Hello Again is the second book in The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles. Evelyn's story resumes shortly after the end of the last book, where Evelyn and Amarok solved the murders of two women who had worked at Hanover House. They had grown closer together while working to solve that crime, and he is trying to help find Jasper to put him behind bars. Evelyn has begun studying a new prisoner, Dr. Lyman Bishop who is better known as the Zombie Maker for his use of an ice pick to try to perform a lobotomy on his victims, before torturing and killing them or letting them die. While he is in custody, another victim is found and it appears to be another victim of the Zombie Maker. It seems that his guilty verdict may be overturned, so Evelyn is battling the clock to study him and try to prevent him from walking free. When Evelyn finds out who the victim is, she has a personal connection. Is it a copycat killer? Has Jasper come back into the lives of her family and friends?

In this book, we meet Jasper in the narrative. He is planning his next move to get close to Evelyn and that makes it very creepy. He is a psychopath, charming and convincing others that he is just another guy. Lyman is also a sicko, another one who is able to remain in control at all times and it is easy to believe that he is innocent and was railroaded. He has a sister that he was taking care of and I felt terrible for her as she waited for him to come home and take care of her. This was another chilling thriller, especially as we knew what was coming, jasper tells us. This is another of those books where I did a read/listen as it was easier to read parts than to listen to them. It gave me chills up and down my spine, while I listened to see what would happen next. There is some romance between Evelyn and Amorak, which gave it some down time between the chills and suspense. As the climax comes, I raced through the ending and there is a huge hook for the next book. Fortunately, I have the next book available and won't waste any time beginning it to continue the story. I do recommend that you read the first book in this series, to get the full development of Evelyn's character and the budding relationship between Evelyn and Amorak. Once again the audiobook was narrated by Thérèse Plummer and she does an amazing job with this one. If you like a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, but one that has a sweet romance as a side story, I recommend you pick up Hello Again, after reading Her Darkest Nightmare.

You will never go wrong picking up a Brenda Novak book. I can never tell if I enjoy her thrillers or romances more.

Ms. Novak delivers a deliciously twisted thriller packed with duplicity and falsifications. Evelyn Talbot seems to draw evil toward her...so many delectably dark possibilities - can't wait.

St. Martin's Paperbacks and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Hello Again. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

This book is a continuation of the series by Brenda Novak that started with Her Darkest Nightmare. Doctor Evelyn Talbot is a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in a remote region of Alaska, housing some of the world's worst serial killers. Her desire to uncover what makes a person follow a dark path stems from an incident in Evelyn's past, a horror from which she has yet to recover. When a murder calls into question the incarceration of one of Evelyn's patients, will she be able to help police arrive at an answer? Will Evelyn's past come back to haunt her?

Evidently, Evelyn is a magnet for darkness. The side plots take away from the main story in a huge way. The story reads more like a horror movie, as I found myself yelling at the book during certain pivotal scenes. I was not a fan of the progression of the character and did not think that Evelyn's personal relationships - past and present - should have held as much weight. Overall, the newness of the character has worn off from the first book and the potential of a great story was just not fully realized. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Hello Again to other readers.

Wow! What a story. This was so much better than its predecessor, Her Darkest Nightmare. There were so many elements to this story. I could not imagine myself working with the criminally insane like Dr. Evelyn Talbot.

Imagine looking over your shoulder for 21 years not knowing when your psycho ex will attack. Knowing he is out there killing and the police cannot capture him. To make things more chilling you work with persons who remind you of your ordeal daily, placing your life in more danger. Well, this is the life of Dr. Evelyn Talbot.

Diving into the mind of a killer's, trying to figure out the reason for his actions is not a job for the faint of heart. All I can say is following Evelyn on this journey was both chilling and nerve-wracking.

After her kidnapping 18 months ago (at the hands of none other than her psycho ex) and betrayal from a former colleague, Evelyn has gained some form of normalcy in her life. Her relationship with Amarok has grown, and she has moved past her fears of intimacy. Everything appeared to be going well, but then someone murdered a high school friend, feeding on her fears once again. Is her ex responsible or is it someone who craves revenge? Meanwhile she has a new patient/prisoner called the zombie killer, who is highly intelligent and quite the sociopath.

Hello Again had me on edge from the first page. I could not stop listening. I enjoyed the mystery element, which was complex in nature. I had many questions in my head and the answers slowly came to light, which led to a few surprised reactions on my part. I feared for Evelyn and hoped she would be safe.

Evelyn and Amarok’s relationship developed nicely despite the many challenges. I thought the author struck a good balance between the suspense and the romance.

