Book Club Kit: All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford | Jo Linsdell

Book Club Kit: All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford

  

Book Club Kit All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford


Book Club Kit

All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford


Please be aware going into this post that it is for people who have read the book and therefore contains some spoilers.

About the book


Publisher: Thomas & Mercer 

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Domestic Thriller

Number of pages: 395 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1542027551
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1542027557

Published: September 1, 2021

Purchasing links:  Amazon 


Book Covers


Book Cover All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford

Book Synopsis

He’d do anything to protect his wife. But what if that meant making the biggest mistake of all?

James Casper is one of the good guys. A DEA agent. A loyal husband. With his sights set on the man at the top of the city’s opioid crisis, James is about to make the biggest bust of his career.

Then his beloved wife Rosie does something terrible, and James must choose: report it―or help her. He knows how this works, and he tells himself he’s smart enough to get away with murder. But James’s worst enemy knows what they have done―and he won’t hesitate to use it to manipulate him.

James is dragged into a dark and dangerous world. As events spiral and loyalties are tested, he realizes there’s only one way out. And that is to be even more ruthless than the people he’s working for.

Whatever happens, no matter how far he falls, at least he’ll still have Rosie.

Won’t he?


About the Author


Martyn Ford, Author of  All Our Darkest Secrets



Martyn Ford is a journalist and bestselling author from the UK. 

His award-winning middle-grade children's book, The Imagination Box, was published by Faber & Faber in 2015 to critical acclaim and went on to become a trilogy. This was followed by 2019's standalone title, Chester Parsons is Not a Gorilla. 

His bestselling adult books, Every Missing Thing and All Our Darkest Secrets, were released in 2020 and 2021 respectively from Amazon imprint Thomas & Mercer.

He is represented by Clare Wallace at the Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency. ​ 

Martyn spends most of his time thinking, writing and thinking about writing. He has a lot of titanium implants in his mouth because most of his big teeth didn't appear but, get this, no one knows why...



Twitter: @Martyn87

Book Reviews



"This is how a thriller should be written. Our Darkest Secrets keeps you hooked from the start and doesn’t let up. This is an enthralling, action-packed story with so many twists and turns that it will keep you guessing throughout." - Read the full review by Lizzie's Little Book Nook


"Recommend to those who enjoy thrills in their thrillers, action, fast-paced." - Read the full review by Dressed to Read 


"Ford presents an enthralling tale of love and loyalty. All Our Darkest Secrets has plot twists that keep the reader anxious to know what happens next. The story is told in such a way that the reader can feel James’s dilemma and fear and pure horror when Rosie’s darkest secret of all is revealed." - Read the full review by Magnolia Mentions


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Discussion Questions


Why do you think James was so attracted to Rosie? Do you think their relationship was wrong from the start?

How much do you think James and Rosie were to blame for Matthew's problems with drugs? Could they have saved him early on?

Why didn't James call for help and save Mary? Was it just because of Rosie or do you think he had other reasons?

The dad killed himself on James 18th birthday. How much do you think his death effected each of them and how much is it to blame for what happened to each of them afterwards? If he hadn't killed himself do you think things would have gone differently for James, Matthew, and Rosie?

Why do you think Rosie wrote Matthew's suicide note? 

Why do you think James remains so loyal to Rosie?

What do you think Rosie will be like as a mother?

When do you think Rosie hired The Carpenter?

What did you think about the ending of the book? Did you see it coming?

Quotes from All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford


“Trust me. I’ve buried two husbands. Anniversaries. You always forget the ones you want to remember. And always remember the ones you want to forget.”

I think about Matthew’s suicide every single fucking day. I recite his note, in silence, again and again, each night before I go to sleep. On Monday, the five-year anniversary, I repeated the letter sixty-seven times in my mind before the words became a dream. And in the morning, as always, they were real again.

You learn early on in this game that they lie about the goal. The very point of my job is, on paper, to stop the supply of illegal drugs. But this is impossible. No, my job is not to prevent perpetrators. My job is to punish them. To hurt anyone who profits from this shit.

“Things like that, puts it all into perspective.” Nell sighs. “You just realize . . . when you lose someone. None of it matters. Nothing. Not work. Not money. Nothing. Nothing matters more than family.”

Grabbing my head, I stand, turn to her, and open my mouth to speak. But it’s like a bad dream. No words come out. “Help me,” she whispers, “please . . . you know what to do.”

Two hours of hard work and the kitchen looks . . . well . . . still like a murder’s just happened, but it’s getting better.

You get numb, I find, at times. Maybe numb isn’t the right word. It’s more that you feel nothing at all. Like in memories. It’s not really you. Not in any meaningful sense. It’s only you when it’s now. But now is fed to the past every second of the day. Fed to history, like wood to a fire—the real story’s in the flames, the smoke, the ash.

Foster isn’t a bad guy. But he’s hard work to be around for any length of time. Like a buzzing insect. Almost certainly harmless, but really fucking annoying.

One day, you’ll do everything for the final time and you won’t even realize it. Your final meal, your final kiss, your final glimpse of the sun. I just can’t wait anymore.

“Drugs are not the enemy,” he says, his eyes wide and mad again. “The enemy is hopelessness. The enemy is empty lives. You think those lost souls under Blue Bridge would be smoking junk if they had something better to do? Addiction is a lot more complicated than chemical dependence.” He smiles slightly. “You know this. You have firsthand experience. Tell me about Matthew.”

“Way I see it,” she says, as we carry on walking, “if you haven’t got something you should just make your own. You need money, make some. You need a family, make one. This world doesn’t give you anything. It only takes stuff away.”

That is the only fact I know in my heart about the future. Whatever happens after Thursday, however Edward reacts to his arrest, well, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I am not corrupt. I am not a criminal. This is not who I am.

“It’s called money.” There’s a long silence. “It represents value. You can swap it for goods and services. It allows people to trade in the abstract . . . I’m sorry, James, but you must have come across the concept before?”

This is what they mean when they talk about the power of youth. To be a teenage boy, unburdened by anything as lame as caring. The limitless freedom of absolute apathy. Not even the fact we’re pretending matters all that much.

Sometimes her front catches me off guard. Rosie has a special ability to cut through bullshit and just say it how it is—to announce things that normal people leave unsaid.

“James,” Rosie says softly, as though I’m being naive, like I’ve missed something obvious. She turns and steps closer, holding both my hands now. “We’re not talking about arresting them.”

Just like with everything else, Matthew’s words arrive to guide me. I recall another one of his T-shirts. Printed in white letters across black cotton. “Become something far worse than the monsters who torment you.”

True fear does not dwell in things that happen. But in things that might. And, almost always, in things that never will.

A highly skilled individual without loyalty, a monster who’s willing to kill anyone for the right price. That sounds like the kind of man I’d like to meet.

And while, of course, his survival is incompatible with my plan, I have to admit, I trust him too. He’s capable. Strong. Smart. Cautious. All the traits you need when you’re out late at night committing serious crimes.

Rosie was right. We are good at this. I’m just playing a slightly different game.

if there’s one thing I know about getting away with murder, it’s that there’s no such thing as being too cautious.


Book Club Kit: All Our Darkest Secrets by Martyn Ford


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