Started reading. Cancelled plans. Finished stiff, tired, and slightly unhinged.
Dead, unidentified bodies dumped by a creek which is clearly not the original crime scene will cancel my plans and cost me sleep every single time. The Darkest Game didn’t ease into that chaos either. It kicked the door in, stole my free evening, and dared me to look away. I didn’t. One sitting later, I was stiff, tired, and very glad I’d ignored real life.
The tension in this book pays off immediately. There’s a constant urgency to the storytelling, like something is about to explode and you’re powerless to stop it. The pacing kept me glued, and just when I thought I had a handle on where things were going ... wrong again.
And then there’s Mona’s father.
I did not see that coming. Disturbing doesn’t even begin to cover it. The man needs a team of psychiatrists, possibly on rotation, because his level of psychological manipulation is next-level unhinged. The mind games here are brutal, the kind that leave you questioning everything and wondering how deep the damage really goes. And that explained a lot about Mona.
Charlotte is the character who’s going to stick with me. Losing the ability to do a job you love hit me. Her struggle added an emotional weight to the story that grounded all the madness and made the stakes feel personal, not just procedural.
Genre-wise, this one refuses to choose. It’s a thriller wrapped in psychological torture, and at times I genuinely didn’t know if I was coming or going. Especially after that reveal. Yeah. Mona’s father again.
Final verdict: Five out of five stars. Don’t start this at bedtime unless you’ve already slept all day. Thriller fans will absolutely eat this up.
