Writing Dissociation as Psychological Suspense
A craft conversation about fractured identity, trauma, and unreliable perspective, with the novel framed as fiction rather than a clinical account.
PRESS KIT | CONFIDENTIAL
DARK
UGLY
PLACES
A Pychological Thriller
MONIKHER PRESS • SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
"No one likes to be kept in the dark."
— Prologue
COVER REVEAL
The Cover
Navy darkness, teal distress, and the red light trails of a hit-and-run that changes everything.
THE STORY
Synopsis
Dark Ugly Places is Ashley Mansour's second novel, a psychological thriller of identity, grief, and revenge — a haunting domestic suspense for readers of Verity, Behind Her Eyes, and The Silent Patient.
In Dark Ugly Places, trauma isn't something you survive — it's something that survives you.
Thirty-four-year-old Nicola Holiday loses everything in a hit-and-run: her husband dead, her body broken, her fourteen-year-old daughter Emmy forever changed. With no one held accountable, she spirals into grief, panic attacks, and financial ruin — awakening a hereditary darkness she's spent her life trying to outrun.
That darkness has a voice now. Her name is Martha, and she aches for revenge.
As Nicola's grip on reality loosens, Martha slips into another life — one of wealth, glamour, and moral rot. When she crosses paths with the wife of a famous actor, Nicola's suspicions ignite.
Pulled between vengeance and annihilation, Nicola and Martha collide with a woman whose secrets may be the key to everything — or the thing that destroys them both.
Dark, provocative, and deeply unsettling — a haunting psychological portrait of female rage, obsession, and the terrifying lengths the mind will go to survive unbearable pain.
Because sometimes the most dangerous place isn't the past. It's inside your own head.
THREE WOMEN. THREE VERSIONS. ZERO SAFETY.
The Narrators
Nicola
THE WOMAN WHO LOST EVERYTHING
A hit-and-run killed her husband, broke her body, and scarred her daughter. Now Nicola works as a hotel maid in Beverly Hills, spiraling through grief, panic attacks, and a hereditary darkness she's spent her life trying to outrun.
25 CHAPTERS • PRIMARY POV
Martha
THE ALTER WHO ACHES FOR REVENGE
Born from Nicola's childhood abuse, Martha is the voice in the darkness. Cold, strategic, and utterly without remorse. She aches for revenge. And as Nicola's grip on reality loosens, Martha slips into a life of wealth, glamour, and moral rot.
17 CHAPTERS • SECONDARY POV
Bambi
THE WIFE BEHIND THE PERFECT LIFE
Former model Bambi Redfern is trapped in an abusive marriage to movie star Jason Redfern. Her chapters reveal the violence beneath celebrity, beauty standards, and a carefully curated Beverly Hills life.
15 CHAPTERS • TERTIARY POV
FROM THE MANUSCRIPT
Pull Quotes
“
"Adrenaline pulses through me like a thousand fireflies lighting up all over my limbs."
— Nicola, Chapter 35
“
"But what you have to understand is this: the darkness isn't a place for anyone to live."
— Martha, Chapter 46
“
"We have this power, those of us who live in the darkness."
— Martha, Prologue
“
"I feel her within me — lucid and alert — like a dream you remember vividly but want to forget."
— Nicola, Chapter 16
“
"There was a certain darkness that stayed with her like a warning."
— Bambi, Chapter 23
“
"These feelings, this body, they are so real to me now that I scarcely remember the numbing blankness of the dark place — where Nicola is now."
— Martha, Chapter 32
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Book Details
-
TITLEDark Ugly Places
-
AUTHORAshley Mansour
-
PUBLISHERMonikher Press
-
ISBN-13Ebook 979-8-9948149-0-1
Paperback 979-8-9948149-1-8
Hardcover 979-8-9948149-2-5
Audiobook 979-8-9948149-3-2 -
PUBLICATION DATESeptember 15, 2026
-
POSITIONINGPsychological thriller / domestic suspense.
-
SETTINGBeverly Hills & Los Angeles, CA
-
FORMATSEbook • Paperback • Hardcover • Audiobook
-
EBOOK$2.99
-
PAPERBACK$18.99
-
JACKETED HARDCOVER$29.00
-
RETAIL AUDIOBOOK$19.99
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Mansour
Ashley Mansour writes dark, addictive psychological suspense with domestic tension, emotional depth, and a cinematic edge. Her novels explore obsession, betrayal, power, and the unsettling truths that live beneath polished lives and intimate relationships.
