Then Things Went Dark: A Novel
For fans of Rachel Hawkins and Sian Gilbert with a salacious reality show edge following six beautiful contestants, one desert island, and one suspicious death streamed live to millions.
No murder has ever had more witnesses...
Six people land on a desert island ready to make their reality show debut. The contestants are suitably glamorous and dramatic - and they're also hungry to prove themselves. The stakes are high and with millions of viewers watching, losing is not an option. But three weeks and eighteen episodes later, five of the six contestants sit in a Portuguese police station, and none of them are winners.
Because twelve million people were watching when Rhys Sutton died on camera, and someone must pay for the crime.
The best friend, the rival, the girlfriend, the lover, and the sworn enemy are left standing. And of course, no-one is talking. But how do you keep secrets when the world has been watching? Especially when, just a day before his murder, Rhys was the most hated man on television.
"A delicious, murderous thriller that feels like you're watching a live episode of reality TV unfold in your living room. Fast-paced and addicting." -- Lucinda Berry, bestselling author of If You Tell a Lie
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Community Reviews
This was OK. I think the possible motivations should have been stronger to make it feel more like a mystery and make their actions more believable. The structure is set up so you know who dies at the beginning, and so the story switches between the past during filming and the present while the police investigation is happening. I think it would have been better if the characters felt more like people, instead of being kind of flat. I guess they're annoying because they're famous/influencers, but it would have been nice for them to be more well-rounded so you could actually care about them. The game show angle also felt a bit weak, and more elements of that could have been more integral to the plot. But still, my biggest gripe is lack of strong motive to kill this guy to make us feel like there are multiple likely suspects, although I did like that there were more subtle actions that could have contributed to the death. While reading, it felt a little like the first season of Big Little Lies, just with less characterization and with a less satisfying ending.
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