LoveReading Says
Ashley Kalagian Blunt’s Dark Mode is an absolute eye-opener of a thriller that that’ll leave you considering deleting all your social accounts, shirking the digital world and going entirely off-grid. It’ll also open your eyes to the horrors of the dark web as a place in which sickening misogynists dehumanise woman as “foids” (female humanoids) and feed their hatred unhindered. In short, this is a page-turning, psychological thriller of the finest, most petrifying order.
Reagan has very good reason for living her life offline. She doesn’t have a smart phone, or any social media presence. In fact, her contact with the internet is pretty much limited to having a basic website for her struggling garden centre business in Sydney.
One morning, Reagan discovers a brutally mangled body too close to home. Terrifyingly, the victim looks exactly like her. This turns out to be the first of several Sydney murders that leave Reagan scared her past has caught up with her. It also turns out that these are copycat femicides, with links to the Black Dahlia murder of 1947. With encouragement and support from her best friend, an investigative journalist, Reagan slowly (and partially) opens up about her past, and what she’s currently being put through.
Reader, though it sounds like a cliché, nothing will prepare you for the shocks that unfold in this novel, with its devastating twists made all the more potent by its brilliantly-drawn protagonist, and the fact that the murders and toxic Men’s Rights Movement it lays bare are drawn from real-life. What a book.
Joanne Owen
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Dark Mode Synopsis
Once you're online, there's nowhere to hide
Is it paranoia - or is someone watching?
For years, Reagan Carsen has kept her life offline. No socials. No internet presence. No photos. Safe.
Until the day she stumbles on a shocking murder in a Sydney laneway. The victim looks just like her.
Coincidence?
As more murders shake the city and she's increasingly drawn out from hiding, Reagan is forced to confront her greatest fear.
She's been found.
A riveting psychological thriller drawn from true events, Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time.
PRAISE for Dark Mode
LoveReading Book of the Month April 2023
'A Hitchcockian chiller with a powerful sense of rampant terror' - Maxim Jakubowski, Crime Time
'Drawn from real life cases, this brilliantly twisty thriller exposes the grimmest recesses of the dark web through a disturbing story of murder, misogyny and sickening surveillance.' - LoveReading
'Thrilling and twisty - get ready to be paranoid' - J.P. Pomare, author of
The Wrong Woman 'twisty and tantalising...
Dark Mode is a thrilling read for when you need to get consumed by a good thriller instead of a social media binge.' -
Arts Hub Australia 'a darkly sparkling gem' -
The Canberra Times 'Absolutely terrifying! I turned every page with my heart in my mouth, utterly hooked by this explosive thriller. Ashley Kalagian Blunt taps into the dangers we face online every day and the monsters in our midst.
Dark Mode is a powerful and disturbing story which will keep you thinking long after you've finished reading.' - Petronella McGovern, author of
The Liars 'With
Dark Mode, Ashley Kalagian Blunt has turned her love of true crime and passion for suspense fiction into a fierce wake-up call of a thriller, one that looks unflinchingly at the horrors of the dark web and sheds light on the unimaginable. Riveting, tense and supremely chilling, this is an eye-opening must-read for crime fiction fans everywhere.' - Anna Downes, author of
The Shadow House 'Wow. Page turning, chilling dread that kept me guessing until the end. Ashley Kalagian Blunt hits it out of the park, creating a dark world where your worst fears aren't the worst thing to fear - not even close.' - R.W.R McDonald, author of
Nancy Business '
Dark Mode's greatest achievement is that, as the pieces fall into place, it's not just Reagan Carsen's world that's turned upside down - it's ours. Its stunning payoff doesn't just reverberate through the pages, but beyond the book and into the world at large, where its implications are of urgent significance … there are some realities most of us would sooner pretend are impossible than acknowledge are already here. Kalagian Blunt forces our gazes upon them in this compulsive and breathless thriller.' - James McKenzie Watson, author of
Denizen 'Dark and twisty, this thrilling offering from Ashley Kalagian Blunt is absolutely not to be missed. This book will keep you up at night' - Hayley Scrivenor, author of
Dirt Town 'If you think that what happens on the dark web will never affect you, this book begs the question: are you sure about that? Like,
sure-sure? A twisty, terrifying thriller,
Dark Mode will have you buying a flip phone and moving off the grid the second you turn the final page, just so you can breathe again. I loved it.' - Pip Drysdale, author of
The Next Girl 'A chilling and utterly gripping read that shines a light on misogyny and toxicity thriving in plain sight and its devastating consequences for women. Ashley Kalagian Blunt plunges the reader into the darkest corners of the internet and it could not be more terrifying! A superb thriller that will keep you riveted to the page and dial up your tech anxieties to eleven.' - Dinuka McKenzie, author of
The Torrent 'Masterfully crafted and addictive, Dark Mode will keep you on edge to the last page. It will also make you think deeply about the world we're living in now. This brilliant exploration of the increasing, and terrifying, merging of our online and physical lives shows Ashley Kalagian Blunt at the height of her artistic powers. I gulped this book down! And I know I'll be thinking about it, and the perverse reality it reveals, for a long long time. This is an outstanding debut novel. - Lee Kofman, author of
The Writer Laid Bare 'Blunt has brilliantly executed a cautionary tale, and a deeply suspenseful thriller brimming with plot twists and a gut-sinking cliffhanger. This page-turner will keep you up long into the night.' - Readings
'suspenseful, engaging and terrifying' -
Newtown Review of Books About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781761152368 |
| Publication date: |
4th July 2024 |
| Author: |
Ashley Kalagian Blunt |
| Publisher: |
Ultimo Press |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
400 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Thriller and Suspense
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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