Into the Darkest Corner
Ratings21
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings21
Average rating4.3
Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell. But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behaviour becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbour, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible . . . until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee’s impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee’s old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover’s sights, Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time. Utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, Into the Darkest corner is an ingeniously structured and plotted tour de force of suspense that marks the arrival of a major new talent.
Reviews with the most likes.
So after finishing Dragonfly in Amber I told myself I couldn't immediately dive into Outlander 3 because I needed to find a book which would engage me but not cause me to be lax in my parental duties. How crazy was it then to find that only 24 hours after I'd finished Gabaldon ‘ s Dragonfly in Amber I had also managed to completely consume Elizabeth Haynes wonderfully addictive Into The Darkest Corner.
Having seen this book crop up recently on several friend top 10 books lists I decided to locate it in my vast Kindle library of books to be read and give it a try. “It will be nice to have something I can pick up and put down easily”, I thought, how crazy was I?
The book opens in 2005 in a court transcript between lawyers and a Mr Brightman, discussing altercations between him and his ex - girlfriend. The details are sketchy and brief before the book moves to a pattern of short and snappy chapters, alternating between the time frame of 2003/04 and 2007/08. Both time periods are told through the eyes of Cathy but we are aware very quickly of the very different person she is in each part of her life. In 2003 she is lively, outgoing and vivacious with lots of friends and an active social life, beginning a relationship with a mysterious and attractive man called Lee. Jumping forward to 2007 she is alone in London, struggling with severe obsessive compulsive disorder and with an inability to form relationships with anyone due to huge trust issues.
The continual movement between both time frames leads to an ever growing sense of unease on the part of the reader, it is very clear that Cathy and her relationship in 2003 is an increasingly unhealthy and dangerous one and from her state of health in the 2007 time line we are given the opportunity for our imaginations to begin to think what may have occurred. The use of her OCD to highlight the ways in which she reassures herself in 2007 of her safety is a clever technique on the part of the writer. Not only does it add to the readers imagined scenario of what may have happened to Cathy in 2003 but it is used cleverly in the 2007/08 time frame to add an increasing suspense to the imagined danger Cathy believes she is in many years later.
This was a book literally gets under your skin, it drives you from chapter to chapter, literally till you cannot bear to put it down. You have a compulsion, almost as strong as that of Cathy's to check her door is locked, that you just have to keep going forward with her to satisfy your burning curiosity. It gives hints of the eventual story of the book but I found there were some really nice little twists in the story that I hadn't expected.
It is a truly cautionary tale, far worse than I had anticipated having read the back cover of the book. It was dark and held reminiscent ties with such movies as Sleeping With The Enemy. I hadn't read this author before and somehow having read several books that have alleged to be “the big thriller” of the year, such as Gone Girl or Before I Go To Sleep, I am amazed that this seems to have been overlooked somewhat. If faced with a choice between recommending Gone Girl or Into The Darkest Corner to a friend this would be my pick every single time. It would make a wonderful adaptation into a movie.
Truly one of the most gripping and engaging books I've ever read.
