The Familiar Dark

“Little girls were never safe. I should know; I used to be one.”

Eve Taggert is a single Mother whose bright light was snuffed out when her twelve-year-old daughter, Junie was murdered in a local park with her twelve-year-old friend, Izzy. Who could do such a thing? Why would someone want to hurt these two young girls?

Eve’s life has not been easy. She was raised by a drug-addicted mother who not afraid to dish out abuse to both Eve and her brother Cal. When she left her Mother’s home, she swore she was never going back. When she became a single mother, she knew it would be hard, but her daughter was the bright spot in her life. Now she knows pain, grief, anger and is determined to find answers. Answers that might have her returning to her Mother’s home. Answers that have her going places she never wanted to go just to get the answers she seeks. But will she find the truth?

Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it’s better not to know.

Eve’s pain jumps off the pages. She has her brother Cal, a local police officer as support but that is not enough. She has lost her child. The one person she loves more than anything in the world. She wants vengeance. She wants whoever killed her daughter to pay.

Mesmerizing, Raw, Gritty, Sad, Heartbreaking, Powerful and Harrowing are just a few words to describe this book. Amy Engel has created a riveting book that I could not put down. This is a story about love, about Motherhood, about family, about loss, about grief, and about vengeance. Engel’s writing is powerful and packs a punch. There were some twists that I did not see coming. If you have read The Roanoke Girls, you know Engel writes about powerful subjects and damaged characters. She writes about a mother’s pain, loss, and grief.

Wowza was this book good! Hight recommend!

Thank you to Dutton Books, NetGalley, Edelweiss who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.