Book Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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. 

My Thoughts:

I'm not really sure how I felt about this book.  It grabbed my attention at first and I really enjoyed the mystery.  It kept my attention all the way through (and I would have finished it sooner if this flu bug hadn't kicked my butt for the last 8 days) but there were some things towards the end that just made me hesitate to give it four or five stars.

The book begins with Tessa in the airport on the way to her childhood home.  Her father, who is in prison, is dying and Tessa feels like she should see him one last time.  Tessa is dreading going back to Fayette because when she was young, her best friend and her put a man on Death Row.  When Tessa and her friend, Callie, were young, Callie's older cousin was murdered.  Tessa and Callie said they saw the man who did it but now Tessa is starting to question what they really saw.  

   

Once in Fayette, Tessa is staying at Callie's house, much to Callie's dismay.  Callie and Tessa haven't spoken since Tessa left Fayette.  When Tessa goes to visit her father and finds out that he has already died and that her missing sister was there, she tries to find a way to stay longer to try to find her sister and her mother.  

Then one of Tessa and Callie's friends turns up murdered in the exact same way as Callie's cousin and the other girls.  Now Callie and Tessa are wondering if they really helped to put away the Ohio River Monster or if they put an innocent man on Death Row. 

This book kept the mystery going and I honestly had no idea who the Ohio River Monster was or who killed Callie's cousin.  There were so many questions that kept coming up.  The ending was so chaotic for me though and there were way too many things going on.  First you find out who the Ohio River Monster was and that whole part felt very rushed to me at the end.  Then you have Tessa's mom and the whole question of why Lori was murdered.  Last you have a whole new kidnapping plot thrown in for a twist that just seemed off to me.  It just felt like way too many plots thrown into the ending chapters.  

I am happy to say that this book was completely unpredictable though and I did enjoy that.  There were some issues with the police procedures and how they did things but the book was a good mystery with many, many twists and turns.  

**I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review**