Some Choose Darkness

By: Charlie Donlea

Narrated by: Nina Alvamar

Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A modern master of suspense, critically acclaimed author Charlie Donlea returns with a taut, gripping novel about the deadly secrets hiding in plain sight.... 

The truth is easy to miss, even when it's right in front of us. As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime-scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father's law office a week after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case come to life once more. 

In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed the Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind - until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigation skills appear to have led to his identity. But before they could question her, Angela disappeared. 

Forty years later, the Thief is about to be paroled for Angela's murder - the only crime the DA could pin on him. But the cryptic file Rory finds in her father's law office suggests there is more to the case, and Angela Mitchell, than what was fed to the public, the details of which have been buried for four decades. 

Rory's talents are tested as she begins reconstructing Angela's last days. Making one startling discovery after another, Rory becomes helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. Drawing connections between the past and present, Rory uncovers dark truths about the reclusive victim, her father, and the man called the Thief that send her down a twisting trail where things may not be as they appear. 

As she continues to dig, even Rory can't be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging....

©2019 Charlie Donlea (P)2019 Recorded Books

Intense!!

The psychological thriller, Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea, narrated by Nina Alvamar, is one readers and listeners everywhere will not be able to put down! I'll let you read the plot synopsis on your own, so I do not accidentally give anything away...just know that calling this gripping and suspenseful, does not do it justice. While that may be true, this fast-paced, character-driven crime mystery will keep you guessing and turning pages as if your own life depended on it. I was so involved in the storyline that I completely forgot I was listening. The descriptions are vivid and the emotions are so intense that I had to take a few breaks just to breathe. Donlea, once again, has proven himself to be a true master of crime suspense.

Nina Alvamar's performance as narrator was outstanding. Told in alternating viewpoints, she brought the storyline and characters to life, while effortlessly switching between past and present. Her soft, inviting tone and calm demeanor was the perfect balance to the dark and serious events that occurred throughout. She spoke clearly, had perfect pace and volume, and made my overall listening experience very worthwhile! Excellent work!

Without any doubt or hesitation, I give an overall 5 out of 5 stars to Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea, narrated by Nina Alvamar. Like his other crime novels, Donlea does not skip a beat; his strategic planning and impressive writing skills have me wondering, still, if this is fiction or reality, as the distinguishing features of each are completely blurred. In addition, through his characters, Donlea draws attention to various forms and degrees of mental health. This added to my enjoyment, while giving me a deeper understanding of the events and motives of each character. I recommend this audiobook to those who enjoy psychological thrillers and suspenseful crime mysteries, complete with strong women leads. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this on the big screen one day!

Thank you for reading my review. I hope it was helpful. Happy listening...and don't forget to breathe!! :-)

Almost Really Good

I found the story and characters interesting and the suspense was good. But could authors please stop spending the first half of their books talking about how petite/slender/physically frail the heroine is, then have her launch herself into danger and/or go up against a male psychopath without telling anyone where she’s going? Why do women have to be irrational and downright dumb? It’s insulting! It’s why I don’t read Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite books. Do better!

Truth hidden in plain sight...

Charlie Donlea has written another wonderful book. The characters are very well developed portraying unique qualities. The two female protagonists both have autism or at least portray autistic tendencies.
The story is told from both of the protagonist's points of view and in each of their time periods which are 30 years apart. It also switches to the antagonist's POV giving you a front row seat to his crimes and warped mind. Rory Moore is the present day protagonist. She's a non practicing attorney who reconstructs cold crimes. Her father was a practicing attorney who suddenly died leaving her to close up his law office. His one remaining client is scheduled for parole and he becomes her responsibility. He's a serial killer convicted of one crime. But it's unknown if he actually committed that crime which is the murder of his wife.
While doing minimal work for her client, Rory comes across information allowing he to reconstruct the other woman's life. She feels a connection to her and shares some similarities.
I found some of this book predictable but still intriguing. Some interesting twists through Rory's investigation for the truth about what happened all those years ago.
My favorite line: Some choose darkness, others are chosen by it.
Nina Alvamar does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Didn't like this book!

