Beth Rivers has moved to Alaska to hide from a man who kidnapped and almost killed her. This is the third book in the series, which had seemed to be improving, but went off the tracks again. Beth's mother shows up in town and stirs things up. They learn more about what happened to Beth's father years ago and there might be a reunion in the future. However, there were way too many improbable happenings and unnecessary characters introduced that I'm not sure I will stay around for it. ( )

2.5-3 stars. The book follows a young female author ‘in hiding’ in an isolated town in snowy Alaska. It’s not great as a standalone, as the story frequently alludes to events from the preceding books in the series (which I had not read). And there is a lot of worry that the kidnapper (from a prior book) might show up. I am sure that I would have felt more invested in the story, had I already known the characters from these earlier books. The unrealistic elements of the story didn’t help, nor did the lack of action to advance the plot. By around half-way through the book, I realized that we had no clues to the crime, however I felt that I had met half of the townsfolk, (which were hard to keep track of early on). Instead, there is a lot of speculation going on. Much of the real action actually happens ‘off screen’ & we hear about it from the people who were there. That said, I was somewhat interested in the story (I finished it without skimming), and I liked the book’s chilly setting, which helped set the tone.
Thank you to the author and publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Beth Rivers is still hiding in small Benedict, Alaska. But when her mother Mill shows up, those threads of tension that have been going through all the books comes to life. Her tenacious mother is still looking for clues to her husband and Beth's father whereabouts, in addition to the stalker that sent Beth into hiding in the first place. How Mill manages to find her and Beth's decisions to open up to others in the community that can help her makes her remote location seem much less so. The addition of a new characters, a census taker and a sled dog owner help shore up the suspects when a local is murdered right in town. ( )

I continue to enjoy Paige Shelton's Alaska Wild series. As good as her cozy mystery series have been, these books featuring writer Beth Rivers are edgy, and have more meat on the bone. I've watched Beth begin to heal from her injuries, and now in this third book, she's made a home for herself in Benedict. She's familiar with the area, she's an old hand at dressing appropriately, and she's made friends that she thinks she can share her story with-- friends who will understand and help keep her safe. In such a place, she is even beginning to understand that there are different degrees of quiet that she's never heard before.

The village of Benedict, Alaska, plays a very important role in Dark Night and the entire series. It's a town where people have moved to be beneath the radar. Many of the townspeople have secrets they want to keep. It doesn't bother them that Benedict has terrible cell phone reception or that the local library is about the only place with a decent internet connection. As Beth begins to share her story, I'm looking forward to learning more about the interesting cast of characters Shelton has populated the town with.

In Dark Night, we learn more about Beth's mother, who has made it her life's ambition to track down her missing husband-- Beth's father. Mill Rivers does things her own way. As Beth says, her mother "did fine by herself, except for when she wasn't by herself." Mill doesn't take other people's wants and needs much into consideration. Another character in Dark Night says, "...your mother has made her own bed, time and again-- and she's never really lain in it." All this makes Beth's mother a difficult character to like or even trust-- the opposite of her daughter.

With a dead body, a missing census taker, and worries that her kidnapper is on his way to Benedict, Beth has a lot on her plate, and Shelton does an excellent job of ratcheting up the suspense. The author has also shown what a good support system Beth has, and once she begins to share her story with her friends, it's a system that will only get stronger-- and I feel that it's going to be a crucial factor in the books to come. When will there be a showdown between Beth and her kidnapper? Write faster, Paige!

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) ( )

Winter is settling in at Benedict, Alaska, and Beth Rivers is settling in too. She is getting ready to share her secrets with some of the other residents that she has come to trust. But then the "census man" comes to the area, her mother Mill on the run from the law also arrives, and a rather nasty resident is murdered.

The murder victim is Ned, who is hiding his sister who is a fugitive from crimes elsewhere in Alaska, is known for having a bad temper and for beating his wife. That makes both the wife and the sister suspects in his death. But they aren't the only suspects. Beth finds that she is sleepwalking and wonders if she might have killed Ned though she has no idea why she would do so.

Beth also wonders if her sleepwalking might have something to do with her returning memories about her kidnapping and escape. She knows her mother Mill has been on the track of her kidnapper. They learn that he had known the Rivers family. In fact, that he had dealt drugs with Beth's father before her father's disappearance. Mill has been obsessively searching for her lost husband since he disappeared when Beth was seven. While Beth would like to think that Mill came to Alaska for love of her, she knows that Mill always has multiple reasons for doing things and also lies a lot.

When the librarian Orin is let into Beth's secrets, he uses his connections from the secret government agency that used to employ him to find out more about her father and his partners than she or Mill had been able to uncover in all their years of searching. And some secrets are closer to home than Beth could have imagined.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller very much. I like that Beth is opening up to her new friends and becoming more comfortable in Benedict. I like that some of the secrets about Beth's attacker and her father's disappearance are finally being exposed. ( )