Into the Darkest Corner

By: Elizabeth Haynes

Narrated by: David Thorpe, Karen Cass

Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

AMAZON BOOK OF THE YEAR 2011

WINNER OF AMAZON RISING STARS 2011

AMAZON EDITORS' CHOICE BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2011

LONGLISTED FOR CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 2011

Catherine has been enjoying the single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic, spontaneous – Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.

But there is a darker side to Lee. His erratic, controlling and sometimes frightening behaviour means that Catherine is increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, and trusting no one, she plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, struggling to overcome her demons, Catherine dares to believe she might be safe from harm. Until one phone call changes everything.

This is an edgy and powerful first novel, utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, and a tour de force of suspense.

©2012 Elizabeth Haynes (P)2012 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"Check the locks on your doors and windows and surrender to this obsessive thriller." (Karin Slaughter)

“This intense, gripping account of domestic violence and its aftermath is utterly unputdownable. A stunning debut.” (SJ Watson)

“From its uncompromising prologue - a young woman being bludgeoned to death in a ditch - Haynes's powerful account of domestic violence is disquieting, yet unsensationalist. This is a gripping book on a topic which can never be highlighted enough.” ( Guardian)

“A very impressive first novel. The pain and frustration of OCD is brilliantly evoked and I winced every time Cathy embarked on yet another ritual. The contrast between Cathy's two lives is cleverly drawn and the hesitancy in her new relationship is very believable. This is a fantastic personal read with plenty for a reading group to discuss.” ( NewBooks Magazine)

“Within ten minutes I couldn't put it down. I've always said that I would never be caught in an abusive relationship, as I'd be out of it at the first sign of a problem but after reading this book I realised that it really isn't that simple. There's a superb picture of the burdens of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). It's not enough to check once that the door is firmly locked. What if you didn't lock it properly? There's real dramatic tension in this book and when I got to the end the first thing that I did was to turn back to the beginning again.” ( The Bookbag)

“A tense and thought-provoking début novel with dark moments. Its portrayal of obsession is one that will send a shiver down your spine and you'll hope that you are never in that position. But don't look for a "pat" ending - it seems that things never end the way one hopes! This début novel by a police intelligence analyst is certainly well worth the read.” ( Shotsmag)

“Our South coast-based book group had been starved of a good book for a month or two, so it was with some excitement that we stumbled across the buzz on Twitter about Elizabeth Haynes' compelling debut novel Into the Darkest Corner. Thankfully starvation swiftly changed to gluttony when we got our hands on the book, as this is a compulsive thriller with sufficient twists and plot turns to keep the most action-avaricious of readers satisfied.” ( Bookgroup.info)

Entertaining story that kept me engaged

This is good suspense novel. I wouldn't call it a thriller because there is not a lot of gore (by today's standards).

We kinda know how the story will end pretty early on but not how it will unfold to get to that end, and that part is pretty interesting.

The premise is that of a young woman suffering from OCD after escaping from an abusive controlling relationship. In the beginning, we have to experience her OCD symptoms with her, and it is exhausting. However, it builds the right foundation for the story.

She is attempting to get on with her life and overcome the debilitating fear she suffers daily even though she knows her abuser is in prison. Enter handsome upstairs neighbor who also happens to be a mental health professional. Their relationship begins to build and the woman begins to see possibilities in life that previously she would have not considered. She is motivated to seek counseling for her OCD. Then she receives word that her abuser is being released from prison.

Now this is the point in the story that I sincerely hope is more fiction than fact, because most of the professionals around her continued to treat her OCD symptoms without regard to the fact that her abuser was now free - a man who nearly killed her and vowed she would always be his. Considering his insidious mode of operation in the past, I was disappointed that those close to her only continued to persuade her that her OCD was playing tricks on her.

She finally breaks and decides she can't tolerate the fear driving her life anymore and she begins to take risks to resolve her problems because she just doesn't care anymore and that makes her stronger.

This is an entertaining suspense story that I can definitely recommend. Download and enjoy, it's hard to put down. As you listen, pay attention to the chapter date headings, as this bounces back and forth between past and present - do that and you won't get lost.

Gripping Psychological Thriller

We are first introduced to Lee when we see him pleading guilty to abusing and stalking a woman, in the courthouse. Haynes then skips back in time to when Lee and heroine Catherine meet.

Catherine and Lee have a wonderful new relationship. Although his 'work' has perplexing hours, and Catherine doesn't know why he won't tell her more about it, he otherwise seems like the perfect guy. He is dashing, handsome, and he truly cares about her. Catherine's friends are over-the-top jealous and they believe, as she does at first, that she's caught the perfect fish.

As Catherine and Lee's relationship progresses, Catherine begins to get a little edgy. Lee starts to be very controlling and then he gets to the point where he is stalking Catherine. He then begins to abuse her in many gruesome ways. Catherine cannot believe that she's let herself become 'one of those women' who allows for things like this to happen. Her friends shame her for breaking up with Lee, because he's a charmer and talks to them about his broken heart. As abusers often do, he projects Catherine as the horrible person and himself as the one who's just trying to do the best thing.

