From the Bookshelf of J.D. Robb …

Alone In the Dark (Romantic Suspense, #17; Cincinnati, #2)

Karen Rose

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: July 31, 2020

Discussion: Archive - Series Group Read

Discussion leader: Jonetta

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Archive - Series Group Read

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What Members Thought

Aug 07, 2017 Jonetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4000-books, romantic-suspense, audiobook, nc-br-digital-library, 17000-in-2017, group-read, auto-buy-author

Newspaper publisher Marcus O'Bannion has a secret mission of restoring justice to those for whom the system has failed. Detective Scarlett Bishop has a similar vigilante streak but given that she's part of that system, she keeps it in check. That is until she meets up again with Marcus.

The crime this time is insidious as it involves human trafficking, more like bondage or slavery. I liked that we get not only Marcus and Scarlett's points of view but those of several villains. Even though we kno ...more

33 likes · Like · see review

Jul 19, 2015 Anne OK rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-reads

Karen Rose delivers the second installment in her Cincinnati series in a lengthy but first-rate complex and pulse-pounding psychological thriller. The villains are no less dark and twisted and crazed than you would expect. Rose definitely uses the true meaning of evil to the fullest extent in creating each and every one.

Both of our protagonists, who met briefly in the first book of this series, Closer Than You Think, are wonderfully appealing. Marcus O’Bannion owns a newspaper that serves as a Karen Rose delivers the second installment in her Cincinnati series in a lengthy but first-rate complex and pulse-pounding psychological thriller. The villains are no less dark and twisted and crazed than you would expect. Rose definitely uses the true meaning of evil to the fullest extent in creating each and every one.

Both of our protagonists, who met briefly in the first book of this series, Closer Than You Think, are wonderfully appealing. Marcus O’Bannion owns a newspaper that serves as a cover for his secretive and most important activity. Because of the sadness and tragedies in his past, Marcus is hell-bent on exposing criminals and saving their victims. As a Cincinnati Police Department Homicide Detective, Scarlett Bishop has grown tired of watching criminals get away without being punished for violent crimes. Together their mission is to hunt down and find the bad guys responsible for the death of a young victim of sex trafficking. As the case proceeds, it unveils and anatomizes the violence in the shadowy and sinister underbelly of real life in today’s news and headlines.

It makes for a happy reader to see Rose continuing to ramp up the romance more than she did in earlier books. It is romantic suspense after all, and a nice well-balanced blend of both makes the depravity and violence go down a little easier. It has been six months since these two have seen each other and no there is no insta-love, although both feel an attraction to each other. There’s a timely slow build to what begins with trust between them before passion ignites and finally leads to a soul-stirring sensuality between them. Both are determined and intelligent in their pursuits. They worked extremely well together overcoming past traumas and made a very likeable match.

Readers are in for quite a lengthy read here (700+ pages) and numerous characters. If you’re a fan and have read your fair share of Karen Rose’s nail-biters, you’re sure to spy some repetitive and familiar passages and word groupings that this author shows a fondness in using. There's also the chance that some readers might be a bit peeved to find what they may feel is not a fully resolved closure. But the series builds book by book with a co-mingling of familiar characters in ongoing interrelated twists and turns through dark and skillfully-crafted plots that I find most appealing. Without doubt, all dangling ends will be tied up as the series continues. As a big fan of this author, I’ll be more than ready to continue the journey. And I’m hoping to see more of Stone O’Bannion in a front and center role, too. But a year from now is a long time to wait (hint-hint Ms. Rose!).

Another great romantic suspense that is well-worth your time from Karen Rose.

...more

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Jul 07, 2020 Lisa - (Aussie Girl) rated it liked it

Shelves: murder-mystery, romance-suspense, read-in-2020, nbrc-wheel-v-2020, us-states-ohio-oklahoma

For the most part I like this series despite that sometimes the romance seems a little over the top even though I know the genre is romantic suspense as other readers have discussed with me. Point taken. But this was just way too long at over 700 pages. Especially in the first third of the book there was just so much repetition and the plot didn't seem to move forward. I just found it tedious to be honest.

The resolution in the last 100 pages was better. As usual the cast of characters and the i ...more

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Jul 19, 2017 Charlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: group-read, crime, public-library, friends-recommendations, series-by-author, rated-not-reviewed, adult-themes, follow-this-series, friends-tbr-lists, immigrant

I was more engaged with this book than I was with its predecessor, and that's saying something. There are some scenes with violence and gore, but the story is dark enough (human trafficking) to warrant such things when murder and other high crimes are committed.

I liked the character Marcus O'Bannion better in this book than in the first volume, and I felt I got to know several more of the characters from the first (Cincinnati) book, as well as some new people in this story.

The villains are awful ...more

1 like · Like · see review