Sarah Bailey | INTO THE NIGHT

Plot (via Goodreads):

Troubled and brilliant, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock finds herself lost and alone after a recent move to Melbourne, brokenhearted by the decisions she's had to make. Her new workplace is a minefield and Detective Sergeant Nick Fleet, the partner she has been assigned, is uncommunicative and often hostile. When a homeless man is murdered and Gemma is put on the case, she can't help feeling a connection with the victim and his lonely, isolated existence. 

Then Sterling Wade, an up-and-coming actor filming his breakout performance in a closed-off city street, is murdered in the middle of an action-packed shot, and Gemma and Nick have to put aside their differences to unravel the mysteries surrounding the actor's life and death. Who could commit such a brazen crime? Who stands to profit from it? Far too many people, and none of them can be trusted. Gemma can't imagine a pair of victims with less in common--and yet as Gemma and Fleet soon learn, both men were keeping secrets that may have led to their deaths. 

Review:

Last year when I read THE DARK LAKE by Sarah Bailey, I initially found it to be kind of a slower burn and I did have a bit of a difficult time getting into it. After getting to the end of the novel, I did really enjoy it. I had to kind of take a step back and let this tale sink into my mind and understand that there's a lot of information that had to be set up with this one and Bailey had a lot of ground to cover by introducing us to Gemma Woodstock and the disaster that is her personal life along with a case that really haunts Gemma to the core...the death of a high school friend. 

When I read the synopsis to INTO THE NIGHT, I wanted to give this author another try. Sure, I thought her debut was good but I didn't love it, but her writing is spectacular and I really loved the character of Gemma Woodstock. So, I dove into the second novel in this series and I am so glad that I have encountered Sarah Bailey and her hypnotizing writing with this spectacularly haunting story. The plot to this novel is immersive and addictive. I feel like Sarah Bailey really found her voice with this one. The character of Gemma is even more messy, yet the kind of character that you root for, the two cases and trying to put together if they are connected contrast beautifully, and the ending was not only shocking but terrifyingly real. Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting book three already. 

I loved the setting to this one. You could almost feel the chill in the air as Bailey weaves beautiful imagery in connection to some brilliantly written and violent scenes. I also loved the aspect of having an almost Hollywood setting featuring some big names in this fictional world of Australia. I really liked the pacing with this one as well - it still featured the police procedural aspect I loved so much with the first one, but the balance between the cases and Gemma's life and the changes she's going through as a person was outstandingly perfect. The characters were a perfect blend of red herrings, over-the-top celebrities, and a brilliant and deviated police force. The combination between the characters and how they carried me to this twisted and brutally haunting ending was not only dazzling, but left me feeling satisfied and hungry for more. Gemma Woodstock Book Three, I am ready for you. 

Special thanks to Grand Central Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5