All Our Darkest Secrets

James Casper, a DEA agent is about to land the big one. He’s got the skinny on a major drug shipment coming in and he knows who is behind it. And with his faithful wife Rosie by his side, he can’t go wrong. Yeah; about Rosie. Bit of a dark horse is Rosie.Right from page one, the pace is relentless. James gets in deeper and deeper but he has smarts. And, as mentioned, Rosie has his back. Hmm , yeah, about Rosie….The dialogue strikes all the right chords and there are some fantastic characters. James and Rosie are a whole heap of fun just by themselves but there are there are others that just leap off the pages. This was such a strong read.One review likens this book to Breaking bad. I get that. For my money; this is far better. Breaking bad? Nah. This is Breaking excellent.

If you like the f. Word, this book is for you. Almost every page contains it.With the advent of ebooks, many wannabees Michael Connelly, Stephen King and more have tried but have failed.I am immensely surprised as some five stars reviews. Some are very long and one wonders why somebody would write such glowing comments. Luckily this book was free so it was rapidly dispatched to the electronic bin in outerspace.

Let’s address the swearing first: there’s a lot of it yet it’s not excessive. If you can’t deal with it then don’t read it, however, it’s how people think and talk in real life so stop complaining.Having read the reviews I was in 2 minds, however, I’m glad I read this book. As others mention it is uncomfortable in places and that’s why I enjoyed it. Books should push you out of your comfort zone, although it’s more of a gentle nudging with this novel.The plot, with all its twists, is decent enough and details how a DEA agent gets drawn into an increasingly complicated world through a series of questionable decisions. There’s a sub-plot running along in the background - his best friends suicide - which gets tidied up nicely at the end alongside the main plot points. The thinking behind Caspers action is explained and seems rational, as do some of the consequences, while at the end you’re left wondering who the real bad guy is. As for the ending itself, I thought it to be very, very good as the final twist is delivered. Some very enjoyable ambiguity in this book, although if you like clear cut good/bad guys then you might struggle.Both the main and supporting characters are well written, with most of the attention focussed on James and Rosie Casper rather than the main antagonist, Edward Lang. I liked that because some authors think they need a detailed back story for their villains whereas Ford shows this to be unnecessary if you keep it short and well written. The Carpenter needs another novel. A lot of dark humour in this novel which some readers may struggle with if they can see it, however, I was chuckling at a couple of points. Always fun to have some lighter moments in drug deals or murder. And yes, there’s swearing but I’ve never known a drug dealer, police officer, or anyone for that matter, to say “darn it” or “fiddlesticks”. It adds to the authenticity because, as I said at the start, it’s how real people think and talk.Personally, I found the first half of the novel slow and speed read my way through it. The prologue in particular threw me a little yet by the end of the book it all makes sense so please stick with it. A lot of the background feeds into the developments at the end with some nice callbacks chucked in for good measure. As others have mentioned this could be set in any large city in the world, it just happens to be in the US although never made clear exactly where.So yeah, I really enjoyed this book and I could see it as a film at some point. Highly recommended unless you’re sensitive about swearing. If so, go read something else.

Rating: 4.3/5I have been openly critical of Amazon's First Reads in recent months for offering up selections of sub-standard reading material. Based on this novel I can level no such criticism this month. With "All Our Darkest Secrets" Martyn Ford has served up a breathtakingly filmic and deliciously dark thriller that was a pleasure to read.Although a British writer Martyn Ford has chosen an American setting for this novel. However, if you are a British reader who is normally disinclined to reading US-centric stories I would strongly suggest that you resist that aversion in this case. With some minor textual amendments this could equally well be set in the UK or any number of other countries.I won't rehash the plot, as I have no desire to run the risk of spoilers that could undermine the pleasure of uncovering this for yourself. The official synopsis provides enough information to give you an outline of what to expect. However, that synopsis will not prepare you for just how good the content of this book is.The carefully constructed plot is both twisty and twisted The pace of the narrative is excellent. There are sections that are more considered, when information essential to the plot development is being delivered, but then there are segments that are, by turn, tense, suspenseful and action-packed. The author even manages to slip in some humour along the way - though this is usually of the slightly dark variety. The characterisation is very impressive. Even the more minor players are well-drawn and credible, but among the key protagonists there are real gems to look out for - again, for the sake of remaining as spoiler-free as possible, I shall say no more.I will certainly be keeping an eye out for Martyn Ford's next novel - and I will also be hoping that Amazon First Reads continues to offer books of this quality to its customers.

Sorry. Read for about an hour and I have no idea what is going on, who is what, what the book is about. I am probably stupid, but I regret that this does not woek for me at all :(

I was lucky enough to read this book for free as a Prime first read, but I would pay good money to read it.I couldn't put it down or turn the pages quickly enough.The plot was intricate and fast paced with main characters who you could warm to in spite of their flaws.You wanted to root for them even when morally, as the story progressed, you knew you shouldn't be.I don't want to give away anything but the twists, turns, and surprises continued right to the last page. Such a great read!If my name was Reece Witherspoon I'd be buying up the film rights.