Thanks for an advance ARC from the publisher.

When a baby is snatched from its pram and cast into the river Thames, off-duty police officer Lacey Flint is there to prevent disaster.

DCI Mark Joesbury has been expecting this. Monitoring a complex network of ‘dark web’ sites, Joesbury and his team have spotted a new terrorist threat from the extremist, women hating group known as ‘incels’ or ‘involuntary celibates.

I am writing this review when the Supreme Court in the US just has banned abortion, and the political debate in the US is filled with frustrated men who feel that “equal rights” is the same as “wokeness”. The theme in the latest Lacey Flint book is very timely.

I was very happy to reconnect with Lacey and Mark as characters. Bolton’s storytelling powers are as strong as ever and I was immediately drawn into the book. The initial part was fast-paced and I kept reading even though it was long past my bedtime. However, I did find that the middle section was a bit slow, and I sometime found the prose a bit preachy. The incident on the underground was a bit lengthy and I am not sure what it actually added to the story. However, the last part of the book more than made up for that. It was fast-paced and filled with unexpected twists and turns that Bolton is known for, so I stayed up past my bedtime again.

All in all it was a solid 4/5.

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A Child abduction leads to the rise of an underground terror movement of men who hate Women. A campaign of terror is started to keep Women off the streets and out of positions of power. Women are scared, the threat is growing, and the Police have no leads to the identity of the ringleaders....
A gripping, page turner of a tale. With an excellent shock factor.
A few loose ends not quite tied up,. Overall a good read.

Thanks netgalley for this terrific book, really could not put it down and another best seller for Sharon Bolton.
Women in London were being attacked, babies thrown into the Thames and having acid thrown over them by men being told that women were bitches and had to be controlled, or they would take over the world and they should know their place.
Lacey Flint a constable In the metropolitan police marine unit was involved in the investigation and it became personal as she thought she knew this man.
The investigation led to a very exciting story and the man leading these terrible things had to be uncovered before more woman got hurt.
This story deserved more than five stars. I

Lacey and Mark are my favourite investigative couple ever, Lacey is full of secrets, brave and always attracts the most gripping and dangerous cases, and Mark is just this super cool, broody undercover detective, full of conflicted feelings. They are just perfect for each other. I loved all the characters chosen for this book, they are diverse, intriguing, and multiple perspectives allowed me to get to know them even better than before. I really liked reading the villain’s parts as well, I love exploring why they are so messed up in the head. 😀

The plot of this book is simply fantastic, it is super creepy, very fast paced, and full of unbelievable events and twists. I actually thought that incels are fictional, but there are plenty of websites confirming that they actually exist. :O That is bloody messed up. The topics discussed in this book are violence against women, angry men, parental love, childhood grudges and trauma, complex relationships, etc.

The writing style is superb, like always. Sharon Bolton knows how to create brilliant thrillers, and that is why I am such a huge fan of her books. The author is a keen swimmer, so it was no surprise that she shares her love for all things water. 😀 I think the author has done quite a lot of research when it comes to incels, and I am curious how much time she spent on the dark web. 😀 The chapters are short and the book was so engrossing that the pages just flew by for me. I have to throw in a warning, that some readers might find this book very disturbing, there is quite a lot of violence against children and women. I really liked the ending of this novel, it rounded the story very well and I can’t wait for the next Lacey Flint investigation.

So, to conclude, this book is super dark and disturbing. I loved the characters since the first book and the plot is full of twists and unexpected events that had me absorbed from the first page. I loved it and I would strongly recommend it to thriller genre fans. If you are new to Sharon Bolton, start from the first book, you won’t be disappointed. 😉

This was actually my first Lacey Flint thriller, so delighted that I now have a whole backlist to discover! Thoroughly enjoyed this dark and disturbing tale focussing on the secretive and sinister world of the incel movement. I learnt a huge amount about this movement, and on the back of reading this am now reading Laura Bates' Men Who Have Women- an author mentioned in the book among others. I thought the characterisation was superb, and although these characters were initially unfamiliar to me, Bolton was incredibly good at weaving in back story and past events for the first time reader. An excellent read.

I’ve read most of Sharon Bolton’s stand alone novels and didn’t realise that The Dark is the latest in the Lacey Flint series. That’s a joy for me as I now have a new series to catch up on. This book certainly works well as a standalone as there’s enough backstory to understand the issues around the central character.

