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Hello, Darkness

Hello, Darkness

List Price: $30.00
Your Price: $18.90
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much better than the last one!
Review: Paris Gibson, a popular late-night radio personality, moved to Austin, Texas to escape her tragic past. Her listeners trust her, phoning in nightly seeking advice along with their requests for songs. Right before her two A.M. sign-off, a man who identifies himself as "Valentino" calls. He tells Paris that since she gave his girlfriend advice to break up with him, he has kidnapped his girlfriend and will kill her in seventy-two hours.

Paris takes the threat seriously and notifies the police. One of the men assigned to the case is police psychologist Dean Malloy. When Paris and Dean see each other, it's instant recognition. Dean brings back memories of everything she is attempting to run from and to forget. Along with the fact that they know each other, their long-suppressed feelings of attraction resurface as well.

It's a race against time as Paris and the police follow clues that might lead them to the kidnapped girl. They discover her identity quickly, yet run into a great deal of resistance from her parents and other involved parties. The more they discover about the girl's sordid dealings, the more possible suspects surface. Will they find her before it's too late? Will Paris become Valentino's next victim?

HELLO, DARKNESS is an exciting ride from start to finish. There are many suspects identified, and each is a viable option for Valentino. The reader is kept in the dark as to his identity until the exciting climax. Many unexpected twists kept me intrigued and on the edge of my seat waiting for the next surprise. I enjoy a mystery that can provide suspense as well as tie things up in the end, providing both the motivations of the killer and a satisfying conclusion.

Ms. Brown's characterizations are wonderful. Paris is mysterious and has a lot to hide, but the reader sympathizes with her and doesn't feel too distant from her pain. Dean is a rugged hero, giving strength and a strong male presence, yet his vulnerability with his son makes him a real person. The sensuous romance between Paris and Dean heats up the pages, and the two personalities compliment each other so that they seem made for each other.

I was less than impressed with Ms. Brown's last book, THE CRUSH, but HELLO, DARKNESS is an excellent novel, not to be missed. She deftly combines the elements of romantic suspense to draw you in, and won't let you go until the heart-stopping finish.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Ever more complex
Review: Sandra Brown is evolving as a writer, and I love her for it. Each new title is a little deeper, a little more complex, a little less romance. I cannot resist her novels, so far Envy is my favorite. Hello, Darkness is a step in a new direction. I am not sure if the title refers to the book itself, or the new direction for Brown. This story is a darker than her previous novels. All her villians seem to be a bit crazy, but this story combines people and problems in a rather ordinary surburban setting. The result is a very unpleasant read at times, but so is the newspaper. Not for the squeamish or the romance reader, this book leans heavily toward crime thriller with the police trying to analyze the evidence and beat the clock to catch the criminal. The steamy sex scenes we like from Ms. Brown are missing, and would be be out of place in this story of sexual predators and teen-age sexual addicts. The fact that Paris and Dean even try to do it is creepy under the circumstances. In the end they do not save the world, just a small piece of it. Rather they alert us to new possible dangers and the importance of sticking together, the importance of family.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I'm glad I didn't buy this book.
Review: I'm a huge Sandra Brown fan - I've read almost everything she's written, and I usually buy her next book as soon as it is released. I happened upon this book at the library and grabbed it.

I was extremely disappointed. There is exactly one compelling theme in this book - the relationship between Dean and the heroine. I did like how their past was revealed little by little, and I found their pain and relationship very realistic.

But, the plot surrounding this book is just voyueristic and gross. Rather than finding the mystery interesting, I figured out very quickly that she just kept dragging us in to a suspect, and then throwing fact about another suspect the other direction. I felt jerked around, and not like facts were being revealed naturally. I didn't even care if they ever found the kidnapped girl by the end. There were details in this book that would give any abuse victim flashbacks, and for no real purpose other than to shock and horrify.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sorry another Brown formula overdone
Review: I was a devoted Sandra Brown fan in the 80's. But I stopped reading her. Writers need to change with the times or they get stale. What worked TWO DECADES ago, just is TRITE, clichéd, commonplace, hackneyed, shopworn, stereotyped, threadbare, timeworn, tired in this current day and time. Browns tosses out dirty words for shock value - same as she did 20 years ago, but frankly, the shock has long worn off.

