Maegan Beaumont: Carved in Darkness

In her debit novel Maegan Beaumont introduces the reader to the darkness and how the darkness shapes who we are.

Melissa Walker was kidnapped 15 years ago when she was 17 years old. For 83 days she was tortured, raped and left in total darkness in order for her kidnapper to play his sick game. One day he goes too far and leave her dead in a deserted church yard, but unknown to her kidnapper against all odds she has survived. She has spent her life changing from Melissa who she perceives as weak to Sabrina Vaughn a strong hard as nail homicide inspector. With a new name and face Sabrina believes that she has put the past behind her but when she notices someone from the small town she grew up in, the one that she was taken from, she knows that the past is catching up to her, but this time she is more prepared, she knows that she can survive the darkness, but that is not the only game that the killer knows how to play.

First off, don't start reading this book at night; it starts out with the victim being total darkness and being hunted in a game by the killer as he rapes and tortures her (and yes she does go into detail) so you will be checking your doors and windows to make sure you are secure in your house (but are you really?) and two you'll be in for a long night as you are not going to want to put this book down, as the story unravels you will find yourself drawn more and more into the story.

This book is a Fantastic/Awesome Thriller that had me on the edge of me seat the entire time, that had me hard pressed to put the book down. It is a complete adrenaline ride from start to finish. There just never seems to be a great place to stop reading. Beaumont's writing is Dark, Scary, Gritty, Chilling and Gruesome which is everything I want in a serial killer thriller book. Beaumont does not hold back when she writes and is not afraid to take the story and her characters to their limit and she does it in a style where you feel like you are in the room with the characters and feeling their experiences which gets the heart going.

I like Melissa/Sabrina as a character, you can really see the contrast of before and after and how being in the darkness and under going the torment changed and shaped her into an entirely different person. However, you can tell that there is really part of Sabrina that wishes that she could go back and be Melissa again, especially the emotional part, to be able to feel vulnerable and love around the people that she cares about. I think that Beaumont did a good job of portraying Sabrina's PTSD and that even fifteen years later she still has the panic attacks especially around October first. I also enjoyed that Beaumont took the time to show some scenes from the killer's point of view and his obession with finding another Melissa and that is what keeps him going.

I was shocked to learn that this was Beaumont's debut novel and overall, there is nothing too original within the overall premise of the story, but Beaumont wrote this novel like she had been doing it for years. Not introducing anything new has worked to Beaumont’s advantage as she has written a better thriller novel than some of the big names out there. I cannot believe that this is her debut novel. I appreciated too that the ending may not be what people think it will be and it was nice to keep guessing till the end

This is one of the best debut thriller novels that I have ever read (I do not think I have been this excited about a debut thriller novel since Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen). Beaumont is not afraid to go into the dark parts of the human mind and put them on paper and I thank her for that. I cannot wait to read another book by Beaumont. If you are looking for a fantastic thriller make sure to pick up a copy of Beaumont’s book on May 8, 2013, you will not be disappointed and remember to keep the lights in when you read it.

Enjoy!!!!

Note: There are some violent and graphic scenes of torture that occur and are described within this book

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