The Familiar Dark, Amy Engel
The Familiar Dark, Amy Engel
1 Rating(s)
List: $17.50 | Sale: $12.25
Club: $8.75

The Familiar Dark

Author: Amy Engel

Narrator: Lisa Flanagan

Unabridged: 6 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/31/2020


Synopsis

One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2020 (Mystery/Thriller)

"From its gripping beginning to its sobering finale, Amy Engel's The Familiar Dark never fails to enthrall with surprising twists."–Associated Press

A spellbinding story of a mother with nothing left to lose who sets out on an all-consuming quest for justice after her daughter is murdered on the town playground.

Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it's better not to know.

Set in the poorest part of the Missouri Ozarks, in a small town with big secrets, The Familiar Dark opens with a murder. Eve Taggert, desperate with grief over losing her daughter, takes it upon herself to find out the truth about what happened. Eve is no stranger to the dark side of life, having been raised by a hard-edged mother whose lessons Eve tried not to pass on to her own daughter. But Eve may need her mother's cruel brand of strength if she's going to face the reality about her daughter's death and about her own true nature. Her quest for justice takes her from the seedy underbelly of town to the quiet woods and, most frighteningly, back to her mother's trailer for a final lesson.

The Familiar Dark is a story about the bonds of family—women doing the best they can for their daughters in dire circumstances—as well as a story about how even the darkest and most terrifying of places can provide the comfort of home.

About The Author

Amy Engel is the author of The Familiar Dark, The Roanoke Girls and the Book of Ivy series. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Missouri with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kat on July 11, 2020

i will say one thing and one thing only: if you liked Sharp Objects or Pretty Girls, you're gonna want to get on this one immediately. ur welcome......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on July 31, 2021

Another book will shake you to the core, leaving an unforgettable scar at your sole forever, stealing a vulnerable piece of your heart! In the middle of wilderness, abandoned, neglected town, left behind with its trailer park, an empire of crystal meth, heroine industry with its citizens who turned i......more

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 15, 2023

The world might be changing in some places, but not here. Here it was still the same old merry-go-round of drugs and poverty and women being chewed up and spit out by men. People in other worlds could wear black evening gowns and give speeches about equality and not backing down, but out here in......more

Goodreads review by Meredith (Trying to catch up!) on February 29, 2020

Dark, Gritty, and Disturbing “The world was ugly, especially for girls. There was no escaping it. You either fought back or you surrendered.” The Familiar Dark is a suspenseful, intense psychological thriller about a grieving mother’s quest for vengeance. Eve, a young single mother, has led a hard lif......more

Goodreads review by Deanna on April 30, 2020

My reviews can also be seen at: [URL not allowed] I really enjoyed Amy Engel’s previous novel “The Roanoke Girls” and have been looking forward to her next novel ever since. It was worth the wait! “Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it’s better not t......more


Quotes

The Familiar Dark is a blistering rural noir brimming with dark secrets and the harsh realities of survival in a hardscrabble town. As Eve Taggert seeks vengeance for her daughter’s murder and descends into the depths of her own jagged past, we are reminded that a mother’s love is a fearsome thing. A powerful, gripping, heart-stopping read.” 
--Laura McHugh, award-winning author of The Wolf Wants In