Darkness Hides by J.C. Gatlin

Someone she knows is watching.
Someone she knows is stalking.
And something hides in the darkness.

Synopsis -

With a Category 4 hurricane about to make landfall, boat safety instructor Kate Parks is running out of time. Bodies are piling up--and they're not from the raging storm. An injury may have ended her career as a Fish and Wildlife officer, but nothing can keep her away from the investigation.

And it doesn’t take long for her to see that the clues have one thing in common: a connection to the recent death of her five-year-old nephew.

In a brewing storm of rage, guilt, and family secrets, Kate fights to protect her grieving sister just as the hurricane threatens everything she knows and loves. But before her world is completely ravaged, she must uncover one final truth:

Run from the water.
Hide from the wind.
Flee from the shadows where a weeper seeks revenge.

Review -

Darkness Hides is a murder /mystery/thriller that offers us a damaged heroine who is struggling with events in her past - both physical (a shoulder damaged by a gunshot wound), emotional (the death of her young nephew the year before) and familial (her sister is in a deep well of depression and blames her for her son's death). The pace is high energy with new murders coming at a regular pace and a devastating hurricane that arrives as the story is building toward the climax.


The author weaves many threads together, the nephew's death, the acquittal of the drunk driver who caused it, continuing murders, the fight to save an old lighthouse from a developer, a doctor with ulterior motives, photos of a stuffed elephant owned by her nephew that shows up crime scene photos, a family being torn apart, a young deaf girl's drawing, the hurricane and more. Bit by bit they come together - each a piece of the puzzle.


Overall I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were well developed and the storyline flowed smoothly. I did find the constant intensity a bit overwhelming towards the end. And having had birthed 3 kids myself, I did find how the author talked about childbirth over the top. For example, I have never heard of a woman tearing out her hair while in labor. It's difficult, but not the horror story he describes. Enough - I finally had to skip over that part. But other than that it was a thriller with lots of energy, strong characters, and with a plot that twisted constantly.

Buy the Book: 
Amazon ~ Sun Bury Press ~ add to Goodreads

Meet the Author -
Fab Author Interview HERE!

JC Gatlin lives in Tampa, Florida, and writes mystery novels that include sunny Florida locales and quirky locals as characters. His last novel, H_NGM_N: Murder is the Word, won the coveted Florida Royal Palm Literary Award for Best Mystery in 2019. He is active in the Florida Writer’s Association and is a board member on the Florida Writer’s Foundation, a charity organization that fights illiteracy.

connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ linkedin ~ goodreads


Comments

  1. Replies
    1. So much fun to read and review new books by authors I have not met before!

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  2. Thank you for reading and reviewing my mystery! I really appreciate it and glad you enjoyed it.

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