Review--The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.

Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.

Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.

But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.

Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

Kara Thomas’ The Darkest Corners is a twisted psychological thrill ride! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this one but by the end I was held riveted! The mystery had so much more going for it than I was initially led to believe!

The book opens up with Tessa going back home to Pennsylvania in order to see her father, who is in prison for armed robbery, who’s dying. Sadly, she doesn’t make it in time, but she feels no real loss over not being able to say goodbye. She stays with her old childhood friend, Callie during this time.

There’s a history between her and Callie. When they were young there was a serial killer on the loose and one night Callie’s cousin Lori was killed. The police were sure it was the serial killer and young Callie and Tessa were convinced of it too. Now it looks like they might have been wrong. The first clue to this is when another of Tessa and Callie’s friends is killed in the same way that all the other girls had been killed.

I will admit, that this book definitely has a slower pace to it. Things were kind of dragged out, Tessa looking into this and that and how long this lead takes and then it’s onto the next one. But yet, I found I still couldn’t put this book down! Many things are happening in this book and the case that tore apart Tessa and Callie’s friendship is at the center of it.

I can’t get into too many details on all the new expansions that spring from this old case, but let’s just say there’s a lot more to come! Though it’s weird that we have two teenagers working together to try to find the real killer from all those years ago. I mean, I get why they don’t tell any adults or other police officers. They’re of an age where lying to police officers can spell trouble for them, but at the same time, you got to wonder why they didn’t try involving other adults. Though, most are still convinced the real killer is safely behind bars, so again, there’s that! All the debating in my head and I still find plausible answers for the simple things!

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with practically no romance! Surprisingly, I was okay with that. There was a guy Tessa talked to and ended up getting his help a time or two, but there was nothing between them romance wise! It was refreshing! Because in reality, or fiction reality, you’re trying to find out who really killed your best friend’s cousin, there’s no time for kissy-kissy! LOL.

What amazed me even more was even after the identity of the whodunit came about, there was still a decent amount of pages left! And there were more puzzles being solved and at the very end, you’re kind of left with a cold chill because omigosh how did I not see this coming and what was up with that?! It’s insane! Though I didn’t mind the insanity from a reader’s point of view!

The Darkest Corners is one intense psychological thriller! This is definitely a read that will have you jumping at the littlest things and being more guarded about who you trust! It’s one heck of a head-spinner but makes for a perfect thriller!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars