It really is a shame that author Katherine Sutcliffe retired after only writing 2 romantic suspense books (and numerous historical romances!). I've read both her romantic suspense books now, and both were excellent - though I did like Bad Moon Rising better. She had a real knack for telling a suspenseful story that draws the readers in but doesn't neglect the romance angle.Darkling I Listen (title based on a Keats poem) is about a Hollywood actor, Brandon Carlyle, who has completely fallen from grace. Once the biggest, most wanted bad boy in Tinseltown, he's now an ex-con and a recovering alcoholic trying to figure out how to put his life back together. Hiding out in his hometown of Ticky Creek at his aunt and uncle's farm he's able to get some peace and quiet because no one else knows where he is. Except for the person who has been stalking him for years, he soon realizes when a new letter arrives. And except for journalist/photographer Alyson James who suddenly falls out of a tree on top of him one day. Brandon knows he should hate her, tell her to get out of his life, but he can't seem to stay away from her. And now his stalker's acts are getting worse and everyone around him is in danger. Just when he's starting to put his life right, it's all falling apart again.One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the way that Sutcliffe wrote the character of Brandon. It would be easy for readers to think he's just another Hollywood jerk who tried to get away with too much and lost. But Sutcliffe turns him into a wonderful tragic hero. Reading about all he's gone through, his emotions, you really feel for the guy. More than once I wanted to give him a big hug. Instead of being a jack-ass bad boy, he's really just a nice guy who got caught up in a bad life where he was used and abused constantly. I great to really like his character.Alyson, on the other hand, I can't say I ever really grew to like her very much. Not that I hated her or even disliked her. I just didn't like certain aspects of her character. She's really a tabloid writer, and I'm not a fan of those, so I was kind of prejudiced against her. Plus, she lies to Brandon big time for most of the story. I didn't particularly feel sorry for her when she got caught. Romance wise...the story was okay. I thought the romance could have been a little better. I never really felt like Alyson and Brandon resolved their issues arising from Alyson's lies and her true profession. It kinda got swept under the rug and never dealt with. It left a bit of a whole in their relationship, for me. And I'm not a big fan of stories where one of the main characters (in the romantic pairing) totally lies to the other. It kills the whole trust thing. But the romance was still pretty good. Alyson and Brandon were a pretty sweet couple.Lastly, the romantic suspense angle...it was well thought out and well written. I have to admit I had a pretty good idea who the antagonist was, though Sutcliffe threw a few surprises in. I thought she tried a little too hard with her red herring...it was too obvious so I zeroed in on the more subtle one. And I was right. But it was still an interesting story. And a sad one at times. Poor Brandon. The guy just couldn't catch a break!Overall, a solid four-star book. I enjoyed reading it, and I disappointed that there aren't any other romantic suspense books by Sutcliffe for me to read. If there were, I'd definitely go find them. So if you're a fan of romantic suspense, I'd definitely recommend this book!
I'm not sure why everyone thinks Brandon is at the top of the tortured hero charts, because, yes, what happened to him is awful, but compared to some of the other heroes i've read about, his past wasn't that shocking (though that didn't stop me from wanting to give him a hug and take away his pain).I think there was too much of the secondary characters. Yes, I think the author was making an attempt to develop them, but...she didn't even really do that. There was one character who spent the whole book mentally ill and then at the end, bam, she was suddenly healthy and sane. It made no sense. As for Brandon, I liked him but didn't find him original or special in any way. Everyone in the book kept saying Brandon had this horrible awful temper, but he never showed it. Maybe one time, but, still, it wasn't anything that big. And he was supposedly a psycho when drunk, yet the one time he actually gets drunk during the book, he's completely calm and rational, even nice. Contradictions much?The issues of his past where barely brushed and discarded too quickly, not that I really WANTED more details, but I would have liked a little more of his mother, who only appeared at the very end for about two pages. After Brandon confesses his past to Aly, she say not one single word, literally. It could have been done better.Aly was all right. I honestly can't say I liked her that much. Didn't hate her, didn't love her. She was annoying at times, but generally okay. Henry was supposedly, as Aly thought, the "ideal father," though I didn't think so...he once commented lightly that he used to beat Brandon with his belt, and unless he meant that figuratively, I don't see how he is "ideal."There was too much of Aly. At one point toward the end, we go a good fifty pages without once encountering Brandon. And the whole end was drawn out for about 100 pages too long. The characters spent time making small talk while Brandon was in serious, life-threatening danger. As for Anticipating...I knew who this person was during their very first scene. It was very obvious. Aly seemed confused as a character. One second she is thinking how kind and tender and caring Brandon is toward his uncle and invalid aunt, then next she's describing him as a man with "no conscience" who "cares for no one but himself." I'm not going to blame Aly for this. I blame Sutcliffe. Brandon...self-centered w/ no conscience? Really? Then why does he hide all of his problems from his uncle b/c he's afraid of weakening the older man's health? WHy does he donate millions of dollars to charity? Why is he so kind and nice to his aunt and uncle? Why did he refrain from commiting suicide simply becase he knew it would hurt his uncle? If that's a man w/ no conscience who only cares for himself, then I'm a teapot. Also, I don't think it was very nice of Aly to be waving beer in Brandon's face ALL NIGHT when he's a recovering alcoholic. She's kind of a bitch. Minus the "kind of."Overall...it was an entertaining read, and I liked that, for once, the stalker was after the hero and not the heroine (that's never happened before). The heroine made an attempt to rescue the hero, but it really turned out to be the hero who rescued her in the end, which was annoying, because I thought it would be different at first. Pretty fast paced, worth reading, but...nothing I'd like to read again and again.
