The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m an unabashed fan of Alex Marwood and so I’m not sure how I missed this when it first came out, but it was well worth the wait.
The Darkest Secret tells the story of Sean Jackson, a wealthy and influential developer, and the events surrounding his 50th birthday party bash, a weekend of debauchery that ultimately leads to the disappearance of Coco, his three-and-a-half year old daughter from wife #2.
Self-absorbed and blatantly cheating on his second wife with a woman who will eventually become his third, the reader sees Sean through the eyes of his second wife, Claire, her daughters India/Indy and Milly/Mila (in many ways, this book is as much about Mila Jackson as it is about Sean), his friends aka hangers-on and enablers, an adult Ruby, twin of the still missing Coco, and the besotted teenage daughter of one of the friends who, as wife #4, also becomes his widow.
The book shifts POVs at a rapid rate, flipping back and forth from that momentous weekend in March 2004 to Sean Jackson’s funeral in the present day, and in less talented hands that stylistic choice could prove confusing if not disastrous. But Marwood is more than equal to the task, the storytelling compelling, and the ending, while unexpected, is just plain perfect. Highly recommended.
GOODREADS RATING SYSTEM:
5: It was amazing
4: really liked it
3: liked it
2: It was okay
1: didn’t like it