Into the Dark

The Cincinnati Series, Book 5

By: Karen Rose

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling author Karen Rose returns with a new thriller in her chilling Cincinnati series. 

Michael Rowland is not your typical teenager. Deaf from birth, he’s always looked out for his five-year-old brother, Joshua. When his stepfather comes after Joshua, Michael takes the child and runs. He’s determined to protect his brother at all costs, even if that means making himself vulnerable to a danger he can’t hear coming. And the danger intensifies when Michael witnesses a stranger kill his stepfather.

Desperate and afraid, the boys have nowhere else to go but to Joshua’s soccer coach, journalist and ex-Army ranger Diesel Kennedy. When Diesel sees that Michael is injured, he takes them to see Dr. Dani Novak - not only because she’s fluent in American Sign Language, but because he’s drawn to her and everything she stands for. She never refuses Diesel’s requests - because she, too, feels their connection - but she resists him for reasons she doesn’t want to confess.

When Dani and Diesel learn that Michael saw the face of his stepfather’s killer, they fear for his safety. But they quickly discover that it’s even worse than they feared: They may have a serial killer on their hands - and all signs point to Michael as the next target. 

“[A] pedal-to-the-metal thriller with plenty of developed characters and converging mysteries.... To call this book a page-turneris an understatement.” (USA Today on Say You're Sorry)

“Rose writes blistering, high-octane suspense that never lets up.” (New York Times best-selling author Karen Robards)

©2019 Karen Rose (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Rose combines heart-stopping suspense and scorching romance in this taut contemporary thriller.... Tight plotting and ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter make for a high-octane page-turner.” (Publishers Weekly)

Expect the best!

One thing I’ll say about books written by Karen Rose is she sure puts a lot of characters in her stories. And they all have baggage and drama! There’s always some romance ((which is not my favorite) and who ever plays second fiddle to the two main protagonists in each book then becomes the lead players in the next book. This is the sixth book in the Cincinnati series. It can be listened to as a stand alone however I would suggest listening to the series in order so all the characters will be familiar. Otherwise you have characters coming out of the woodwork and you have to wait for each one’s story to be revealed, which they will be.
The antagonist in this book is a serial killer with a purpose. He doesn’t like people who abuse young children. His methods are a little Dexter(ish)! For anyone not familiar with the Dexter Morgan character he likes to find a person who deserves his special attention. Makes sure he is truly bad and then dismembers them while still alive. The difference with this killer is he’ll kill people who’ve seen him to avoid being identified. In this book, the killer has rescued a 5 year old boy from being sold to a pedophile by murdering both the seller and buyer. He didn’t realize he had been seen by the child’s 14 year old brother and after finding out he sets his sights on the 14 year old. But, he’ll make it fast and painless. Ok, so I liked him up until there. There’s some other collateral damage along the way , people who don’t deserve to die but are necessary to maintain his anonymity.
At 21 1/2 hours, there is a lot going on on this book. And as always I’m sorry when it comes to an end.
Hilary Huber does an excellent job narrating.
This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Thank You.

You got to get it!

Every time I read a Karen Rose book, I say it's one of my favorites. So, here it goes... this is my favorite... that is until the next one. Good narrator, good story, and finally happiness for Dani and Diesel. You will enjoy it.

wow

just wow what an emotional roller coaster couldn't wait to get this story it was sooooo worth the wait

Absolutely loved it!!

I've listened to the first 4 books and was anxiously waiting for Dani and Diesel's story. It was well worth the wait. I laughed, I cried, and was thoroughly entertained. I will definitely listen to the story again and again, just like the others.

Wonderful

Karen Rose is great. This book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone but has references to past books. This is Dani and Diesel's story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what's next, one of the foster kids she has is being hunted by a killer. I love the connection the characters have, the real feelings and showing them. Letting the kids in the book know it is ok to have them and it doesn't make you a weaker person. Dani has demons from her past and issues with the present, Diesel has demons from his past. Dani keeps him at arms length, he doesn't give up. Will the have their HEA It is so worth the listen to find out. The narrator Hillary Huber is wonderful in her delivery of the story. I recommend this and all other of Karen Rose's books.

Okay

Above all else the continual use of a Valley Girl type tone, by the narrator, for EVERY character was excruciating. The characters: Dani, Decker, Decon and Deisel were all mentioned in one paragraph and, oh yes, let’s not forget Delores. What! Aren’t there 25 other letters that could be used?

Too much he-man, butt tt kicking, posturing and tired statements. Overall, really disappointing.

another great read!!! [

storyline, narrator and heartbreaking experiences (WELL DONE) ! holding my breath for what's next. AWESOME

Great heartfelt story!

This is one of my favorite books. I enjoyed the story and substance very much! You won’t be disappointed with this one.

Kept me on the edge of my seat!

Fourteen-year-old Michael witnesses the murder of his stepfather. His stepfather was a pedophile and abused Michael, so I wasn’t too broken up over his death. My heart truly went out to Michael growing up with a neglectful, selfish mother. She didn’t even bother to learn sign language even though Michael was deaf from birth. On top of all that, she marries an abusive asshole leaving her kids vulnerable!

When the police start to investigate the murder, the killer realizes he may have left a witness, so Michael and his five year-old-brother are in danger. That’s when Joshua’s soccer coach, Diesel, gets involved. Diesel is a coach in his free time to give back to the community and help kids out, but he’s mainly a hacker for The Ledger, an investigative news/website.

When Diesel realizes Michael is injured and these kids may be victims of neglect or worse, he takes them to Dr. Dani Novak, not only because Dani’s is partially deaf and fluent in sign language, but because she’s the most compassionate and kind doctor he knows. His heart aches every time he lays eyes on her, because she has made it clear a relationship is off the table. Diesel knows there’s a mutual attraction, though so he’s not sure what’s holding Dani back.

Diesel and Dani’s attraction can’t be ignored when they’re thrown together to look after Michael and Joshua when they have no place to go. However, they’ll have to deal with their feelings in between dodging a killer bent on eliminating Michael.

I found that the romance drama was low, because Dani and Diesel didn’t have time to wishy washy back and forth, they had to just get their stuff sorted and concentrate on not dying, lol! Dani might have tried my patience otherwise. There are a few reasons she’d held back, reasons she felt were valid, but any outsider could’ve told her they were BS.

There were a lot of heartbreaking moments here since Michael was the victim of abuse. Diesel has his own story to tell, and he helped Michael deal with the feelings of guilt, shame and anger.

Despite Into the Dark being over six hundred pages long, I felt like I breezed through the story pretty quickly. Lots of action and danger, they kept me turning the pages, and I cared about what happened to Dani, Diesel, Michael and Joshua!

I switched back and forth from e-book to audio and I'm happy I did that because I didn't want to put the book down when I had to get real-life stuff done. Hillary Huber did an excellent job with both the male and female voices.

Fast paced warm, humorous, romantic, suspenseful, a wonderful read.

Loved the book, it was a very wonderful read. Fast, humorous, warm, funny, caring romantic suspenseful and I didn’t wanna put it down. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a wonderful read. I chose this reading because it is a very wonderful book and I was glad to get to read it I have been waiting to read it for a long time.