In a Dark Mirror

By: Kat Davis

Narrated by: Jess Nahikian

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A decade-old crime unites its devoted fans in a haunting novel about delusions in the dark and the dangerous games children play.

Twelve-year-old Maddie Thompson and her friend Lana share a love of horror stories and wild imaginings. But Lana insists they are too old for pretending. It’s time for a different game: serving Him, a figure she sees lurking in the dark, mysterious and demanding. According to Lana, she and Maddie must obey Him or else suffer the consequences. Maddie doesn’t want to lose her most important friendship, even if it means luring an innocent girl into the woods—as a sacrifice for Him.

Ten years later, Maddie is released from an institution and must reintegrate into society for the first time as an adult. While finding her first job and forming new friendships, Maddie struggles to determine what it means to forgive—or to trust—herself. Particularly when she discovers an online community that is not only eerily obsessed with her but committed to the cult of Him.

This is Maddie’s chance at absolution—to convince them not to follow in her violent footsteps. But the loyal devotees have a pull. And Maddie knows that these games often have deadly consequences.

©2024 Kathleen Solomon (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“In a Dark Mirror combines true crime and urban legend into something entirely, achingly human. It’s a testament to Kat Davis’s remarkable storytelling that she brings out new facets of the lonely girls who seek refuge in the supernatural, but perhaps her most powerful feat is in following those girls into adulthood, examining the grown women forced to grapple with the real-life consequences. Bold, haunting, and incredibly difficult to put down, this astonishingly confident debut will have you looking into every face you encounter and wondering about the secret darkness we all hold within.”—Sara Flannery Murphy, author of The Wonder State

“In a Dark Mirror is a propulsive and twisty thriller that explores girlhood and friendship, obsession and horror. Kat Davis captures the desperation of adolescence with observations so sharp they will take your breath away. Once you start reading this book, you won’t be able to stop!”—Jennifer Close, author of Girls in White Dresses

“Get your nightlight ready—In a Dark Mirror is the kind of book you stay up all night to read, and then you’ll spend the rest of the week thinking about it. It’s a mesmerizing, creepy, original and deeply compelling novel about adolescent girls and the darkness that lurks within, and I gobbled it whole. Kat Davis is a star.”—Annie Hartnett, author of Unlikely Animals

I really enjoy psychological thrillers and I’m very picky about what I choose to read. This was a very good story.

The narrator was very good especially practically whispering at some points. There wasn’t anything I disliked. The story kept me guessing.

Flat as a pancake

I’ve enjoyed different tellings of the real life Slenderman-inspired stabbing of a tween girl by two of her friends, but IN A DARK MIRROR fell flat for me. I had empathy for Maddie, but never *felt* her pain. All my cringing was for how I’d have felt in her situation, for me, not Maddie.