Hello, Darkness Review

Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown, 2003, 406 pages

Synopsis:

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of tragic mistakes, Paris Gibson has led a life of virtual isolation, coming alive only at night when she hosts her popular radio show. Then one listener - who identifies himself as "Valentino" - tells Paris that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. He intends to exact revenge by killing the girl and then coming after Paris. Desperate to stop the sinister Valentino, Paris enlists the help of the police - including crime psychologist Dean Malloy, the very man she had hoped never to meet again...

Review:

Hello, Darkness is a wonderful romantic suspense novel. This is a story of past mistakes, unintentional betrayal, haunting suspense and heated romance that leaves the reader breathless and eager for more.

Unable to get past her guilt concerning the death of her fiance, she escapes into the darkness of the night, being reclusive during the day, wearing sunglasses all of the time and coming out at night to do her radio show. She is the enigmatic host of a popular late night radio program featuring soft talk and love songs. She is comfortable in this world she has created and has been able to avoid the real world and her past for the past seven years. Then one night, she hears from one of her regular callers, Valentino, who says the due to Paris's on-air advice, his girlfriend was going to dump him and that was just not acceptable. He says that he has kidnapped this girl and offers Paris and the authorities seventy two hours to rescue the girl before he kills her and then comes for Paris.

Paris is joined by the Austin police and their newly hired psychologist Dean Malloy in a frantic search for the psychopath and his young victim. Malloy and Paris share a history and must try to put their attraction and their differences on hold while they investigate the many suspects in the race to save a life. There are many suspects to chose from and Sandra Brown keeps you guessing until the end as to who Valentino really is.

Interesting story full of suspense within a sordid tale of confused youngsters from dysfunctional families who risk their lives to seek quick highs from drugs and sex with strangers they have met through an unregulated website. It is a frightening subject and feel that is was realistically handled.

A good read with interesting subject matter and fully developed characters. Another excellent book by the wonderful Sandra Brown.

Rating 4 out of 5.

The Red Pyramid Review by William

The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan, 528 pages, 2010

Synopsis:
Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. 

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. 

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.


I am pleased to provide the following review by my 12-year-old son, William.


Review by William:


I think that this book was very interesting, it had lots of twists and turns and a lot of parts were unexpected. My favourite character is Carter as I found him to be funny and he fought a lot. I think the most memorable character would have to be Zoe due mainly to the twist at the end and her romance with Carter. All of the characters were very well made up and I liked the way Sadie and Carter each took turns narrating their own chapters and how they talked to each during each of their chapters. I like how it showed their own points of view in the chapters which they wrote.


I learned a lot about Egyptian mythology and a lot about Egypt and enjoyed it so much that I want to learn even more about it.


I strongly recommend that you read this book although just a warning, you may not get any sleep due to the suspense.


Rating 5 out of 5