Title: Carved in Darkness
Author: Maegan Beaumont
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon (Paperback), Amazon (Kindle)
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for honest review.
Past horrors bleed into a present day nightmare
Fifteen years ago, a psychotic killer abducted seventeen year old Melissa Walker. For 83 days she was raped and tortured before being left for dead in a deserted church yard… But she was still alive.
Melissa begins a new life as homicide inspector, Sabrina Vaughn. With a new face and a new name, it’s her job to hunt down murderers and it’s a job she does very well.
When Michael O’Shea, a childhood acquaintance with a suspicious past, suddenly finds her, he brings to life the nightmare Sabrina has long since buried.
Believing that his sister was recently murdered by the same monster who attacked Sabrina, Michael is dead set on getting his revenge–using Sabrina as bait.
Carved in Darkness is one of the most chilling thrillers I’ve read in a long while. Melissa Walker was kidnapped by a madman when she was barely seventeen years old. The madman kept her for several months, raping her, stabbing her, nearly killing her. One day he thinks he’s killed her, leaving her in a churchyard to die. But Melissa survived, saved by the priest, and she started her life again; changing her name and identity. Now Sabrina Vaughn, a homicide inspector, still struggles every year with the memory of what the madman did to her. Around september, she starts to withdraw, reliving the tragedy.
But unknown to Sabrina, the madman is still at large, doing the same things he did to her to other innocent girls, leaving a trail of bodies behind. Michael’s sister got murdered by this demented serial killer and he’s focused on taking vengeance. He works for a special team and intends to use all his resources into tracking down the murderer. But in doing so, he wants to use Sabrina as bait, convinced that she’s the victim the killer has been dreaming for his entire life.
Word gets out in Sabrina’s old town that she’s still alive, and the serial killer finds out about her new identity. Leaving behind a trail of bodies, he tracks her down, intend on enslaving her once more, bringing her back to the darkness.
As you can see from the synopsis I just told you, this book is drenched in darkness from page one until the end. It’s a true thriller, suspenseful and menacing. I loved Melissa/Sabrina. Her character evolution was amazing, her emotional strength boundless. She constantly lived in fear but tried to fight it day and night, and I was impressed by her posture, even as things began to close in around her. I also liked Michael, although considerably less. At first I thought he was a bit of a jerk, especially when he wanted to use Sabrina as bait. I got he wanted vengeance, but not at the cost of another human being, especially someone who’s already suffered so much. He also saw Sabrina as the cause for why his sister died, which I thought was downright crazy – she had no idea the madman would do this again.
The story itself was amazing. I loved how the victim, who managed to survive, played the main part here. I feel nothing but respect for Sabrina and nothing but disgust for the killer. The writing was great, fast-paced and suspenseful. An excellent novel – just don’t read it with the lights out.
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