Book Review – The Dark Isle by Clare Carson #20BooksofSummer2025

About the Book

Sam grew up in the shadow of the secret state. Her father was an undercover agent, full of tall stories about tradecraft and traitors. Then he died, killed in the line of duty.

Now Sam has travelled to Hoy, in Orkney, to piece together the puzzle of her father’s past. Haunted by echoes of childhood holidays, Sam is sure the truth lies buried here, somewhere.

What she finds is a tiny island of dramatic skies, swooping birds, rugged sea stacks and just four hundred people. An island remote enough to shelter someone who doesn’t want to be found. An island small enough to keep a secret…

Format: Hardcover (380 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st June 2017 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

The Dark Isle is the third book in a trilogy. I haven’t read either of the first two but frankly I didn’t find myself at a disadvantage. In fact, if I hadn’t discovered it was part of a trilogy, I don’t think I’d have guessed because it comes across as a fully developed standalone story. However, because I haven’t read the previous two books my review may unwittingly contain spoilers.

The Dark Isle is a blend of spy thriller and family drama that moves back and forth between Sam’s teenage years in 1976 and 1989, some years after her father’s death. She’s now a rather penniless archaeology student working on a research proposal for her PhD and living in a grimy rundown flat with her best friend Becky in an insalubrious part of London.

Whilst spending the summer on a dig in Orkney, Sam catches sight of a figure from the past: Pierce, the father of Anna, her childhood friend who disappeared from her life fifteen years before. She and Anna spent the hot summer of 1976 together, having adventures inspired by the fables told by Sam’s father. Sam was rather starstruck by Anna, in awe of her boldness and maturity. The fact both their fathers worked in undercover roles, albeit employed by different government bodies, created a unique bond between them. Then suddenly it was all over. Anna’s father’s abandoned her and her mother and there has been no communication in the intervening years. It’s almost as if Anna wanted to disappear too.

Sam wonders why after such a period of absence, Pierce has chosen to reveal himself now, and why to her? What does he want from her? And what really happened between Pierce and her father? They’re questions to which Sam can’t resist trying to find the answers, especially because of fragments of conversation between the two men she overheard as a child during a holiday on Orkney.

In searching for answers she unwittingly places herself in danger, as a figure from both men’s past returns with some unfinished business. It leads to some tense and exciting scenes with Sam having to employ all the tradecraft of a spy in an attempt to outwit her pursuers. Not knowing who she can trust doesn’t make it any easier. All she can rely on is her own instincts, and the penknife her father Jim insisted she always carry.

I liked Sam’s transition from quirky teenage loner to slightly grungy, prickly twenty-something. And I really liked the contrast between the wild beauty of Orkney and the remote island of Hoy, and the seedy, rather grimy parts of London Sam inhabits. There’s also a great sense of each time period.

I think what the author did really well is, alongside the espionage element of the plot, give an insight into the impact on a family of someone involved in covert work: the sudden unexplained absences, the mood swings, the constant air of watchfulness, the barely suppressed aggression.

All of this makes The Dark Isle a really accomplished, well-paced thriller. The Dark Isle is book 7 of my 20 Books of Summer.

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, pacy
Try something similar: The Bone Road by N. E. Solomons

About the Author

Clare Carson is an anthropologist and works in international development, specialising in human rights. Her father was an undercover policeman in the 1970s. She lives in Brighton.

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