Hello, Darkness

I received this book through kindle unlimited in October 2019, but just got around to reading it. Honestly, I do not know why I took so long to read, but I am glad I finally got around to it.

I went into this book with high expectations based on my familiarity with the author’s work and she did not disappoint. The story pulled me and held me captive to the end.

The main characters, Paris and Dean, had a tumultuous history between them. They had not seen each other in years, but when Paris received the chilling call from the villain, their lives would once again intertwine.

Paris’s life has changed drastically in the last seven years. She was once a well renowned television reporter, but after a tragic incident touched her life, she show more walked away and moved to Austin. Now a late night radio personality she grants her listeners their music requests and provides sage advice on their personal issues when required. However, there was one listener, whose chilling call would shake up her world.

Dean moved to Austin to work as a psychologist with the police department. His experience has a cop made him a valuable asset and the best person to assist with this situation. He never expected that he would cross paths with Paris once again.

Brown weaved a tale that kept me guessing at every page turn and had me anticipating the result. Riddled with a stream of suspects, I had a hard time figuring out the identity of the perpetrator. Each of them had an opportunity, a motive and a proclivity towards sexual perversion. There was a moment when I thought I had it figured out, but then Brown sent me in another direction. Even when she narrowed it down to two suspects, I almost had whiplash trying to figure out the real villain’s identity.

The suspense arc formed the major part of the story while the romance was served on the side. The relationship between the main characters had its share of complexities. Their journey towards becoming a couple had major bumps and hurdles from the past and the present. I loved the glimpses I got regarding Paris and Dean’s past. It gave a full understanding for the decisions they made then and now.

There is not much I can say about the villain more than he is one sick puppy and for that matter all the suspects were on the nutty side with their proclivities and obsession with Paris.

The investigation and the events leading up to the capture of the villain moved quickly leading to a fast-paced tale.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Hello Darkness took me on a suspenseful journey, filled with twists and interesting revelations. Overall, it was a great read and one I would recommend to fans of romantic suspense. show less

Hello, Darkness was an engaging and exciting thriller which stars Paris Gibson and Dean Malloy. Paris is a former television reporter who became a radio personality while she was caring for her fiancé who was gravely injured in a car accident. He was mostly brain dead for the seven years she cared for him. He has recently passed away.

Dean Malloy was Paris's fiancé's best friend since their college days. After the accident, they lost track of each other primarily because Paris wanted it that way. Dean has been busy with his career as a psychologist and police officer. He has also been co-parenting with his ex-wife. Now his wife has remarried, and Dean has become the primary caretaker for his seventeen-year-old son Devin. He has also show more recently moved to Austin and taken his son with him. Devin isn't happy about the move and is rebelling and hanging out with unsuitable friends.

When Paris receives a threatening phone call while she is at work, she calls the police and goes to the police with a cassette of the call. She fears that the caller is not just venting but is really threatening the life of someone. The police sergeant calls in the new lieutenant who turns out to be Malloy. Now they are forced to confront each other and work together if they want to save the life of the missing woman.

There are lots of possibilities for the unknown caller including a sex addict, an ex-con, and still others. The story, published in 2003, talks about teenagers who are connecting for sex over the internet which also includes Dean's son Devin on the edge of that. It is also told from multiple viewpoints including that of the sex addict. The story didn't feel dated despite its age.

I liked that Paris and Dean were able to resolve their differences which were caused by guilt over their actions in the past. I thought the tension built nicely in the story. I'll admit that I was surprised by the villain of the story despite forming a poor opinion of him during the course of the story. show less

Paris Gibson is a late-night radio host on a station that plays love songs. She has a sultry voice and sexy vibe that keeps her fans tuning in night after night. It's a job she loves until one night, Valentino, a fan who calls in regularly, tells her he's going to kill a young girl within 72 hours, and it's her fault. From there, the story becomes a nightmare of sex, violence, and murder. Austin's finest, including Paris's old friend, Dean, become involved and do their best to track down this sadistic psychopath before he carries out his threat.

Aside from dealing with sick, perverted sex addicts, 'hello, darkness' also deals with the challenges of parenting and teen rebellion. The smart-alecky teenagers in this book took me back to my show more younger days when I was dealing with one myself. Ugh! Not fun. Although the subject matter was hardcore, this story's suspenseful and fast-paced plot held me spellbound. I was hooked from the first page and was utterly impressed with the surprising end. I recommend you don't read this one on a night when you're alone in the house. show less

This is my third Sandra Brown book. The first was Witness, which was good. Second was Lethal... not so good. Fortunately, this third book is much better and more believable than Lethal, so the author redeemed herself.

I liked how various parts of the story built up, so you get puzzle parts of a picture instead of just tone huge info-dump. The chemistry between the protagonist and her former lover was very well-written, you could practically feel the heat on the pages. I also liked the struggle between the detective and his son and the teenage angst, that was written very well.. Ms. Brown did a great job with many things in this book. The twist near the ending, to show who the real killer was, I was not completely surprised since there show more are a few clues, but they're fairly subtle so some people might not catch on them right away. Overall definitely a worthy effort by this author and worth reading. show less

DJ Paris Gibson wears dark glasses and values her privacy, but loves her job as a sounding board for her late-night love-song radio show. Until one of her callers reveals a sick fascination for her. When he calls in claiming to have kidnapped his last girlfriend and gives Paris a 72 hour deadline to find him or the girl dies, Paris finds herself living a nightmare. And when the police psychologist turns out to share some history, the ground under her feet gets even shakier... is it possible the killer is someone from her own past?

If Brown hadn't tried quite so hard for her twists, this would have been a lot more fun to read. Still, an ending that I didn't quite see coming.

In this book by Sandra Brown, Paris Gibson is host of a late night radio program where she plays music and talks to listeners, sometimes giving them advice. As the book opens, Paris receives a phone call from someone calling himself "Valentino", saying he has kidnapped his girlfriend and will kill her within 72 hours. Paris goes to the police and runs into an old flame, Dr. Dean Malloy. Paris and Dean struggle with the past as well as their feelings for each other, while trying to find Valentino before he kills his girlfriend.

This is another exciting thriller by Sandra Brown. She is expert at giving just enough information that makes you keep turning the pages to find out more. There are plenty of suspects who could be Valentino and show more his identity is not revealed until the exciting climax of the book. I highly recommend this book, but don't start it too late at night or you may find yourself staying up all night to finish it! show less

This book
was well-written and piqued my interest early on. The characters are
extremely well developed and there were enough reasonable suspects to keep
me guessing for most of the book. I figured out who but couldn't quite
figure out why, so the ending held enough of a surprise to make it
satisfying.