Cover Me in Darkness
Isolate. Compartmentalize. Control. This is the motto of Amanda Sinclair, who used to belong to a cult—a cult that rears its ugly head again just when Amanda felt sure she had put the past behind her. Dark and charged from the start, Cover Me in Darkness is a thriller that explores the depths of the psychologies of its characters, from Amanda’s mother, a troubled woman who took her own son’s life and ended up in a mental ward, to Amanda herself, who has wrapped herself in a veil of normalcy at a job in a cosmetics company in order to hide from the ugly secrets of her past.
While Amanda was growing up, she and her family were followers of Patrick Collier, a charismatic gentleman who led what seemed like an innocent cult, Children of the Greater God. Years later, when Amanda’s mother commits suicide, Amanda grows suspicious that her mother’s death has something to do with the legal trouble that Collier has found himself in, as Collier has recently come up for parole after a stint in jail for mishandling the cult’s money. Fearing that Collier is trying to hide something, and doesn’t care about any collateral damage in his efforts, Amanda launches her own investigation that digs up dark secrets from her past.
Cover Me in Darkness is about family, loyalty, and trust. Rendahl’s writing is light and sharp, perfect for a story that moves quickly—from initial crime to deep investigation—while handling intense subject material. Amanda’s descent into her own conspiracy theories, and her confusion about what to believe and whom to trust, grow more and more urgent over the course of the novel, finally reaching a crescendo with a riveting, brief conclusion. Perfect for fans of quick-moving thrillers, Cover Me in Darkness is an excellent new novel by a confident writer.
Reviewed by
Stephanie Bucklin
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