“The start of a riveting series.”
“Valiant.”
“Tight prose, strong characters, and deft storytelling… a riveting tale that begs to be read in one sitting. Readers who enjoy police procedurals and Karin Slaughter’s thrillers will delight in discovering a new voice.”
“Compelling...a solid choice for readers who enjoy Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series.”
“Ellis writes with a lyrical economy, alternating between glimpses into Elsa’s fraught childhood and the case at hand. Readers will savor getting to know this singular heroine, a cop who feels the call of a lost child.”
“A Map of the Dark is a terrific novel, wonderfully written, richly populated, and utterly gripping from start to finish.”
An FBI agent is pulled in two directions by the urgent case of a missing teenager, and the rapidly approaching death of her father, who alone holds a secret from her own dark adolescence.
Elsa Myers was damaged long before she started working for the FBI. She lives alone in Brooklyn and is devoted to her work, above all else. But with each new child that goes missing, memories twitch awake with things she’d rather forget about her own childhood.
Now, as she watches her father dying in the hospital, she’s forced to come to terms with grief and subverted rage associated with her past. At the same time, she’s called into the case of a missing teenage girl, Ruby, and discovers the possibility that Ruby’s disappearance may not be an isolated event. Newly partnered with NYPD Detective Lex Cole, Elsa throws herself into the investigation while unwelcome memories flood in. But what feel like personal distractions ultimately inform the hunt for a criminal who won’t stop until he’s caught. With Lex Cole’s help and the support of their growing friendship, Elsa navigates her inner minefield and perseveres as clues merge with instinct and together the investigators draw closer to their target.
As pressure mounts—the calls from the hospital, a media storm around Ruby’s abduction, and then a crisis involving Elsa’s beloved niece—self-destructive forces emanating from a dark secret from Elsa’s own past threaten to undermine her with potentially devastating consequences.
“One of the most compelling psychological thrillers I’ve read in a long time. A MAP OF THE DARK grabs you from the very first page and does not loosen its grip. I read this book in a day—I simply could not put it down—but I will be thinking about it for much longer.”
“A beautifully rendered portrait of familial grief, loss, and decades-old demons wrapped inside a terrific race-against-time thriller starring a believably flawed heroine. I hope we haven’t seen the last of FBI agent Elsa Myers, whose choices, past and present, will haunt me for a very long time.”
“A riveting, breathless novel, equal parts police procedural and emotional personal journey. Karen Ellis’s twisty plot, dark storytelling, and nail-biting action kept me reading far too late into the night. A triumph!!”
“A Map of the Dark is a taut, tense, exciting read with a sharp and very human protagonist.”
“Vivid, compelling and emotionally engaging, as the best crime novels are. Elsa is an unforgettable central character, damaged but determined. You know you are in good hands as the plot skillfully brings her past and her family into the investigation…A perfect, deeply satisfying thriller that grips right to the end.”
“Deftly plotted and packed with blind curves, A Map of the Dark careens into dangerous territory, where Karen Ellis entwines complex storylines with breakneck precision. A must-read for fans of taut, unpredictable psychological suspense.”