A Chilling Premise That Takes Too Long to Pay Off

The Sound of the Dark by Daniel Church is one of those novels that immediately draws you in with its premise. The blurb promises a chilling mystery rooted in the past, a tragic family annihilation, and a true-crime investigation decades later that uncovers something far older and darker than expected. The prologue delivers on that promise surprisingly well: the atmosphere is tense, the scenario unsettling, and the set-up feels like the kind of horror-mystery you can’t put down. The opening pages create an eerie feeling of “something unseen moving in the dark,” and at first it seems the author is preparing the reader for a relentless descent into supernatural dread.

Through NetGalley I received an advance review copy (ARC) for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

In 1983, experimental artist Tony Mathias began work on a new installation – it was to be a collage of visuals and sounds collected at an abandoned RAF base called Warden Fell. Various stories and rumours swirled around the place but Tony was interested only in the echoes of history. But soon after visiting the site to tape-record the sounds there, he returned to the caravan where he was staying with his family and killed his wife, his two children and then himself. Another dark twist in Warden Fell’s history?

But the past reaches out. Decades later Cally Darker, gets the chance to investigate the terrible story and perhaps even solve the mystery – a fantastic exclusive story for her true-crime podcast.Tony's actress sister Stella is desperate for the mystery to be solved before she dies will do all she can to help and passes on the tapes left behind by her brother. But before long, Cally realises that Warden Fell has a far older and darker story to tell. Be careful what you listen to…

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

Opinion

Unfortunately, that initial momentum slows down far more than I expected. While it’s true that any suspense novel needs time to build tension, The Sound of the Dark feels like it spends too much time building and not enough time delivering. For more than half the book, the breadcrumbs of mystery are sparse, scattered so loosely that the tension barely holds. Instead of slowly escalating dread, the reader is left with hints so occasional that the plot feels stagnant rather than simmering.

Much of this space is devoted to the personal life of the protagonist, Cally Darker. In theory, exploring the emotional world of a female lead should give the story depth and stakes; understanding her motivations could make the unfolding events even more compelling. But here, the connection between Cally’s personal struggles and the supernatural mystery at Warden Fell didn’t feel meaningful. The narrative seems more invested in her relationships, family issues, and emotional baggage than in the disturbing history promised in the prologue. While these scenes may be relatable on their own, they distract rather than enhance, especially when the book’s biggest hook is a decades-old tragedy and eerie audio tapes from an abandoned RAF base.

When the story does finally pick up, it becomes genuinely engaging again. The mythology behind Warden Fell is intriguing, and the true-crime podcast angle offers a modern twist on uncovering the supernatural. The last third of the book feels like what I had expected from the start: gripping, sinister, and ambitious in concept. I only wish that energy had arrived earlier, because the shift from slow burn to actual action happens so late that it risks losing the reader’s patience.

Conclusion

In the end, The Sound of the Dark is not a bad book. It isn’t completely boring, and the writing itself is solid, with strong atmosphere and a genuinely eerie idea at its core. But it also didn’t knock me off my feet the way the opening suggested it would. For readers who enjoy very slow builds and character-driven horror, this might land better. For those expecting a consistently suspenseful mystery from start to finish, it may feel like it takes too long to get where it’s going. A decent read with an excellent premise—but one that never fully realizes its potential. 3 out of 5 stars.

This review was also published at:

Please leave this field empty

Newsletter
abonnieren

This field is required.

Ich sende keinen Spam! Erfahre mehr in meiner Datenschutzerklärung.

Thank you 🙂

• 3 Star Books

A Parliament of Crows ♦ L.N. Costley | ARC Review

Queen of Roses ♦ Briar Boleyn | Review

In the Lives of Puppets ♦ T.J. Klune | Review

Briar ♦ Evelyn Flood | Review

Blood Iron & Bone ♦ Sera Foxe | ARC Review