After Dark

Griffin Powell #1

by Beverly Barton

As the heat of summer gives way to sultry September, a shroud of suspicion settles over Nobles Crossing, a sleepy Alabama town where Lane Noble Graham is accused of murdering her ex-husband. Everyone has something to hide.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Audiobook, Fiction

379 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Beverly Marie Inman was born on 23 December 1946 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, USA. Daughter of Doris Marie and Walter D. Inman Jr. A born romantic, she fell in love with The Beauty and the Beast epic at an early age, when her grandfather bought her an illustrated copy of the famous fairy tale. Even before she learned to read and write, her vivid imagination created magical words and fabulous characters inside her mind. Movies fascinated her, and by the time she was seven she was rewriting the movies she saw on television and at the local theater to give them all happy endings. By the age of nine she'd penned her first novel. She wrote short stories, TV scripts, poetry, and novels throughout high school and into college.

After her marriage to Billy Ray Beaver, the "love of her life", and the births of her two children, Beverly continued to be a voracious reader and a devoted moviegoer, but she put her writing aspirations on hold until her children were teenagers. At every age of their lives, from infancy to adulthood, the children had been a true joy to her. She devoted herself to her husband and children and considered herself one of the many selfless "supermoms" who put their family's needs first. She believed she had had it all, just not all at the same time.

In her mid-30s, Beverly returned to her former passion — writing — as a hobby, but before 40, she decided that she wanted to make writing a full-time career. And when she rediscovered an old dream — of becoming a published writer — no one was more supportive of her aspirations than her family. Her children were her greatest cheerleaders and her husband was her biggest supporter. After writing over 40 books and receiving numerous awards and nominations, as well as having books on the USA Today list and consistently on the Waldenbooks bestseller list, her career was indeed a dream come true. Having a fantastic family and fabulous friends, as well as making a living doing the one thing she had loved doing since childhood, she considered herself truly blessed. Beverly died suddenly of heart failure on 21 April 2011.

Reviews

[Mahoghani 23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to rate this book 2.5 but I just can't give it 3 stars. It's not a thriller but there is multiple drama. I'm still trying to figure out whose Griffin Powell. He's never mentioned in the book so, what is the relation? I looked at the 2nd book and it's title in the parenthesesis, "Trilogy." On to my next issue; there are so many partial plots. The author appeared to drag the suspense into boredom and then light the fire with romance (very detailed but respectfully done). I had figured out one plot before it was even told. I'm not sure how the title relates to the story. The main murder took place during the day, outside where anyone might have seen it. One area the author excelled in was making the suspects to the murder a real guessing game.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good romantic suspense from Beverly Barton. I very much enjoyed After Dark. Although not exactly part of a series, this book has characters that appear in Barton's novels in which Griffin Powell (himself not in this book) has at least a small role. I have not read these books in order, but as the hero of After Dark, Johnny Mack Cahill, has shown up in some of the other Barton books I have read, I was glad to read his story. After Dark did include my absolute least favorite plot line, but as this part of the storyline didn't involve either the hero or heroine, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book much.

Johnny Mack Cahill left his small Alabama hometown behind fifteen years ago, and has become a man to reckon with in Houston. He is stunned when he receives an anonymous letter saying that his son needs him, along with newspaper clippings reporting on the death of a well known favorite of his hometown and the subsequent arrest of the victim's wife. The vitim's wife and accused killer, Lane Noble Graham, saved Johnny's life fifteen years ago. He always admired her and knew that she was too good for the town's poverty stricken bad boy. Johnny Mack is unaware of having a son, and he knows that he didn't have that sort of a relationship with the boy's mother. Johnny Mack returns to the hometown he swore he'd seen the last of to try to learn the truth of whether he has a son, and to try to repay his debt to Lane Noble. Lane's life and all of the decisions she has made were forged out of her teenaged love for Johnny Mack Cahill. Over the years, that love has turned to hate, but when he shows up she knows that she needs his help to overcome the murder charge against her. As Johnny Mack and Lane try to come to terms with the past and find out who was behind the murder Lane has been charged with, they realize that they have strong feelings for one another. Johnny Mack has to protect Lane and her son from those who are determined that the truth shall not be discovered.

