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    A Map of the Dark
    Unavailable
    A Map of the Dark
    Unavailable
    A Map of the Dark
    Audiobook7 hours

    A Map of the Dark

    Written by Karen Ellis

    Narrated by Lisa Flanagan

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A race-against-time thriller for fans of Tana French and Megan Abbott: to save a missing girl, FBI Agent Elsa Myers may have to lose herself...

    Even as her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, FBI Agent Elsa Myers can't ignore a call for help. A teenage girl has disappeared from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads obscures the fact that she did not go willingly.

    With each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man who may have been killing for years, Elsa's carefully compartmentalized world collapses around her. She finds missing people, but she knows too well how it feels to be lost. Everything she has buried–her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother's death–threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

    Can our most painful childhood secrets be forgotten? Or will they always find their way back into our adult lives? These questions lie at the heart of A Map of the Dark, a riveting portrait of a woman haunted by her family legacy, and a race-against-time thriller.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJan 2, 2018
    ISBN9781478918332
    Unavailable
    A Map of the Dark

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    Reviews for A Map of the Dark

    3.5/5

    27 ratings5 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A new series, the introduction of a new character, Elsa, an FBI agent who had a very difficult and abusive past, and is dealing with an impending sorrow in the present. Young women are going missing, and it is up to Elsa, and the young policemen who asked for her assistance, to find them.So far, so good, Elsa is an interesting character, Lex her police counterpoint on this, grows on one and cements the deal by books end. For me though, the back story of Elsa quite overtook the case of the missing. It was an intriguing back story but nonetheless definitely overshadowed everything else going on, very lopsided. The case itself had a plot point that was so predictable one could see it coming from s mile away, cliche I know. What happens next in the case I just couldn't quite swallow as believable. There is also one coincidence of a personal nature that felt to me, contrived. So a mixed read, but an intriguing enough of a character that it may call me back to read book two, which I am suspecting will have less of the past and more of a case.ARC from Netgalley.
    • 4/5
      A Map of the Dark is the first novel in a new series (The Searchers) from Karen Ellis. (A nom de plume of Katia Lief)FBI Agent Elsa Myers specializes in missing children. She's good at her job. But when she's asked to take on the case of a young woman most likely taken by a serial killer, she hesitates. Her father is dying and this is bringing the past she has tried to bury back to the surface. She does take the case, thinking she can handle both, but her carefully constructed defenses begin to crumble. Ellis's prologue opens the book with the crime.Ellis has created a flawed lead character in Elsa. I liked her right away, but was caught off guard by her dark personal secrets. Ellis reveals Elsa's backstory through past and present chapters. (I did have some questions as to how such a wounded psych could end up in such a job). The victim of the crime is also given a voice - and the hope that she might still be found. Elsa is paired up with a new partner named Lex that only adds to her stress. Although he says and does all the right things, I just wasn't sold on him.Ellis seems to be setting the stage for this new series in A Map of the Dark. Establishing Elsa as a character and setting the background seemed to (for me) take more precedence than the crime. The crime itself is somewhat familiar in tone. There are some convenient plot devices that made if perhaps a little too easy for law enforcement. There is a twist at the end, but astute readers will most likely suss it out before the reveal.A Map of the Dark is a solid read and will appeal to those who enjoy characterizations more than the mystery. Me? I like the mystery and the solving of the crimes.
    • 4/5
      When teen-ager Ruby Haverstock goes missing, FBI agent Elsa Myers, sitting beside her dying father’s bed, finds herself unwillingly drawn into the case. Join by New York detective Lex Cole and a task force of investigators, they uncover evidence that the abductor may have been killing young girls for years and, as their hunt intensifies, Elsa finds her own secrets and her own self-destructiveness threatening to surface as she desperately tries to keep her family legacy hidden.Circumstances shift and Elsa’s search for the missing teen becomes personal. Will Elsa lose her private battle or will she sacrifice everything for Ruby?Told from several viewpoints and alternating between the past and the present, Elsa’s gritty backstory may be a bit overwhelming for some readers. Although astute readers may sense the unexpected reveal late in the narrative, the family dynamic in this intriguing tale gives Elsa’s character surprising depth. The strong characterizations, coupled with a twisty plot, and a strong sense of place, create an atmospheric, creepy tale that keeps the pages turning. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      The first installment in The Searchers series, A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis is a spellbinding mystery about an abducted teen.

      FBI Agent Elsa Myers is in the midst of a heartrending family situation when her boss calls her in to aid Queens Detective Alexei "Lex" Cole with an urgent case with a missing teenager . Seventeen year old Ruby Haverstack disappeared one night after work and has not been seen since. She is not a troubled teen nor is it likely she ran away which makes her disappearance all the more suspicious. Elsa quickly discovers the case has not been handled quite as carefully as it should have been and valuable time has been lost in those crucial first hours of the investigation. Elsa is well aware she has a tendency to be a little too controlling but she finds it difficult to trust that Lex can handle the investigation since this is his first major case since transferring from Vice. Despite her doubts, she and Lex work well together but will they find Ruby before it is too late?

      Elsa is a veteran agent with several investigations under her belt but with everything going in her personal life, she is having a very hard time maintaining her objectivity and focus. She is a complex character who has not quite come to terms with her dysfunctional childhood which is front and center in her thoughts as works on Ruby's case. Elsa is her own worst critic as she castigates herself for missing clues that no one, not even she, could have recognized without the information that is uncovered later in the investigation.

      Once Elsa and Lex know the kidnapper's identity, their investigation really gains traction. Although they quickly uncover other possible victims, they are at a loss as to a motive for the crimes. When an unexpected discovery provides a viable place to look for the Ruby, the case takes a shockingly personal turn for Elsa. With even more urgency to locate the victims, she, Lex and the other members of the investigative team feverishly search for the kidnapper's lair.

      With the chapters weaving back and forth in time between events from Elsa's past and the hunt for Ruby, A Map of the Dark is a compelling police procedural. Elsa is a deeply flawed but incredibly sympathetic lead protagonist who, when partnered with Lex, finds someone who rather unnervingly slips past her formidable defenses. This first installment in Karen Ellis's The Searchers series is a multi-layered crime drama that I highly recommend to fans of the genre.
    • 2/5
      I liked it but it was less of a crime story and more of a psychiatric journey for the main character whose dad is dying of cancer.. The. crime story seemed secondary to the revealations of child abuse of the agent. It was an OK story but not really a thriller as advertised. Instead of a procedural crime story it was a story of child abuse and the damage it caused the main character who cuts herself. Overall, I didn’t really enjoy the story. It was not compelling. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.