I really enjoyed this police drama, pacy, not too taxing and full of interesting detail. The author had a good grasp on procedure, technology and the incel culture that was the focus of the narrative.
However, I’m not sure it stood up as a stand alone novel being full of references to past books in the series, so not having read any others I did find a little frustrating. But I imagine if you were a fan this would have been extremely satisfying.
After reading I was certainly interested in buying other books by this author as The Dark was easy to read, enjoyable and full of drama without being too dramatic!

This book is compelling and disturbing in equal measure. The actions of the characters are something I could imagine happening given the crazy world we live in. There's lots of twists and turns to keep you hooked and although I guessed the perpetrators before the end, this didn't detract from my enjoyment. I've read some of Sharon's books before and this does not disappoint. Highly recommended

I can’t wait to read more by Sharon. This was intriguing, engaging and thrilling. The plot was cleverly unravelled as the story progressed.

The Dark by Sharon Bolton is a fascinating story about the back ground of Lacey Flint and how she is then connected to one of the major protagonist in the Intel storyline.
I found the book totally absorbing and with a really interesting storyline, that kept the reader engrossed from beginning to end.
Highly recommended

This is a brilliant series by Sharon Bolton, featuring Lacey Flint. As always, it's well written and draws you in from the first page. The pace never lets up until the last chapter with an excellent ending. The characterisation is excellent and there is plenty tension throughout. It's another 5* read from Sharon Bolton which fans will enjoy immensely. Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC which I highly recommend.

This was a fascinating but at the same time frightening read. There is the main part of the story about the atrocities that the all male group Incels are responsible for and how they are operating but an intertwined sub story about the main character police officer Lacey and her own personal history.
The frightening part is that what Incels are demanding should happen is not ideal but they also add the fact that the majority of men worldwide support these demands. Most of the proposed demands were purely taken from Islamic culture and beliefs about the standing of women. basically that women should be subservient to men, should be uneducated, dress correctly so that men do not get sexual ideas and rape them, and that women must never go out of the home without a family man with them in order to protect them.
The story is gripping but never gory in its details. I loved the intertwining of the two aspects of the story.

What an exceedingly well crafted tale this book has to tell and Sharon Bolton does an amazingly good job of sharing it with us.

Whilst I had a vague idea about incels before reading The Dark, I now have a much better view of how scary they might be. Couple incels to the whole cast of characters and the plots and this adds up to a book that is very well worth having at the top of your reading list.

No 5 in the Lacy Flint series.
When a baby is stolen and thrown into the River Thames it is lucky that off duty police officer Lacy is nearby and manages to save the baby.
DCI Joesbury and his team have been monitoring internet activity and watching for new terrorist threats - and it soon becomes clear this is a new Incel (involuntary celibate) men who are determined to terrorise women including Lacey.
As the attacks increase there is an urgent need to track these men down and stop them.
Lacey also has a backstory which the Incel leaders are aware of and which adds another layer to the storyline.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
4 Stars ⭐️

I requested this book after seeing mention of the incel movement. This is something that I have come across at work and have seen an increase in, and something that scares me solid. I hadn't seen it used before in fiction and was interested in how this came across.

True enough, the book was gruesome in places and the whole idea of it was sinister and extremely realistic. The way the group reached out and exploited current tensions between the genders, such as the pay gap, and the hankering some men seem to have to return to the 'good old day's with a little wife sat at home making dinner and cleaning the house, felt like something that genuinely could happen in today's society, and quite easily.

The Covid pandemic showed how easily communities can turn on each other if there is mistrust and fear, with neighbours reporting neighbours for chatting in the street, or visiting elderly parents. Although the internet can be a tool for good with a wealth of information, this book also showed the underside of the internet, with young men being groomed on he surface web to enter the dark web, where the algorithms work to make it very easy drown in the wrong information and have your mind turned. The book accurately portrayed how vulnerable people are targeted, such as on suicide sites, and groomed with false promises of power and glory. it also showed how easily it is to portray one agenda, while working towards another, and how easy it is to exploit people who just want a cause to belong to.

I didn't realise when requesting it that this was one of a series of books, and although it didn't dampen my enjoyment of it, there were references to previous events, and in particular Lacey's past, that would have helped me to understand some of the context of relationships within the book.

I loved the strong female characters within the book, of which there are so many, and this felt like a finger up to the real life incels who may happen across this book. I also liked how Dana was shown to be strong and intelligent, but also vulnerable and scared, as all too often police women in books, especially those of rank, are shown to be almost robotic in their emotions, and I know many women in the job who have struggled to return to front line duties after mat leave as their priorities around their safety have changed.

