Catherine has been enjoying single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. But there is a dark side to him and his erratic, controlling and sometimes frightening behaviour means that Catherine is increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, she plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, struggling to overcome her demons, Catherine dares to believe she might be safe from harm. Until one phone call changes everything....

Elizabeth Haynes is a police intelligence analyst. She started writing fiction in 2006 thanks to the annual challenge of National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) and the encouragement of the creative writing courses at West Dean College. She lives in a village near Maidstone, Kent, with her husband and son. Into the Darkest Corner is her first novel.

I LOVED this book!!!! Totally unputdownable :o) Was a bit worried at first about reading the 2 different time frames, but it worked so well :o) Great characters and plenty of suspense! Cant tell you anything about the story line as i dont want to spoil it, but lets just say , sometimes, blokes are too good to be true ;o)

Going to a fellow BCer......ENJOY hon :o)

Woohoo! Thanks very much for this, Vikki :-)

I'm so looking forward to reading it, and happen to love crime and thriller books, so I'm sure this'll be right up my street. After I've read it I'll make sure it travels on via the BC community up here, and will ensure no one wild releases it in the next few months.

Thanks again for sharing. It's much appreciated! x

WOW! This book was unputdownable. I was reading it until the small hours over the past few days, thinking 'Just a couple more pages...'

Catherine meets a handsome and charming man called Lee on a night out in town and they start a relationship. At first he just seems attentive and keen but it soon becomes apparent that he's a bit unhinged, extremely jealous, violent and stalkerish.

By the time Catherine realises she has to get to get out of the relationship it's too late...

Lots to say, although I don't want to ruin a future reader's experience with the book by mentioning any spoilers.

I was a bit concerned that the two different time frames would be confusing but I quickly realised that it worked well and gave the book more structure and extra tension. Not that it NEEDED extra tension. I was on the edge of my seat/bed reading this! I read lots of crime/mystery/thriller books as I really like the genre and I don't scare easily, although this book really got under my skin as it was SO real. Frighteningly so.

Highly recommended read, although might not be suitable for people of a more nervous disposition. Ten out of ten from me though, and I can't wait to read Elizabeth Haynes' next book!

Taking a few books along to the meet-up at Salcey Forest on Saturday 27th August. We're there from 12.30 onwards if you'd like to join us and/or to catch some books :-)

My entry for the bookswap game. Enjoy!

Won in today's book swap game at Salcey. Have heard good things about this book, and look forward to reading it fairly soonish. Korky would like to read afterwards.

I loved this book and couldn't wait to get to the end. It was a very quick read with the short bursts between the past and present of Catherine's life. It creates tension really well, putting you on the edge of your seat.
At the beginning I felt it went too much into the OCD behaviour. I got the picture about checking the doors and the windows repeatedly, without the constant descriptions.
Overall, I would highly recommend it as a nice easy read, but not for the squeamish, as Lee is pretty brutal in it.

THANK YOU very much for sharing. This will be passed on very quickly.

Passing to Korky, as I stole it off her in the bookswap game recently. :oP

Thanks for passing on so quickly, hope it doesn't loiter on the TBRs for too long.

Excellent first novel covering the themes of obsession and violence. I found the book really gripping but also, because of the form, very easy to read.
Elizabeth Haynes certainly knows how to create and maintain tension and I found that, particularly towards the end, I was unable to put the book down.
KORKY'S DAD

I also thought this was a gripping read and found the two timeframes made it easy to say 'just another one' and keep reading. However, I think it suffered as a read for me as I'd very recently read 'True things about me' by Deborah Kay Davies which was also about a bloke sweeping into a woman's life and becoming very controlling, although with a bit of a different tone and vastly different ending. I also found myself feeling somewhat uneasy and voyeuristic with reading what felt like 'torture porn' as it was so graphic. Lastly, and this time a more minor thing, I thought Stuart was too good to be true, so much so that I started to become suspicious as nobody could be that much of a Mr Perfect.
Still, I would recommend this to others.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Although I enjoyed racing through this as it was a real page turner I was unconvinced by the ending (that Sylvie would have got involved with Lee after he'd been in prison). Also I didn't like Lee right from the off so didn't find him 'attractive' as it seemed you were supposed to.

KORKY'S MUM

My entry for the bookswap game at the meet up - enjoy!

I somehow won this book back in a bookswap game, so it's with me until I find a new home for it. It's much too good to wild release, so I'll make sure it finds another appreciative reader. Apologies for not journalling it until now. I need a secretary ;0)

This is a wishlist book for megmac. Enjoy!

Thank you so much, Beqi!

This book is fantastic, if not always pleasant or easy to read. I struggle with an anxiety disorder myself and the descriptions of that here are spot on. I will definitely be snapping up any other Elizabeth Haynes that come my way.

Thanks again, Becky x


Taking to BcBirmingham meetup.

Will be on shelf if not taken.

Took from York's to use in a release challenge.

Decided to read before releasing and am really glad I did. Totally agree with all the positive comments. Finished it on a long-haul flight and will release on the other side of the world!

On the shelf to the left as you go into the back room.

On the bookshelf in the foyer.

Welcome to Bookcrossing! You are about to lose a whole chunk of your life, but I assure you it will be worthwhile. Do let us know your thoughts about this book, and your plans for its next move.

'Like' Birmingham (UK) Bookcrossers on Facebook - BCBrum https://m.facebook.com/groups/243069614126?ref=bookmark

Follow us at @bxbrum on Twitter!