Hello Darkness

Storyline:  Paris Gibson, a reclusive radio announcer, lands in the middle of lovers tiff because of advice she offers on-air.  The rebuffed lover makes threats to kill his girlfriend and then take up his vendetta against Paris.   She seeks help from the police and comes in contact with Dean Malloy, who takes her back to a painful time in her past.

Players: Paris Gibson, popular disc jockey, who shies away from public appearances and has still not reconciled the circumstances leading to her fiancés death.

Dean Malloy, crime psychologist, fiancé and father, trying to be all things to those around him. His re-introduction to Paris takes him back to another turbulent time in their lives and makes him determined to make Paris face the past in order to deal with the future.

I liked: The energy between the two main characters.  From the get-go, the reader is sucked into their combined history until their past connection is laid out in the open.

I wondered if the killer was who I suspected it was, but I wasn’t too sure since there were a few other red herrings thrown into the barrel. Ms. Brown spent some time developing some of these  other suspects to such an extent that readers could have forgiven for mistaking any of those men for the killer. The continued guessing games made the book interesting reading for me.

The scenes with the killer were kind of creepy, as his behavior demonstrated that he was unbalanced.

At one point, Malloy resorted to violence in dealing with his troubled teenage son, but the reality of the situation is that teenagers are hard to handle, so I readily forgave him that out-of-character reaction.  The gradual shift in their relationship was realistic and by the end of the book I was satisfied that the boy realized that his father wasn’t the enemy.

I could have lived without: some of the interactions between Paris and her coworker, Stan. I found him a little annoying. He was drawn as a somewhat pathetic sexual predator, or more like one of those men who doesn’t look before he leaps and so always finds himself in trouble.  However, I understand the need to keep the reader guessing.At one point I also remember thinking that the book was a tad bit long. Could be because I didn't read the novel all at once.

Overall comments:  Hello Darkness provided a good read. I liked the combination of crime solving and romance and the idea that even in a terrible situation, some good can emerge. I also learned a bit about the inner workings of the radio world. The book also speaks to the futility of holding on to the ghosts of the past because despite major catastrophe, life does go on and people and relationships do heal.

 Rating: Four-and-a-half stars.