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Deep Dark

Deep Dark by Laura Griffin is the tenth book in her Tracers series, but can easily be read a stand-alone. It’s a romantic suspense thriller that features a white hat hacker heroine and a cop hero who is fifteen years older than her.

Laney Knox works to keep predators offline, and she has reason to suspect that a recent murder is related to a project she worked on for an online dating site. Laney thinks that the murder is stalking women through the site, and she works (begrudgingly) with Detective Reed Novak to prove her theory. What Laney doesn’t tell Reed is that she might have had a past encounter with the killer.

I loved a lot of things about this book. I loved that the heroine was a hacker, and that she took it upon herself to educate the hero on the ways in which women are endangered and attacked online. I loved that there was a little bit of a May/December romance, and that Laney pushes Reed out of his buttoned-up comfort zone.

This thriller is not for all readers. It’s hedges on the scary side and trigger warnings for discussions of rape and violence. It’s not exploitative, though, and the heroine’s knowledge of internet safety, particularly as it relates to women, drives the narrative. As a character, Reed felt much less developed than Laney, and while we do get some backstory on him, I would have liked to see him more fleshed out.

Fans of cyber-thrillers or readers looking for a hacker heroine should definitely check Deep Dark out. Those who prefer their romantic suspense without explicit violence may want to steer clear.

– Elyse

The moment detective Reed Novak steps onto the crime scene, he knows the case is going to rock his world. A beautiful young woman murdered at home. No sign of forced entry. No motive. She’s obviously not the killer’s first victim, and Reed’s instincts tell him she won’t be his last. Reed’s first clue comes via a mysterious text that links to a dating profile, but even more intriguing than the clue is the person who sent it.

As a white-hat hacker in the Delphi Center’s cyber investigation unit, Laney Knox sneaks into some of the deepest, darkest corners of the Internet looking for predators. Laney would prefer to stay away from Austin PD’s most recent murder case, but she can’t ignore the chilling similarities between that crime and her own brutal attack years ago. Laney offers to help the sexy lead detective, but he wants more from her than just a promising tip—Reed wants her trust. Laney resists, but as their relationship deepens she’s tempted to reveal the closely guarded secrets that could make her a key witness…or the killer’s next victim.