ARC Review: Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Name of book: Dark Tide
Author: Elizabeth Haynes
Publication: March 12th 2013 by Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary Thriller
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

The author of the acclaimed debut thriller Into the Darkest Corner returns with a taut, gripping murder mystery featuring a compelling heroine who unwittingly finds herself caught in an underworld of murder, corruption, and betrayal.

The first time Genevieve saw it, she knew it was the one: Revenge of the Tide, "an odd sort of a name for a boat." Genevieve had finally escaped the stressful demands of her London sales job and achieved her dream--to leave the city behind and start a new life aboard a houseboat in Kent. She left the boat's name as it was. Revenge had character after all, and living in a marina made her feel a bit safer, a little less lonely; almost as if the boat looked after her, hid her away from view.

But her dreams are shattered the night of her boat-warming party when a body washes up, and to Genevieve's horror, she recognizes the victim as a close friend from nights dancing on-stage at a private members' club, the Barclay. She isn't about to tell the police, though; next to no one knew what Genevieve did every Friday and Saturday night to save money for her escape, and she sees no reason to reveal her past. The death can't have anything to do with her. Or so she thinks.

Soon the lull of the waves against Revenge feels anything but soothing, as Genevieve begins to receive mysterious calls and can't reach the one person who links the present danger with her history at the club. And then there is the parcel on her boat she's meant to be safekeeping for an old flame, which seems to be putting her in jeopardy. As Genevieve begins to fear for her safety, she recalls the moment when it had all started to go horribly wrong: the night she recognized her day-time boss in the crowd of customers at the Barclay. . . .

With Dark Tide, Elizabeth Haynes builds on the promise of her outstanding debut Into the Darkest Corner. Told in dual narratives that interweave past and present, this dark, sexy, exquisitely chilling thriller proves her "initial success was no accident" (Sunday Express).

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars

-- My Thoughts --

     I dove blindly into this book. I had not idea what it was about, or who the author was, nothing. Well, I liked some parts, some other parts were just not my cup of tea.
     Genevieve escaped her London life and moved to an isolated boat in a little town for many reasons. One of them being associated with a mysterious package in her boat. But the past is never too far behind, and when one night, she invites her old friends to a party on her boat, everything starts to unravel...
     The plot is the one thing I adored about this book. The complicity and the irony of it is never lost. Yes, it is predictable and yes, it may tackle a subject that not many people like, but it never failed to impress me how different the kind of life was that Genevieve had lived in the past. There wasn't a lot of romance in the first half of the book, but it really picked up towards the end.
     There were somethings that kept me from giving this book five stars (Oscars). First, the character, Genevieve. Her decision-making skills irritated me. She could have done so much better and saved herself all the ache and the problem. Second, the pacing, I admit it, I passed a couple of paragraphs just to get to the ending fast. But the thing that redeemed the bad side, was the complexity and the uniqueness of the plot.