Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Welcome to our discussion of In the Dark, by Loreth Anne White, which is part of our Fall/Winter Collection Group Reads. Your discussion leader is Lisa.
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Summary

A secluded mountain lodge. The perfect getaway. So remote no one will ever find you.

The promise of a luxury vacation at a secluded wilderness spa has brought together eight lucky guests. But nothing is what they were led to believe. As a fierce storm barrels down and all contact with the outside is cut off, the guests fear that it’s not a getaway. It’s a trap.

Each one has a secret. Each one has something to hide. And now, as darkness closes in, they all have something to fear—including one another.

Alerted to the vanished party of strangers, homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton must brave the brutal elements of the mountains to find them. But even Mason and Callie have no idea how precious time is. Because the clock is ticking, and one by one, the guests of Forest Shadow Lodge are being hunted. For them, surviving becomes part of a diabolical game.

Hi everyone! Looking forward to starting this in a couple of days! It sounds like a good one.

I've a few pages into this and so far it hasn't grabbed me. It feels like I've joined in the middle of a chapter. I'm gonna keep on and hope it catches up with itself.

Sheri, I know what you mean. It feels like we’re just dropped into the events with no real footing so far. Just getting started, page 30.

About 3/4 through and it does start to make sense after a while.

Finished last night. How are you feeling about it Lisa?

I’m still not very far in. Trying to keep all the characters straight. I’m hoping to make some progress this weekend. Did you like it upon finishing, Sheri?

Lisa wrote: "I’m still not very far in. Trying to keep all the characters straight. I’m hoping to make some progress this weekend. Did you like it upon finishing, Sheri?"

I'm glad I kept on reading and I did want to know the ending but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. I'll put this in a spoiler so you can choose to read it or not (view spoiler)[the ending drags on forever (hide spoiler)]

I'm a little over 1/3 through. I made a list of all of the characters to refer to as I read LOL. That was helpful. I'm much more engrossed than I was, but I wouldn't say I love the writing. It's fine, but not setting me on fire. Not particularly attached to any of the characters, but, I don't know that we're supposed to be.

I've just started reading, on chapter 4. I've read 10 of her books and liked them all.

Good to hear, Pam! It’s definitely got me interested and is keeping me guessing.

I just received a copy from the library but I'm currently reading four other books, I hope to get to this later in the month.

Gem, you sound like me! I always have too many books on my plate...I get sucked in by challenges, group/buddy reads, and just those books that strike my fancy. Kind of like the way that I have sooo many books on my shelves at home, and I'm always grabbing new ones from the library. Also, incapable of leaving a bookstore empty handed ;)

Whenever you can get to it, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. It's fun to revisit recent threads, even if I'm done with the book.

I really enjoyed this and it kept me guessing the whole time as to who set this trip up and who was the killer. I like more in depth character development but it was not the method to this one. The ending could have been cut much shorter. No need to repeat all the character connections.

Finished this last night. It did keep me guessing and was a decent read, but it was toooo long. I thought I didn't like the back and forth between the guest and police POVs, but I think what I actually didn't like was the weird almost-romance between Callie and Mason. It felt shoehorned in and diluted the story. The characters in that POV seemed almost superfluous, but I could see how the outside perspective was needed. Terry, I agree with you about the ending and how so much seemed reiterated. I did like the setting and how the backstory unfolded.

Anyone else done or making progress?

Agree about the romance part.

I just finished it ... way too long and I was bored much of the time.

I had such high hopes for this book after the first couple of chapters. Unfortunately, the story begins to unravel for all the reasons people have already identified.

The characters are two dimensional and the romance story simply doesn't work. Add in the non-linear format where you flip back and forth between what happened in the past with current events and the result is a very average book. Not a bad read but also not very memorable.

Gary wrote: "I had such high hopes for this book after the first couple of chapters. Unfortunately, the story begins to unravel for all the reasons people have already identified.

The characters are two dimens..."

Agreed, Gary. This one was just OK for me. A few folks liked it a bit more, that's great to see too. It gets higher than a 4 on Goodreads!