Genre Fiction
![Katie Lattari - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_katie_lattari.jpg)
Dark Things I Adore
A debut thriller for fans of Lucy Foley and Liz Moore, Dark Things I Adore is a stunning Gone Girl-esque tale of atonement that proves that in the grasp of manipulative men, women may momentarily fall. But in the hands of fierce women, men will be brought to their knees.
Three campfire secrets. Two witnesses. One dead in the trees. And the woman, thirty years later, bent on making the guilty finally pay.
1988. A group of outcasts gather at a small, prestigious arts camp nestled in the Maine woods. They're the painters: bright, hopeful, teeming with potential. But secrets and dark ambitions rise like smoke from a campfire, and the truths they tell will come back to haunt them in ways more deadly than they dreamed.
2018. Esteemed art professor Max Durant arrives at his protégé's remote home to view her graduate thesis collection. He knows Audra is beautiful and brilliant. He knows being invited into her private world is a rare gift. But he doesn't know that Audra has engineered every aspect of their weekend together. Every detail, every conversation. Audra has woven the perfect web.
Only Audra knows what happened that summer in 1988. Max's secret, and the dark things that followed. And even though it won't be easy, Audra knows someone must pay.
A searing psychological thriller of trauma, dark academia, complicity, and revenge, Dark Things I Adore unravels the realities behind campfire legends―the horrors that happen in the dark, the girls who become cautionary tales, and the guilty who go unpunished. Until now.
Three campfire secrets. Two witnesses. One dead in the trees. And the woman, thirty years later, bent on making the guilty finally pay.
1988. A group of outcasts gather at a small, prestigious arts camp nestled in the Maine woods. They're the painters: bright, hopeful, teeming with potential. But secrets and dark ambitions rise like smoke from a campfire, and the truths they tell will come back to haunt them in ways more deadly than they dreamed.
2018. Esteemed art professor Max Durant arrives at his protégé's remote home to view her graduate thesis collection. He knows Audra is beautiful and brilliant. He knows being invited into her private world is a rare gift. But he doesn't know that Audra has engineered every aspect of their weekend together. Every detail, every conversation. Audra has woven the perfect web.
Only Audra knows what happened that summer in 1988. Max's secret, and the dark things that followed. And even though it won't be easy, Audra knows someone must pay.
A searing psychological thriller of trauma, dark academia, complicity, and revenge, Dark Things I Adore unravels the realities behind campfire legends―the horrors that happen in the dark, the girls who become cautionary tales, and the guilty who go unpunished. Until now.
Editorial Reviews
"Dark Things I Adore is a captivating story about desire, ambition, and revenge. It takes the reader on a dark, twisted journey with prose so lush it will make you weep. The pace is so intense and fraught it had me turning pages long into the night. Everything about this I adored. Katie Lattari is a masterful storyteller who paints with her words on a unique canvas that will stay with you long after the story comes to its unexpected end." ― Leslie Zemeckis, best-selling actress, writer, and award-winning documentarian
"A smart, nuanced exploration of victims and villains, inspiration and theft, and the intersection of these things, in every artist. Pay attention to Katie Lattari. She's the real deal." ― Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors
"I felt like I was being physically pulled into a dark forest while reading this psychological cat-and-mouse game, always aware that more danger lay ahead. With a constant sense of foreboding and lush imagery, Dark Things I Adore is a haunting, mesmerizing tour de force, everything about it a brutal sort of beauty." ― Zoje Stage, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Getaway
"Gorgeous and absorbing, Dark Things I Adore is a stunningly executed tale of art, trauma and revenge. At once propulsive in plot and lyrical in style, it's the kind of novel you'll want to savor every sentence of―dark and deeply satisfying." ― Katie Lowe, author of The Furies and Possession
"Pulsing with seductive menace, Dark Things I Adore is a beautiful package, set to explode." ― Eliza Jane Brazier, author of If I Disappear
"A smart, nuanced exploration of victims and villains, inspiration and theft, and the intersection of these things, in every artist. Pay attention to Katie Lattari. She's the real deal." ― Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors
"I felt like I was being physically pulled into a dark forest while reading this psychological cat-and-mouse game, always aware that more danger lay ahead. With a constant sense of foreboding and lush imagery, Dark Things I Adore is a haunting, mesmerizing tour de force, everything about it a brutal sort of beauty." ― Zoje Stage, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Getaway
"Gorgeous and absorbing, Dark Things I Adore is a stunningly executed tale of art, trauma and revenge. At once propulsive in plot and lyrical in style, it's the kind of novel you'll want to savor every sentence of―dark and deeply satisfying." ― Katie Lowe, author of The Furies and Possession
"Pulsing with seductive menace, Dark Things I Adore is a beautiful package, set to explode." ― Eliza Jane Brazier, author of If I Disappear
Readers Top Reviews
ChristieJeff Youn
There were no big surprises. I’d almost given up on the ending “surprise” when it finally panned out. I’d decided on it when I was about 1/4 of the way through the book. It definitely wasn’t a bad book, but so much of it was strung out in what could have been accomplished in a single chapter. And so much of that revolved around pseudo-intellectual drivel it was difficult not to think the author was desperately trying to gain the praise that her character, Max, always sought.
SDMolly R.Christi
Unfortunately I find myself agreeing with the others who can’t get past the tediousness and weak plot of this story. Reading this book felt a lot like watching a bad Lifetime TV program. To begin with, one of the main characters is so stupid and oblivious - but not in a funny, or meaningful way - just the accidental way of unconvincing writing - that it can’t even be taken seriously. The plot is full of predictable outcomes, tropes and the characters - despite the fact that almost all of them are artists - are incredibly, dreadfully boring. The dialogue drags on and on. The plot “twists” are painfully predictable. This is an important reminder that just because a character has a sexy role, such as a “artist” does not mean they will be interesting or compelling. Characters are interesting in how they move and develop through their circumstances. All the characters here are only mildly-formed, and they reveal all theirs cards up front. The author wants us to be intrigued by them, but there is literally nothing mysterious about them at all, and I found myself skimming through their dialogue. And there is too much tedious dialogue and unnecessary details and side plots that neither go anywhere, or enhance the main narrative. I would have loved to have been “surprised” at least once, but it didn’t happen. Another unfortunate device - the author tries to incorporate prose (usually about the setting) into the narration, but it doesn’t pair well with what this book is trying to do - and it’s not exactly welcome, either. It just makes the pages drag on and on even more, you feel hit over the head with it. Its like wait - let’s get the proper foundations of fiction-writing down first, before we try to add poetry into this bad story. I find myself wanting to like this author - but hoping that their next book can overcome some of the failures of this one.
fairestskyebooksS
This was such a great read! A psychological thriller unlike anything I’ve read in the genre. Deals with mental illness, bipoloar to be specific and self-harm, just as a note. Really well thought out and exercised. Loved it!
Kevin Ffairestsky
While I'm not a regular reader of suspense or crime fiction, I throroughly enjoyed this psychological study of a woman intent on revenge. Katie Lattari weaves together two time-lines set 30 years apart to explore the mysteries that take place in the woods of Maine, both from the view of a a rag-tag group of artists who assemble at an arts camp in the late 1980s, and then in modern times through the eyes of fledgling artist Audra Colfax and her aging mentor Max Durant as they travel to review her arts thesis. Audra's intent gradually unfolds as does the reason for her wrath, resulting in a harrowing story for unsettled autumn nights.
