Oh wow!

Darkness falls is dark and gritty, the type of thriller I love so much! I received an invite to read this from the publisher and I have never clicked accept so fast!

What a great read, highly recommend!

This book is character driven, dark and a prequel to the DS Aector McAvoy series. Set in Hull, it gripped me from the very beginning. The main character, Owen Lee is a journalist. He's absolutely fascinating, angry and disturbed. The book worked really well, it's filled with atmosphere and description and I would highly recommend the series.
Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC, a 5* read.

David Mark's prequel to his wonderful DS Aector McAvoy series lays out McAvoy's first meeting with Trish Pharaoh and explains why Roper hates him so much. This is a bleak and desolate read, with the decaying and impoverished city of Hull the central background to the action that takes place . The fragile and vulnerable Aector is a minor, if instrumental, character, we meet him in 2011 when he enters a crime scene, the home of 26 year old Shane Cadbury, and finds a scene of blood and horror in his bedroom, the body of the missing 18 year old Ella Butterworth, that is to leave him plagued with continuous nightmares. His part in the arrest of Cadbury allows him to fulfil his desire to join the Major Crime Unit headed by the media savvy, Armani suited Detective Superintendent Doug Roper, who is not happy, shunting him towards roles that keep him away from his team.

It is the despairing and desperate Owen Lee that takes centre stage in this novel, the Press Association correspondent for Hull and East Riding, a genius of a complex character, with an extremely troubled background, including a drug addicted sister, Kerry, and Jess, who has left him. We meet him, angry, miserable and intent on committing suicide, when he comes across a scene in the woods that has him changing his mind, he acquires a gun with 6 bullets, 6 chances of happiness, a packet of powder, and a wad of cash. In a city wracked with grief, Cadbury's trial begins, expected to be a slam dunk, and set to glorify the reputation of the untouchable Roper further, and covered by a group of close local media guys that included Lee. Aector is called to a crime scene in the woods where 2 dead bodies have been discovered, local dealer Darren Norton, shot dead, and gangster Alfie Prescott.

There is a rising body count, and a police force reeking of corruption and brutality that Aector is ill equipped to handle, he is a loose unwanted cannon, being honest and decent, he does things properly, deliberately, methodically, and this sets him on a collision course with the villainous Roper, a man you do not want as your enemy. However, when it comes down to it, Aector has to do what he has to do, and as he uncovers a killer, he finds himself pushed towards the edges of his sanity and in the kind of danger that could cost him his life. This is a compulsive and engaging crime read, with Mark's trademark all encompassing and unremitting darkness, but it is his stellar characterisations that make him such a great writer, and here he hits gold with his creation of the memorable Owen Lee. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This book is a prequel to the DS Aector McAvoy series. I haven't read any of the other books so I was literally starting at the beginning. The setting. is Hull in 2011, the main character in this crime thriller is Owen Lee who works for the Press association as a correspondent, a job that leads him to the seedy and violent areas of the city. It is a dark, disturbing, gruesome book with more than a smattering of language some may find offensive. but it fits the characters like a glove and any less would damage the credibility of the story. DS Aector McAvoy knows that his superior officer Roper is a corrupt slime ball who is full of his own importance but how can he stop him without ending his own career. The book needs your full attention and I managed to put aside a few hours to read it without being disturbed. I will now have to look at starting the series, a very clever move to do a prequel.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria & Aries for an advance copy of Darkness Falls, the prequel to the Aector McAvoy series, set in Hull in 2012.

McAvoy has been newly promoted to detective and he’s finding it difficult to fit in to the ethos of his new team. The team have charged Sean Cadbury in connection with the murder and mutilation of teenager Ella Butterworth and he’s about to go to trial. McAvoy isn’t so sure that they have the right man. Meanwhile journalist Owen Lee is sure of Cadbury’s guilt but has him own troubles.

I thoroughly enjoyed Darkness Falls which is a compulsive, if violent, read set to a background of urban decay. The novel is billed as an Aector McAvoy prequel and it fills in some gaps in his backstory, but really it’s the story of Owen Lee and his escapades.

This is not a complicated read, but it is jam packed with different threads. McAvoy has his struggles in the workplace and his belief that Ella’s killer is still out there. I can’t even begin to describe Owen Lee’s struggles, but they start with violence and the hint of something untoward in the disappearance of his ex fiancée and escalate from there. It probably shouldn’t be, but I found his predicament darkly comedic and absurd at points.

I love the way the author weaves his plot. Everything is connected and not always in ways you would imagine, so the twists are real surprises. All the characters, except McAvoy, have previous history in one way or another, so it is quite a claustrophobic novel in terms of relationships with McAvoy as the joker in the pack. He’s an interesting beacon of naivety, innocence or plain goodness (take your pick) in a dark pool of cynicism and corruption. It is not all darkness, however, as some of the dialogue is very funny and, as I said, some of the situations verge on the absurd.

