Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the arc of We are all the same in the dark by Julia Heaberlin.

This is told between 3 different POV'S of Wyatt whom is the prime suspect and still is for his sister disappearance years ago... well almost a decade to be exact...! Even most of the town are seriously convinced that he is guilty in their own minds of his sisters disappearance so his life is isolated away and hidden away in his parents house.

The second POV is Odette whom in which is a police officer whom in which was there the night of the incident she was friends with Wyatt's Sister and she ended up losing her leg that night aswell after fleeing from their house. She returned with her husband is which is a lawyer in which to help find out what the truth actually is. Odette is then drawn into the case of who the young mute woman is because Wyatt reaches out to her for help. She is now determined to solve the mystery of who she is and whom she may be running from.

The last POV is a girl named Angel, whom in which was given this name by Wyatt himself when he found her and she was mute so she didn't talk. He thought that Angel looked like an angel lying upon the dandelions. But this POV is 5 years later.

I really enjoyed this book, i read this fast and within 1 day, this was thrilling and very gripping and was so hooking.

4 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐
Definitely Recommend.

This can only be described as a really good read. It is full of drama and suspense which is built up in a slow and steady way as you get to know the characters and their stories. The characters individual stories are just as important as the story as a whole but who do you believe...

Trumanell Branson disappeared over 10 years ago but she has never been found and the town has never recovered. Since her disappearance her brother Wyatt has been outcast by the town as desperate as everyone to know what happened to his sister. And then one day Wyatt finds a lost girl. Is she a sign? For Odette Tucker, local cop, this girl's appearance reopens old wounds.

Determined to solve both cases, Odette fights to save a lost girl in the present and in doing so digs up a shocking truth about that fateful night in the past . . .

Didn't like some aspects of this story but it was gripping waiting to discover how it all turned out. Interesting characters with strange traits.

If a thriller can be judged by keeping the reader's attention rapt until the end then We Are All the Same in the Darkness deserves a five star rating. The scene setting is good, the characters......interesting, complex and sometimes implausible. However, a good thriller should do what it says on the tin and this just didn't do it for me. Additionally the ending was something one could not have readily discerned from the body text, which gave a feeling of frustration. Furthermore, burying bodies is an art form. A grave digger would know how much additional earth was required to top off a new grave so as not to leave a depression when everything settled, something which may last many months. So, the disturbed grave would have been easy to spot by the simple addition of fresh earth, or the omission of it, which would have given rise to a hollow. Doing it twice would have given it the status of a lighthouse! Overall a good read but with the caveats I mentioned.

Odette is in the police , her father was before her , after his death she returns to her childhood home (The Blue House) with her husband Finn , a lawyer . Before she left the town she was involved in a motor accident in which she lost a leg . On the same night a girl called Trumanelle disappeared . along wit her father Trumanelle's brother Wyatt was suspected ,but no bodies were found so he remained free but often talked to Trumanelle . Out in his truck one night he brakes and thinks he has hit something . He then finds a young girl with one eye ripped out . He takes her home but is frightened to call the police officially because of his past experiences with them . He rings Odette who takes her to her sister who runs a shelter for runaway and abused children and because she will not talk they name her Angel .. Angel opens up to Odette slowly and as the years roll on she is fostered by Bunny who looks after her well . Before starting at University she returns to the hometown and visits Odette . They both become obsessed with finding out what happened to Trumanelle , but unfortunately Odette disappears with no trace . Angel continues to search for answers to what happened to them both with help from Rusty ( who is convinced Wyatt is responsible ). A very good story with many twists and an unexpected ending .

Fabulous, wonderful read !!
This is such an atmospheric and mesmerising book it just captured me, I loved every page and was so sad when I finished it. So I’m not going to rehash the plot because I think this is a story that is better read like I did with no preconceived ideas I actually read the book purely on the basis that I loved Julia Heaberlin’s previous books and so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed in this one, well I wasn’t at all and in fact I think is is her best book so far.
So the characters are to die for and the plot is a multi layered journey of so many things much more than just a mystery but a story that paints pictures in you mind, the descriptive passages takes you to places that you really can feel and see and I loved the characters every damn one of them and I cared about them and what happened to them.
it’s a stunning read that took my breath away, it had so much and it’s a book I shall always treasure. Highly recommended and I would give it all the stars I can, please don’t miss it it’s superb !!

I am afraid I struggled with this book.I couldn't connect to any of the characters and I found the pace to be really slow I liked the idea of the book and the description but it wasn't a hit for me.

The story begins with Wyatt finding a girl lying by the side of the highway in a bed of daisies. Instead of reporting it, he takes her back to his house. It is clear that he is a disturbed man who still speaks to his sister who disappeared / was murdered five years before. His ex-girlfriend, Odette, who is a cop turns up after a report that he was seen with a girl and, for some unfathomable reason, takes her to a friend’s house instead of reporting her. The girl is mute and no-one knows wheee she has come from. This mystery and the mystery of the missing sister take up the first half of the book. The story is told with intermittent flashback / memories from the main characters which makes it an interesting style to read and occasionally confusing. Half way through the story there is a huge surprise which I won’t spoil for anyone. The story changes but the style of telling doesn’t. At the end, the mysteries are solved but the mysterious atmosphere remains. I read this quickly as it gripped me and wasn’t a difficult read.