The mystery is no mystery; the author tries to make you THINK there is a mystery by casting questions and suspicions about every male character in the book. The misdirection in ham-fists and fools no one.

I have been so disappoint in Jayne Ann Krentz, Nora Robert and Sandra Browns last few efforts, because I see little flash that made them the Queen of the genre. They are putting out retreaded books like they don't have to write good books anymore - they just put out anything and everyone buys them because of their name.

Sorry, if you are a Brown fan, get it at the library. Everyone else would do well to spend their money on writers who still write with passion.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not A Keeper!
Review: I don't care for some of Sandra Brown's books. But those have always been the ones written 20 or so years ago and that's because ideals etc. have changed so much since then.

I've waited anxiously for this new book and it was definitely not worth the wait.

1. The characters were flat and boring.
2. The coincidences were way out of control. Brad, Janey, Paris, Dean, Gavin, etc. The possibilty of all of them being connected in the same murder, ending up in the same city and having the amount of previous connections-unlikely at best.
3. What was with Paris and the sunglasses? She was sensitive to light but that sure changed in the end.
4. There was no chemistry between Paris and Dean.
5. What gave Paris the right to decide Dean couldn't see Jack? Considering Dean had known him a lot longer than she had Dean was more likely to know what Jack would want. Also they were both equally responsible for what had happened so why should she punish Jack.
6. I figured out who the murderer was as soon as he appeared in the book.
7. Paris was unlikeable and had about as much depth as a piece of paper.

I am an avid Sandra Brown fan and I can only hope her next book is a whole lot better.
I can however recommend French Silk, The Crush, Charade.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sandra Brown has nailed yet another bestseller!
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was so good I read it in under 2 days. I really didn't know who the real killer was until the last chapter and the whole time I was reading i was on the edge of my seat. Sandra did a superb job with this book and I look forward to future releases!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hello Darkness, Hello Thriller!!!
Review: I found that I couldn't put this book down! I liked the way Sandra Brown led the reader to believe that a number of suspects could be the killer. I felt that it was well worth the money. I throughly enjoyed this mystery thriller!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Hello, Darkness
Review: The story was okay, but it was so full of crude words and descriptive sex that I found it hard to believe that a "lady" wrote it. I've been a fan of Sandra Brown's for years, but I think I'll drop her from my favorite author list. If you like crude and sexual than the book is for you. If not, there are hundreds of other authors who write excellent books.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting But To "Perfect"
Review: Altho I am sure I have read another book by Sandra Brown (one I can't think of as of date), I was interested in reading this book based on it's synopsis. I will admit that the book took off and I was unable to put it down during the first several chapters but after awhile, I found myself just a tad bit annoyed at how all the characters were "convienently" put together which took away from the natural suspense - in my opinion.

Altho this book was a work of fiction, perhaps I was expecting MORE of a theme, MORE content, MORE thrills. Instead I got the runaround, too many underdeveloped characters and way too many twists and turns. Overall, the book held the mystery qualities and even had me "locked in" (for lack of a better term) but at the same time, all it turned out to be in nutshell, was a love story - a Romance Suspense Novel. Truly not something I was prepared to read once I realized where the book was heading.

Also, altho things like the nature of Paris and Dr.Malloy's relationship wasn't too farfetched, I just had a problem with the author allowing these two characters to rekindle what should have never taken place to begin with. I don't know about anyone else but I really don't think that after my finace' pretty much committed suicide by the revelation that his best friend and I had intimate relations behind his back that even after 7 years (later), I'd pick up where I left off with that same man. Perhaps I'm putting my own morals out here on the line in view of a work of fiction but sometimes fiction is all about reality.

In conclusion, I also wish the book had a different ending, more climatic, more theatric. But it it what it is. Can't change that too much at this point. I'm glad however, that I didn't buy this book brand new.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: So Disappointed!!
Review: I am an avid reader of Sandra Brown's novels. I've found her latest books to be lacking. This one was the worst. It was too predictable and not exciting enough. I am quite disappointed to say the least.


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