This is a really satisfying story in every way. The opening pages are dramatic and left me breathless…and wondering. Fast forward to present day London and after a swift introduction to a number of featured police officers, the pace ratchets up when there’s an attack on vulnerable individuals on a London Bridge. This event is witnessed first hand by off duty police officers, Lacey amongst them and it’s a non stop ride thereafter. Sharon Bolton is a superb storyteller. She has a gift for bringing people to life and using current events and attitudes to shape a story that feels real. This one takes the reader into the world of the dark web and a particular group of no mark individuals who have bonded online. It’s scary stuff with a language of its own and a parallel world that’s dysfunctional and violent. The other intrigue is Lacey’s background and this is explored well. She’s secretive and an oddball, but she delivers. This story is a winner in every way; up to the minute issues, a police procedural, fast paced and driven by character as well as plot. I’m invested in these people and yet they’re on paper. That’s outstanding writing and I highly recommend this read.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

When a baby is thrown into the Thames by an extremist terrorist group of 'incels', police officer Lacey Flint is thrown back into the dark underbelly of crime she has been trying so hard to escape.

This was an absolute wild ride from start to finish - once I picked it up I literally could not put it down. Not only was I beyond excited to be back in the world of Lacey Flint, but this story was so visceral and compelling it would not let me go.
It was so nice to see all our charcters fleshed out more in this book as we rotate through their POVs. This also served to further ground the story as we see the various elements of the narrative that each of them took to heart. I particularly enjoyed seeing more of Joesbury's POV, his personality really shone through in this one. He is a sarky b*stard and I absolutely love that for him.
In usual Sharon Bolton fashion, the suspense was beautifully crafted throughout with the Thames as an ever-present backdrop to the unfolding events. The mystery was dark and twisty, it kept me guessing and suspicious of just about everyone introduced. I couldn't trust anyone and so was on edge the entire time, and loved every second of it.
As for that ending, I genuinely lost sleep over it. I'm still not over it and need at the very least confirmation of another installment asap.

Sharon Bolton never disappoints. Nobody does dark, tense, atmospheric thrillers better, and Lacey Flint just makes them all the more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for my e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley for a pre release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fifth novel in the Lacey Flint series. I must admit it’s the first I’ve read in the series but it won’t be my last!

Lacey Flint is a police officer with a questionable past. The Dark focuses on a group of incels or involuntary celibates, orchestrating attacks and violence on women, and Lacey’s team fighting to bring a stop to this terrorism. It begins in the UK but, thanks to the dark web, spreads throughout the world.

I found it a great, fast paced thriller with a fascinating backstory and character progression. It frightened me in ways as the extremist beliefs demonstrated by the incels are very relevant at present in the world. The incel agenda is clear: women are second class citizens, should not have positions of power or have control of their own bodies unless permission granted by a male. It’s scary, but unfortunately not at all far from reality in certain aspects of life for women.

The reason I felt this fell short of a five star read was the ending. I just felt it left it down a bit after the thrilling journey the rest of the book was. I would definitely recommend this for thriller and especially crime thriller fans. It felt like it was a story from a criminal minds episode.

The Dark is an excellent detective thriller. The plot is complex and involves a group of men whose aim is to devalue women. They use the dark web to spread distrust and to suggest that society diminishes the role of women, relegating them to mere servants of men. Alongside this threat, the team of detectives work to expose the group and protect women.

I found it to be a well written and compelling read. I thoroughly recommend it.

I don’t know how I missed it but I didn’t realise this book was part of a series, and while some explanations were made, I felt I was missing a lot of important information. It felt like there was so much going on and I was expected to know more about it than I did. I’m sure that had I picked up some of the Lacey Flint books before then I would have found this one quite easy to get into, but unfortunately it’s just too ‘busy’ to keep up with. But don’t let this put you off as Im sure if you have read the previous books this will be brilliant. It’s clear a lot of research has gone into this book which is admirable.

I haven't read any previous books about Lacey Flint but that was not an issue as it worked well enough as a standalone.
This is a book with great characterisation and it draws the reader in from the beginning. It is fast paced and full of intrigue, action and twists.
A worthy read.

I found Lacey a very interesting character but felt abit lost with the story at times. Having not read any of the other books in the series felt like I was missing the back story. I did love the pace of the story thought it kept me transfixed and would definitely like the read the others in this series

In this book, Sharon Bolton transports us into the world of incels – males who identify themselves as involuntarily celibate and who express resentment towards females (who they called Stacies or foids) and attractive males (Chads). This was a whole new set of terminology for me!

Lacey Flint, constable at the marine unit of the Met Police, saves a kidnapped baby on the river. The attack was perpetrated by a group calling themselves MenMatter, where at the front are four incles with online personas of AryanBoy, MadHatter, Joker and BlackPill88. MenMatter wish to restore full patriarchy in the UK and for women to lose all their rights.