The story ended dramatically and had me hankering for more.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Hello Again by Brenda Novak provided another suspenseful and exciting tale in the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles.

Hello Again by Brenda Novak.
Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in Alaska, studies some of the world's worst serial killers. But she’s about to meet her most elusive patient at Hanover House yet: Dr. Lyman Bishop, AKA the Zombie Maker. 
This was a very enjoyable read. I liked the story and some of the characters. Teralynn I really didn't like. Evelyn was my favourite character. Looking forward to more from this author. 4*.

I found this book to be excellent. I generally like the writing and find the mix of thriller and romance to work well for Ms. Novak. Honestly, I would love the book if I could just cut out Evelyn's whiny relationship bits, which finally wrapped up about 2/3 or so of the way through. Otherwise, the story was interesting and engaging and well worth the read.

I had a really good time with this book. I actually liked this book a lot more than the previous installment and am really glad that I decided to continue with the series. I thought that this book was very exciting and found myself wanting to keep reading for hours at a time just to find out how things would work out.

This is the second full length book in the Evelyn Talbot series and I do recommend reading this series in order since some parts of the story build on events from previous books. Evelyn is continuing her work at Hanover House and has a new psychopath to work with, Lyman Bishop or the Zombie Maker. Lyman is incredibly intelligent and somewhat challenging. Of course, there are other things going on around Evelyn as well so things are always interesting.

I really liked the complexity of the mystery in this book. I wasn't quite sure what I should think about certain events until something else that was connected occurred and everything fell into place. The way things were laid out really kept my interest level high. I thought that the fact that there were several interconnected threads also kept things rather exciting and there were quite a few surprises worked into the story. The relationship between Evelyn and Amarok does have a few developments but I thought that the story was much more balanced with the romantic aspect adding to the story and character development.

I thought that Therese Plummer did a great job with this book. I really enjoyed the pacing of her reading and she has a very pleasant voice that is easy to listen to for long periods of time. She was able to handle a fairly large cast of characters very well with distinct voices for each of the key players. I thought the she added a lot of emotion to the story and made some of the intense scenes even more exciting.

I would recommend this book to others. The series is really exciting and filled with wonderful characters. I can't wait to read more of this series so I can find out what is next for Evelyn Talbot.

I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the book from Audible.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Warning! Do not read this late at night, all alone, in a scary place. This book is sufficiently intense that it requires nothing to make it more scary.
Evelyn Talbot is back as is the psychopathic boyfriend who tortured and murdered her friends in high school and tried to do the same to her before disappearing from view. His parents facilitated his escape and have been helping him for 21 years. This guy is a monster. His parents still do not acknowledge this but his continuing victims could tell them tales, had they survived. Evelyn knows he is still out there and still a threat but she is unaware how close he is getting.
Her attention is focused on a new resident in the prison she runs for the sick criminals. When evidence is shown to have been planted, he is released but not before she tries to prove he is a psychopath. Not only does she want to protect future victims but to save the sister whom he has had under his control and abused for decades.
Evelyn, who has her own demons from her experience to quell, does not hesitate to play cat and mouse with both of these horrible villains. It has nail biting suspense right to the final page with a massive cliffhanger at the end. If you are looking for something with a neatly constructed ending, do not even start this book. If you have the courage to tackle this book, you won’t be disappointed as long as you accept the gaping maw of a finale..
I give it five shivering purrs and two paws up.

I love this series. I have loved it from the prequel Hanover House. The idea of a "house that holds serial killers" in Alaska still sounds exceptionally freaky. I love Dr. Talbot. I think with everything that has happened in her life and she can still walk around, just goes to show what a strong woman she is. The hunky sheriff is back again. (/sigh) I really enjoy the two of them and the banter back and forth between them.

The story in this 2nd part of the series is fantastic and so thrilling. The end...wow! The wait until the next book will be long. Wonderful, thrilling ride, can't wait to see what the third book brings.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a good addition to the series. Didn't really pull my in like the past title and novella. Thank you netgalley

4.5★★★★Stars

Genre: Mystery/Romantic Suspense
Type: Book 2 in The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles Series
POV: First Person – Multiple

"What made some people more evil than others? And why did those people enjoy inflicting pain on the innocent?"



This book picks up right where the first book left off; Evelyn Talbot is a thirty-seven year old survivor of serial killer Jasper Moore. She continues her study of serial killers at the isolated Hanover House in Alaska. Evelyn knows she is far from safe as long as Jasper is still on the loose and killing more people.