I made it all the way through to the end, but almost stopped after the first two chapters. The reason for this is that the narrator, Nina Alvamar, did a very good job, but is the wrong voice for this story. It would have helped if there had also been a male narrator, for the male voices. I liked the story, and found it suspenseful, but it could have used more character development. I'm such an avid mystery/thriller listener, that I've been spoiled by some of the amazing writers/storytellers. A good effort, but only three stars. Sorry.
Audible addict,
Santa Fe, NM

Repetitive Repetitive Dull

Donlea has no respect for her readers. She is constantly reiterating the story so far... just so nobody gets lost. We’ve heard it already! We don’t need to know “she’s thinking” about it, we don’t need to have the story explained to us over and over again. Hey, Charlie, your readers can read! Are you just trying to fill up some space? Point in fact:
“She knew that her father had been looking for this woman”
Right, And the readers have known it for the last hundred pages. It’s been pointed out several times.
“She knew that Lane spent two years interviewing over 100 serial killers around the world.”
No Kidding??? The readers have heard about it at least three times at this point. This isn’t even in the meat of the book, so there’s no way she’s got my attention enough to just skip over this redundancy.
Take out the words “she knew” “he knew” and “(name) knew”, and you will have about 1/3 of the book missing.
Alva mar is a very good narrator, I hope to hear from her soon with other books. She was fluid and didn’t sound mimic-y when she used various voices.
I’m NEVER reading Donlea again. Her writing has so much maturing to do that I won’t be on the earth when she gets there. Too bad. Her story premise was great, ut she couldn’t tell it.

Good book, but not as good as I was expecting

I bought this book due to the reviews, the promising story, and it's been all over my audible feed. I did enjoy the story, don't get me wrong. But I think it wasn't as good as others have been claiming. The characters are pretty much throw away characters, you really don't get too deep into who they are. For an example the character trying to solve the crime in the 1970's-1980's is only as deep as her use in ferreting the story. Yet she was the character I liked the best and would have enjoyed knowing more about her. The main investigator (in modern times) is like the main character from the "girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but a very mild and unremarkable character. Even the idea of the story was thin, I kept asking, why would the courts do this, why would the investigators do that. To set up the story, the author gives us something that is improbable and since it is what drives the story, you're left investing in an empty egg. Just an opinion! However, the story was concluded, and the pieces all fit in. Pieces that at a certain point in the story was pretty self evident, predictable.

Clever and gripping

Intricate plot well written and well narrated. I enjoyed her first book and wondered if she could repeat the intrigue. This book definitely exceed my expectations and I look forward to the next one

wow

This book was my true mystery book, I normally read suspense romance books. I think I have been hooked, I will be reading anything I can read from this author, it was a great experience.

Fantastically Written!

loved this book..fast paced..could not stop listening! the ti.e lines & story lines for each character were so well developed, I feel like I was there! excellent

Excellent for adolescent readers

I found much of this book redundant and predictable. My 13 yr old would appreciate the constant reiterations and dumbed down verbiage. I skipped thru many of the last chapters I couldn’t take the tedium.

Once again, spoiled by the narration

This was my third Charlie Donlea book, all three narrated by Nina Alvamar. I hated the narration in the first book, found it bearable in the 2nd. But not in this one. Maybe one day I’ll read the rest of Donlea’s books, but I won’t listen to any more, unless the narrator changes. It’s a shame, because the stories are quite good. I do find a bit of repetition in them, ie, you’re told a fact two or three times in the same book. In the last one I listened to, there’s also a bit of lazy repetition, for example, referring to the two mountains in the book by name every single time they’re mentioned! It’s never ‘the mountain’ when they’re climbing one, or ‘the island’s only two mountains’. As they were named, it wasn’t hard for me to find a different phrase that fitted, and it became a game trying to fit words or phrases in that I hadn’t used before. A very annoying, distracting game. That lazy repetition is particularly memorable, but it has occurred in all three books to some extent.
On the plus side, Charlie Donlea is very good at creating unusual plots, and it’s this skill that helped me to cope with the narration. I was very tempted to stop listening early in each book, because waiting for the unusual twist whilst being driven crazy by the narration was difficult. But I’m glad I did. The twists and turns were refreshing when compared with other novels in this genre. I enjoyed each storyline to the end, and this book was no exception. But I’m still only giving it three stars because there were no surprises for me at the end. I could see what was coming, and the main character, who was meant to be intelligent, didn’t grasp an obvious fact when it was staring her in the face. Good authors often struggle to finish writing by their deadline, and therefore sometimes don’t spend enough time working on the closing chapters, and I’m afraid that was the case here.
Nonetheless, I’m glad I listened to it, and would recommend it, despite the reservations, but if you have time to read as well as to listen, then definitely put this one aside for reading.