Fear the Dark by Chris Mooney

Fear the Dark by Chris Mooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 485

Publisher - Penguin

Source - Bought online

Blurb from Goodreads

Fear grips a town in Colorado as a murderer targets entire families in their own homes. As police and the FBI struggle to contain the situation, they bring in forensic investigator and serial killer expert Darby McCormick.

What she finds is a brutal and elusive predator who stays one step ahead of their investigation.

As Darby navigates the blood-ties and broken promises that divide the locals, she knows that all the while the killer is watching, waiting and circling his next target: her.

She must not only meet evil—and somehow survive—but also be prepared to face this small town's dark heart ...


My Review

This is book five in the Darby McCormick series, you could pick this up and read as a standalone but honestly, do yourself a favour and go back and read the others, they are fab. Darby is pulled in by the small town cops to help with catching a serial killer targeting families. Darby is an expert in serials, she has dealt with and survived (just) a few up close and personal, she is also a forensic investigator and bloody good at what she does. The wee town cops want this sorted before they are squeezed out by the bigger cops just waiting to pounce and take over.

The killer is methodical, leaves no traces, is super smart and determined. Throughout the book we actually hear from the killer, their urges and their focus on the cops as they close in. A game of cat and mouse begins and of course Darby is in the thick of it, working in a team where some of course don't want a woman. Darby is more than fit for them!

I love Darby's character, she is strong, maybe even more so from what she has survived, even when rattled she puts a face on it and shy's away from nothing. She is great at her job and sometimes her temper and sense of what is right can get her into trouble - I think that is why she is so popular with readers!

Great pace, short chapters which I love anyway but being ill recently it allowed for me to actually get a fair bit of reading done when I was really struggling. The characters are great, Mooney keeps you on your toes and firing through the pages to figure out where the story is going and how it is all going to end. Darby is like a cat with nine lives but you worry for her along the way because this killer seems to be more dangerous than those she has encountered and you fear her luck is going to run out. Hence not being able to put the book down for long, I HAD to know where it was going, the who, why and how - and will she make it to see another book! 4.5/5 for me this time, I have the next in the series waiting to be read and need to buy the other(s) - not sure how many is actually in total!

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The Soul Collectors by Chris Mooney

The Soul Collectors by Chris Mooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 468

Publisher - Penguin

Source - Bought copy

Blurb from Goodreads


Charlie Rizzo has his family at gunpoint and when Darby arrives to defuse the scene, she finds him horrifically mutilated, with a mask of human skin sewn in place over his own face. Within minutes, a group of men disguised as SWAT officers bursts in and releases deadly Sarin gas, killing the Rizzo family outright and leaving Darby herself barely alive.

Where has Charlie Rizzo been held all these years? Who are The Twelve who have been executing this gruesome torture? And why are the FBI running scared in the face of this particular, chilling episode? Darby is facing the toughest case of her career...and, as the body count rises, one that will bring her into great personal danger and leave her in fear of losing her mind, if not her soul.



My Review

Darby has been called to a hostage situation, a kid that went missing years ago has apparently resurfaced and is now holding his family hostage. Bizarre in itself Darby heads in, backed up by SWAT and nothing goes as planned. As Darby investigates, the stakes are high, the killer will stop at nothing and noone could have guessed how deadly and dark things get.

Murder, abuse, danger on every corner and Darby is up against it trying to keep focused on the case, stay alive and not get too wrapped up in the issues in her personal life. The thought of something so cruel and organised out there is creepy and I hope we get more insight or back story in a future book.

Darby is super tough in this one but has a softer side when we see a glimpse into her personal life. Otherwise she is a bit of a one man band because she seems to be hitting walls at almost every turn. I defo wanted to see where it was going so a page turner from that perspective but a little unsatisfied with how some of it went and hoping to get more closure from the next in the series - I have it ordered. 3/5 for me this time, I don't remember much of the previous books that had relevance to this one so you could pick this book up and read as a standalone but I would read the previous ones if you are able.

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The Secret Friend by Chris Mooney

The Secret Friend by Chris Mooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publishers - Puffin

Pages - 438

Blurb from Goodreads

Two dead girls in the river

Two tiny statues of the Virgin Mary concealed in their clothing

One CSI on the hunt for their killer

When Judith Chen is found floating in Boston's Harbour, links are made with the murder of Emma Hale, a student who vanished without trace, only for her body to wash up months later.

CSI Darby McCormick is assigned to the case and uncovers a piece of overlooked evidence from the Hale investigation which brings her into contact with Malcolm Fletcher, a former FBI agent now on the Most Wanted list after a string of bloody murders. And when a third student goes missing, Darby is led into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with deadly links to the past and a man who speaks to the Blessed Virgin. A man who wants to be a secret friend to the girls he abducts.


My Review

This is the second book in the McCormick series, I would advise reading the first purely because I loved it and it gives a bit of a build up for McCormicks character. A young woman's body is found, she had been missing for a prolonged period of time, now another is missing and the police realise they have limited time to catch the killer. Why would someone keep the girls alive so long then kill them off and why is each found with the statue of the Virgin Mary with them? As the investigation heats up a rogue FBI agents name pops up and soon a game of cat and mouse begins with him, Malcolm Fletcher and CSI McCormick.

I really like Mooney's writing style, you are drawn in pretty quickly to the story and investigation. Darby is assigned to the case and looks over the previous evidence to see if anything has been missed. This crosses paths with one of the most wanted men, ex FBI and killer who has information about the case but what does he want from McCormick in exchange. There are a few aspects of the story, the killer, why he is the way he is and his time with his captive. Fletcher, the ex FBI agent and his interactions with McCormick, the investigation itself and the possible motive to what drives the killer.

An action packed wee book that keeps you turning the page, I look forward to the next book and where it will take McCormick and if we will see any of the other characters. 4/5 for me this time, I bought all the books of this series after the first one so I will be reading this author again.

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The Missing by Chris Mooney

The Missing by Chris Mooney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 6 hours

Pages - 368

Publisher - Atria Books

Blurb from Goodreads

Darby McCormack was in high school when she first encountered the killer: someone murdered a woman in the woods where Darby and her two best friends were partying. His race to silence the witnesses was sure-footed and violent - but somehow Darby survived.

Twenty-five years later, Darby is a crime-scene investigator for the Boston Police Department, and a chilling case - a woman's late-night abduction - has her uncovering strange leads to missing women, past and present. As forensic clues lead her closer to a psychopath called the Traveler, Darby must finally resolve the nightmare of her past and come face-to-face with a killer who is determined to keep the missing - and the horrors they endured at his hands - from ever coming to light.


My Review

We open with a young Darby McCormack, drinking with her friends in the woods when they see a woman being murdered. The killer takes his revenge but Darby manages to survive, we flip to twenty three years later and Darby is a CSI. Investigating a young woman's abduction Darby finds a lead that will blow the case wide open and chase a killer who will stop at nothing to keep his game going.

Oooh I started this thinking just one chapter and then I will go to bed, I was still reading at 4am, I could not put it down. We follow McCormack and alternate a few chapters with the killer, the book draws you in from the get go with a murder within the first few chapters and the pace hottens up from there. As the investigation picks up McCormack realises this is a methodic, intelligent, psychopathic killer who has perfected his "art" over the years and isn't about to stop.

This book is not just a crime and murder story, it looks at the impact relationships and exposure have on human behaviour and choices. Secrets, lies, murder, love, partnership a bit of cat and mouse and police procedures. I actually gasped out loud reading a particular scene in this book and I haven't done that for ages. I loved this book, 5/5 for me & I had already bought the next four after the author joined our online book club so will certainly be reading him again.

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