"So far, Jasper had managed to outsmart them all...They both knew he was out there. Waiting. Planning. That he'd made a second attempt on her life after twenty years left little doubt."



Amarok Murphy; is the thirty-year old Sergeant in the Alaska local town. He is madly in love with Evelyn's and regardless of their seven year age difference he is willing to put all the extra time and work to find Jasper so that they can have some peace.


"When you're looking for a needle in a haystack, you have to sift through a hell of a lot of hay."



I love this book so much more than the first one, I think Evelyn has mature so much more and the romantic relationship with Amarok has also grown a lot too. They have become more intimate with each other and the fact that he is willing to do whatever it takes for her makes me so damn happy. We do get some angst in this story; Amarok's ex is back in town to claim what she thinks is hers and she will fight tooth and nail for Amarok which kind of made me nervous because in the midst of the chaos and the danger that seems to follow and lurk Evelyn now she has to deal with this crazy woman.



Hello Again is the second installment of this addicting romantic suspense from The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles series. I was unable to stop once I started; this book is a total page turner with so many twists and turns, full of mystery and suspense. We have the main villain (Jasper) with the main plot-line in the story which I really liked but we also get to see other individual cases thought the book that makes it more interesting to read.



The author did an excellent job taking us to the Jasper's mind which I truly loved because it made the story so much interesting. Really looking forward to more of this character and see where the author takes us in this crazy roller-coaster ride. Readers who enjoy a good romantic suspense will find this book appealing it will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.


"After twenty-one years of keeping to the shadows, he'd be hiding in plain sight."

Hello Again is an edge of the seat second book in the series of Evelyn Talbot, psychiatrist who studies the abnormal minds of psychopaths trying to figure out what makes them do the horrifying things they do... I’m certain we all would love the answer to that. Evelyn is also trying to recover her own past of being victimized by a phychopsth whose determined to destroy all she loves, and again take her as his own. These books are really entertaining as Brenda Novak knows how to keep us all on the edge of our seats. Cannot wait for book three.

While Evelyn’s live-in boyfriend (who also happens to be the town’s only cop/sheriff) Amarok is investigating some leads on her old boyfriend (and serial killer) Jasper, Evelyn has her hands full with the newest inmate at Hanover House: Dr. Lyman Bishop. He continues to insist he is innocent and he doesn’t meet the criteria of psychopath as closely as Evelyn would like. As she spends time with him, she begins to question if he’s a psychopath and whether or not he might, in fact, be innocent as he claims. Then an old high school acquaintance gets murdered in the same fashion as those Dr. Bishop is accused of…

Meanwhile, Jasper is intent on his plans to finish Evelyn off once and for all, and it all seems to be going to plan when Amarok’s investigations bring him closer than Jasper is comfortable with. Without thinking, Jasper reacts and puts his plans at risk.

And to make things even more interesting, while Amarok and Evelyn are getting closer and trying to get on the same page about what the future holds for them, his old girlfriend moves back into town and starts stirring things up.

Is Dr. Bishop innocent or just the smartest psychopath she’s ever encountered? Will Jasper’s plans play out as he hopes or has Amarok’s snooping damaged them irreparably? And who is killing Evelyn’s high school friends back in Boston?

That’s it. Hello Again makes this one of my new favorite series. I mean, I really liked the first in the series, Her Darkest Nightmare, enough that I was excited and eager when this became available, but if I’d known it was going to be this good, I would have set aside whatever else I was reading as soon as I got my hands on it. Seriously. The first in the series had a few flaws that made it more a 3.5, but the first 2/3rds was so great, I could see how much potential there was in the long run. In Hello Again, everything is better: the romantic relationship, the plotting, the intensity and pace. I was questioning more, less sure of my gut. I found myself much more invested in her relationship with Amarok. And there is so much fodder for the next book (or three!). So. Much.

I can’t wait! Honestly, it’s going on my Most Anticipated list for 2018. How’s that for a recommendation?