She is the author of the international bestseller Blood, Ink & Fire and the upcoming suspense novel Dark Ugly Places. Drawing on a background in publishing, film, and television development, Ashley brings a sharp visual sensibility and page-turning intensity to her fiction. She writes about rebellious women seeking vengeance, morally gray relationships, and unspeakable scandals.
When she is not writing, Ashley works with aspiring authors to help them shape and strengthen their manuscripts. She lives in Irvine, California, with her husband, daughter, and Bernedoodle, Bernie.
MARKET POSITIONING
Comparable Titles
Dark Ugly Places is a psychological thriller of identity, grief, and revenge — a haunting domestic suspense for readers of Verity, Behind Her Eyes, and The Silent Patient.
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides (2019)
Shared DNA: dissociation, domestic violence trauma, unreliable POVs, puzzle-box structure that rewards re-reading.
Verity
Colleen Hoover (2018)
Shared DNA: wealthy family, unreliable narrators, female rage and complex morality. Verity film adaptation Oct 2026 creates crossover wave.
Behind Her Eyes
Sarah Pinborough (2017)
Shared DNA: psychological manipulation, blurred realities, and unreliable perspectives that keep readers guessing.
Sometimes I Lie
Alice Feeney (2017)
Shared DNA: unreliable narrator, tension-driven domestic suspense, and a twisty reveal.
FOR JOURNALISTS & REVIEWERS
Media Angles
Six concise angles for features, interviews, and reviews.
Class Inversion in the Wealthy Enclave Thriller
Nicola is a hotel maid navigating Beverly Hills from the service entrance; her working-class perspective changes how the novel sees wealth, power, and invisibility.
The Daughter as Emotional Witness
Although Emmy is not a narrator, her relationship with Nicola grounds the psychological suspense in the consequences of grief, secrecy, and a family struggling to survive.
Narrative Fragmentation as Craft
How the novel’s structure mirrors its subject: three unreliable narrators, 57 short chapters, and a POV architecture designed so the reader’s disorientation echoes Nicola’s fractured experience.
An Eleven-Year Return to Fiction
The second-act story behind Ashley’s return to fiction, from Blood, Ink & Fire in 2015 to Dark Ugly Places in 2026, shaped by years in publishing, film, and television development.
Launching Into the Verity Conversation
Dark Ugly Places publishes September 15, ahead of the October 2 film release of Verity, creating a timely conversation about psychological suspense, dangerous intimacy, and unreliable women.
WHY THIS BOOK
Key Selling Points
3
Three Unreliable Narrators: Nicola, Martha, and Bambi.
Three perspectives that repeatedly shift the reader’s understanding of motive, memory, and control.
57
57 Short, Sharp Chapters
A short-chapter structure supports alternating points of view and steadily escalating psychological tension.
LA
LA / Two Los Angeles Worlds
Nicola’s working-class exhaustion collides with the curated luxury and moral rot of Beverly Hills celebrity.
Mind
Mind / A Psychological Portrait
The novel explores identity, grief, revenge, and the frightening lengths a mind may go to survive unbearable pain.
Sep
Sep / Fall Thriller Timing
The September 15 publication date places the book ahead of the October 2 Verity film release.
Film
Film / Cinematic Edge
A Beverly Hills setting, three unreliable points of view, and Ashley’s background in film and television development shape the book’s visual approach.
PRESS & MEDIA INQUIRIES
Get in Touch
For review copies, interview requests, excerpt permissions, and media inquiries.
MONIKHER PRESS
#MonikherPress
"Some wounds don't heal. They fester. They whisper. They take over."
Dark Ugly Places by Ashley Mansour
Published by Monikher Press • September 15, 2026.
ISBN-13: 979-8-9948149-0-1 (ebook) • 979-8-9948149-1-8 (paperback) • 979-8-9948149-2-5 (hardcover) • 979-8-9948149-3-2 (audiobook)
LCCN 2026933792
© 2026 Ashley Mansour. All rights reserved.