader feel like they are walking in Carly’s shoes, which gets very uncomfortable. Carly herself is an intricate and flawed character, I enjoyed trying to unlock her secrets. Despite questioning Carly’s version of events and her frame of mind for the bulk of the novel, I did think she was a well constructed main character. The secondary characters , mostly those who reside in Cary’s apartment block, add further intrigue and a spot of romance to the novel.
I would have no hesitation in recommending The Darkest Place to read, it is a consuming read from start to finish, guaranteed to have you on the edge of seat. I would suggest avoiding reading this one at night due to the nail biting moments!
May 30, 2020
What if you kept waking up at night, paralyzed with fear and knowing there is someone in your room? Someone standing over you? Someone touching you?
Is it real or, as the police try to convince her, a cry for help from a disturbed mind?
Carly doesn't know who to trust - and that includes herself.
Talk about a page turner that will keep you up all night - and not just while you're reading! I've loved every other book Jaye Ford has written, but I think this is the best yet. I loved that it's set in an area local to me so I could really picture the scene - even down to the apartment block Carly lived in. I could not put this book down once I started reading, and flew through it, needing to get to the end and find out the truth. The ending, while unexpected in some ways, suited the character of Carly as she grew and regained her strength.
Thoroughly recommend and have already done so!
Is it real or, as the police try to convince her, a cry for help from a disturbed mind?
Carly doesn't know who to trust - and that includes herself.
Talk about a page turner that will keep you up all night - and not just while you're reading! I've loved every other book Jaye Ford has written, but I think this is the best yet. I loved that it's set in an area local to me so I could really picture the scene - even down to the apartment block Carly lived in. I could not put this book down once I started reading, and flew through it, needing to get to the end and find out the truth. The ending, while unexpected in some ways, suited the character of Carly as she grew and regained her strength.
Thoroughly recommend and have already done so!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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