What a thriller!!! I was hooked from the first paragraph. It is a slow, dark and very atmospheric novel. When reading this novel I felt I was there, in the middle of Texas, in a little town. I could picture the houses, feel the wind and smell the tarmac.

This story has different points of view which is a highlight for me, I love when we travel through different minds, trying to unravel and figure out the story. There is a few characters, they are all intriguing, flawed (but who isn’t) and somehow endearing.
There’s Wyatt, the lost soul and black sheep of the town who lost his sister Trumanell a decade ago, the town queen and popular kind hearted sweetheart. Odette, the girl who got away from this toxic place but decided to come back to resolved what happened to Trumanell. And Angel, the little girl found on the side of the road, abandoned and mute. I won’t say anymore because there is so much mysteries, secrets and twists to come your way.

It is a slow burner but very gripping story. I have never heard of the author before but will now definitely keep an eye out for her books. Her writing is compelling and delicate.

I recommend this thriller, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book up to the point where Odette was no longer the narrator. Things became rather too far fetched in the rest of the story.

We Are All the Same in the Dark follows the disappearance of Trumanelle, a local popular girl in a small town decades ago, and the current events that lead to solving it.

This is a solid read with a complex, multi-layered story told in a linear series of three different points of views.
Wyatt is the town pariah, as most locals believe he is responsible for his sister's disappearance. One day, he finds an injured girl when he's driving home, which she sees as a sign. Odette feels she was somewhat involved in Trumanelle's disappearance and comes back to town to once and for all find out what happened that night but then she also disappears. Angel is the nickname given to the girl found by Wyatt, and her story is set a few years later and involves solving the mystery of what happened the night Trumanelle disappeared.

A slow burn novel with a very atmospheric feel to it.

Disclosure: I'd like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

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Set in Texas, this book has a caste of completely dysfunctional characters. All have been attacked, had a parent murdered or suffered some other trauma. That is relentless aspect of the story. Trumanell, a girl, disappeared and is assumed to have been murdered by her father who also disappears or by her brother Wyatt. The small local community has decided it is him so he is now an outcast. Odette, daughter of another dodgy local cop, returns to the area as a detective and wants to solve the mystery of her childhood friend’s disappearance. Her partner Rusty is a dubious figure too. Then Wyatt discovers a teenager with one eye, Angel, in a ditch. She becomes attached to Odette who also disappears, presumed murdered! Angel makes it her mission to solve the whole thing. The latter part of the book covering her investigation is the best bit as is the unexpected ending. The lack of relief from normal people is a downside as is the extended description throughout the book. It makes it a long read. At one point there are more than seventy suspects!

Another great read. This is such a compelling book that draws you in from the very beginning.
I have devoured this book and been completely unable to put it down

We Are All the Same in the Dark is memorising, it's a sad and emotionally fraught tale that captures the reader. Absolutely stunning read.

I wanted to read this because the blub sounded great and I really enjoyed the author’s book Black Eyed Susans when I read it earlier this year. Thankfully, this lived up to my high expectations. I loved the way the story is split in two halves, the first chunk of the book focuses on Wyatt finding a girl who’s been hurt ten years after Trumanell’s disappearance and the second chunk is set a couple of years later after Odette has vanished focused through the girl Wyatt found. The author deftly weaves these two strands together as well as Trumanell’s disappearance to reveal the truth about both events. The characters are well written and the book is fast paced and the writing excellent. I loved this book.

Firstly I love this cover!
Oh my, just the mention of this author’s name and I get a little twitchy as I automatically think back to the other books by her that I have already got permanently in printed in my mind. I already know that what I read won’t go away when I want to sleep.
Wyatt was the only one that stopped when he saw something over the fence when he was driving his truck. The only reason he stopped was that he thought it was a dog, he needed a dog. What he didn’t need was a girl, but he took her anyway. The girl was mute, so he called her Angel. I knew that Wyatt would sit on my shoulder now until I finished this story and for a little after that too.
The story is told by three characters, Wyatt, Angel and Odette, a young police officer who had been Wyatt’s sister’s friend before she went missing ten years ago, now thought to be dead. The town had turned away from Wyatt believing that he has killed his sister, Odette is the only one that believes that he is innocent. After finding the young girl at Wyatt’s she makes it her mission to solve both mysteries. What happened to Trumanell, Wyatt’s sister and who is this mystery girl?
The story has a slow burn feel about it that you know will take off when you least expect it. I was like did that just happen, turned back to the beginning of the chapter and read again, yep! It is a story that turns on you when you think you have it. It has a shock factor and knots of lies that need teasing loose in each chapter. I loved Angel’s character as time past in the story, it is set over years not months.
I liked how the story turned in on itself, loved that I had been fascinated by the first half and engrossed in the second. I felt like I had lost a piece of myself. It shocked me, enraged me and drained me. Wow! loved how it all came together. Another story to be added to ‘makes me feel really uneasy books’.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

