Logan’s fathers are best known for their paranormal ghost hunting TV show. What many people don’t know about them, though, is that they are both from the same small down in Oregon with a mysterious past. When Logan’s fathers return to their small hometown, Logan quickly realizes that there’s more going on then what she was told when she hears about the missing local boy, and their number one suspect …

Why this book?: Queer horror. Why else?

Oh, god, where do I even start with this book? I believe this one was originally brought to my attention because of a tweet from the author, something about spooky gays (which always manages to catch my attention). I went into this book with high hopes, and I was not disappointed in the least. The Dead and the Dark had so many ups and downs, twists I wasn’t expecting, and a beautifully built up romance. Even if you’re not a fan of horror, I would definitely recommend this book just for the mystery aspect.

A lot of this book follows Logan and Ashley poking into places they probably shouldn’t, as well as trying to find out what’s going on in their town. Logan is mostly interested in clearing her father’s name, who everyone suspects because he came to town literal days before the first disappearance. Gould built this mystery up so well, that I was actually believing all of the misdirections and red-herrings we were being fed. I was legitimately believing everything that was happening, expecting the twist to be one thing and then finding out it was something that wasn’t even on my radar. Every twist was so well developed, that after everything was revealed, everything made even more sense. Just when you think you’re one step ahead of the characters, everything is turned on it’s head. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is the fact that some people will throw in twists just to throw readers off, rather then to build up the plot and to have them make sense. Gould did an expert job at this. Not only were the twists expertly crafted and made sense for the story, but they had a purpose within the story as well.

Lastly, the conclusion to this book was WILD. After the big reveal, it’s just one thing after another and you don’t get a break until the very end. You get the big reveal, the answer to so many questions, and then Gould hits you with something else that throws you off again, and then another, and I just couldn’t stop reading. Expect nothing going into this book, because you are for sure not going to be anywhere near the true ending for this book.

Final Rating: ★★★★★

Overall?

Courtney Gould is a mastermind when it comes to writing mysteries and the horror aspects that come along with some of them. Gould built up an amazing atmosphere in the town and the characters that filled it, and I just cannot wait for more from this author. At the time of writing this review, I’m aware that Gould has another queer horror book coming out, and y’all can BET ON IT being at the top of my TBR.

Absolutely. Like I said earlier, even if you’re not that into horror, this book has an amazingly well-developed mystery that forces you to keep reading until the very end. In conjunction with that, something extremely rare for me also happened with this book–I actually enjoyed the romance!

Additional Information:

Published: August 3rd, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Page Count: 368

Genre: Horror/Mystery

Synopsis: via Goodreads

The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won’t stay hidden any longer.

Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV’s ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there’s more secrets buried here than they originally let on.

Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.

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