I quickly became caught up in After All, and couldn't hardly put it down. The book has quite a few characters, and while I was able to figure out parts of the mystery fairly quickly, there were still some parts that kept me guessing. I found this to be another winner by Beverly Barton.

[Gen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate the plot and storyline, I'm not too keen on her writing style. The dialogues are cheesy, predictable and downright tacky. Even the characters' introspections and musings were frustratingly mushy and repetitive. Its only saving grace is the macabre and gruesome plot point.

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading quite a few books by this author and some of them not in the exact reading order, decided to start from the beginning.

This is book #1 in the Griffin Powell Series, with no appearance made by Griffin Powell and I enjoyed it.

I liked the setting and there were some interesting and quirky characters.

I was not totally enamored by Lane, the heroine. She irritated me quite a few times and I found it hard to believe she could be an actual judge.

I did engage with the hero and his family more than the heroine and her family....her family was beyond dysfunctional.

Lots of red herrings and surprises near the end which made up for the slow beginning.

I am now going on to book #2.

[Manasa Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars..

[Danielle Gypsy Soul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just didn't work for me. I was stuck on an airplane so I was a captive audience and I still found myself skimming the book. The writing seemed repetitive, the characters were far from memorable and the mystery was SO obvious.

[Ronie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

There does need to be a explicit smexy times warning. Especially when you read a simple who done it mystery. Is this a new trend in romantic suspense genre. Cause everybody was getting it in. Everybody!

[Dione Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a whole DAMN for Me. But I did figure out what the deal was with Kent.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

January 2020
Audiobook
3 stars - I liked it

This story was decent enough. The "hero" of the story is kind of an alpha-hole in my opinion which took away from my enjoyment of the story. Mostly, this book is just dated in regards to women's issues. It was an ok ready, but I'm not in a rush to read more by this author.

Trigger warnings:

The hero has detailed sex with a woman he's been in a long term relationship with. Neither partner believes the relationship to be permanent, just fun for now. This happens after he hears the heroine is in trouble but before he returns to his hometown after 14 years away to see if he can help. Of course, the heroine has only ever had bad sex with 1 man, her ex-husband, and he ended up raping her several times when she stopped having sex with him. We just hear about it but don't get explicit details. There's also another case involving rape that also happens off-page.

[Reen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story with many twists and turns. Some were easy to predict and others were a surprise. It took a little time to get used to the double first names (Johnny Mack)! I am looking forward to reading more books by this author and it's a little sad that she is no longer with us.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Her ex is murdered
Man she loved comes. back to prove
She didn't do it

Not Griffin Powell
Doesn't belong in series
Not bad story though

[Hilarie Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish.

[Holly Searls · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might just have it all: Murder. Incest. Amnesia. Mental health issues. Economic divide. Lost love. Adoption. Domestic Abuse. Extramarital affairs. Buying a baby. Police corruption. Blackmailing. Abortion. Attempted murders. Embezzlement. Oh. Oh. Oooooh, aaaaaaand, YES, YES, YES………..SEX. 😐

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. Normally, I like series with reoccurring characters, thrillers, whodunnits, domestic thrillers, mysteries, police procedurals, etc. This was marked as a thriller and the first book in a series. So, what did I have to loose? Time. I lost my time. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Look, this book wasn’t for me. It didn’t read as a thriller. It was much more like reading a very PG-13 soap opera script.
(I personally loathe books that describe sex scenes, and this book had MANY.) The book had too many inessential, flat characters I barely made it through to the end.

Also, this was book was marked as one in series, but the reoccurring character that is suppose to feature in future books wasn’t a main character AT ALL. In fact, I’m not really sure who he is in the book. (If you’ve read this and know, please reply and tell me).


Again, some people might love this book—but it wasn’t for me. (This book was an “included” free audiobook on Audible.)

