Deep into the Dark

This is a great book that dives into the complexities and realities of PTSD - it doesn't shy away from taking an honest look at trauma and how it may manifest. Tracy clearly knows how to depict sensitive topics in a way that is researched, yet raw, which I admire very much (and it's needed beyond a doubt in fiction). Beyond that, this is a good mystery/thriller with a good mix of layered and well-written characters. I was hooked. And, as a side note (because this is always important to me for some reason), the colors on that cover are beautiful and set the tone for the novel.

Dark Read... Slightly Predictable



This is my first arc for NetGalley for the year 2021 and my first book by P.J. Tracy. I did enjoy the storyline my only downfall and the only reason that this is a four-star read is that I saw lots of the twists coming and for a person who loves thrillers that is not always a good thing.
Two different storylines are featured here, the first of which is catching the person, or persons, who have been racking up murder victims along Los Angeles' Miracle Mile. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner, Detective Al Crawford - plus another notable character or two - are on the case but not having much luck. On the other, Sam Easton, a former electrical engineer who is suffering from PTSD as a result of an Afghanistan attack that killed everyone in his squad except him, is working as a bar back in a popular local pub. His wife has left him, so he is alone with his nightmares and hallucinations and has only his job for solace. But when his co-worker, Melody, gets beaten by her snobby boyfriend, he is eager to help.

But the next day, Melody's boyfriend dies of very unnatural causes, Maggie and Al are called in and Sam quickly becomes a prime suspect - at least in Al's eyes. Maggie is not as quick to put the finger on Sam, though; she recently lost her brother who was serving overseas, making her more sympathetic to what Sam's going through. A day after Melody's boyfriend is killed Sam's wife is killed brutally as well.

What follows in the pages to come is a who done it that tries to keep you guessing and a couple in Melody and Sam who need answers. I enjoyed the dynamic of the LAPD partners and will read more in this series I only hope that it is less predictable. Thanks to NetGalley and all involved for my arc of this book worth the read.

DNF

I don't know what is happening to me but every book recently I just could not finish, this being one of them.

Now, this sounded intriguing and the writing wasn't bad but there were a lot of things that bothered me. I'm just going to list everything that I didn't like sorry. There were way too many characters and POVs. There was so much happening that I couldn't really get into the story because of that. There was really no character development and I got pretty far before I DNF. Because of the lack of character development, I couldn't connect with anyone.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly, not really engaging I'm halfway through and gave up. I have liked other novels by PJ tracy but this was uninspired and I couldn't care about the characters.