The Dark Hours

By: Amy Jordan

Narrated by: Flora Montgomery

"This suspenseful story will appeal to readers of contemporary police procedurals like Tana French’s Dublin Murder series and Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series." —Jane Harper, Booklist

Her worst nightmare just returned—but this time she’s ready

1994: When Gardas Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her career, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him…

2024: Julia Harte has chosen just the right place to disappear. Now retired, with an illustrious career behind her, she has moved to a tiny cottage in a remote part of Ireland, where she hopes to find peace. But then she receives a phone call from her old superintendent—two women have been murdered, their bodies marked and staged, just like in ’94.

It’s happening again. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. Julia must return to Cork to face a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her. Yet Julia is no longer a naive junior officer but a seasoned, tough professional who proves more than a match for any murderer…

Need patience to listen

I enjoyed about 3/4 of the book. I liked the premise and was interested in how it would turn out. However, I got very tired of hearing about Julia and her husband’s relationship. Plus her continued impulse to jump into dangerous situations, then spend hours second guessing herself got very boring after a while. The ending was ridiculous. The narrator did a good job.

Great story!

The reader did an outstanding job voicing this book. I am looking forward to a sequel!

It was OK.

Good narration, but I can’t say the story grabbed me. I found the ending implausible and a bit of a let down.

REALLY GREAT BOOK!

Julia endured the unimaginable in 1994 as a cop turned detective, and though she survived the ordeal, she lost quite a bit in the process, which still haunts her thirty years later.

It's 2024, and the man, James Cox, who forever changed Julia's life has died in prison. Now, for the first time in thirty long years, Julia can finally breathe easier and come out of the isolation she's chosen to live in.

Only, her newfound liberation is very short-lived, because someone has taken up James' helm to copycat him, and Julia has been asked out of retirement to help solve the case.

All around fantastic.

I liked everything about this book. Twisty turns and great character development made this the most enjoyable listen I’ve heard in a while. I sincerely hope Amy Jordan intends to make it a series!