Member Reviews
I am such a die hard X Files fan. I enjoy stranger things. I really enjoyed this book. I was a nerd and didn't notice it was a sequel so I went and tracked down the first book because I can't read out of order. It was worth it. I enjoyed them both. Great story with likeable characters and good world building.
This is a wonderful story; creative and full of quick character development and an overall tale that brims with science-fiction, yet is recognizable by most people. It draws on an earlier novel. Readers see the fears of loss and lost control in the story. I liked that the hero took back power/control after he had been made into a literal bomb to destroy humanity by the long term alien sabotage. An amazing story that seems almost possible.
Phew...this book was such a ride. So, so good. Sometimes you really need to read a book that stretches your mind and sends a chill down your back when you think...do you think could happen? Wow! That's all.
Jeremy's books are the only Sci fi books that I love. His personalized touch is seen in the choice of the theme and its characters. It is the sequel to a book that I also loved. His characters, plot and setting were as good as his previous book and kept the topic without leaving the main plot. The book like the previous one is an excellent candidate for a mini tv series. There is very good material for it. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read it. The opinions are strictly mine as a reader.
Read and enjoyed the first book, bu this one just isn't grabbing me, so I'm setting aside. If you like urban science fiction (is that a thing?) like the X-Files and the Stargate shows, you should definitely check this series out. I'm just not in the mood for it atm.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I sort of enjoyed the first book in this series, and so was happy to read the second. It's not great but putters along ok in terms of the plot. The characters are an issue; William and his love interest are just that - a stock hero and a stock girl-who-will-turn-love-interest, and it all feels a little watered down, despite the frantic action. I don't like reading wondering if the author's actually pitching to a movie producer rather than writing a novel, you know?
You would like this series if you like Stranger Things or X-Files. Its about some children that disappear in the woods at night and the only thing witnesses can say is they noticed bugs swarming and a bright light. You need to read the first book in the series to understand what is happening in the second book, but for me the pace of the book was too slow.
I had recently read the first book,The Darkest Time of Night, and although I wasn't crazy about it, I was interested enough to read this sequel. Unfortunately, I did not particularly care for this one either. The books aren’t bad but something is lacking for me. I kept reading hoping for a good sci-fi tale and for more than I was getting. All of the problems on Earth (violence, flooding, severe storms, fires, terrible illnesses) are being caused by aliens testing new weapons on us humans, their lab rats. Government conspiracies and coverups galore. Sounds exciting but it often dragged on without getting to the point. Interesting ending that could lead to a sequel, just not sure that I’ll be reading it.
William Chance is hiding out following the events in The Darkest Time of Night. He's hiding from fear, memories, and the knowledge of what is coming. But he can't hide from his nightmares. Then he finds a girl who shares his nightmares and begins a cross country race to find the others....only they can stop the coming destruction. His grandmother, her best friend, and a host of other operatives work for a secret organization looking for these same people. They believe they need to be contained to prevent the apocalypse manufactured by an alien species.
Darkest Time of Night had me sitting on the edge of my seat, binge reading. And that same feeling continued with Dark Above. Filled with action and suspense, the book was like X-Files on speed. The Truth is out there....but you probably don't want to know what the truth is. My favorite characters are still Lynn and Roxy.....the feistiest, bravest senior citizens ever!
It isn't often that I like a sequel even more than the first book. I liked The Darkest Time of Night, but found the action and suspense even stronger in this second book. I sipped coffee and read into the early morning hours because I had to know how it ended! Another binge read -- you're killing me, Finley! I'm too old for all-nighters! ha ha I'd better rest up before you publish another book!
Not going to say much about the plot, because....spoilers. The story kept my attention from start to finish. The characters are driven, dedicated and....scared shitless most of the time. Great story!
I will definitely be looking for more from this author! He leaves the door open for a third book in the William Chance & Lynn Roseworth series....but I will be in line for his next book, regardless of what it is.
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
The Dark Above by Jeremy Finley is the second book in the science fiction thriller William Chance & Lynn Roseworth series. This second book picks up the story fifteen years after the end of the first and continues on so it is definitely a series that is best read in order from the beginning.
The Darkest Time of Night, the first book of the series, featured Lynn Roseworth who had her grandson, William, camping in her backyard when he went missing. The only witness was his older brother who could only say “The lights took him.” That one sentence awakened something Lynn had buried for forty years as she spent as the wife of a U.S. Senator, a mother and now grandmother. Before she began her family life Lynn had been a secretary in the astronomy department at the University of Illinois working for a professor who was looking into the disappearance of many missing people, people who were thought to have been taken by U.F.O.s.
Now, fifteen years have passed since Lynn did everything she could to find her grandson, William. Since that time when William was found he has gone into hiding moving about whenever it seems someone is getting close to finding him. When it becomes clear this time that the media is onto him yet again William plans to run but suddenly finds himself with a young girl that seems to have the terrifying abilities that have haunted William’s dreams and now they need to stop what could be the end of the world.
The Darkest Time of Night was one of my favorite reads of 2018 so I was quite looking forward to seeing what would happen in The Dark Above. This second book of the series seemed to be even more intense and ran at an even quicker speed than the first with non-stop action from the start. I think for me though one of the biggest selling points of the first was having Lynn as the main character so while this was still excellent I couldn’t help but miss Lynn at the forefront making it not quite as good in my opinion but I still definitely recommend the series as a whole.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
X Files! Stranger Things! These are key words that a marketer would use to sell a book. And...it works!
