IF HE LOSES, SHE DIES
Her voice haunts his thoughts; her whispers fill his days
But when he discovers the woman of his dreams is real
He’ll race the clock to save her before she’s lost to him forever
Scarred by lightning, burdened with a power that gives him no peace, criminal investigator Xander Stone struggles to maintain his sanity against the voice that haunts him day and night—the voice of a woman begging him to save her.
Isleen Walker has long since given up hope of escape from the nightmare of captivity and torture that is draining her life, her mind, and her soul. Except…there is the man in her feverish dreams, a strangely beautiful man who beckons her to freedom. And when he comes, if he comes, it will take all their combined fury and faith to overcome a madman bent on fulfilling a deadly prophecy.
Named a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Fall Romance for 2016!
RELEASED TODAY!
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About the Book!
Racing the Darkness
by Abbie Roads
Series
Fatal Dreams #1
Genre
Adult
Paranormal Romance
Suspense
Publisher
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date
October 4, 2016
Lorna’s Review
Precognitive dreams, super enhanced hearing, mind reading, and a legend all play a part in the fascinating first book in this author’s Fatal Dreams duology. I wasn’t at all sure what I was going to get when I started this read, but ended up pleasantly surprised at how good of a read it really was. I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Xander Stone works with the police as an interrogator when needed. The fact that he can read minds makes this job easy for him in one respect, but he pays a price with the headache he gets during and after the interrogation. All noise around him blares really loudly for him so he is pretty much a loner by necessity. For some time he has been hearing a voice begging for help in his head. He decided early on that he was going crazy so he drowned out the noise by drinking. When he decided to not drink one night, he is led to an old decrepit trailer where he finds two women that have been held captive for years.Years full of torture,starvation, and blood letting have taken a horrible toll on the two woman. A woman and her grandmother are on the brink of death when Xander arrives. The woman, Isleen, was the voice in his head all along. Things happen and Xander is able to save the women. And that’s when Isleen starts seeing murders or possible murders, in her mind. The inclusion of a fanatic religious cult just made the story more interesting to me. And I am going to leave the actual story at that.
Xander was an extremely interesting character. He was struck by lightening and because of that, he now has scars that travel down his face to his body on one side. He has an immediate emotional and physical connection to Isleen, and her in turn for him. His headaches go away around her. He’s the only one that can bring her out of her visions. Isleen? She has been a prisoner since her teen years, so she is understandably broken in many ways. Being around Xander is pretty much the only thing that can bring her back to both mental an physical health-or that was my take on her anyway. Peripheral characters include Xander’s estanged father, Alex, Kent, a cop that is involved in the case of the two women’s abduction and imprisonment, Matt, Alex’s brother and a sarcastic bane to Isleen’s life. And I can’t forget to mention the colorful housekeeper at Alex’s home, Roweena, also known as Row. The cult members are the villains of this story.
The one thing that irked me at times was Xander calling Isleen, Baby. Constantly, even after first meeting her. Nothing horrible, but it did bother me. Well, that and when she is newly found and on death’s door, he wants her sexually after a simple hug. Maybe the author was trying to show their unusual connection, but that kind of bothered me as well.
So we have a wounded woman, a scarred man with mind reading abilities, and murders happening that Isleen is privy to. There’s a cult that is involved in some way, and the legend I mentioned before also added a lot to the story as well. Lots of dramatic moments, some sensual ones, and some life or death situations rounded out this story. Was it a great story? I wouldn’t say great, but still a good interesting story that kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next. I am interested in reading the next book that involves another peripheral character from this book, as well as the same legend.
Recommended to adult paranormal romance readers, especially readers that don’t mind a darker read.
The review copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
About Abbie Roads
Seven Things about Abbie Roads:
1. She loves Snicker Parfaits. Gotta start with what’s most important, right?
2. She writes dark emotional books featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages.
3. By day she’s a mental health counselor known for her blunt, honest style of therapy. At night she burns up the keyboard. Well… Burn might be too strong a word. She at least sits with her hands poised over the keyboard, waiting for inspiration to strike. And when it does—the keyboard might get a little warm.
4. She can’t stand it when people drive slowly in the passing lane. Just saying. That’s major annoying. Right?
5. She loves taking pictures of things she thinks are pretty.
6. She lives in Marion, Ohio with her favorite fellow and two fur babies.
7. Being a published author is a dream come true for her.
*A special note from Abbie Roads
Dear Readers,
I wrote RACE THE DARKNESS from start to finish three different times, with three different story lines, and with three different titles! The only thing that ever remained the same between the versions was Xander and Isleen. I believed in them and the story they wanted to tell. I hope you love reading about their tragedies and triumphs as much as I enjoyed writing them… All three times! And isn’t the cover amazing, beautiful, gorgeous? I cried the first time I saw it! It made all the hard work to get this book to you worth it!
Abbie Roads
Abbie’s Links
Geez! You just added another book to my tbr. You have me curious about Xander’s abilities – and even Isleen’s – along with this special connection they seem to have. I also like the sound of the suspense. I do understand your quibbles over Xander’s behavior towards Isleen though and I think that’d make me uncomfortable as well. But overall, seems like a good read. 🙂
It was a different sort of read. I think I gave it 4 stars on GoodReads, but if I could have done 3.75 stars, I probably would have gone with that 🙂
The instant relationship was off-putting for me, too. But wow, I’m definitely going for book two. Nice review, Lorna!
Yes, I want to read book 2 as well 🙂
A mind reading job would be awesome! I can’t believe he saves Isleen after she’s been in his head for a while! I love the sound of this book Lorna!
It was pretty different! She was in his head for years. You may really enjoy this one 🙂
[…] Race the Darkness, book one in this series, introduced the reader to Lathan as a peripheral character. I thought he was really strange, but I did want to find out more about him. Hunt the Dawn, the second and last of this series, is Lathan’s story. Maybe he is still a bit strange, but I ended up enjoying his character and his romantic interest, Evanee, immensely! […]