What's Done in Darkness by Laura McHugh

What's Done in Darkness by Laura McHugh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advance reader copy, What’s Done in Darkness by Laura McHugh in exchange for an honest review. What an intense look at the psychological trauma of a girl before, during, and after, her kidnapping in a rural farm community where religion is grasped wholeheartedly by members and families and taken to extremes in daily life. Sarabeth is the female protagonist, living with her family in a small town. Suddenly her father injures himself and with his recuperation he undergoes a religious epiphany that Laura’s mother profoundly grasps. Now the normal family she truly loved; Sarabeth sees her books taken away, TV thrown out, switched for a move to a remote farm with no amenities, a new church, fervent sermons, bible readings, and crushing punishments, anger, and distance from her parents. Sarabeth is seventeen and wants to escape this stifling new family dynamic. But before she is able, she is abducted by a masked man, bound, stripped of her clothes, and kept in darkness and silence. After a terror filled week, Sarabeth is released and finds her family and sheriff do not believe her claims of the masked abductor. It is only when advocates finally get to speak with Sarabeth that she is able to flee and begin a new life, away from her family and thankfully, no contact. What I loved about this suspenseful mystery is how McHugh goes back and forth each chapter with Then and Now. This technique is perfect in building the taut uncertainty that permeates this deliciously deceptive thriller as the reader turns those pages in hopes of solving not only Sara’s (she now goes by Sara in a new town, with a new job and life) kidnapping but also other girls. A detective is able to state a case to her for the similarities in other girls’ disappearances. I rooted for Sara and readers will totally engage as the mystery compounds and unfolds. Both absorbing and affecting as a taut psychological mystery; readers will LOVE this riveting read! This book will be available June 2021, preorder it now!

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