[Krys · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book makes an ouroboros look like a straight line it’s so repetitive. Every conversation between characters was a reflection of the near identical conversations behind had between other groups of characters and no one hardly said anything new or insightful for a good majority of the book. Why did everyone call the male MC a “hellion” and hate him so much? All anyone said was that he was indiscriminate with who he had sex with and the ladies were “indiscriminate” when it came to having sex with him. That’s it. How does that make someone a hellion? Or the implication his son made where though the male MC had only ever been arrested once, there were plenty of other lawbreaking things he did. But again, no one goes into detail. They just drop it where it’s at like a cat bringing home a half dead frog. Splat. Right on the kitchen floor.

Even in 3rd person perspective, things were told more than shown, and I felt it blunted the edge of mystery and enigma. Felt like going to a magic show with a smart ass friend, who feels compelled to explain to you, loudly, and in detail exactly how each trick is performed just before it happens. Soiled it.

Thought there was too much violence without anyone unpacking what was happening/had happened. This entire book has very superficial emotion, but a deep delve into trauma and what it can do to different people would have been really interesting.

Everyone in the town is an asshole. They all hated the male MC because he was pretty and could screw women without being impacted by his partner’s social-standing, did I get that right? Dumb.

I finished because I needed background noise while I crafted, but this book was absolutely not for me.

[Christine Bialczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can someone from the wrong side of the track be the answer?

Lane Noble Graham and her son Will are from the right side of the tracks of Noble's Crossing, but when Lane is accused of killing her husband she finds herself alone and unsure of what to do. After years of abuse, Lane is relieved her husband is dead but worries that her son may be the real killer, something she has to keep to herself, she would go to jail before ever seeing her son take the blame.

Johnny Mack Cayhill vowed years ago never to return to Noble's Crossing after being treated like scum for his entire childhood into his teen years. This bad boy gets news that will change his life and forces him to go back to the town he despises. No one that has remained in Noble’s Crossing has known where he’s been, but someone had been keeping tabs on him. This could be good news for Lane.

I give this story five out of five stars for its believable characters, intriguing storyline, and suspense. Beverly Barton has portrayed a very realistic life for all of the characters in the book and leaves no loose ends. I definitely recommend reading it.

[Dasha]

Por favor, ¿a quién no le enamoraría un hombre que se ha acostado hasta con tu ex suegra? Y esta es sólo una de las muchas mujeres con las que te cuenta que se ha acostado durante su adolescencia justo al principio del libro. En el capítulo 4.
Mira, si esto no fuese una novela romántica, tendría un pase. Pero así, no.
Además, leo en spoliers por aquí que ella no tiene apenas experiencia, para variar, y es de la mala, qué original. Para más inri, él es el típico que va mojando bragas por donde pasa. Todas están locas por él, bla, bla, bla, etc.

Ni con un palo vuelvo a tocar este libro. Lo he dejado en el capítulo 4. Sí. No lo he tirado por la ventana por que estaba oyéndolo en Audible con mi móvil que si no...

[Michelle Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really did not expect this book to turn out the way that it did. At time I felt that it was a bit repetitive and cheesy. However, it did have me hook and dying to know who murdered Kent. I honestly thought that it was the mayor James Ware. I saw it coming that Kent sexually abused his sister and got her pregnant, so some things were a bit predictable. Still a good story though. I am really upset though that James gets to get away with the whole embezzling money from Edith. Does not really seem fair.

[Tiny Shen 沈帝妮 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seri pembuka untuk Griffin Powell.

Johnny Mack Cahill bersumpah tak akan lagi kembali ke kampung halaman, apalagi orang2 sudah mengira ia tewas.

Tapi, mau tak mau ia harus kembali karena ternyata Johnny meninggalkan seorang putra yg sudah remaja di sana.
Dan putra beserta ibunya sedang mengalami kesulitan karena ada pembunuhan yg terjadi.

Well, misterinya ini cukup intens. Dari awal tebakan aku bener tp hingga ending baru ketauan ternyata ada fakta yg lebih edan.

[Joycee · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the connection to Griffin Powell? Why is this book #1 in the Griffin Powell series?

