I liked the premise of this book, I could see where it was possibly going, felt interested at the beginning. But then it sort of lost steam and cohesiveness. The main character (the mother) seemed very out of sorts and her interaction with those who knew her daughter best seemed forced and edgy. I didn't really understand why she went through a lot of what she did in order to get to the truth, which, in the end didnt really make sense or combine with the rest of the story, so the antagonist kind of came out of the blue and was not really explained. Still it was a good idea and intriguing but for me, personally, it missed the mark.

A grieving mother setting out in search of her daughter missing for two years. The premise is good and the story slowly progresses towards the finale. The pace picks up two thirds of the way and the suspense and twists are superb. The initial part of the story has been utilised for character building but some of them act differently later and I couldn't find the explanation for why the mother didn't do this much earlier. But for some of these glitches I enjoyed this book.After requesting the book I read the reviews and felt doubtful if I could read this book through. But I am glad my request has been granted and I would definitely recommend this book.

I never repeat the blurb. I really wanted to get into this, but just couldn't. Too disjointed and lacking real focus. Not for me...sorry.

Although this was a good story with some surprising twists it was also at times a bit unbelievable. Characters were not at all nice,not was their behaviour.

The Long Dark Road is slow to get going and doesn't really become interesting till after half way. Then it improves a lot. I liked the idea of the story but the characters were not likable at all. Not the best in this genre.

The book was well written, fast paced and a thrill ride until the end. This is the first book by this author I've read, but I will look out for some more in future. Recommended.

A slow-burning thriller with a twist ending that almost makes up for the pages it took to get there.

Georgia's daughter has been missing for over a year, but she's not giving up the search. While the police have ruled the case a suicide, assuming the body has been lost to a swift flowing current, Georgia refuses to accept her daughter is gone. Until there's a body, Georgia will continue to look. After all, she knew her daughter--an aspiring writer--and she never would have killed herself without leaving a note. Georgia knows, in her bones, that something happened to her daughter. On the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, Georgia returns to the town where she was last seen and starts her investigation all over again.

I normally love missing person thrillers, but unlike The Chain or What Kind of Mother Are You, The Long Dark Road doesn't pick up hours or days after the mysterious disappearance has taken place. The idea of the long-suffering, little-believed mother does make for an interesting hook, but Black doesn't lean into this potential. Georgia acts like a woman pushing through the first 48 hours, desperate to find her daughter alive. She assumes crime scenes (in a college town, at that) won't have been trampled, evidence won't have blown away or been destroyed after twelve months of weather, that witness statements won't be tainted by the false memories of time and prolonged media coverage.

In fact, a lot about Georgia's character doesn't seem real. For the first third of the book I tried to give her a break (she'd lost her only child), but throughout the story she continues to morph into someone unlikeable, disconnected from reality, and with an odd mother-daughter dynamic that doesn't feel authentic. This is, perhaps, because we only see the story from her perspective and some short, clunky journal entries from her daughter before she disappeared.

These inauthentic relationships carry through to all the characters. Personalities flip for no reason. Everyone seems one question away from a physical altercation. Witnesses snap from helpful and sympathetic to outright antagonistic with little provocation. The dialogue is circular. The plot feels like an ouroboros.

At about the 60% mark there's a revelation that changes the tone of the book and finally sets into the thriller pace I was hoping for from the beginning. From this point on there are twists, plots, and hope that Georgia may finally get some answers about her daughter. This last chunk of the book is exactly what I was hoping to read. The twists and plot shifts Black introduces here are ones I would have loved to see explored in more detail and earlier in the book.

Do I feel like I wasted my time reading this book? Not entirely. Would I recommend it? Only if you're willing to put in the effort to get to the end.

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!

Dr Georgia Healey's nineteen-year-old daughter went for a walk two years ago and vanished. The police never found Stephanie's body. The case has gone stale, but Georgia can't let it go. She knows Stephanie's out there, somewhere.

On the anniversary of Stephanie's disappearance, Georgia's ready to re-interrogate university students, lecturers, Steph's past boyfriends, everyone. She is determined to find out what happened to her daughter. Yet the shocking truth is even more than she can handle.

The premise of the book was interesting but sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked to.

