Wake to Darkness

by Maggie Shayne
Book 2 of Brown and de Luca

Wake to Darkness definitely has more suspense than the first book in this series, as well as a very intriguing murder mystery to go with it.  Sleep with the Lights On was all kinds of creepy and exciting and fun; but if I'm honest with myself, I really DID enjoy this second book a little bit more than the first.  And I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we already know our protagonists and have a grasp on the kind of characters they are.

This Brown and de Luca series is just the right amount of series-format plus stand-alone installments to keep a reader hooked, while at the same time giving us new material to enjoy per each book.

Anyway...

Wake to Darkness employs one of my more favorite plot devices, as the blurb states, stranding our heroes on a mountain in the dead of a wintery snow storm.  Of course, I hadn't quite expected the Snowbound device to be executed the way it had been presented, and unfortunately, I didn't take to it as well as I would have in other cases.  I'm not entirely sure I'm a hundred percent behind the fact that Mason chooses to take his entire family on a vacation when there's a killer out there hunting them--and to bring them to a resort where there are lots of other people, innocently trying to enjoy their own holiday vacation as well...

Of course, setting that little quibble aside, the rest of the book was fueled with suspense and that same eerie intrigue that comes with an exciting murder mystery and more of Rachel's "woo-woo" paranormal stuff.  The fact that we put a new spin on the organ donation angle carried over from the first book made for a great premise to follow:

Rather than Mason's brother killing from the grave using the evil within his donated organs (which I'm still a little iffy about THAT particular concept, with the "cellular consciousness" thing also carrying an evil gene, or something like that), the recipients of the donated organs, instead, are the murder victims as someone is running around hunting and removing said organs.  Instead of seeing the murders take place from the eyes of the murderer, Rachel's connection to the organ donation recipients forces her mind into the bodies of these people as they are being murdered.

The creepy factor is WAY up there this time!  O.o

When the finale rolls around, however, the first book and the second book collide, and the reasoning behind all the killings make a whole lot more sense--without that iffier premise from the first book, the killings from the second book would have had to have been way different.

And you know what?  I really DO appreciate how both books are stand alone mysteries, and yet the premises come together in the bigger picture of the long run.  It makes me wonder how the rest of the books in the series will give us newer, fresher cases to follow while at the same time referring excellently back to actions and events from the previous books.

As I did for the first book and the novella, I immensely loved Rachel and all the characters, some more than others and some less than others.  Rachel and Mason make a great team as partners in investigation, with Mason's police detective skills and Rachel's "uncanny sense of perception" that she had developed during her twenty years of being blind.  I DO love Rachel's sense of sarcasm, although I feel like she got a bit exhausting with some of her "Inner Bitch to Self" conversations inside her head--it was cute the first few times, but after a while it started getting a little old.  Nonetheless, I still loved following her narration a lot.

The romance was not as satisfying as I would have liked, if only because our main couple are great together as an investigating partnership, but have yet to really exhibit any kind of emotional or physical chemistry despite the blazing lust generating off of the two in spades.  I just can't seem to connect the romance, and I find the sudden inner monologue declarations of love a little premature.  Their chemistry was better in this second book, but still not to the level I would have liked, so I'm hoping to see more from them in the romance arena in the next book since they all but declared themselves to each other, even if not in so many words.

Of course, there still wasn't a clear conclusion to the romance by the end of the book.

Finally, the last thing I wanted to mention was the murder mystery, because I really DID enjoy this one and loved the premise to death.  A serial killer taking out all the recipients of Eric Brown's donated organs?  My only spoiler sport attitude about that was: How did the killer know which victims to target, because all of this information should be of the utmost confidential kind?  Even the police had to go through a lot of red tape and paperwork just to get an okay to view that information.

Otherwise, it was definitely an intriguing premise, even if not executed in the best of ways.

I kind of figured out who the killer was after Rachel was attacked the first time.  It was kind of a given and made the most sense to me, even if it didn't really.  If that makes any sense to anyone else at all.

Wake to Darkness was lots of fun and excitement.  And then there was also Myrtle, the blind bulldog Rachel adopted from the first book--such an adorable and awesome little mascot for these books!


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2016 Reading Challenges:

• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016 -- Bingo Board Three | Square C6 -- Romance
• Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge

 

 

So I liked the first book of this series despite some reservations with some of it's more fantastical elements. I love Rachel and Mason. I like how she is so snarky and a cynical. I like how he is so hunky and serious. And I like how the two of them are slowly becoming a team.

The plot follows a bit from the first book, it is like an offshoot of the lingering plot elements from that book. So not my favorite, but I am hoping this would tie it up. It did.

The suspense element was great and it was nice seeing the supporting characters getting a little more time in the sun especially Rachel & Mason's niece and nephews respectively. I was enjoying the book until it got to the end.

When the killer was revealed. Sigh. That is when I said to my book 'Really, book? Really?'

I am still gonna read the next one if only to see what happens next with Mason's truly screwed up family. And because Rachel & Mason are such strong character draws.

And the plot thickens!

Oh my! The tension between Rachel and Mason is crackling. And the mystery is still going strong, too. Love it so far!

3.5 star read

Rachel DeLuca is a renowned self-help author. She recently received a cornea transplant that restored her vision after twenty years. Unfortunately her corneas were taken from the body of a serial killer (you've got to read Sleep with the Lights On Brown and DeLuca #1 . . . trust me!). Rachel teamed up with police detective Mason Brown, the brother of the deceased serial killer, and their efforts resulted in the death of the Wraith (read the first book!). Now there's a new killer on the scene and this killer is retrieving the donated organs. Can Mason keep Rachel safe or will she become a victim of this new killer?

Wake to Darkness starts with a gruesome murder of a transplant recipient and once again Rachel seems to be linked to the murders . . . again. She feels everything the victims feel, and sees the murder take place in her dreams. Rachel is still grieving the loss of her brother at the hands of another serial killer and adjusting to being sighted. She's also visually experiencing the joys and wonders of winter and Christmas. Add in spending the holiday with one of her twin nieces, a new killer on the loss, an on-again/off-again/I-don't-know-where-we're-going relationship with Mason Brown and you've got quite a story. Mason is dealing with his own stresses. He still feels guilty about his brother's suicide and learning that he was a serial killer. He's trying to stand in as a father figure for his nephews and be supportive to his sister-in-law and mother. Holiday stress, ongoing grief and guilt, a fragile new romance, a teenage alcoholic, a depressed sister-in-law, a blind dog, and a blizzard all add up to one fantastic mystery. Ms. Shayne has provided another great read with Wake to Darkness. I love the tension between Rachel and Mason, and this story ratcheted up the tension by adding in teenage angst, drama and alcoholism. I started reading Wake to Darkness late at night and couldn't sleep until I finished the story. I found Wake to Darkness a fast and entertaining read and hope there'll be more to come in this series. If you've read Sleep with the Lights On then you'll definitely want to read Wake to Darkness. If you haven't read either book and enjoy mysteries mixed with humor and romance, then you need to add both of these books to your TBR list.