Ahead of its UK publication tomorrow, today I’m super excited to be reviewing Bea Fitzgerald’s debut adult thriller, Then Things Went Dark. Thank you so much to Penguin Michael Joseph for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Six people land on a desert island ready to make their reality show debut.
The contestants are hungry to prove themselves. The stakes are high and losing is not an option. But three weeks and eighteen episodes later, five of the six contestants sit in a Portuguese police station, and none of them are winners.
Because twelve million people were watching when Rhys Sutton died on camera, and someone must pay for the crime.
The best friend, the rival, the girlfriend, the lover, and the sworn enemy are left standing. And of course, no-one is talking. But how do you keep secrets when the world has been watching?
Especially when, just a day before his murder, Rhys was the most hated man on television.
Publication Date: 5th September
TW: murder, death, suicide, abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, paedeophilia, abusive relationship, lovebombing, gaslighting, manipulation, stalking, blood, injury, mental illness, ableism, child abuse
My Thoughts:
Then Things Went Dark is an incredible thriller that takes a unique slant on the genre. It’s And Then There Were None meets Love Island but taken to a new extreme. Oh and everyone is queer.
This book was full of some of the most unlikeable characters I’ve ever met. They are all duplicitous and scheming, with their own secrets to hide and loaded motivations for signing up for the show in the first place. The whole concept of being iconic is interesting and you can see how it would align with a competitive game show that seems to play on the psychological aspects of the competition a lot. However, Fitzgerald gives them enough nuance that you can sometimes understand their motivations for why they’re acting in a particular way, even if you don’t agree with the action itself. They’re just incredibly messy and flawed and chaotic. This adds a sense of unpredictability to proceedings, juxtaposing the carefully curated veneers they hide behind. It is a masterclass in unpicking facades – especially around fame. We glimpse behind the glitzy curtain to reveal some incredibly dark truths.
By jumping through most of their viewpoints (but from a detached third person perspective), it is just like we are watching events unfold on our television. It is a sense of encroaching on privacy but you’re drawn to it because of the juicy drama and promise of scandal. You know from the start that this will end in death but it’s all about how and why we get there. I also loved the inclusion of the police interviews and how the investigators themselves are fleshed out characters within the narrative. Fitzgerald also includes social media reactions to each of the episodes as they unfold within our narrative, which adds such a meta layer and further twists your perceptions of what is going on. It is such a tightly plotted thriller with plenty of twists and turns in store. I was led on a merry dance but I enjoyed each moment of it. Fitzgerald has a knack for excellent characterisation and plots that really make you sit up and pay attention. I will read whatever she turns her hand to next.
Then Things Went Dark is an extraordinary whirlwind of chaos, celebrity and murder. I loved every second of this sun soaked nightmare.
A Short Book Lover 
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