Product Description

Bestselling author Sandra Brown is the master of the knife-edge thriller. Her latest and most powerful novel to date, Hello, Darkness, is the gripping story of a woman haunted by her past and caught in a nightmare that threatens to destroy her future. It's a brilliant, fast-paced tale, electric with sexual tension, by one of America's most popular authors of sophisticated suspense.

For Paris Gibson, her popular late-night radio show is both an escape and her one real contact with the outside world.

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of past, tragic mistakes, she has led a life of virtual solitude, coming alive only when she hosts her show. To her loyal listeners, she is a wise and trusted friend who not only takes their music requests but listens to their problems and occasionally dispenses advice.

Paris's world of isolation is brutally threatened, however, when one listener -- a man who identifies himself only as "Valentino" -- tells her that her on-air advice to the girl he loves has caused her to leave him and that now he intends to exact his revenge. First he plans to kill the girl, whom he has abducted -- which he says he will do in 72 hours -- then he will come after Paris.

Joined by the Austin police department, Paris plunges into a race against time in an effort to find Valentino before he can carry out his threat to kill -- and to kill again. To her dismay, she finds that one of the people she must work with is crime psychologist Dean Malloy, a man with whom she shares a history that had a catastrophic effect on both their lives. His presence arouses old passions, forcing Paris to confront painful memories that she had come to Austin to forget.

As the clock ticks down, and Valentino's threats come closer and closer to becoming a reality, Paris suddenly finds herself forced to deal with a killer who may not be a stranger at all.

Tense and compelling right up to the chilling climax, Hello, Darkness is suspense at its very best, by the author USA Today has called "a masterful storyteller, carefully crafting tales that keep readers on the edge of their seats."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #797536 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-07
• Released on: 2003-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Cue another run up the charts for bestselling Brown (The Crush), who knows just the right mix to spin: a second-chance-at-love theme rocked by the rhythms of families-in-jeopardy and the hip-hop beat of an at-risk teen subplot sure to alarm the most jaded of parents. Her latest thriller, set during a steamy Austin, Tex., summer, revolves around Paris Gibson, host of a late night radio show that dispenses classic love songs along with advice for the lovelorn that turns deadly after a caller takes Paris's on-air advice to dump a possessive boyfriend who turns out to be another regular caller, "Valentino." Refusing to be dumped, "Valentino" makes the girl his captive, phones Paris that he will kill her in 72 hours ("...her death will be on your conscience") and implies Paris may die next. Paris contacts the Austin police and reunites with one-time lover, Dean Malloy, a police psychologist who was also her dead fiance's best friend. "Valentino" 's victim, Janey Kemp, is the missing 17-year-old daughter of a prominent judge and a founder of a Sex Club Web site that arranges illicit parties that Dean's son, Gavin, also frequents, connecting him to Janey's disappearance. Paris and Dean's romance is almost trivial beside Janey's dehumanizing captivity, although Brown's shallow characterizations of Janey and other Sex Club teens registers the only off note in this fast-reading thriller. The adult suspects are better developed: Lancy, an ex-con/janitor/former porn star trying to make good; Stan, a radio employee whose family connections are the only reason he has a job; John, a cop who sees nothing wrong with "hands on" undercover work; and Brad, a sex-addicted dentist. The unmasking of the killer comes with a riveting finale that will leave fans begging for an encore.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Brown's latest thriller is full of thrills and chills that will keep readers turning the pages. Paris Gibson is a late-night DJ who gives advice to the lovelorn. One night, she receives a call from a listener named Valentino, whom she's talked to many times before. This time, he's frighteningly sinister, threatening Paris and claiming that he's holding his latest girlfriend hostage and that he intends to kill her in three days. Paris takes him seriously and goes directly to the police. At the station, she's shocked to see a face from her past, handsome police psychologist Dean Malloy. Together with several detectives, Paris and Dean try to uncover Valentino's identity as well as the location of the girl he claims he's holding. Dean is shocked to learn his petulant 16-year-old son, Gavin, knows Janey, the girl they believe Valentino is holding. Janey is part of an Internet sex club of teenagers who like to flirt with danger. As Paris and Dean race to save Janey, their long-buried passion threatens to boil over. With an abundance of likely suspects, this sexy, engrossing thriller will keep readers guessing until the very end. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
'Brown's novels define the term "page-turner"' -- Booklist 'The plot [of The Crush] crackles with tension ... Brown fans will not be disappointed' -- Publishers Weekly 'A masterful storyteller' -- USA Today 'Millions of readers clamour for the compelling novels of Sandra Brown. And no wonder! She fires your imagination with irresistible characters, unexpected plot twists, scandalous secrets ... so electric you feel the zing!' -- Literary Guild 'Perfectly plotted ... sin-tillating suspense' -- People magazine 'Fast fun' -- Cosmopolitan 'Get your page-turning finger ready for Sandra Brown's latest' -- New Woman

Customer Reviews

Hello Darkness
Paris Gibson is a DJ for an Austin, Texas radio station. She has a late night radio show that is very popular, and she routinely talks with fans that call in. While they disclose too much information to her and the audience, Paris is a very private person. Her advice to a caller attracts some unwanted attention from a caller named Valentino. He tells Paris that he has kidnapped his girlfriend and also plans to kill her in three days.

Dean Malloy is a police psychologist with the local department, and is consulted when Paris brings the recording in for validation. Dean and Paris have a past. She was engaged to his best friend until his untimely death, but in love with Dean. They must put their personal feelings aside to identify and save the endangered woman before it is too late.

This is one of my favorites. No one tells a story like SB. I was not sure who Valentino was until it was revealed at the end as there were several suspects. I liked Dean and Paris from the start, but even more as the story went on and the details of their past was brought to light. Very exciting read.

Great story- five plus stars!
"Hello, darkness" is Sandra Brown at her best and she is truely one of the premier writers of romantic suspense. 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 contribution to the lingering death of her ex fiance, Paris Gibson escapes to the darkness of the night. She is the enigmatic host of a popular late night radio program featuring soft talk and love songs. This is both her sanctuary and her only link to the world she has avoided for the past seven years. Then she receives a phone call from a deranged fan warning Paris that he has kidnapped a young woman who after Paris' on air advice has betrayed his love and trust. He 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 rife with attraction and distrust. They must try to put their attraction and their differences aside while they investigate the many suspects in the race to save a life.

Brown weaves various strands 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've met on unregulated websites. It is a frightening subject that is deftly and realistically handled. The characters are so capably sculpted that you hate to leave them when the story ends. I am never disappointed by Sandra Brown's books, but this one really is a stand out!

Not A Keeper!
I don't care for some of Sandra Brown's books. But those have always been the ones written 20 or so years ago and that's because ideals etc. have changed so much since then.

I've waited anxiously for this new book and it was definitely not worth the wait.

1. The characters were flat and boring.
2. The coincidences were way out of control. Brad, Janey, Paris, Dean, Gavin, etc. The possibilty of all of them being connected in the same murder, ending up in the same city and having the amount of previous connections-unlikely at best.
3. What was with Paris and the sunglasses? She was sensitive to light but that sure changed in the end.
4. There was no chemistry between Paris and Dean.
5. What gave Paris the right to decide Dean couldn't see Jack? Considering Dean had known him a lot longer than she had Dean was more likely to know what Jack would want. Also they were both equally responsible for what had happened so why should she punish Jack.
6. I figured out who the murderer was as soon as he appeared in the book.
7. Paris was unlikeable and had about as much depth as a piece of paper.

I am an avid Sandra Brown fan and I can only hope her next book is a whole lot better.
I can however recommend French Silk, The Crush, Charade.