The writer clearly knew her stuff, and the book was well researched and well written. It was extremely dark, and there are graphic scenes, but it was gripping and I read it in two sittings.

The Dark is a fascinating read, and I am now determined to go back and read the others in the series to learn more about Lacey Flint.
The book opens with a bizarre encounter above Beachy Head, where a young woman inadvertently saves a life. A fleeting connection, but one which will prove to be pertinent through the course of the book.
Lacey (as has probably already been set up) is the identity assumed by Victoria Llewelyn, a young girl who made a choice to lead a better life on that night in Eastbourne. She has become a detective, well-respected, but nobody can know her secrets, and boy does she have secrets!
This book focuses on a truly scary movement by dark web enthusiasts, determined to wreak vengeance on all women for their role in ruining mens’ lives. Initially this starts with an attack on a mother and baby on a busy London street. What follows quickly escalates and has the police expecting the most extreme threats. Everyone is on high alert, and none more so than Lacey who has a very specific reason to want to ensure that AryanBoy as he’s known is stopped.
A dramatic story, full of tension, and I’m sure the only thing that would have added to my enjoyment of it is knowing these characters already and understanding some of the background to which they alluded.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to review this before publication.

I haven't read the first 4 Lacey Flint books but still absolutely loved this one, to the extent that I've just bought them all.

The writing is excellent, I loved the characters and the plot absolutley terrified me - edgy, tense and chillingly plausible.

A must read and I can't wait to binge on the back catalogue

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Hi and welcome to my review of The Dark! Massive thanks to Tracy for the invite and Orion and NetGalley for the eARC!

Years and years ago I fell in love with Sharon Bolton. I listened to Daisy in Chains, was blown away, read my way through Ms Bolton’s entire backlist and have been keeping up with her new work ever since. Doing so, I became a huge Lacey Flint fan so when, after all this time, I found out that Lacey Flipping Flint was back I jumped for joy!

Can I get a whoop whoop? And a collective blissful sigh that sounds suspiciously like FINALLY?

So, Lacey Flint is back for the fifth time, bar a couple of short stories, and no, you needn’t have read the previous books to jump into the series now if you really want to, but yes, I do think that you should read those previous instalments before reading The Dark cos this is an excellent series and how can you even call yourself a reader if you haven’t met Lacey, I should take away your bookworm badge right this minute!

Aaaaaanyhoo, Lacey is back and for what may be the first time, the mystery shrouding her is lifted somewhat. She’s always been a pretty mysterious character but, contradictory though it may sound, The Dark forces her into the light. It forces her to come to terms with her past, to stare it, and herself, in the face, and to accept it, to own it.

Also back is Lacey’s on-again-off-again boyfriend Mark Joesbury, seriously the guy deserves a medal for sheer patience alone, and for the first time in quite a while they have to work together.

The Dark hits the ground running with a baby being tossed into the Thames. So, only a few pages in, I was already clutching my pearls e-reader in suspense, and I really don’t feel it let up until I’d reached the end. Every time things seemed to calm down, another curveball was thrown, another spanner in the works messed with the case and this is honestly one of the most high-octane police procedurals I’ve read in a long time.

Fantastic main characters and lots of action, what’s not to love, but what I admire most about The Dark is the cleverness of the plot. Sure there’s smoke and mirrors but when the good guys figure out what the bad guys are really up to, it just makes so much sense. I always love it in a police procedural, or any story really, when the finale is not pulled from a hat like a white rabbit, revealing that what came before was actually a blatant lie. The Dark gives its reader little nuggets of information, little of which really registered in this reader TBH, and when it all comes together and all is revealed, you find the truth has been staring you in the face all along.

If I need to spell it out, I didn’t do this right, but just to be sure: I had a brilliant time with The Dark! It has everything I look for in a crime thriller and then some. It’s been a bit of a wait, but it was well worth it and with it ending on something of a cliffhanger for Lacey’s personal life, I’m already on tenterhooks for book 6. Highly recommend.

I had not read the other books inn the series but can say this is fine to read as a stand alone - the main character of Lucy is an interesting one!
full of twists and turns and edge of the seat moments,will look forward to the next in the series

I'm a big fan of Sharon Bolton's books, but this is my first Lacey Flint one. I can't understand how I missed the previous four! You don't however need to have read them to enjoy this book.

