Dark Illusion – Book Review

This twisted psychological thriller is a game of cat and mouse between a young & fearless female detective and a vicious killer that becomes more puzzling and darker with every twist and turn

Sharon Davis, tenacious NYPD homicide detective, is determined to catch a ruthless serial killer who disfigures the faces of beautiful young women before killing them.

Sharon’s pursuit of the elusive killer leads her to the glamorous fashion world and threatens to unveil the dark secret of an influential socialite in New York’s elite. The more she investigates, mind-taunting discoveries begin to scratch the surface. Now there is another beauty gravely unaware of the great danger lurking. Will Sharon put together all the pieces of this deceptive puzzle in time to save the next victim?

You think you have all the answers, but you won’t be able to see it coming . . .

Revenge, love, and passion swirl together in this cleverly crafted crime thriller. This page-turner will keep you on your toes until the very end, unable to guess how this unpredictable mystery will be solved.

No. of pages:- 336 pages

Date published:- December 10th 2019

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

After reading favorable reviews coming from this book written by a debut author, I decided I would give this book a try. A series of young beautiful models are brutally murdered with their faces disfigured. NYPD detective, Sharon Davis is set to find this notorious serial killer who has been killing these girls for the past three years.

I do really like the plot line–the unusual thing about this book is you already know who the serial killer is by the beginning of this book and you are waiting for Sharon Davis to catch this killer. So this cat and mouse game between the killer and Sharon was really good, intriguing and dramatic! But despite the good plot line with many unexpected twists and turns, and an ending that left you breathless and unbelievable. I also like the feminist view in this book, which I actually find very rare in most of the books. However, there are certain things that actually did ruin this plot. For example, the love story between Gloria and Andy to me was a bit unnecessary in the book–should have made it shorter, the confrontation between Sharon and the killer seemed unrealistic so is another part where Sharon was shot and next day she flies off to New Zealand, and I feel the author needs to do more research about police work. In a case like hunting a prolific serial killer, even the prestigious NYPD would usually hire FBI if this killing had taken place for three years. So except for this negative things, this book was a good thriller book.

Worth four stars!

Dana V. Moison is an Amazon best-selling author who specializes in writing detective mysteries led by strong women sleuths. Being born to an Israeli mother and an American Father, Dana has gained the best of both worlds: she dreams big and has the Israeli Chutzpah to pursue her dreams. While most of her family resides in the U.S., she was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. Nevertheless, her frequent visits to her family in New York City have allowed her to experience the city as a local. New York had been the source of inspiration for her first novel, Dark Illusion, which takes place in Manhattan. In fact, quite a few chapters were handwritten at her favorite Starbucks, located in the basement floor of the Empire State Building. Soon enough she traded her ballpoint pen with a laptop, and they haven’t been separated ever since.

Dana started working toward a degree in psychology during high school. She graduated with top honors and received her bachelor’s degree from the Open University after completing her military service as a psycho-technical diagnostician. Dana worked as one of the youngest columnists for Ynet, the #1 news website in Israel, before releasing her first novel at the age of 23.

In 2012 Dana moved to the French Alps to work, where she was able to polish her French and, against all odds, some pretty decent skiing skills. She kept writing her column while being abroad. When she returned to Israel, she enrolled in the gender studies program at Tel Aviv University. She graduated with top honors and earned her master’s degree at the age of 28.