The book is a psychological thriller with a deep tension. It's sort of different because we already know that Lee is the bad guy, it's not a surprise. It's just a constant mind game with a very interesting climax and denouement. This book is not for the faint at heart, but I would recommend it as an excellent thriller to anyone who loves a great, suspenseful novel.

5 stars

Spot on pacing makes story really work

The story trajectory is set up in the first few chapters, so there is no major reveal to keep you on the edge of the seat. The author keeps it interesting with character development and story details. It's not perfect - the main character's mental health changes were implausible and overdone - but I found it an enjoyable and intelligent book overall and recommend it.

Surprisingly Gripping Without the Usual Tricks

I'll admit that I'm normally a sucker for more obvious tropes in my thrillers. With no immediately discernible evil psychopath and no readers claiming it to be disturbingly dark and gory, had this book not been reviewed so well, I may have passed it by. The remarkably believable character development and internal monologues are what immediately grabbed me about Into the Darkest Corner, and the narrator was positively brilliant, a perfect voice for the protagonist.

Predictable...

It took a while to get in sync with the past & present story line flipping back & forth but in the end, it was a predictable tale of obsessed love. The "suspense" was weak, the story dragged on too long while waiting for the "thrill" to arrive.

I wish Audible would allow long-term annual subscribers at least one "do-over" to be able to negate a purchase & find a new audiobook without using a credit. This one would surely qualify for a "do-over"

OMG! What a nail biting thriller this one is

I started out with listening to this, and after a while I switched to my Kindle to read it.
The beginning is a bit confusing, because it starts out in 2005, skips back to events of 2003, then a short bit in 2001, then we skip forward to 2007. The whole book is like that. If you want a clear picture. write the starting dates down, then refer to them. Reading it was just easier for me, to see the dates in print.
At first, I thought I wasn't going to like this book, as it started going into the daily life habits of an OCD sufferer. But, the blow by blow of locking doors, and checking latches, didn't last too long, then the novel took off running. It quickly became one of those novels that you have to finish in one reading, which I did (couldn't get away from it).
Cathy falls in love with the wrong guy, and boy does her life completely change. What starts out as bliss, soon turns into a nightmare that haunts her for her lifetime. You find yourself in her shoes, as everything turns hopeless, and is done in a very believable way.
She can trust no one, as the book goes back and forth between past and present, you (the reader) don't know who she can trust either, if anybody. She struggles to get her life together, but you find yourself wondering if it will happen, and with this type of book, anything can take place, right up til the end.

Chilling - well written!

I'm glad I moved past any negative reviews I read - I really enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of accurately portraying both Cathy's OCD symptoms but especially the psychopathic behaviors of Lee. Having dated someone with a similar personality, she was spot on with the stalker/psycho behavior. I thought the story was well thought out and well written. Another reviewer said the book was too much dialogue. I didn't get that feeling at all. I thought the author did a great job of interweaving the backstory and the story flowed well. Just listen closely to the beginning of each chapter when the date is announced you'll be fine. Even if you missed the date, it's easy to figure out where in time you are pretty early on in the book. I had never read anything by this author nor listened to the narrator before. Both were excellent. I was pretty impressed that this is the author's first published book - well done! I further read that she started writing fiction with NanoWriMo which impressed me more. I'll definitely read other books by her. And the narrator was excellent. Sometimes her accent was a bit much for me - my ear isn't fully trained for a British accent, but I'm working on it She was great with the different voices and she did a great job of using inflection and acting out the story, not just reading it. Would definitely recommend this book.

Audible fanatic...because i'm a truck driver

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narration

What did you like best about this story?

The characters

Would you listen to another book narrated by David Thorpe and Karen Cass ?

Maybe not Karen if she had to do an accent!

Was Into the Darkest Corner worth the listening time?

Yes, but the narration made it difficult.

Any additional comments?

Karen needs to listen to more Londoners in order to get it right. Her narration was a cross between English, Irish, Jamaican and American..it was disturbing. Here the asserting takes place in London, but her 'accent' is more Irish. She loses her place at one time with the 'accent' completely and it throws me off. I've never strayed from a book I was listening to, but I strayed several times...I have A.D.D., and I pick up on things most others don't...dialects are my thing! And this narration disappointed me.

First 1/4 of the book is tough

I agree with others that the first 1/4 of the book is tough to get through. The book starts chronologically with the most recent event then goes back and forth between 2004 & 2008 for most of the book. It isn't clear what's going on initially. I was lost at first. The book is setting the stage with little action for the first 1/4 of the book.

I also agree with others that it is more of a psychological thriller than a mystery. I enjoyed it but it wasn't a 5 for me.

Deadly obsession

Where does Into the Darkest Corner rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ranked at the top 5 in my favorites category.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Catherine, the heroine, after all she went through, she was able to protect her loved ones and stop the lovesick maniac. Kudos!

Which scene was your favorite?

When Catherine set her wannabe killer on fire.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A hero coming out of the darkness.

Any additional comments?

I'll be talking about this story for a long time and recommend it to all women.