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DARK MINDS: How far would you go to save your child?
How far would you go to save your child? This is the impossible question facing Lacey. Would you sacrifice your lover, your mother, your husband? Three families are torn apart, their lives shattered, everything they know turned upside down. when their children are kidnapped, the only communication they receive is a request from the abductor to sacrifice a loved one to be tortured to death. failing to follow the instructions will result in their child suffering that fate instead. Delving into the depths of a damaged mind, this novel contains some graphic scenes of torture and explores some highly emotive subjects, including child abduction and murder. Be warned!!!
Also by the same author
Begging to die part 1 & 2
Saved by insanity part 1 & 2
Stalked by death
Torture twins part 1
Also by the same author
Begging to die part 1 & 2
Saved by insanity part 1 & 2
Stalked by death
Torture twins part 1
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 25, 2020
Great read
I really enjoyed this book I'd have so much going on. It was evil and disturbing. A great story with characters that matched. A good plot with an in seeing twist. Brutal and gory detailed information throughout that has you gripped and seeing it all happening even when you didn't want to. A great extreme read. I would recommend to any extreme fans but not for the easily offended or those with a weak stomach.
I really enjoyed this book I'd have so much going on. It was evil and disturbing. A great story with characters that matched. A good plot with an in seeing twist. Brutal and gory detailed information throughout that has you gripped and seeing it all happening even when you didn't want to. A great extreme read. I would recommend to any extreme fans but not for the easily offended or those with a weak stomach.
March 10, 2018
Talk about tough assignments.
I received a complimentary copy of L.D. Semme’s dark, psychological thriller and agreed to review it honestly despite the author’s warning that the novel contains “graphic scenes and themes, which could be upsetting to some.”
As a horror novelist, I’ve had a reader slap one of my stories with the word disgusting because my vampire looked hideous and my lycanthropes dined on human body parts. I dismissed it as comments from a votary of Twilight’s sparkly horror credo.
So I pooh-poohed the author’s warning as over sensitivity and ignored a second caution right in the book’s title, Dark Minds (An Extreme Horror): How far would you go to save your child?
Mind you, my take on the title was thrown off by younger days misspent overdosing on the Bronson Death Wish flicks and Punisher comic books that featured avenging dads going berserko on bad guys.
Not far into Semme’s novel I realized, I had it wrong. I heard myself involuntarily mutter, ‘Oh-Boy.’
The story opens with a phone call to distraught mom Lacey whose daughter Lilly, 4, disappeared from a park right under her nose two days earlier. “If you tell anyone … your child will die a very slow and painful death,” says the caller, whose voice is mechanically altered.
The abductor then relays orders to Lacey, not yet revealed to the reader. We know only that Lacey believes that the kidnapper will carry out the threat if she lets anyone learn of her instructions.
The phone has scarcely lost the warmth of her hand when there’s a knock at the door. Clair, a police liaison officer, wants to check on Lacey’s well being. The mother reveals nothing to Clair or her boss DCI Burrows nor to best friend Sophie.
The police are triply troubled. Lilly’s abduction makes the third girl kidnapped from the small English village.
Someone snatched six-year-old Helen six months ago and Freya, 8, disappeared three months later. Worse, their respective mothers received threats and instructions similar to those given to Lacey.
In both earlier cases, the police found out. Both mothers received DVDs that showed their daughters being tortured to the extreme and likely killed.
There you have it. My gross out. I can tolerate adults being slaughtered, especially flawed adults, but for me Dark Minds crossed the line with kiddie torture even though the worst of it goes on unseen by the reader.
Others may have a greater tolerance for this stuff than me so I decided to base the star rating over five categories: Plot, character, writing, pace/organization, and general appeal.
The plot is good with a dark twist at the end — think the original Saw film — that you sort of see coming a bit too early because of a couple of slips by the author.
— 4 stars for plot.
The character build of the three moms is excellent, especially Freya’s despicable mother Tracy.
— 4-1/2 stars for character.
The writing conveyed the story competently but failed to create appeal on its own. — 3 stars for writing.
Pace and organization suffered by jumping among three different time lines and could have used a solid edit to smooth and clarify transitions and some of the writing.