Anyway … Ms. Barton sure does like to write about Southern towns that pit the haves against the have-not. Trailer trash or white trash vs rich folks.

Other than “half-breeds”, the population is not diverse ethnically.

Regardless, the crimes have very human motivations, independent of skin color, age, and gender. I think all of us readers can agree that Kent Graham was a vile creature. 😡

[Nicci · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5-4**

Pros:
-I liked the second chance aspect
-Will coming around and making his own opinions
-Fast paced and mostly entertaining
-MMC past in the town and history

Cons:
-Some of the plot twists were not my favorite and honestly very harmful and the effects weren’t properly addressed. It was buried in the end.
-I did find most reveals to be predictable
-what about the female “friend” out of town? This was not resolved - she became a forgotten character.

[Avid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book won't be one I remember. There were too many characters with an attempt at a sordid background made, but it was simply a jumbled mess. It did finally tie things at the end, but by the end, I felt like I needed a family tree in front of me to keep everything straight. Honestly, if you get this book, forget the names and just listen to the overall theme, and you'll come away with the same feeling without the headache of trying to keep the characters straight.

📚📚📚

[Kim Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beverly barton is the writer who Made me love thriller when i was in middle school. I remember picking her novel "Murder Game" and i am falling in love about the story and read almost entire Griffin Powell series. But this one is literally boring, just family drama, where is the gore?? I kinda hate it... The plot, and the suspect kind of predictable and I HATE LANE.... what a freaking wimp. Hmm.. i guess this not for me

[Cinda Cheshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb!

I really loved this book. I loved the characters. I felt every emotion reading this book. The characters felt real, I felt like I was going through everything with them. This is the first book I've read by this author and I can promise you it won't be my last!!!!! Beverly Barton is a new favorite.

[Christine Jalili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

I loved this book and couldn’t stop reading. Loved when Johnny Mack ends up falling for Lane, she’s always loved him. She’s been a great Mom to Will. Loved the suspense level too and was shocked by the plot. Not sure if this book is part of a series but it is worth re reading. Loved their happy ever after. I highly recommend this book.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope to never hear the name Johnny Mack again in my life. This book was a lot like a soap opera with a lot going on. I'm surprised everyone in that small town doesn't have the same std's. The story was interesting enough though and the killer was not who I thought it was. I still don't know who Griffin Powell is though. I don't recall a character by that name. Maybe I missed it.

[Krista Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was a decent read. I don't normally do romance. But I thought the premise sounded good. Reminded me very much of some Nora Robert's books I've read. Not sure how it it part of a series though. There was never a mention of Griffin Powell. So I'm a little confused about that. Gonna give book 2 a go.

[Aneta Osowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ta książka nie porywa nie stylem, ani fabułą. Bohaterowie dobrze wykreowani, ale te ich imiona to jakaś masakra. Mary Martha, Lilie Mae, Johnny Mack... Nawet jak na Stany to dość dziwne... Nie było to jednak aż tak złe jako całość. Na początku strasznie zagmatwane, później dość płytkie, ale jednocześnie wciągające. Mimo wszystko polecam jako dobrą, niezobowiązującą rozrywkę.

[Beth Galloway · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man oh man. Am I the only woman alive who doesn’t want some 🍆 with her mystery? I started listening at work and quickly found that that was not going to fly. I wish that there was a descriptor that could be used to warn us of the 🍉🍑🍆 in a book. Like, I don’t wanna know how the hot dog is made! Again skipping the sex made this a much shorter read.

[Gale Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. The bad boy from the wrong side of the track was chased out of town & left for dead. he bought debit to return, but life had something else in store for him which brought him back to his hometown. This time when he left town, it’s was with a love that he always wanted. Great read & listen, don’t miss it!

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, as it was good overall, but I didn't much care for the character of Lane. She was a bit too whiny for me. Johnny Mack, I liked, but he could have been a bit more forceful, being a multi-millionaire, in his protection of Will and Lane, as he had the means to do so. The subject matter was a bit intense but handled tastefully. Again, overall a good read.