Wow this series just keeps getting better. Hello Again had me totally hooked. I was hanging on the edge and eager to sneak peeks ahead. I stayed up all night just to finish it. I feel Evelyn has really grown in this series from book 1. I also feel that Amarok and Evelyn's relationship has grown a lot too. The romance does take a back seat to the suspense but it's such a thrilling book that I don't even mind. Evelyn took some big steps in this book. I loved that she opened up more to Amarok and that she trust him completely. I really wish she would commit more fully to him though. Amarok was just as awesome as he has always been. I love me some Amarok. Although I will say I was a little annoyed at the whole ex girlfriend part of the plot. I was very upset that Amarok danced with Sam(his ex) even if it was just so he wouldn't hurt her feelings. I would have liked it more if he would have looked at her and said I don't want you go away lol childish I know. Poor Evelyn, she's got psychopaths coming for her at every turn. Not only is Jasper Moore (her high school boyfriend that tortured, raped and tried to kill her when she was a teen) still coming after her, she also had an ex coworker acting more like a prisoner than a psychiatrist, and she made an enemy out of the Zombie Maker. I have to say that being in Jasper's mind is so creepy. Knowing his plans and seeing him work his way into Evelyn and Amarok's life had me yelling at my kindle. I can't go into too much without spoiling it so I will just say that Jasper is a sick, sneaky, and crafty, sob. The ending ...omg....was so wrong. I needed more, and now I have to wait for the next book. I can't being Brenda Novak is going to make us readers wait til next year to find out how it all turns out. Patience is not my virtue. Overall this book was well written, thrilling, and everything I have come to expect from Brenda Novak... I can't wait to see what happens next!

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

Another amazing novel in the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles! This novel takes place a year or so after the first novel ends and does reference things in the first novel, so must read that one first.

I absolutely loved this one too and I cannot wait for the story to continue!!

Dr. Evelyn Talbot has now established Hanover House in Alaska and has slowly begun to move past her trauma from 20 years ago. Even with the incident a mere 18 months before where she believes serial killer and torturer ex-boyfriend from high school Jasper may have found her and reappeared in her life. Evelyn has opened her heart to a new and wonderful man and is beginning to feel like she may actually begin to have somewhat of a normal life, well, to a point. Hanover House has received it's newest psychopath/serial killer who swears that he is innocent and will not help in anyway except to continue to say he did nothing. Evelyn has mixed feelings about this new addition, could he be telling the truth? Was he really set up? Evelyn needs to find out the truth because more lives could be in danger.

Hello Again is the 2nd book in The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles series. I did not read read the 1st book but I didn't have a problem following along with this one. However I do recommend reading the first book before reading this one.

At 16, Evelyn Talbot was kidnapped and tortured by her boyfriend, Jasper, and watched some of her friends die by his hand. She escaped but so did Jasper. Twenty-one years later, still afraid Jasper will get her, she has opened a prison in Alaska that houses serial killers and psychopaths. She specializes in learning the the psyche of a psychopaths to see what makes them tick. Her newest inmate is Dr. Lyman Bishop aka the Zombie Maker for his use of an ice pick to perform a lobotomy on his victims. Is he a clever serial killer or an innocent that was wrongly convicted?

This book was well-researched and cleverly written. It is a tense, fast-moving, psychological thriller. I definitely recommend reading this book and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a copy of Brenda Novak's "Hello Again" in exchange for an honest review.

NOTE: this book continues the Evelyn Talbot/Hanover House series. I would start at least with the previous novel (if not the prequel) because it’s a continuation of that story - but it’s well worth it.

Wow. This book has a lot of moving parts, but they all seem to mesh really well together. This setting (Hanover House Institution in rural Alaska) remains one of the creepiest setups out there and Novak capitalized on it in the best way.

Plus there’s a killer set-up at the end of the novel which will leave you salivating for Book 3!

Evelyn and Amarok are happily living together. A year after the events of the first novel. A newly convicted serial killer has been sent to HH and Evelyn is excited. Until he keeps protesting his innocence - and it turns out that despite several red flags he may go free due to a police screw-up. On top of all of this, there’s chaos back in Boston and Jasper, Evelyn’s violent ex is still out there. It’s all overwhelming for someone just trying to make a positive difference.

Like I said, there’s a lot going on here, maybe at times a little too much, but generally it’s more than enough to keep readers excited. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that someone in Evelyn’s field would be in as much danger as she gets into, though you do have to use your imagination a little bit (I don’t want to give spoilers, but I hope some things would be handled differently in real life). I’m willing to do that for a good story, and this one is very good overall.

Plus, Amarok is probably the best leading male in romantic suspense out there. Love him! His and Evelyn’s relationship adds a nice, light touch to a dark atmosphere in the series.

And like I said: that ending! It’s really good and makes me super excited for the next chapter. I’ll definitely be reading!

Ir's rare that an author can write both romance and supense with equal skill but Brenda Novak carries it of admirably. Hello Again is a craftily constructed thriller full of scary twists and turns. A real page turner! It all leads to an unpredictable and thrilling conclusion. A nice touch: the cliffhanger at the end that obviously leads into the next book in the series. Well done, Brenda. I can't wait for the next one!