Into the Dark is a story of love friendship, betrayal and evil.

I read "When I was Ten" by Fiona Cummins so was eager to read this. I found the characters unlikeable and I don't think thats a bad thing! There was a lot going on and a lot of stories overlapping and intertwining which I had a little difficulty with but, overall it was a good read. Also, 2 very strong female characters.

Fiona is an absolute QUEEN!! I really hope that at some point our paths cross (although I may faint) so that I can tell her in person how brilliant she is. I knew this was a fact anyway after reading previous books and fan-girling online. However, this is a book that has completely reinforced the fact that QUEEN Fiona is an author to watch and one who excels at taking us to the depths of darkness.

Into the Dark, released April 14th definitely had a big act to follow. Fiona was my 2021 Book of the Year (When I Was Ten) with a book that I’ve told everyone about. However, I love this book just as much and it is already a contender for 2022 Book of the Year. It is just BRILLIANT! So the fan-girling and telling everyone to read Fiona’s books will be continuing.

This is a deliciously dark novel from our queen of psychological thrillers and I have been pulled in very quickly. I definitely found myself torn between wanting to savour every last page and wanting to devour page after page. I can safely say there was no doubt I’d be reading this in just one sitting and I’m so excited to shout about this book in the lead up to publication.

This is a multi layered book with a mix of characters who you are really unsure if you should like or dislike. Each time I thought I knew where Fiona was taking us…BANG she’s thrown in a twist and I’ve been completely caught up again.

This book has given me so many feels. I’ve been tense and felt my heart pounding on times. This alone shows how much of an amazing author Cummins is. This is a book which will take you on a rollercoaster but it’s highly worth it.

This is a book everyone MUST read! I adore everything about it!! It’s just absolutely fantastic from beginning to end. Whether you’re a bookworm or not- this is a must!

Another book worthy of all the stars.

Into the Dark has a real presence and combined with au unusual premise means that there is plenty to enjoy!

Julianne goes to her friend Piper's house to meet up for a run, instead she finds the house empty as if the inhabitants have been plucked out of their lives. That coupled with a scary message on one of the mirrors of this family home, means that the race is on to find out what happened.

An enjoyable domestic thriller.

I really enjoyed When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins so jumped at the chance to read and review Into The Dark. Just like WIWT, Into The Dark is a fantastically dark and twisted read.

ITD is a story bubbling with evil in it's many forms. The characters are deeply dark, manipulative and seedy that you really need to buckle up and hold on for a whirlwind ride of deceit, betrayal and master-manipulation. Cummins writes the most despicably twisted and damaged characters so brilliantly and ITD is another shining example of this. The plot itself is so cleverly pieced together with many unexpected twists and turns that will leave you reeling.

Personally, I got a little distracted at times by some of the side plots/characters which kept it just below a 5 star for me, but overall I can totally see how their stories were cleverly entwined throughout.

This is your ultimate sinister domestic psychological thriller which will keep you hooked and guessing until the very end and one thing is for certain, Fiona Cummins is one clever lady I would not want to cross!

I’ve been a huge fan of her writing since Rattle and especially enjoyed last year’s When I Was Ten. This is a whole new level, deciphering the hieroglyphs of a toxic cast of characters. I doubt I’ll read a better book this year. Or even one as good. Exceptional.

A new book by Fiona Cummins? Sign me up! I’ve been a huge fan of her books since the very first, Rattle. Last year we had the amazing When I Was Ten (which I have gushed about to anyone who’d listen, and several people who didn’t), and now we have Into The Dark.

Another author whose books I will devour in a single sitting, knowing that I am in very safe hands. There’ll be twists and turns and moments where you question everything and everyone, looking for the clues that are so deftly woven into the narrative.

Reader, I loved it. You know that I adore a good psychological thriller, and Cummins delivers yet another splendid one here. On the face of it there’s a missing family, disappeared without trace mid-breakfast. Cups still warm, phones still charging, cars in the garage. But there’s more to it than meets the eye, naturally. Why did they up and leave so suddenly? And why is there bloody writing on the teenage daughter’s bedroom mirror?