— 2 stars for pace/organization.
General appeal is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately as this beholder is a father, I didn’t like where the story took me.
—1.5 stars for general appeal.
The total score 15 divided by five = 3.0 stars.
I received a complimentary copy of L.D. Semme’s dark, psychological thriller and agreed to review it honestly despite the author’s warning that the novel contains “graphic scenes and themes, which could be upsetting to some.”
As a horror novelist, I’ve had a reader slap one of my stories with the word disgusting because my vampire looked hideous and my lycanthropes dined on human body parts. I dismissed it as comments from a votary of Twilight’s sparkly horror credo.
So I pooh-poohed the author’s warning as over sensitivity and ignored a second caution right in the book’s title, Dark Minds (An Extreme Horror): How far would you go to save your child?
Mind you, my take on the title was thrown off by younger days misspent overdosing on the Bronson Death Wish flicks and Punisher comic books that featured avenging dads going berserko on bad guys.
Not far into Semme’s novel I realized, I had it wrong. I heard myself involuntarily mutter, ‘Oh-Boy.’
The story opens with a phone call to distraught mom Lacey whose daughter Lilly, 4, disappeared from a park right under her nose two days earlier. “If you tell anyone … your child will die a very slow and painful death,” says the caller, whose voice is mechanically altered.
The abductor then relays orders to Lacey, not yet revealed to the reader. We know only that Lacey believes that the kidnapper will carry out the threat if she lets anyone learn of her instructions.
The phone has scarcely lost the warmth of her hand when there’s a knock at the door. Clair, a police liaison officer, wants to check on Lacey’s well being. The mother reveals nothing to Clair or her boss DCI Burrows nor to best friend Sophie.
The police are triply troubled. Lilly’s abduction makes the third girl kidnapped from the small English village.
Someone snatched six-year-old Helen six months ago and Freya, 8, disappeared three months later. Worse, their respective mothers received threats and instructions similar to those given to Lacey.
In both earlier cases, the police found out. Both mothers received DVDs that showed their daughters being tortured to the extreme and likely killed.
There you have it. My gross out. I can tolerate adults being slaughtered, especially flawed adults, but for me Dark Minds crossed the line with kiddie torture even though the worst of it goes on unseen by the reader.
Others may have a greater tolerance for this stuff than me so I decided to base the star rating over five categories: Plot, character, writing, pace/organization, and general appeal.
The plot is good with a dark twist at the end — think the original Saw film — that you sort of see coming a bit too early because of a couple of slips by the author.
— 4 stars for plot.
The character build of the three moms is excellent, especially Freya’s despicable mother Tracy.
— 4-1/2 stars for character.
The writing conveyed the story competently but failed to create appeal on its own. — 3 stars for writing.
Pace and organization suffered by jumping among three different time lines and could have used a solid edit to smooth and clarify transitions and some of the writing.
— 2 stars for pace/organization.
General appeal is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately as this beholder is a father, I didn’t like where the story took me.
—1.5 stars for general appeal.
The total score 15 divided by five = 3.0 stars.
April 18, 2018
How can you miss such an obvious connection?
Within ten minutes of starting this book I figured out who the killer was. The connection was obvious. So , they had all the worlds experts trying to find this killer but nobody could put the connection together? It made it hard to read because I had a hard time believing any police force could be that inept. The book had a great original story line to it but the missed connection with the police and the killer ruined it for me.
Within ten minutes of starting this book I figured out who the killer was. The connection was obvious. So , they had all the worlds experts trying to find this killer but nobody could put the connection together? It made it hard to read because I had a hard time believing any police force could be that inept. The book had a great original story line to it but the missed connection with the police and the killer ruined it for me.
August 13, 2025
Really good thriller, mystery. I loved this book and listened on Audible and would probably listen again.
Dark minds is the perfect name as it is indeed full of them. Highly Recommend
Dark minds is the perfect name as it is indeed full of them. Highly Recommend
October 14, 2025
Being nice gave two stars, took multiple days to read because it was a little boring. Yawnnnnn 🥱
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews