Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Catherine Bailey still hasn't met Mr. Right, but she believed her luck might finally have turned when she met Lee Brightman. Four years later, she still hasn't recovered from the horrors she experienced at Lee's hands. Lee is serving a three year sentence after leaving her for dead and Catherine, now Cathy, is trying to make progress with each new day. Even days, odd days, cloudy days, each requires something different. Some days she can barely leave her apartment. Others, she's ok as long as she checks the doors and windows. Cathy needs to feel safe. But when Lee is released, Cathy knows that she may never feel safe again.

Whoa! Can I say it again? Whoa! Into the Darkest Corner is intense! I'll warn you up front, it's dark and it's twisted, but once you start, you're not going to want to put this one down.

Elizabeth Haynes's debut thriller is definitely a bit like Sleeping With the Enemy with a little twist. Cathy suffers from serious OCD and PTSD as a result of Lee's violence. Haynes alternates between Catherine at the beginning of - and through - her relationship with Lee and the three years later Cathy, making clear just how much she's changed. The girl who was once a partier with a horde of close friends becomes a loner who cringes at close contact. And as her situation worsens with Lee, it also becomes clear how much strength it's taken for her to survive the whole thing, pointing to an inevitable climactic ending that Haynes delivers 100%.

Into the Darkest Corner is undoubtedly one of the most exciting debuts I've read so far this year and Haynes is an author I'll be looking forward to seeing much more of in the future. The book officially hits shelves in the US on June 5. 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for letting me participate in the tour. For other stops, visit the site tour page here. For more on Elizabeth, you can visit her website here. You can also friend her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.