For most part of the book, I felt that it was kind of dull and there was nothing exciting to hold my attention. I didn't really enjoy or connect with any of the characters. The last few chapters did have quite a few twists but unfortunately they were not enough to cover my disappointment with the overall plot.

Thank You to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this ARC!

This is a mystery about the disappearance of Stephanie, a 19 year old girl and her mother, Georgia's, investigation into it. The book started out fine, opening at the disappearance itself but almost immediately got bogged down when the action switched from the missing girl to her mother's investigation. .I'm afraid the investigation made no sense to me. Georgia's questioning of every source of information was so basic, that it wasn't anything even the most mediocre police force wouldn't have done. Stephanie is the daughter of a middle class family, the story of her disappearance made a big splash in the papers and Yorkshire isn't in a thrid world country. I would have thought every effort would have been brought to bear to find her. That Georgia learned anything about her daughter that the police hadn't already discovered, seemed peculiar. In fact, It was also a mystery to me, given her creepy behavior, as to why any of these people would have been willing to talk to her.. Realism isn't necessary for a good story but the reader has to at least buy into the events and motivations portrayed. I just couldn't get into this as aside from the lack of buy in, all the characters were thinly drawn. Without wanting to give anything away, I also have to say that I didn't think the solution made any sense either.

The Long Dark Road by P.R. Black was a difficult read for me. The premise of Georgia looking for her missing daughter had me thoroughly interested but it was too slow for my taste and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I hoped the diary would have offered more but it fell flat. Difficult to enjoy.

spoiler alert ** 2.5 stars


The first half of this book did indeed feel like a long road... it was just a little dull.
But,obviously had something going for it,as I kept reading.
The second half was indeed dark... drugs,prostitution,violence.... threw it all in there.
Big pat on the back to Georgia,who never gave up.
Not a bad story,just took too long to get started

Although the first half of this book is very, very slow to start, the second half of "The Long Dark Road" is filled with sudden plot twists; near death experiences; and college town conspiracies.

The upside of this is that the second half becomes a roller coaster read that you can't put down.

The downside of this is that the second half is slightly confusing because all the details converge together - but you've almost forgotten what they were in the first place.

I would recommend this as a quick and exciting read - but with the warning that you might need to take stick though the first half.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for for giving me for the chance to enjoy this thriller/mystery!

While the blurb was very promising for this book, ultimately, it did not deliver.

I also have a keen dislike for people who want to play police man, and try to solve cases on their own (by all means go for it, but don't make stupid mistakes!)

All in all, the first 20% was okay, after that, it all just went downhill.

The premise was interesting, but after the first 25% the novelty wore off and it got a bit boring. I skimmed the middle part and picked it back up at the 75% mark and felt like I missed nothing. I didn't particularly like any of the characters (other than the dog, Saoirse).

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview The Long Dark Road by PR Black.
A woman's daughter disappears suddenly - she is heartbroken and does not accept that she just walked away from her life. After two years, she takes things into her own hands and is determined to find out what happened at any cost - even her own safety.
I did find this a bit slow reading - must pay attention to the characters and how they impact the story.
2.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book This felt like a really long book. Nothing much really happened for the the first 50%. And by then I didn't like any of the characters and kept getting confused who was who and what they did. I hate having to leave bad reviews, because I know the author put a lot of work into writing the book. Maybe better editing would have helped.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Georgia's daughter Stephanie disappeared two years ago while attending her old university and, while the police case is still open, they have made little progress. Then Stephanie's diary is discovered in her dorm room, and this leads Georgia to go to the university and question all her old friends/boyfriends/tutors.

Sadly I really didn't enjoy this novel, which was far too dark for my tastes. There were no likeable characters (at all) and no one had a kind word to say about Stephanie (or indeed any one else). Bad things happened to Georgia, terrible things happened to vast numbers of women, Georgia did some pretty bad things to people, and so on and so forth. The ending was disturbing and gruesome.

It’s been two years since Georgia’s nineteen year old daughter went out for a walk. The case has gone cold as far as the police are concerned, but Georgia can’t rest until she knows what happened to Stephanie. Georgia takes matters into her own hands, going on the trail of her missing child, knowing the answers she uncovers could be her worst nightmare

A great read which has been interesting and completely unpredictable. I have really enjoyed this one from the very first page and cannot wait to read more by this author.
I will definitely be recommending this book.