These men goad frustrated young males all over UK to perpetrate violence and attacks against women, including cyber flashing, acid attacks, and even killing innocent females. It will take Met’s finest officers to track the identity of the incels behind these vicious crimes.

It soon appears that AryanBoy set his sights on Lacey. He even goes as far as implying that him and Lacey share a history… Do they?

I really enjoyed this book from the tense start at the Beachy Head, which gave us a tiny glimpse into Lacey’s past. The story was fast paced and full of smoke and mirrors – you thought it was heading in a certain direction, only to be proved wrong.

As I was reading this, I felt truly scared for women, as the threat is real – women are attacked on a daily basis, and often the news depict these horrid crimes. We’ve also had men identifying themselves as incels committing those acts. I applaud the author for bringing this issue to light, I felt that I have learned a lot about this issue.

Overall, it is a tense book full of twists and turns – not for the faint hearted!

Thank you to the publisher, Orion for accepting my NetGalley request to read and review this book.

Wow, what a thriller. Could not put this book down. Exceptional twists and characterisations. Brilliant.

Brilliant story of Incels and terrorism which is scary in places and features constable Lacey Flint who is present when a baby is snatched and delves straight in and saves the baby,
What follows is a series of events carried out by Incels which get more threatening as time goes by. Lacey tries to work out who is behind the attacks on women and finds herself targeted as the one who is responsible and leader is someone who knows the truth about Lacey.
This book also delves into the dark web which is scary.at times but would highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley Orion Publishing Group for a advanced copy.

Incels – the new threat to women and women’s rights.

Constable Lacey Flint had met up with her friends, two fellow police officers, Dana, and Helen for lunch. She’d kayaked from her home, a vintage sailing yacht to reach their meeting place, close to the Thames. Dana and Helen had watched her start her (water) journey back to her houseboat when they were shocked into action by four men, wearing masks, snatching a baby in its pushchair from its mother and throwing it into the Thames. The men who stole the baby are part of a radical new group of incels, Involuntary Celibates.

The plot is fast-moving, and the subject based on incels trying to overthrow women’s rights made me learn more about the subject. I had vaguely heard the term some time ago and not given it any further thought until reading this book and learning how this group wanted to return women to be the property of men, where they would kowtow to all their needs.

The protagonist has an interesting backstory that will see her in danger thanks to an event many years ago. The supporting characters are well defined, and the storyline is remarkably interesting. However, I’m not sure that I liked the writing style, leading me to wonder if I’d go out of my way to read any other books by the author.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

A story of Incels and terrorism definitely a page turner for one of my favourite authors, the 5th in the Lacy Flint series and another great book.
Lacey is present when a baby is snatched and thrown into the Thames and sent down the river in a blown up pool toy when Lacey rescues her.
Lacey`s partner Joesbury is monitoring the Dark Web after threats from Incel groups inciting men to perform frightening attacks against women.
A fast moving story well worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book can be read as part of the Lacey Flint series or as a standalone novel. The story had me hooked from the beginning. There are tense moments when I was holding my breath awaiting the outcome. I was vaguely aware of 'incels' and this book explored the feelings and thoughts of males who align with this stream of thought in a sensitive manner.

This was fantastic read, but boy did it scare me!
I was hooked straight away, thrown back into Lacey’s world on the river Thames where she works with the River Police and where the action for this book takes off! And take off it did and it didn’t really stop. It was so realistic, sometimes too much for my liking, that I had to put it down at times because it was freaking me out! Just like Dead Scared, the only other Lacey Flint book I’ve dared to read!
The group of ‘incels’ in this book felt very real, in fact it felt like Sharon Bolton had taken her plot line from the media as some of the ideas this group had were terrifying! That’s how realistic her books are. The writing was superb and definitely made me want to read her back catalogue as long as it’s not too scary.
Highly recommended if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

I have read a couple of Sharon Bolton’s novels, but none from her Lacey Flint series until this one, The Dark.

The book opens with a flashback to an event that will have repercussions in the future. Currently, Lacey is working as part of the Metropolitan Police marine unit and is off duty when, whilst kayaking home, a baby is abducted and placed in an inflatable unicorn on the Thames. Lacey jumps to full alert when a pram and baby are tossed from the bridge high above the riverbank.

This story delves into the dark web and the story of “incels”. Disturbing, some of the shocking scenes made me gasp but I also wanted to read on to see what else would transpire. Riveting and terrifying but definitely worth it!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.