Now Comes the Dark by Thom Collins

Two strangers fueled by desire, and a killer consumed with lust.

Title: Now Comes the Dark
Author: Thom Collins
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: February 11, 2025

🖤Contemporary Dark MM Romance
🖤Thriller/Mystery/Suspense
🖤Erotic Thriller

Roman Ballentyne is forced to make some changes. The city he loves is no longer safe. Tensions are high as a psychotic killer preys upon the LGBTQ community. Five men have been murdered in the last year. Every encounter is a risk. Anyone could be next. The Viaduct was once the shame of Blyham, an illicit club filled with private booths and dark rooms, sleazy in the extreme. Now it offers a secure space to hook up when it’s too dangerous to take a stranger home.

Mallon Garnier catches Roman’s eye. He’s moody and mature and the hottest man in the club, but as Mallon pairs up with someone else, Roman thinks he’s missed his chance. When Roman is the victim of a hate crime at the end of the night, Mallon is his saviour, taking on his attackers with savage efficiency. Their attraction is immediate and intense. Roman knows it’s wrong to go home with a stranger, but what harm can there be from the man who saved him?

The encounter is the start of an intense and passionate affair. But as the murders continue, Roman learns Mallon is keeping a deep secret, and the killer is closer than he thinks.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220617872-now-comes-the-dark

BUY LINK: https://geni.us/NCTD

Now Comes the Dark by Thom Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Roman is slowly burning out on the gay club scene, one and done seems like the only option he has. Though with a probable serial killer on the loose, even that is getting too risky. Then he meets Mallon. The Frenchman is everything he’s wanted. But with Mallon only being in town occasionally and not wanting anything serious, he has to face the disappointment that reality is once again slapping him in the face.

I liked Roman’s almost broken aspect. His character was needy and almost childlike at times but he still had a strong backbone. Mallon came across as cold and possibly just a user. As the book progressed I warmed to them together.

This was definitely a (sexually) grittier book than any other I’ve read by this author. The club scenes were pretty graphic.

The mystery aspect was almost a let down and the only thing that saved it was the satisfying way in which the serial killer was caught. I had a couple of suspects but was way off the mark. I wish there had been a longer, or at least more of an ending.

Upon completion of the book I thought I would probably give it 3 stars but decided while writing this review that I did like the book enough to give it 4 stars

Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.

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Thom Collins is the author of the Jagged Shores series and the Anthem Trilogy as well as numerous standalone novels and novellas.

His new series Basic Instincts launches in spring 2025 with the novel Now Comes the Dark.

Thom has lived in the North East of England his whole life. He grew up in Northumberland and now lives in County Durham with his husband and two cats. He loves all kinds of genre fiction, especially bonk-busters, thrillers, romance and horror. He is also a cookery book addict with far too many titles cluttering his shelves. When not writing he can be found in the kitchen trying out new recipes. He’s a keen traveler but with a fear of flying that gets worse with age, but in 2013 he realized cruising is the best way to see the world.