An intriguing read with so many individual stories coming together as a whole. I didn't know who to trust (I am still not sure a week after finishing reading!) and the truth seemed impossible to find for a significant proportion of the book.
The characters are extremely cleverly written with no single person being wholly likeable or indeed wholly dis-likeable but instead leading you through a gamut of emotions from sympathy to mistrust to anger and back again as the story progresses and the atmosphere thickens.
The long, hot summer in small town America came across as very true to life (I can't vouch for the actual accuracy but the feelings were there) and Odette and Angel coming to terms with and dealing with their disabilities were sympathetically dealt with.
I was a little disappointed with the fate of some of the characters but only because I had built up a bond with them!

My first impression was that this is very American. The author uses well know local names for restaurants, routes, products etc which are not always obvious although I am sure this vocabulary is very familiar to American readers. This made me less enthusiastic at the start of the book. As I got into the story, this became less important but the way that the language was used remained a minor problem as it feels as if the colloquial language should make it easier and more accessible.
The puzzle of trying to solve 2 murders, one in the past and one in the present revolves cleverly around the same characters in the different times with each attempt and character working with the same evidence. Eventually a result is achieved. It is a compelling story, making the reader urgently needing to know what happened.
Recommended!

Right from the intriguing start with such powerful images, a trademark of Julia Heaberlin, I was in thrall to the storytelling. This is a mystery wrapped in a deeper mystery, covered up with layers of secrets, lies and hate, surrounded by supposition, judgement and prejudice with an ultimate layer of obsession. I don’t want to say too much about the plot except it starts with a ten year old mystery of the disappearance of Trumanelle Branson and her father Frank. The Texas town believes son Wyatt is responsible for the deaths but with no bodies or cast iron evidence he is proclaimed innocent. It is a town that thrives on and builds up legends surrounding Trumanelle. The story is told by Wyatt, police officer Odette Tucker and teen ‘Angel’ who Wyatt finds abandoned at the roadside.

This is a slow burner, dark mystery which is creepy in places, the kind of creep where you hold your breath in fear, the atmosphere is so intense you could cut it with a knife and which seizes and squeezes your heart. It is almost Gothic in places with ghostly images and biblical, divine references which adds another dimension to the storytelling and makes you feel like you are under the spell of a Grimms fairytale. The characters are flawed, they are far from perfect as many have traumatic backgrounds and perceived disabilities which they use to their advantage and which makes the title very profound. All the characters are well depicted, they feel real and have to face up to danger often head on. The novel is extremely well written, full of powerful imagery and is beautiful in places. The end is unpredictable and not what I expected which I really like. My only negative is that sometimes the pace drops off which I think it does at the start of Angels section with Odette’s story containing more octane. Thankfully the tempo builds again and we race towards the conclusion which philosophically ponders on the title and poses further questions about the perpetrators.

Overall, I’m a fan of Julia Heaberlin’s work and this latest is another best seller in my opinion. It’s different, powerful and a gripping read. 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for an advance copy of We Are All the Same in the Dark, a stand-alone set in a small town in Texas.

Small town cop, Odette Tucker, is still obsessed with the disappearance and suspected murder of homecoming queen, Trumanell Branson so she’s suspicious of Trumanell’s brother when he finds a young girl and takes her home with him. Determined to protect “Angel” she finds that this spurs her on in her hunt for the truth about Trumanell.

I enjoyed We Are All the Same in the Dark although it takes some getting used to. I have not read Ms Heaberlin’s work before so I was not expecting the stream of consciousness narrative it has. Structurally the novel is told by three consecutive narrators, Wyatt, Odette and Angel in a linear progression. I like this as it keeps the storyline moving forward and offers different perspectives without the distraction of trying to keep track of who is speaking. What they have to say, however, takes some sorting out.

This is as much an odyssey of self discovery on the part of Odette and Angel as it is a crime novel so the crime part can get lost in the self analysis. I must admit that apart from peripherals, I didn’t see so much difference between the two women, so the voice doesn’t vary overly much, just the timeline and focus. The conclusion when it comes is fast, almost like a bolt from the blue, and not particularly credible but it has a lovely irony to it.

I’m not particularly enthusiastic about reading about damaged women trying to find validation and I did find Odette’s portion of the novel slow and her thoughts rather cryptic at times. Angel’s portion is faster moving, due mainly to unfolding events but I can’t pretend to fully understand her motivation. What they do present is an extremely atmospheric narrative, full of fear and determination. It’s quite hypnotic in parts.

We Are All the Same in the Dark is an interesting read that I’m glad I tried.