Into the Light

By: Aleatha Romig

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Erin deWard, Noah Michael Levine

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Sara Adams awakes blind, unable to remember the most basic details of her life, but her darkness seems a blessing when she discovers the terrors of The Light.

Stella Montgomery investigates the news from the mean streets of Detroit, where she's noticed a disturbing trend: Young women are vanishing. When her best friend disappears, Stella digs for answers - despite warnings from her police detective boyfriend - following a twisted trail that leads her through the city's most dangerous and forsaken precincts. There she uncovers something more sinister than she could have imagined: a shadowy organization known as The Light, led by the enigmatic Father Gabriel.

As Sara struggles to understand her place in the strange world she's awakened to - an oppressive cult demanding unquestioning obedience - and her feelings for Jacob, the husband she can't recall and whose harsh and tender attentions confuse and beguile her, Stella risks all to discover the truth. But enlightenment always comes with a price....

©2016 Works, LLC (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

It tries to Stockholm Syndrome the listener

Okay, I decided to finish the book (initial review follows). The cheesy novel doesn't end with a cliffhanger so much as a creepy revelation about the major characters, leaving the door open for a sequel. Er... no thanks. The story makes far LESS sense after the ending "twist", and I still find the ridiculous sex scenes, intertwined with the husband's "discipline" of his wife, nauseating. Here's what I wrote the first time:

I made it 2/3 of the way through, and maybe I'll finish it one day, but other readers warn that it ends with a cliffhanger, and there is NO WAY I'm buying another book by this author.
The main POV is a woman, kidnapped and brainwashed by a cult. She's the easiest conversion ever, and the graphic, frequent descriptions of her assigned "husband" beating her are beyond distasteful - especially when the narration switches to him, regretting that he "must" punish her. Then the victim begs him for sex. Elsewhere, a reporter is looking for her friend - presumably the abductee - but who cares anymore.

Really good book, but hard to endure.

Brace yourself This thing has a plot twist that you'll see coming from main street.

SOOOOOO disturbing!

What made the experience of listening to Into the Light the most enjoyable?

Three incredibly gifted narrators grace this title with their talent. The subject matter is completely messed up, and intriguing.

What other book might you compare Into the Light to and why?

No other book I've ever read, except maybe by this author. She is the Queen of Disturbia.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, 2/3 are already much-loved narrators. The third was new, but just as good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh, I did. I only took one break to watch funny videos, when I desperately needed a break from the darkness of the Light.

Any additional comments?

This is a crazy, disturbing, viable, possible horror story. Just wow. I'm listening to book two, now.

Slow start but intriguing enough to buy 2nd book

First of all, this is not a typical series, in which each individual book of the series has its own ending, yet still leaves room for the next book. This book has no completion and is intentionally set up to require the next book (Away from the Dark) for an ending. That's too bad, because a more artful editing of Into the Light could have cut it back enough to have the two books easily combined into one. To be more specific, the author goes into day-to-day details that neither further the plot nor develop the characters. Ironically, after spending all that time drawing out the story, the last chapter takes dramatic jumps that seem haphazard when compared to the slow development of the rest of the book.

The narrators also draw out the story, with rocky, uneven paces. In particular, the voice of Sara, with her strange mid-sentence pauses, is reminiscent of the overly-dramatic James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek television series. Thank goodness for the 1.5X speed on the Audible app!

Several reviewers mentioned the graphic sex scenes. I wasn't offended by the mention of sex but rather by how poorly those scenes were written. It was as if the author plucked a chapter from a steamy Harlequin romance novel and inserted it into the middle of a suspense novel without any finesse. The Audible app again played hero, as I was able to fast-forward past the clunky parts of these ridiculous sex scenes.

For all of my frustration with the book, it left me intrigued enough to buy the second book and that made it worthwhile. Don't bother buying this book unless you plan to by the second book.

i never right reviews

Would you try another book from Aleatha Romig and/or the narrators?

The narration was beyond bad its actually creepy." I Will never forget this, I love him, I hate him, I don't understand". This sounded like it would be great based on the reviews but this is so juvenile I just dont get all of the great reviews. I can suspend my belief for a lot of stories but this is so incredibly frustrating I can't believe that everyone loved this. It really made my skin crawl.

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

Creepy over exaggerated

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

cliff hanger

slow start but all are necessary to build the greatness of the plot. love it.

A "page-turner"

It was difficult to stop listening to this story. I formed various theories as I listened, and parts were correct, but I was still surprised at the end.
One thing was off-setting to me: the voice of Jacob. From the Sarah chapters, I would have expected his personality to be warm and tender, but his voice in the Jacob chapters was brisk and cool.
It was a bit distressing to get to the end and learn that the story wasn't over, but I was intrigued enough to order Book 2. I hope THAT will conclude the story!

Getting there

I didn't know WHAT AS REALLY going on! !!!! A teeny drawn out, but still love the story and twists. Didn't expect that ending.

must read next book

First I have to talk about the end. Short of ending the book in the middle of a sentence I don't know how it could be much more of a cliff hanger. Just as the situation was imploding, the first book ends. And I was just beginning to connect the dots so that says good things about the story. I suppose you could stop reading at the end of the first book but it will be difficult so know that before you start this book. It starts slow but good enough to keep interest. By the end there are so many questions and the characters are developed and at least interesting if not likeable that you care

Her best work this far!!!

I read the Consequences series and they were okay. But this book is GREAT! I read it in one day, couldn't put it down. I can't believe I need wait God know how long for book 2.