There's real dramatic tension in this book and when I got to the end the first thing that I did was to turn back to the beginning again. Clearly, in this book, her friends are jealous and want to be with Lee themselves but they’re still believing all the crap he’s saying about her and turning them against her with no resistance. Cathy’s relationship with Lee seems good to begin with, but as his true self starts to emerge, the more she is pushed into the darkest corner.

This is a suspenseful story and their narration definitely added to my heart beating awfully fast more than once. The book explain really well why women stay in abusive relationship, and why it’s not so simple just to leave. Haynes hardly gives the reader time to draw breath before locking in her two parallel and equally nerve-racking narratives.Catherine finds herself growing more and more afraid of him, so with no other options, she plans her escape. The difference between young, carefree Catherine of before and anxious, OCD suffering Cathy is shocking and it should probably come with a trigger warning for domestic abuse as the descriptions of it are visceral, but I recommend it as a great read. I read it all rather quickly, though I think it would have been better if Catherine was a more compelling character to begin with. In the case of Into the Darkest Corner, these thriller-esque emotions are only evoked, for me, in the latter half of the book.

Into the Darkest Corner was the third of my annual ‘Nano’ novels and it was the first one that had something like a proper ending. It’s dark, chilling and very disturbing; it was sickening at times but still an exciting novel to read. Encouraging her to confront her fears, he sparks unexpected hope and the possibility of love and a normal life. Instead, this novel has a bitter aftertaste that leaves you wanting to down shots of Jose Cuervo to take away the burn. Disturbed by his increasingly erratic, controlling behavior, she tries to break it off; turning to her friends for support, she's stunned to find they don't believe her.

One would think she'd have an idea how to recreate a believable novel about domestic abuse rather than a Lifetime Movie of the week wannabe.

She’s a freaking trooper, and four years later she’s lucky to be walking the Earth, all trust issues, anxiety, and OCD aside. Afraid of her own shadow and caught up in her OCD, Catherine must try to continue with her life whilst knowing that Lee is out there somewhere. The pain and frustration of OCD is brilliantly evoked and I winced every time Cathy embarked on yet another ritual. It's refreshing - though I cringe that I can say that - to see a controlling relationship and stalkery portrayed as something negative, not as symbolic of the deep, never-ending love the stalker feels.When I started reading we were straight into the transcript of a court case in which it seemed that a police officer was being questioned in court about his relationship with a woman. The past chapters tell the story of this past abusive relationship with a guy named Lee, which is what caused her to have these anxiety issues. I recommend to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller but with caution as there is some violence.

Catherine is an outgoing and confident woman, enjoying her weekends going out on the town with her friends, meeting guys and having fun. She’s consumed by anxiety and worry years after but we get to read about her survival, her courage to take control of her life and her will to improve it. It is an addictive, dark and disturbing psychological thriller that was keeping me on my nerves … Nothing is sugar-coated, everything is raw and hits you right in the gut. Elizabeth Haynes’s CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger longlisted Into the Darkest Corner has been quite a success due to keen marketing and, more importantly, word of mouth.

You see, the biggest issue I had with this book is how the first half—excluding the first two chapters—is boring. And I thought that if I ever had to choose who to be raped by, Lee or Tony, it would have to be Tony from the Consequences and I would thank my lucky stars that he was even an option to choose from, one of the two evils.