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

Oct 06, 2015 Anne - Books of My Heart rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 7arcs, 2016

Early review at The Book Nympho:

http://thebooknympho.com/2016/01/alon...

Karen Rose might very well be my favorite romantic suspense author. I never get bored or lose interest and her books are looooong. Her characters are so real to me. They may not be perfectly realistic with some horrible things happening and some characters have unbelievable money or contacts, but they have diversity and dimension. They make me feel.

Marcus and Scarlett, in this book, have faced some horrible things in their p ...more

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Jan 05, 2017 ☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer) rated it really liked it

Five reasons to grab Alone in the Dark

Trigger Warning: This case deals with human trafficking, torture and there is violence. (view spoiler) Five reasons to grab Alone in the Dark

Trigger Warning: This case deals with human trafficking, torture and there is violence. (view spoiler)

Set in Cincinnati the tale picks up a few months after Closer Than You Think and gives us Homicide Detective Scarlet Bishop story as we begin a dark case involving human trafficking. Fans of psychological thrillers and darker romantic suspense will find themselves quickly pulled in. Rose delivers the full story from the case to her depth of characters. Alone in the Dark weighed in at over 700 pages allowing us to see the case, the criminal, the victims and especially the main characters -Scarlet and Marcus O'Bannion.

The characters are complex and allow you form attachments even to secondary characters. Scarlet is Decker's partner, and I knew going into the tale I was going to love this courageous woman. She presents this tough as nails exterior, but we quickly get to learn about some of the baggage she carriers. These issues drive her to excel. Former Army Ranger Marcus O'Bannion runs the local paper called the Ledger, along with his brother Cal, friend Diesel and a crew he considers family. Marcus is driven and events from his past drive him and his team to help victims in ways the law cannot. I loved the reporter angle and the more I got to know him and his crew the more I loved them. Secondary characters from familiar ones to new ones added depth, fellowship, and interest. I loved Cal, Diesel and even Jill with all her attitude. The victims had a voice here, and I appreciated it.

The case was interesting and begins when Scarlet gets a phone call in the wee hours asking her to meet in a shady section of town. She goes because the caller is Marcus O'Bannion a man she met on a previous case. Marcus was meeting a young woman who apparently needed help, but things quickly go south. The young woman ends up dead, but not before saying something that soon has Scarlet and Bishop working side by side.

Rose delivers the full picture as she relates the case to us. We spend time with the FBI and local authorities as well as time with the criminals and victims. I love this attention to detail, and it makes the seven hundred pages read more like a book half that length. The change is perspectives enhanced my reading pleasure even as I squirmed when the criminal elements of this tale had theirs.

The romance was well done and tugged at my heart-strings. Scarlet and Marcus have met previously, so there was chemistry established. Working together forced them to admit the attraction and be brave enough to act. I love when damaged or scared individuals open up and grow. Rose gave us delicious banter, snark, and attitude. These two clicked making their emotions and actions felt genuine. While the romance is threaded throughout and we enjoyed a little heat, it stayed firmly on the sidelines of this thrilling and suspenseful tale.

copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer ...more

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Apr 05, 2016 Petra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense, series, audiobooks, for-review, 2016-audio-book-challenge

Alone In the Dark is the second book in Karen Rose's Cincinnati series. I listened to Closer Than You Think, the first one, just prior to starting this one. Although they work as standalones, I would suggest listening to them in order as it gives you a better understanding of some of the characters and their histories. Listening to the first book, I found it difficult to keep up with the large cast of characters and their relationships with one another. But I'm pleased to say with this one, it h Alone In the Dark is the second book in Karen Rose's Cincinnati series. I listened to Closer Than You Think, the first one, just prior to starting this one. Although they work as standalones, I would suggest listening to them in order as it gives you a better understanding of some of the characters and their histories. Listening to the first book, I found it difficult to keep up with the large cast of characters and their relationships with one another. But I'm pleased to say with this one, it had all fallen into place. Alone In the Dark starts off nine months after the events of Closer Than You Think and focuses on Detective Scarlett Bishop and Marcus O'Bannion, one of Faith's cousin from book one. They are reunited when Marcus asks Scarlett for help with a young woman he fears is being abused. This leads to an investigation into a human trafficking ring and the FBI becomes involved. Some characters from book one reappear and new ones are introduced. I absolutely loved Diesel, and Stone totally redeemed himself. I'm hoping these two will end up with their own books. While there were still plenty of dead bodies and some evil torture scenes, I didn't find the plot as suspenseful as the previous one. It was, however, a lot more emotional. Some of that certainly due to the horrendous human trafficking storyline but also because of Marcus's and Scarlett's very touching back stories and their firm beliefs in "doing the right thing no matter what". It wasn't all doom and gloom, though, the romance between these two was pretty cute.
The audiobook length is 30 hours and 23 minutes, so you definitely get some value for money here. It was long, but it never felt boring and kept my attention throughout. The narration by Hillary Huber was excellent. Her male characters were very believable, and she used a wide range of distinct voices to keep me straight on who was talking at all times. There were no issues with the quality of the production.
If you enjoy romantic suspense stories, this is a great series to follow.
My review refers to the unabridged audio version published by Blackstone Audio.
I received a free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
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Jul 19, 2015 Darcy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016, audio-book, listened-to-at-work, law-enforcement, romantic-suspense

There was so much going on in this one and it didn't seem like a lot of it would connect, but as the story unraveled you started to see all the ties.

Marcus and Scarlett were so cute together with their secret crushes on each other. I liked how they acted around each other and finally clued in the other. It was the much needed levity needed from the dark story matter trafficking in people.

I was a bit worried at the start with all that Marcus was hiding, mostly because we didn't know what it was ...more

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