The Dark Above is the sequel to The Darkest Time of Night. The Dark Above is 15 years after the events of the first story. Book one follows Lynn and her search for her missing grandchild. Book two follows the grandchild as he tries to move on from his life.
It's packed with adventure, cross country trips and a no-sleep, non-stop, back and forth story. I love it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This is an excellent thriller, and it's suspenseful throughout the entire book. I strongly identified with the main character. I couldn't put this book down. I really liked the ending with it's twists. I don't know what I would've done in the same circumstances. It makes you wonder exactly what the alien abductions are for and what they accomplish. I will definitely follow this author, and I can't wait to read more of his books.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. - Carl Sagan
This book is the sequel to THE DARKEST TIME OF NIGHT, which you really should read before starting this one, one reason being is that's it's an excellent story.
I liked this book. Quite a bit, in fact. But the first book is my favorite. And I think that's because of personal preference, not because there's anything wrong with this book or the way it's written. I especially liked the first book because the protagonist is an older woman, a grandmother. And as a reader I don't come across that often.
This book takes place fifteen years after the happenings in the first. The original protagonist is still in this book but takes a back seat to her grandson, who is the main focus of book two.
There's a lot of action in the book and it was a fun story to read. I would have rated it at 4 1/2 stars if I could. There's new, likeable characters. I was especially glad that the author told his story in the two books and isn't going to try to stretch it into a longer series. There was no need.
I received this book from St. Martin's Press through Edelweiss and Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
Chapter One introduces (or re-introduces if you read book 1) Lynn and Roxy. The 79-year-olds partnered to track down Lynn’s missing grandchild 15 years ago and have remained best friends, sharing secrets nobody wants to acknowledge.
In Chapter Two, we meet William. At 22, William, the aforementioned grandchild, has tried to move on in his life. Having good reason to believe he is a danger to his family, William is in hiding. His part of the story starts when he is discovered. The press, the government, conspiracy theorists, supporters of his Grandmother and other abductees are all zeroing in on William now.
What follows is a non-stop, no-time-to-sleep adventure/ordeal that involves traveling across country, east, south, west and north while tracking down the centers of massive tragic events including storm, disease and fire. William seems to be object of everyone’s hunt while he hunts for the answers to prevent global catastrophe.
There is a fair amount of violence, both human-generated and super-human-generated. Which I wasn’t crazy about, but it was part of the story. I did appreciate the continual action, ever-present tension and the family tragedy that unfolded throughout the story. I also admired the extraordinary actions that hero William took try to thwart the aliens, which, by the way, have been here for a while.
And the ending. I really liked the ending. Uh, uh. Read it yourself. Will there be another in the William Chance and Lynn Roseworth series? Maybe…..
A non-stop thrill ride! Just when you think it is going to slow down and let you catch your breath, something else happens. It reads like an action movie. I really enjoyed it.
I was at a little bit of a disadvantage because I haven't read the first book in this series which takes place fifteen years before this one. Because of that the first hundred pages or so were really confusing as they were definitely written for those who had read the previous book. It took awhile to come to grips with the story, but by about a quarter of the way through I had a good grasp on the characters and their histories. So when the action started to kick off around this point I was completely hooked.
Once it got going, the twists and turns were non-stop and had me turning the pages well into the night. It definitely is reminiscent of the X-Files, with a bit of Stranger Things thrown in to boot. I really enjoyed this adventure and am kicking myself for not having read this series sooner!
Full review to come on my blog on the publication date.
I was a fan of the first book- largely because of William's grandmother Lynn and her friend Roxy, who were just terrific characters doing everything they could to find William. This sequel is focused on William, now an adult, who is a conduit for the human weapons. The aliens are still out there, there are four other conduits, Lynn and Roxy are still trying to sort things out, everyone is trying to escape not only the government but also Quincy, an evil Dr No style billionaire= whew! I didn't enjoy this as much as the first one but it was a good read in part because I was invested in William etc. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I think this would be fine as a standalone (Finley makes sure you have the basic- which were great reminders for me, btw). Fans of sci-fi might argue it's not sci-fi enough but it works well for those of us who only dip n and out of the genre.
I have some rather mixed feelings about this sequel to The Darkest Time Of Night... it is entertaining, but I guess I never felt really as connected to the characters or absorbed into the storyline as I did with the first book. This sequel picks up fifteen years after the events of the first book. And the spryness of the aged cast continues here (in epic proportions in some places). So despite some unbelievable actions, aliens still aren't accepted as actually abducting people in this future setting, making it feel not dissimilar to today.
But, once again, those aliens are abducting people at random and William begins to learn just what it means to be a conduit. The abductees returning to Earth are fewer in number, but bear a striking resemblance to the Four Horsemen. William tests his own strength and overall, this fast-paced novel requires more suspension of disbelief than the first. Unfortunately, there is less character development her, too and some overall rough transitions between scenes that just felt very abrupt. My main issue was more with William - he just never feels like the hero he is intended to be, and Quincy is just a caricature of a stock rich person. And the aliens themselves are still shadowy... the ending hints at more to come in the series, but this may be the end of the road for me, which is a shame, because I did think that the first book was a lot of fun.
This book takes place 15 years after the first novel. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed this book just as much as the first. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.
I did not read the first book, but I feel that this book would be a satisfying conclusion. How aliens might take over the world could be the subtitle. Thankfully, these characters figured out how to stop that from happening. As usual, the government was less helpful than one would hope...but one man managed to get the job done with the help of some friends.