Into the Dark jumps around between multiple viewpoints and timelines, from the days leading up to the Holdens’ disappearance to the aftermath. Cummins carefully delivers little snippets of information as the plot unfurls, and you’re often left questioning what you thought you knew as each chapter plays out. Who do you trust, when no-one seems to trust each other?

Dysfunctional families, secrets, lies and mysterious goings-on. And a new police detective on the case with a bit of a dark past himself…

If you’re not already reading Cummins’ books, then get yourself to a bookshop pronto. I love her books.

Highly recommended.

Excellent police procedural featuring a policeman without many of the usual clichés of the genre - the story is told in an interesting format also which although odd at first soon flows. Twists and turns all over the place loved it !

What a joy ride with a new revelation around every corner! This is definitely a book that grabs you from the beginning and spits you out exhausted at the end!!
Fiona Cummings is an awesomely talented storyteller and that is why I've loved every single book of hers. This one is definitely not an exception.
I also love the fact that we don't have any good characters in this book! All of them have something bad in them, some just more than others.
It is a story with lies on top of lies. Who will come out the winner and who will stumble at the finish line.......

"the only way to keep a secret is to make sure there's no one alive to tell it"

An easy five stars for me!
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Waah this book took what I might occur and completely twisted them again and again and again. Utterly addictive, and I had no idea what was going to happen next

Into the Dark is ostensibly about the midnight disappearance of Grey and Piper Holden, one of the town's golden couples, and their successful teenage children, but its about so much more than that.

The book opens with Piper's best friend Julianne jogging across town to the Holdens' stunning art deco house, Seawings, for their regular run around the bay. There's no reply when she gets to Seawings, the phone is ringing out, the car is still there- where has Piper gone?
The family's cleaner and Julianne go into the house together, to discover a Marie Celeste type scene, warm cups of half drunk tea, cereal bowls unfinished, and the radio still playing. But above the cosy setting, they see a fine spray of blood on the chandelier; there's also the matter of the late night phone call from Piper to Julianne saying she is scared of her husband.

The story spools out from there into a whole range of directions. The timelines move around, but there are chapter headings to let you know if you are reading on the day they disappear, an hour before, or even months before. There are multiple viewpoints as well, so as the story develops you can see some of the reasons why some decisions (that we've already read about) may have happened.

I really enjoyed Fiona Cummins' writing style, I like a book that focuses on the drama rather than the surroundings, and this was right up my street.

Oh and i havent even mentioned new police investigator Saul Anguish- now there's a name! He is new to the force, and is a bit of a maverick, with a very dark past which Im hoping we'll learn more about in future books.

Fabulous read, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a page-turning thrill of a read that will keep you on your toes and your head spinning

What happens next?

I can guarantee that what happens next is up will be down, back will be front and the only thing which you can be certain of, is that you will be entirely satisfied by this exceptional thriller!

It takes two marriages, who from the outside appear picture perfect, and throws each and every aspect which creates that veneer and sands them down to the bone to expose the sheer marrow.

The simplest of actions , calling on a  friend to go for a morning run, are thrown into disarray by the discovery that the normally pin perfect Piper has left a bombsite of a house where nothing is where it should be, There is also the matter of the cleaner, a young Polish beauty who notices the spray of blood in a  fine arcing mist on the art deco chandelier that she meticulously cleaned the previous week...

Into this bizarre opener comes an outsider, Saul Anguish, looking for respite, a reprieve or just a chance of resurrection as Midtown's newest policeman.

Thrown headlong into this missing person's case, he quickly connects with linguist Dr Clover March, brought in to analyse the writing left on teen daughter Riva's mirror, 'Make them stop'.

They have far more in common than at first appears, and so an engaging relationship begins as those around them fracture and spiral apart....

Why has Julianne spent so much time at funerals lately?

Her old school friends seem to be dropping like flies...

Why does Piper suddenly find the bottomless bank accounts which her husband lets her use without qualm have all been emptied?

Is Riva , the teen, the golden girl at the exclusive school which she attends, or is that just a facade as well?

As Julianne acknowledges at the start of the book, their friendship was forged in the bonds of motherhood, Piper having rescued her from the deep depression which she sunk into after the deaths of her parents in a bizaree and tragic chainsaw accident.

