Book Tour - The Sound of the Dark/Daniel Church

 

TITLE: The Sound of the Dark

AUTHOR: Daniel Church

PUBLISHER: Angry Robot

PUBLISHING DATE: September 28, 2025

PAGES: 400   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: 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…

MY THOUGHTS: I was pleased when Angry Robot reached out and wanted me to participate in this tour and I was provided with a physical copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Cally has a semi-successful podcast and is hoping to grow it some more with the latest cold case she is investigated.  In the beginning of her book, she calls it quits with her current live-in boyfriend and takes off for her dad's place, where she can focus on her work and delve further into what prompted Tony Mathias, a fairly prominent author in the area, to mysteriously murder his family and kill himself one day in 1983. Cally is unable to obtain some lost tapes from Tony's sister Stella, which contain recordings from Warden Falls, a secretive military site Tony was basing his last art project on.  As Cally starts to listen to the tapes, her life starts to unravel around her. Can Cally learn what drove Tony to such madness before she succumbs to it herself?

The Sound of the Dark started off strongly for me but around the midway point, I found it slowing down and lagging.  I really enjoyed Cally in the beginning.  Even though she suffers from depression, which led to her quitting her main job, she is likable enough and I really loved when she made the decision to leave her boyfriend who seemed to be holding her back.  However, Cally grew a bit tiring as the book progressed and I became focused on her use of Claritin, which is a weird thing to become focused on.  In fact, I sort of had flashbacks of the grape Kool-Aid and Xanax from Riley Sager's Final Girls.   

The book then picked up again at about the 70% mark and from there on out, it flew by.  I enjoyed the resolution, but at times, it almost felt like two different books. One thing I can say with confidence, Church knows how to create an atmospheric read and for some reason, I had on overwhelming feeling of dread while reading the entire books. 

If you like slow burn, atmospheric stories seeped in description and uncertainty, then I definitely recommend The Sound of the Dark.  I will also be picking up more from this author in the future.

MY RATING: 3.5 PAWS

Make sure you stop by the other stops for the tour listed below!