Lacey is a Met cop with the Marine Unit. She is in the right place at the right time to rescue a baby set adrift on the Thames. This leads to a series of crimes against women, attributed to an incel group on the Dark Web.

I've read a few books recently about incels and redressing the male/female balance in society, and this is by far the best.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Monitoring a complex network of dark websites, DCI Joesbury and his team have spotted a new terrorist threat. Joesbury’s team are trying to infiltrate the ring of power at its core, but the dark web is built for anonymity.

Pressure builds when the team learns a snatched child was just the first in a series of violent attacks designed to terrorise women. Worse, the leaders of the movement seem to have singled out Lacey as the embodiment of everything they hate

Firstly I feel I should point out that before reading this book for NetGalley, I had not realised this was the 5th installment in the Lacey Flint series. This did not spoil my enjoyment of the book; whilst there are references to the other books, I don’t feel I missed out on anything by not having read them.

The prequel really caught my attention - a potential double suicide at Beachy Head in East Sussex; this, in turn, sets the scene for Lacey Flint (an assumed identity) to turn her life around and become a police officer. Flint is currently working in River Patrol.

The story then jumps to London, a few years later, with the kidnap of a baby which is the work of a new incel movement called MenMatter (men's rights activists). Incels- short for involuntary celibates - are men who have been groomed on the dark web by four anonymous men, only known by their nicknames and avatars. These incels believe that women have too much power and freedom in society, often at the expense of men like them, causing the men to be unemployed, lack success in relationships, etc.

A series of misogynistic crimes then terrorise the city while the men fight to reclaim what they believe is genuinely theirs by innate right.

Flint is a robust and well-thought-out character, a risk-taker with a no-nonsense approach to life and work. As with all fictional police officers worth their salt, she is dealing with her own traumatic backstory and secrets that she must keep hidden, affecting her conduct and decision-making.

Although I found the plot outcomes fairly predictable, there were still twists and turns along the way to keep my interest.

With thanks to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group, and Sharon Bolton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed this book but there wasn’t many surprises. I guessed who was behind it but I did enjoy the relationship between the two main characters . I would give the next book a read if there is another one in the series

Wow what can I say but only that I loved it.

First time reading anything by Sharon Bolton and I wasn’t disappointed. I didn’t realise this was book 5 in a series, it definitely didn’t take away from my enjoyment, it makes a great standalone book too as the author gives great background story. I will definitely be looking at the previous books in the Lacey Flint Series.

It’s a thrilling fast paced story of Police Officer Lacey Flint , who off duty rescues a snatched baby from the River Thames and that’s only the start of it….

The Dark is gripping from start to finish, I couldn’t put it down with lots of twists and turns, a pulse racing edge of your seat storyline which is written really well and with great characters.

Recommend this for readers who enjoy Police Procedural & psychological thrillers.

I would like to thank #NetGallery, #OrionPublishingGroup and author #SharonBolton for an eARC of #TheDark in exchange for an honest review.

Before reading this book for Net galley I had not realised this was the 5th instalment in the Lacey Flint series. To be honest that did not spoil my enjoyment of the book and with reference made to other books it was easy to pick up. The story begins with the kidnap of a baby which is the work of a new incel movement called MenMatter. The movement then engage on a series of micro aggression's towards women which are terrifying. Although supposedly at random Lacey Flint feels like this is somehow personal.
Although I guessed the identify of the lead protagonist there was still plenty of twists and turns along the way.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author Sharon Bolton for my ARC of TheDark in exchange for an honest review.

I have read many great standalone books by Sharon Bolton, but the first 4 books in the series have somehow slipped by. Despite this I didn’t feel at too much of a disadvantage with the back story. Although the first chapter, felt like it should have been in the first book, so it was a little bit confusing.

But having said that it was a great start that continued throughout the book. Lacey Flint is a strong character with a dark and mysterious back story, a risk taker, with a no-nonsense approach to life and work. This is a well-constructed novel with several plot twists, fast paced, with tension by the bucket load.

Looks like I have some catching up to do!

This is my first Sharon Bolton but won't be my last!

Lacey Flint is a Met cop with the Marine Unit who rescues a baby set adrift on the Thames but she wonders, who would want to harm a baby?

DCI Mark Joesbury knows the answer as his team is tracking a misogynistic group on the Dark Web who want to redress the balance between male and female.

A gripping thriller that leaves you guessing right until the end

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for letting me read it!