In The Dark by Chris Patchell

Happy(belated) Thanksgiving!. After a wonderful day of cooking and eating and watching football, I did pretty much nothing the next day...except finish In The Dark.

This is an excellent book. Not to be cliché, but this book is truly captivating. I found myself trying to speed read through it yet I was afraid I would miss something.

Here's what it is about:

"Marissa Rooney stands in her daughter’s empty dorm room, a half-used vial of insulin clutched in her trembling hand. Brooke has been missing for days. Her roommate hasn’t seen her since that night in the bar. And if Marissa has Brooke’s insulin, it means that Brooke does not.
But Marissa isn’t alone in her terror. A phantom from her past is lurking in the shadows, waiting in the night, and holding her family captive…"

Brooke has gone missing from college. And another girl who looks like her went missing a month before her. At first the police don't really think there is much too it...college age, probably took off with her boyfriend for the weekend etc. Marissa is sure there is something wrong. Marissa has had a rough life trying to raise her two daughters through three failed marriages, and some really bad choices. After finally convincing the police to actively look for her, Seth Crawford is assigned to the case. He has his own demons that follow him. Brooke is diabetic and needs insulin. That alone could be fatal. The search costs both Marissa and Seth their jobs and they go with their gut feeling rather than protocol.

The author does a really good job of making you feel what the characters feel; not only the emotions (fear, sadness, pain, and Whew!), but the darkness of the woods, and the cold wet weather of the Northwest. We are also inside the head of the person responsible for the disappearances. But the author doesn't let us know who it is for awhile.

I could see a sequel with Marissa and Seth working together as a team. We will see.

Chris Patchel also wrote Deadly Lies which I believe was her debut novel. Both take place in Seattle but are stand alones. In The Dark is so well written, I find it hard to believe she has only written two novels.

I think you would like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Chris-Patchell-ebook/dp/B00YNKHFI8/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8