Deep Dark Night by Steph Broadribb

Today is my stop on the tour for this, the fourth book in the Lori Anderson series. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for my review copy.

The Blurb:

Working off the books for FBI Special Agent Alex Monroe, Florida bounty hunter Lori Anderson and her partner, JT, head to Chicago. Their mission: to entrap the head of the Cabressa crime family. The bait: a priceless chess set that Cabressa is determined to add to his collection.

An exclusive high-stakes poker game is arranged in the penthouse suite of one of the city’s tallest buildings, with Lori holding the cards in an agreed arrangement to hand over the pieces, one by one. But, as night falls and the game plays out, stakes rise and tempers flare.

When a power failure plunges the city into darkness, the building goes into lockdown. But this isn’t an ordinary blackout, and the men around the poker table aren’t all who they say they are. Hostages are taken, old scores resurface and the players start to die.

And that’s just the beginning...

Deep Dark Night was published by Orenda Books in eBook form on 5th January 2020 and in paperback on 5th March 2020. It is available from the publisher and all usual retailers. Why not visit your local independent bookshop? Or online you could try Bert's Books, The Big Green Bookshop, or Hive (which will link to the nearest participating indie bookshop).

My Review:

Oh, it's so good to have Lori back! And what a ride Broadribb takes her and us on!

This is the fourth book in the Lori Anderson series, and the third one I've read, but it can absolutely be read as a standalone. There are references back to events in the previous book (Deep Dirty Truth) that might make you want to go and read it (and you should as it's excellent), but you don't need to have done to enjoy this one.

Lori and JT leave their daughter Dakota with 'Mr' Red and head to Chicago to do what Lori is determined will be her last job for Agent Monroe. She is in possession of a valuable chess set that mob boss Cabressa wants, and Monroe wants Cabressa. Lori just needs to take part in a high stakes poker game with Cabressa and various other players and reach a point where her and Cabressa are the only players. Which would be much easier if Lori actually knew how to play poker! JT will play the role of her security guy.

The setting for the game is a penthouse on the 63rd floor of a skyscraper. And when the power goes out across the city, the building's safety protocols mean that the penthouse locks down and essentially becomes one large panic room. Lori, Cabressa, his security man, the other players, the woman running the game and by a fluke JT (who had been elsewhere in the building) are trapped there. Tempers soon flare and violence erupts. And then things take a terrifying turn, and the players are asked to play a very different game.

I love Lori. She's kick ass, sassy and brave as hell. As a bounty hunter she is used to being a woman in a man's world and knows how to handle herself. She is feeling a bit more vulnerable after events in the last book, and she is really out of her depth in this situation. But she adapts.Steps up. She knows she must succeed to get home to her daughter. Broadribb really puts her through the ringer here, gives her a tough time. I was biting my nails with worry for much of this book! JT doesn't get off easily either - at one point  my heart was in my mouth with fear. He's such a great character too. He's not always been in Lori's life, but they are now finding their feet in their relationship. And he will do whatever it takes to protect her. I reckon he's the kind of guy most women would want.

The other players all have secrets, and Steph has assembled a pretty rum bunch. They are forced to look at themselves and each other, and there's not much good in any of them, except perhaps Otis who was the standout for me. I think probably because his reaction was closest to how I imagine mine would be and so I could relate to him. And I really felt for him.

Broadribb has taken a locked room mystery, and spiced it right up. There are hints of Casino Royale in the early part, and then things get really crazy. It's an adrenaline filled trip, dizzying in it's excitement. And terrifying. It's original and constantly takes unexpected turns. I was breathless by the end! I loved it.


The Author:

Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA. As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges in her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at crimethrillergirl.com, where she interviews authors and reviews the latest releases. She is also a member of the crime-themed girl band The Splice Girls. Steph is an alumni of the MA Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California, which inspired her Lori Anderson thrilliers, She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens. Her debut thriller, Deep Down Dead, was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader Awards in two categories, and hit number one on the UK and AU kindle charts. My Little Eye, her first novel under her pseudonym, Stephanie Marland was published by Trapeze Books in April 2018.