Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea — Spoiler-Free Review (5 Stars)

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Quick synopsis (no spoilers)

Rory Moore is a forensic reconstructionist—the person who can walk into a cold case and see what everyone else missed. While she’s dealing with her father’s death, she gets pulled into a case tied to the summer of 1979 in Chicago, when multiple women went missing and a predator nicknamed “The Thief” left almost nothing behind.

There’s one name that keeps surfacing: Angela Mitchell—a young woman whose information may have exposed the killer… before she disappeared herself. And now, decades later, the case is cracking back open at the worst possible time.

Why I rated it 5 stars

This is one of those thrillers that feels cleanly plotted but still manages to stress you out the entire time.

1) The pace is addicting.It moves. Not in a chaotic way—more like every chapter ends with you thinking, wait—what does that mean? and suddenly you’re 80 pages deeper.

2) Rory Moore is the kind of main character I’ll follow anywhere.She’s sharp, a little intense, and wired in a way that makes her both brilliant and complicated (which is exactly what you want when the case is messy).

3) The past and present storyline is done SO well.The 1979 thread adds dread and atmosphere, and the present-day investigation has that ticking-clock feeling because this isn’t just a “cold case”—it’s a “this could happen again” case.

4) It’s dark, but it’s not pointless.This book is absolutely about violence and control, but it’s also about what gets ignored, what gets buried, and what eventually claws its way back up.

Vibes / tropes

• Serial killer / cold case

• Dual timeline (past + present)

• Forensic reconstruction / crime puzzle

• Missing women, buried secrets

• “Everyone knows something” energy

  
  

Content notes (heads up)

This centers on disappearances and violence against women (and the ripple effects). It’s not gore-for-shock, but it is heavy.

If you like ___, you’ll probably like this

If you love dark, investigative thrillers with a high-concept job (profiling, forensics, recon) and a case that stretches across decades, this is your lane.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I finished it and immediately wanted to talk about it (and also triple-check my door locks).

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