What do You think about Darkling I Listen (2001)?
An above average suspense/romance -- hard to put down. The narration was very good although she missed chances to lighten the mood by changing her inflection of exaggerated similes --- IMHO this would have taken the book to the level of Susan Elizabeth Phillips books. Still is was a well written mystery/suspense.Still, I have to say that I have a problem with a Heroine who feels that the love of a good woman will cure alcoholism or the damage from a childhood of sexual abuse. The sex scenes are
—Kathy
I am not sure I'd classfy DIL as a romance - but whether it is a romantic thriller/gothic or a romance with gothic/thriller undertones, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Our hero is Brandon Carlyle, a washed-out actor and recovering alcoholic who's come to his small Texas hometown to try to put his life back together after his 3-year jail stint for manslaughter. Our heroine is Alyson James, a tabloid reporter who is looking for a scoop so as to ditch her sleazy tabloid for something grander - not that she has any ambitions writing for the New Yorker, more like People or US Weekly. She does track down her quarry only to get hopelessly tangled in his life. And of course they fall for each other. However what stands between them and a happily-ever-after is not the secret of her career or even Brandon's considerable demons, but a homicidal stalker called Anticipating, who is equal parts obsessed and violent - and soon people around Brandon begin to die. I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! It's no secret I love wallowing in angst and dysfunction and this book had plenty. Also, I ended up really caring for the protagonists, which helps. Also helps that while Brandon has horrible things happen in his past, it's not ridiculously eye-rolling OTT overboard, but something I can see happening to a person. Oh, and Alyson is a total HBIC. I gotta love a book where the heroine saves the hero's butt not with the power of her love (though the book is quite romantic) or hot sex (though this book features possibly my favorite sex scene in a while) but with her detectiving skills and a gun. You go, girl! (view spoiler)[I would have totally loved an epilogue - Alyson's shrink friend does warn her that our hero is going to be coping with major trauma after stalker loon and she guarantees to help him cope, and I'd love to read about that, but I suppose the novel already had enough h/c to satisfy pretty much anyone but an utter h/c junkie like me.There are niggles if I were so inclined - I don't buy hero's horrid mother being marginally decent and not visiting him at the end (though seeing that Alyson would probably come out on top confronting a dozen grizzlies, maybe it was just self preservation) and I would hope Brandon would show the stalker letters to the FBI if the local cops weren't interested (though I suppose he doesn't want any spotlight on himself), but they are minor. (hide spoiler)]
—Dangermousie
It's really 4.75 stars - loved the development of the characters, especially how Brandon's real nature was gradually revealed in comparison with his public persona. Another great aspect that the good guy characters were flawed, but still very likable so I felt invested in them to work out their problems. Something I really appreciated is that so much of the suspense of the story came from the mistakes the characters made. Alyson starts the book by doing something potentially really hurtful to Brandon and I really was on pins and needles wondering when it would come out and what Brandon would do.The only thing than I wished was a little more of Brandon's point of view in the climactic moments. I realized wondering how he was doing was part of the suspense, but I think it would be been equally exciting to get inside his head for these pivotal moments.
—Lhenry
