Review – The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner

Posted February 18, 2020 by Carole in 2020 New Release Challenge, Book Reviews / 14 Comments

The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner
Series: UNSUB #3
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Date Read: February 13, 2020
Length:  352 pages
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
★★★★★

I am the legion of the night …

He appears in the darkness like a ghost, made of shadows and fear—the Midnight Man. He comes for the parents but leaves the children alive, tiny witnesses to unspeakable horror. The bedroom communities of Los Angeles are gripped with dread, and the attacks are escalating.

Still reeling from her best friend’s close call in a bombing six months ago, FBI behavioral analyst Caitlin Hendrix has come to Los Angeles to assist in the Midnight Man investigation and do what she does best—hunt a serial killer. Her work is what keeps her going, but something about this UNSUB—unknown subject—doesn’t sit right. She soon realizes that this case will test not only her skills but also her dedication, for within the heart of a killer lives a secret that mirrors Caitlin’s own past. Hesitancy is not an option, but will she be able to do what must be done if the time comes?

My Review

This was great!  This book threw me right in the action from the very beginning and the pace never let up.  It was one of those stories that are almost impossible to set aside.  As horrible as the case they were dealing with was, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that something like this could actually happen and the authorities would probably have a difficult time getting to the culprit.  This was a really entertaining read from beginning to end.

The culprit in this case was truly frightening.  The Midnight Man has entered several family homes in the middle of the night while the family is sleeping.  He kills the father and then the mother leaving the children with a message.  The victims appear to be random and the criminal takes all evidence from the scene.  The whole community is on edge.  The more that Caitlin and her team along with the local authorities learn about the individual responsible for these crimes the scarier it becomes.

I love seeing Caitlin and the rest of the team at work.  It was great getting to see how each piece of the puzzle fit into the making of their profile.  There are some pretty intense scenes that left no doubt as to how tough Caitlin really is.  The FBI team is a really cohesive unit and they all put everything they had into finding the suspect.  I thought that some of their ideas were pretty creative and I liked the way that everything came together.

I really liked the way that the story was written.  We spend most of our time in the book with Caitlin’s point of view but there are are few other points of view that do show up at times that I think had a really strong impact on the story.  I liked that we got to see more of Caitlin’s personal life including some scenes including Sean.  Some of the murder scenes were rather brutal and I thought that the author’s descriptions made everything feel very vivid.

I would highly recommend this book to others.  This was a really exciting story that kept me glued to the pages.  This is the third book in the Unsub series but could work as a stand alone.  I can’t wait to read more of this exciting series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Blackstone Publishing via Edelweiss.

The Series
Book #1 – UNSUBMy Review
Book #2 – Into the Black Nowhere – My Review
Book #3 – The Dark Corners of the Night – Now Available!
About the Author

MEG GARDINER is the critically acclaimed author of the UNSUB series and China Lake, which won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original and was a finalist for NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever. Stephen King has said of Meg Gardiner: “This woman is as good as Michael Connelly…her novels are, simply put, the finest crime-suspense series I’ve come across in the last twenty years.” Gardiner was also recently elected President of the Mystery Writers of America for 2019.

The Dark Corners of the Night will be the third novel in her Barry Award-winning UNSUB series, which received three starred reviews from the major trade publications.


Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

14 responses to “Review – The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner

  1. I have been seeing everyone reading and loving this one so much! And it sounds like it is so suspenseful and wonderfully dark as well. Caitlin sounds like a brilliant main character in such a scary situation and case to solve… eerie!

  2. I feel like I've been waiting on this one forever. I just got notice that my hold request is in at the library to pick up. I can't wait as this one is getting some great reviews!

  3. Meg Gardiner is one of the authors that I really want to read. Last year I finally read Karin Slaughter so I'm thinking it's now Meg Gardiner's time! I love the sound of this one and it definitely sounds like one that would keep me up reading!