You Are Never Safe... When You Are Alone In The Dark

My last post before my guest poster begins: 

Alone in The Dark - Karen Rose - Book - 2015

Alone in the dark is the second book in the Cincinnati series by Karen Rose. This one focuses on Scarlett Bishop and the reporter Marcus O'Bannion. As with her previous books Rose ties this in with her previous books you have the familiar characters of Faith, Deacon and Dani. This story also pulls some in from her previous book Closer Than You Think.

Scarlett Bishop is a cop with a soft heart. She struggles on a day to day basis with her cases pulling on her heart strings.

Marcus O'Bannion, still struggling to get over his brother's death, along with his team at the Ledger, go out and try to fight all of the abusers in the world. Through any means necessary. What they don't realise is their 'activities' lead them to the darkest depths of human trafficking without them realising what kind men they are dealing with.

Tala, tries to get away from her captors. She wants to save her family and risks her life in the cross hairs. 

As always, with Karen Rose, Marcus and Scarlett have an attraction that they try to fight, but, it is inevitable. 

I enjoy Karen Rose, for her stories and characters, and she has not disappointed with this new one. She uses strong female characters which I like, the women aren't always the damsel in distress. 

Her story was just as complex and gut twisting as her previous books. One thing that I would prefer to see more of the case itself, Karin Slaughter for instance goes into a bit more technical details surrounding the evidence and the killing itself. But Karen Rose tends to stick to quite a mild description of the murders and the case. 

The story ties in really well with her other books and makes me want to read Closer To You again! 

If you enjoy crime this may not be the book for you. She is taking the suspense, out of the 'romance,suspense' books. I think is a shame as I am going back to her first books and actually they are more interesting from a crime point of view. 

If you don't mind the romance and enjoy it then her later books are definitely worth a read. 

8/10 

I think it could've been better in terms of story for me, too much of the nitty gritty romance fluff and not enough of the crime itself. 

Karin Slaughter no no Karen Rose

Have you seen her? – Karen Rose

Have you seen her? Is the second book written by Karen Rose. The story follows a widower Special Agent Steven Thatcher as he investigates a serial murderer. As far as crime books go Karen Rose is among the top writers. The story involving the investigation is strong; interesting and surprisingly hard to guess who did it. There is also the backstory of Special Agent Thatcher and his son’s teacher Jenna Marshall, this gives the book some gossip to follow making it more light hearted to read. The story about the serial killer from the past re emerging is intriguing to the reader and the whole investigation is interesting to follow. 

Special Agent Steven Thatcher is the main hero of the story. He is the lead investigator on a serial killer case which hits close to home. He has an interesting back story relating to his family with his three sons Nicky, Matt and Brad. He is an excellent investigator, the flaw in Steven thatcher’s story is how he acts. We as readers understand that after the history he had this could put some bumps in his road however, no-one wants to read about a guy making stupid mistakes.

Jenna Marshall, she is our heroine in the story. Dr Marshall is Thatcher’s eldest sons Brad, teacher. Similar to thatcher she has an interesting back story to read about alongside the turmoil she faces during the book. She helps ground Thatcher when he is in the middle of his investigation. She is a strong female character showing emotion but also strength. She is an admirable character that many females like myself can relate to.

There are strong secondary characters such as Thatcher’s aunt Helen who plays the matchmaker, Thatcher’s sons and even Dr Marshall dogs add to the story. With all of the secondary characters Rose creates a variety among the different back stories and how they relate back to his investigation.

 As it stands there are no issues with Karen Rose’s in terms of grammar or competency.

The book is written as third person looking onto the investigation. The script is broken up by date and time which makes it easy to follow the events that are happening throughout the story. This is a common aspect in Rose’s books and one that breaks up the long chapters.

Karen Rose is one of the strongest crime writers out there. In no way is the book a romance suspense book, yes there is some romance involved but the main story is about a serial killer. The book is a strong example of a good crime investigation story; it keeps your interest and is well written.

7/10

This book is a strong story with strong characters and anyone who likes a good crime story should definitely buy!