Those thrown together at parenthood's beginnings, out of necessity and seeking another kindred soul who is not scared to admit that actually, being a mother can suck really, really hard on occasion, often find that these friendships get put aside as the children, forced to play together from proximity choose their own friends. So I recognised just what effort it takes to keep a relationship going after the offspring have grown.

Piper would not just have disappeared without forward notice. However, when answer phone messages come to light which implicate Gray in abusing his wife, Julianne has to find her inner strength and risk her own marriage to fight for her friend.

For going into the dark reflects not only the mysterious disappearance of the Holden family, but also the dark recesses of the human soul which, unless you let someone in, you would never even know is there. How far will a person go to protect and look after that secret self?

An engaging and thrilling dive into toxic relationships, coercive control, the most dysfunctional families living in the most boring, every town you can imagine, this will keep you guessing what is going on, as short chapter after short chapter builds a picture of artifice, betrayal and murder.

I found this book quite confusing. It jumps around a lot in time, with chapters happening before and after the family's disappearance. This worked in part as it added to the sense of not knowing what was what, and which characters were trustworthy and which weren't, but it did mean that I have no idea of the timeline of events, having completed the book!

Although I don't think it was a bad book overall, I found some of the way it was written a bit over the top, the descriptions particularly florid. All of the characters were unlikeable and I found I couldn't care about what happened to any of them. It was all just a bit too much for me, I think - the way it was written too dramatic, the cast of characters too awful, the plot just too unbelievable.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Fiona Cummins’ previous novels but this one is definitely her best yet, I loved it! It follows what happens when a local family is discovered to have disappeared one morning with no clue as to why or where they’ve gone. The only thing to be seen is a message on the teenage daughter’s mirror saying ‘make them stop’! This novel goes back and forth in time as we find out what led up to the family’s disappearance and what has happened to them. We also follow the police as they investigate the missing family. This novel is so dark, with lots of twists and turns that genuinely caught me off guard over and over again. I loved that I didn’t know what was going on and I couldn’t figure out how it would end. This is a brilliant read and I highly recommend it!

Into the Dark by Fiona Cummins, was an intriguing mystery, which ended up being quite a bit darker than I was expecting!

I found the first half to be paced on the slower side but it really ramps up in the second half, with some great twists and turns. I would have liked to have seen more character development in some of the more minor characters, particularly the teenagers and DS Anguish, and I almost felt that the novel had slightly fallen victim to an overly brutal edit.

That said, I did really enjoy it and I could imagine it making a fabulous TV drama.

With thanks to Pan Macmillan for gifting me a digital copy to review.

I absolutely loved this book! The twists and turns kept on coming and I was left guessing all the way until the end! A definite must read!

Into the dark was a compelling book overall. I can't say that I liked any of the characters. Their actions speak louder than words. It all felt a bit too extreme.

It's riveting in parts, with some character oddities that were fascinating to see evolve in certain scenes. Wealth and thirst will change a person in a few days, and this group has revealed to be the worst-case scenario for it.

🆓📖Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

As soon as I started this book I was hooked. I couldn’t put this book down for longer than 5 minutes at a time which was surprising as I don’t think I liked one character in the book. There were some really dark elements underlining the book and the tension was palpable. I also thought the pace was perfect but for some reason I found the ending lacked the pace of the rest of the book and felt a little flat.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Into the dark by Fiona Cummins you are seriously missing out. This really is a mind twisting dark thriller about greed and I hope someone turns this into a film or a series as it kept me up into the early hours reading it as I couldn’t put it down. Wow.

This was a very farfetched and confusing story. A lot happened and had it been in different books, may have been more plausible but done of them were so out there that it wasn't believable at all. That said, it was still a worthy read. I can't quite make up my mind as to whether I'd read another by this author

When Julianne turns up at best friend Piper’s house for their regular run, she finds the house empty and a very unsettling scene.

We then follow timelines in the present and the past giving the build up to the family’s disappearance and follow several character perspectives, so it takes a fair bit of concentrating to keep track, but it is worth it!

Definitely recommended if you are in the mood for a twisty one!

LOVED LOVED LOVED. This is only the second book I've read by this author but I need to read the rest. Deliciously dark and twisty turny, full of characters you cannot trust for a second. Addictive stuff.