Jude and Mercedez have kept deadly secrets from each other.
Jackson's suicide haunts Jude. She burned all evidence of her brother's depravity. One less monster in the world, right? Tech-savvy Mercedez is the last living witness to a teenage amateur horror film that ended with a gruesome death. She never told.
A viral video (thanks, Whiskers) brings internet fame —forcing flip-phone wielding Jude to choose between her job as the second female in the VP motorcycle motorcade or her mixologist hobby.
Global visibility brings naked vulnerability—someone has subscribed to Jude's channel.
Missing neighbors found dead in side-by-side freezers, viral drunk “I quit” videos, spammed porn magazine subscriptions, snail mail severed fingers, sabotaged cave trips, cryptic social media comments, and stalking photos push the codependent friends over the edge (literally, off the side of a bluff) when best friends find out that secrets can kill.
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Dark Drink today. Many thanks to Tina O'Hailey, Black Rose Writing and Rachel Gilbey from Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed Tina O'Hailey's two Darkness Universe books, Absolute Darkness and When Darkness Begins and so jumped at the chance to read Dark Drink. Despite the similar sounding titles, the storyline moves away from the paranormal element of that series and is a straightforward crime thriller. However, some of the revelations here are truly disturbing and demonstrate that the real world has more than its own fair share of horrors lurking in plain sight.
The narrative follows Jude and Mercedez, and although both have kept terrible secrets from one another, their friendship is the most touching aspect of the novel. There is a lot of necessary plot-building, including several flashback scenes but because they are such an engaging pair, the character-driven first part of the book never made me feel the pacing was too slow. On the contrary, I enjoyed finding out more about both women. Jude is really the central character and I loved seeing how her character develops during the course of the novel. At first glance, it would seem that she is totally kick-ass; she rides a motorcycle in the Vice President's motorcade, goes caving to relax and is an expert mixologist. She also knows her way around a gun. However, her concern about her upcoming security clearance renewal makes it clear she isn't as confident as she might appear, and as the traumatic events of her childhood are revealed, it's easy to see why she fears certain questions being asked of her. She also suffers from face-blindness, which seems an extraordinary condition for somebody working in protection to be afflicted by. There is an explanation as to why she is still considered suitable for her role and while I have no idea how realistic the situation may be, I thought it worked brilliantly for this story.
Meanwhile, Mercedez is the sort of best friend everybody should have. As a black transgender woman, it's obvious that she hasn't always had an easy life and there are upsetting revelations about what was inflicted on her when she was a vulnerable child. Nevertheless, she is Jude's rock and does her best to help her friend understand her true potential. I don't think Mercedez' story has been fully told yet and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more. In a book that deals with such depravity, the mutually platonic love and respect these two have is heartwarming. A word here, too, for Whiskers, whose typical cat antics give Jude the social media handle Tippsy Kitty. The dark side of having a viral internet presence is explored throughout the novel and while there is an obvious link to the storyline, Tina O'Hailey also examines the depressingly familiar, with Jude sent the usual abusive messages and unsolicited photos.
There are creepy scenes throughout which mean there's a steady drip-feeding sense of tension, especially when the murders start. Later on though, the suspense is ramped up, as it becomes obvious when the inevitable reckoning is going to occur. The opening chapter of the book has already given away some of what happens which makes the later scenes even more unnerving. The identity of the killer is never really hidden and yet I was kept guessing as I raced through the pages to discover the eventual outcome.
The sense of place is excellent, and as always with a Tina O'Hailey book, the cave scenes are especially atmospheric. Readers of her previous novels will enjoy seeing two familiar names play a part too. I also loved the cocktail recipes that are helpfully included and think I may need to try one or two! Dark Drink is a grisly, compulsive thriller that kept me gripped from start to finish, I thoroughly recommend it.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
She has served as an artistic trainer for Walt Disney Feature Animation, Dreamworks, and Electronic Arts. Any movie credit she has is minimal and usually found in the special thanks section. The meager credits do not account for the great honor it was to teach talented artists who worked on numerous feature films and games.
She has authored animation textbooks “Rig it Right”, “Hybrid Animation” published by Focal Press, and the Darkness Universe novels “Absolute Darkness”, “When Darkness Begins” published by Black Rose Writing. O’Hailey is a member of the NSS, VES, and International Thriller Writers.
Her favorite motorcycle is her BMW R1200C — mathematically perfect for her short legs, turns on a dime, and is the ugliest bike ever.
A great review of a great read!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It certainly is a great read and I'm so pleased there's more to come!
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