The characterisation is particularly strong, examining motivation as well as actions, with enough introspection to avoid the black and white of good or bad. Obviously there is a bit more introspection required than most people need for some characters.

Darkness Falls is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

A huge fan of the McAvoy series, I was immediately drawn and intrigued by a sequel to the Fantastic series and whilst it felt very different in tone and direction It’s an absolutely superb crime thriller.

McAvoy takes a back seat to a point, but he’s there, it’s more like a 50/50 split with the main protagonist, an extremely troubled journalist named Owen Lee.

For me the book reads almost like dark noir, it’s extremely brooding, very macabre, and focuses on Lee’s gradual breakdown and spiral into trouble.

Serial Killers, Violent Crime, sadistic bad guys burn on these pages.

There are no punches held back as the violent crimes transpire, and the writing has a slick, mesmerising feel and David Mark pulls you firmly into the cold, unfriendly embrace of the blackest side of his mind and the deepest reaches of Hull.

It’s absolutely outstanding, as an introduction to McAvoy it’s quite different from the rest, but it’s a top class crime thriller, certainly up there with any I’ve read this year, and probably even the best.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Thank you Netgalley and Aria and Aries for the eARC.
Everything I've read by David Mark has been fantastic, but they were all standalones, so I was very excited about the opportunity to read the McAvoy prequel. Now I can start on the rest of the series!
David Mark has become my favorite male author, I love the way he puts words on paper. This story features McAvoy, but the spotlight is more on the 'bad' guy. It's an intense thriller and I have to admit I felt empathy for the 'bad' guy and also for Aector McAvoy, who is a deprecating soul with a good heart, trying to do the right thing amongst jaded coppers. He loves his wife and baby to bits and I just wanted to give him a big hug!
It's a terrific read, highly recommended!

This book reads like poetry. The staccato sentences which are so evocative they paint a perfect picture in your mind’s eye. I have been a fan of the series for a while, but it was great to peek at Aector in his early days on the force.

After finding the mutilated body of a young girl in a suspect’s home, Aector gets his chance the detective squad. He doesn’t quite fit in. More worried about right and wrong than the clearance rate of the team. Encouraged by his new wife Roisin, he perseveres.

The story follows several characters and honestly Owen seems more like the main character at times than Aector himself. This book was very good and is a great addition to the series. Thank you to Mr Mark, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC to read and enjoy.

DS Aector MacAvoy is apparently the protagonist of 8 books so far and counting, but don’t worry if you haven’t read any of them yet, because this is a prequel to the series. MacAvoy is newly transferred to Hull’s Major Crimes Squad after discovering the body of a young woman murdered in a particularly awful crime. The aftermath of that, the trial of the man accused of the murder, and the truth of the matter is what the book is about, as well as MacAvoy learning to navigate the deep waters he finds himself in with a boss who is far more concerned with public appearances than justice.

The book is largely told from the first-person point of view of Owen Lee, a journalist covering the murder trial, who starts out the book in a suicidal frame of mind. Things take a dark turn when Owen stumbles across a murder in progress - a drug deal gone wrong - even when trying to end his own life, and suddenly discovers when his life is threatened that he doesn’t want to die after all. It’s obvious from this point on that Owen is in a bad place mentally, and we keep delving deeper and deeper into his troubles as the story progresses.

I actually found MacAvoy and his relationship with his wife Roisin really fascinating. Roisin is from a Traveller family, and the Travellers and the police generally do not have an amicable relationship - we even find out that there is an asterisk in MacAvoy’s file and a note that his wife is a Traveller, and he comes in for some prejudicial treatment for it, as well as slurs directed at Roisin. There is a ten-year age gap between the two and it’s revealed that they got together when Roisin was just 17 (legal in the UK, FYI as the age of consent is 16) which felt uncomfortable at first, but Roisin has so much agency I actually changed my mind. She is unapologetic about who and what she is, and so is MacAvoy, who absolutely adores her for it.

The point of a prequel like this is to tempt you to want to read the rest of the series, and I definitely do, but mainly because I absolutely adored Roisin. I liked MacAvoy, but his wife’s the real star of this show. Too often Travellers are antagonists in police procedurals, and even if not actually villains, they’re frequently portrayed stereotypically (and negatively) but Roisin, her family, traditions and language are appreciated here.

This is a dark and gritty story, but as a prequel to a series, it definitely did the job of luring me in and getting me interested. Five stars.

This is the prequel to the DS Aector McAvoy series A huge fan of the McAvoy series and David Mark. Couldn’t put this book down once I started to read it. As always well written and with such detail. Living near Hull it takes you to all the places he writes about.
Great book, keeps you on edge and just have to keep reading.
Thanks to NetGalley and AriaAries for early read.