The Killing Time (previously titled, In Darkness) introduces rookie FBI agent, Shannon Ames, a dedicated and intelligent young woman whose goal is to work in violent crimes. Her first major case has her working with the local cops to identify a serial killer who seems to have a grudge against the media.

The Killing Time was a solid police procedural with a well plotted mystery and an understandable motive. The suspense was tautly woven and kept me riveted until the end. I particularly enjoyed the topic of the influence of the media and the lack of accountability and disconnect there is in regards to online actions. The author tackled the issue sensitively and made some very valid points.

People piling on, people too isolated and desensitized to realize the real-world impact made by their online actions.

BREARTON, T.J.. The Killing Time (A Shannon Ames Thriller Book 1) (p. 185). Inkubator Books. Kindle Edition.

That said, although the mystery was good, the characters were another matter entirely. I can't say I really had any strong feelings about any of them. Shannon was kind of bland and lacked a distinct voice and the rest of the characters were interchangeable. The hints of romance were awkward and added nothing of value to the plot. If you're after character driven fare, this probably isn't for you but for those who like procedurals, it's a good read. I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the series. 3 stars. ( )

All in all, I really liked this one.

Alex drove me crazy for the first few chapters - to the point where I thought I was going to have to drop out of the book tour because I thought I was going to have to write less than a four star review. But Alex really begins to grow as a person, and by the end I actually really liked her, though she wasn't my favorite person.

I did wish that there was more time spent in the prison system in this dystopian world, and less time spent on Alex's and Will's travels to Elder Gray prison - the book was spent about 50%-50% evenly.

There were some other minor things that drove me crazy - there's talk of technology, yet there aren't any vehicles or other forms of transportation, that just seemed off. There's talk of Alex being in a hospital, but no explanation of why, but that's how her father finds out she isn't really her daughter (but why did it take her father so long to find out the truth, when her mother's been dead all these years? What changed? I thought there was going to be more to the story, but nothing...). The whole bit about the hospital just seemed thrown into the story line so that Alex's father can find out he isn't really her father.

It also drove me a little crazy that they made the outback seem so scary and so dangerous (and the chances of surviving so few), and then the author talks so much about the "drifters" that were vampire-like creatures, yet the journey wasn't really that scary and the drifters you meet were much nicer, friendlier, and personable then the humans, with one exception.

All in all, however, I really liked the world that the characters were living in, and I did really like the story line, the pacing and the character development was great. Even though I did have some issues with the book, overall I really enjoyed this one, especially about a 1/3 of the way in and the whole rest of the book. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed, but maybe that's also because I was upset that the book was over?