Gathering dark by Candice Fox

Blair Harbour is minding her own business working a night shift when a young woman robs her at gun point and takes her car.  What the young woman doesn't know is that Blair is not your average night shift worker, she's an ex-con working in a mob owned store, and she has no intention of getting dragged into someone else's drama.  Quietly replacing the money that was stolen makes Blair feel a little better, that is until one of her former cellmates turns up out of the blue and says that the missing girl is her daughter and that Blair has to help find her.  Desperate to avoid anything that could lead to her going back to prison and losing custody of her young son for ever, Blair tries to wriggle out of it - but Sneak Lawlor is a determined mother who won't take no for an answer.  

As Blair and Sneak are dragged further and further down the rabbit hole of Dayly's disappearance, Blair finds herself tangling with even more unexpected people.  Desperate for help, Sneak is not above swimming with the sharks and there is no bigger shark than Ada Maverick, a street smart crime lord who has a brutal and violent reputation.  After seeing what Ada can do while in prison, Blair is not that keen to work with her, but Ada has connections they don't and seems to be able to connect the dots faster than they can.  As if working with a crime lord isn't flirting with danger enough, Detective Jessica Sanchez has been dragged into the case - the very detective who sent Blair to prison in the first place.

Each of the women has something to offer in the search for Dayly - and each of them has something they want.  It is a race against time to try and find Dayly, and each clue might bring them closer to Dayly, or it might bring them closer to danger.  Blair is desperate to keep her nose clean so she can gain custody of the son she has only seen since she was released from prison.  Jessica is looking for a distraction from her jealous partner who wants a piece of her multimillion dollar (recently acquired) house.  Sneak is desperate to find her missing daughter and is willing to do just about anything to get her back.  Ada owes Blair a debt from when they were in prison, but is that all she is after?

Gathering dark is a new stand alone crime thriller from Australian author Candice Fox.  I was looking forward to reading Gathering dark because I thoroughly enjoyed the books she coauthored with James Patterson, and because of her Crimson Lake series.  I was a little surprised to find the series was based in the United States, but that surprise is quickly forgotten once the story starts with a bang.  All of the characters hold their own in this fast paced story that seems determined to drag you along for a breathless ride in record time.  Through Blair we get to experience her desperation to stay 'clean and legal' so she can gain access to her son, and through the other characters we gain a more complete view of a world that would otherwise be narrow and paranoid (because lets face it, any parolee is going to be paranoid around the Police).  

Without wanting to spoil any of the twists and little subplots, this was an excellent read and shows that Fox is able to write more than one type of story in one country.  I would look forward to more books featuring Blair Harbour and her 'world' if that was a possibility, but I would also look forward to reading more books in a similar style if Fox were to write more.  The cherry on top was that my mother also enjoyed the book, although she did say it wasn't what she was expecting - but that was a compliment not a complaint.

If you like this book then try:

• Never never by James Patterson and Candice Fox
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• Vodka doesn't freeze by Leah Giarratano
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• City of the lost by Kelley Armstrong
• What was mine by Helen Klein Ross
• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• The vanishing season by Joanna Schaffhausen
• Killing trail by Margaret Mizushima

Reviewed by Brilla