Wait for Dark (Bishop/Special Crimes Unit)

Have been reading Kay Hooper since she first started. She just gets better and better. This story pretty much finishes Hollis Templeton's story. Even if or when she shows up again it will be as a minor character.

Skills that were once interesting are "beat to death" with unending discussion. Should get to the story and quit "beating on & on about my weird skills". These "skills" make the back ground story but they have taken over all the book. Back to telling the story. Please.

Clarity, North Carolna .. a small town where nothing ever happens. At least until now. Several random accidents have brought this town to its knees. Or are they really random? Each accident is horrendous, and each is worse than the one before.

What they do have in common ... all the victims' cell phones are missing. But the phone records reveal that each person received a text message at 3:00 with the message ... Wait For Dark.

When the Special Crimes Unit hears of the strange cases, Hollis Templeton and Reese DeMarco are called in to investigate. But then Hollis becomes the next victim warned.

What evil is stalking Hollis? Hollis finds herself facing danger once again ...only this time her partner and anchor won't be able to protect her.

I don't normally read books with the main interest being of the paranormal. But I've been a huge fan of this series since 2012 and a fan of this author since 1997. I have never been disappointed with anything I came across.

The characters are credible, normal people with abnormal abilities and whose abilities are used for good ... to face the evil that lives in our world. This is a series well worth starting at the very beginning.

The best parts of this book were the descriptions of the murder scenes or when the killer's perspective was (too briefly) brought forth. The rest of the book was torture to read. The dialogue among the FBI agents was infantile, boring, too long, and did I mention boring? I got sick of reading about these psychics' "shields." I kept saying to myself, "OMG, did the author get paid more for each time she used the word "shield?" The disclosure and handling of the killer were too quick and utterly ridiculous. Did the author even explain how Perla was actually physically impaled? Or why the victims were killed other than Clara? Maybe it was all explained and I was just too bored to register what I was reading. I got this book with a gift certificate and I feel I paid too much.

This review was written by Marie for a guest review post on Ever After Book Reviews blog:

3.5 Stars

I am a big fan of this series. I always have been. And with each book, I’ve kept up the hope that it will continue to be just as good as the first time I picked it up. Sadly, for me, that hope is quickly dwindling.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Ms. Hooper is a fantastic storyteller. She knows how to take an idea and run with it. And while she does that in Wait For Dark, she also adds what I like to call, too much filler. The incessantly unneeded conversation that rehashes theory after theory of what could/could not be happening and why. I mean, I love suspense novels just as much (if not more) than the next person, so I understand that conversation is necessary. But when it gets to the point that I’m skipping over a lot of it because it’s redundant… that’s a problem for me.

One of the things that I truly enjoyed in this book, however, was Hollis. She always has been a favorite of mine, so to see her character develop further and be given the spotlight made my day! She was the bright light of this book, and honestly is what saved it for me.

All of that being said, it’s still a pretty solid plot. It’s still full of characters that we’ve all come to know and love. So, naturally, I did finish the book and I did enjoy it. I just think that maybe, if there’s more books to come, Ms. Hooper should fill the story with more plot/development, and less repetitive conversation.

I voluntarily read a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Wait for Dark is a wonderfully crafted story which kept me on the edge of my seat and at times cowering under the covers as I read. In true Kay Hooper fashion, I was engaged in this story right from the prologue. How could the following not engage your interest:?

“As if the car wanted to run over the boy.”

Really…insinuating that the car had a mind of its own? Yup…I was hooked. What is going on in the sleepy little town of Clarity?

The story begins with numerous “accidents” happening in the small town of Clarity, where the fourth “accident” is just weird, not really conceivable as to how it occurred. Conversations between Sheriff Mal Gordon and Deputy Emma Fletcher regarding these incidences:

“Just wondering how long it’s taken you to convince yourself this was an accident.” “All morning,” she confessed.

and

“ …No, I’m not okay. I’m not even close to being okay, not with stuff like this happening. First that weird car crash, then a grill exploding, and the elevator falling the way it did….and now this. Four people dead since the middle of July, all from accidents that shouldn’t have happened. That’s not normal, not for Clarity. I looked it up. The last accidental death here was from a farmer falling off the roof of his bar. Nearly fifteen years ago.”

So Sheriff Gordon calls in the Special Crimes Unit (SCU) to give him an assist. The weird stuff does not stop just because the SCU is in town. In fact, it seems like now one of the special agents (Hollis) is also a target. As the team tries to stop the next murder, they review all four previous crime scenes for commonalities. And then the unthinkable, a fifth murder. But this murder does not follow the same patterns? This really gets the SCU thinking. One clue that was common to all five victim’s is that each murder victim got a text just hours before their demise…and it said “Wait for Dark”. Kirby (SCU member) certainly got it right…she said “Now that’s creepy.”

As Hollis vows to stop the killer in an attempt to fight for her life, she develops new psychic talents to help fight this monster. Hollis takes her job VERY seriously and the first evening in town, she is pushing herself. In talking with her partner, Reese, we get a sense of her dedication, even to the extent of pushing herself too far:

“We both know you’re not going to sleep. You’ll lie awake in bed going over and over this case in your mind. Trying to figure out if you missed something.”

“It’s my job, Reese. To keep this monster from killing anyone else.”

“That isn’t your job. Your job is to investigate, build a profile, and narrow down what’s now a wide-open list of suspects. To hunt the monster. Our job is to do that. And if he kills again while we’re closing in on him, that’s on him. Not us.”

With the body count increasing, time is not with the team. I found the suspense very palpable. Frequently I was shaking with anticipation. The crime scenes were gruesome and at times so detailed that I shivered. Not sure this is the book one should read just before bed.

I do hope that Hollis and Reese can work out the status of their relationship in the next book as it really just needs to be settled. I would also like to see the progression of the partnership between Kirby and Cullen, after all Kirby is Cullen’s fourth partner in a mere 8 months. I also enjoyed the personal touch that Bishop bestowed upon the team in this case.

Not wanting to give away any more….pick up Wait for Dark and enjoy. As I have said before – Ms. Hooper never fails to deliver; at least from the limited exposure I have had (now three books from the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series and two books from the Bishop Files series). I will continue my quest of reading all the back titles in the two series, at least until a new title is published. ☺

A small mountain community is rocked by a series of deadly accidents never realizing there is a dark evil in their midst until the sheriff's bad feeling leads him to bring in the FBI's Special Crimes Unit.

I was introduced to this compelling, dark, and gritty thriller series with the release of the previous book, Fear the Dark. Violent and inexplicable crime that has a woo-woo element is the forte of Bishop and his team of psychic agents.

My favorite part of the story is the creepy beginning when there is something terrifying in the shadows and preying on unsuspecting folks and then seeing the team come in and work every angle of the crimes until they become the predators. The case seems more than difficult in the beginning, but slowly clues are uncovered and the killer, who does have a narrative part, starts to feel the pressure.

The story has a strong human element along with the horrors of the bad guy. There is the intro to Mal Gordon and his sheriff's department and then the FBI team sent in flipping through a large group of narrators. These folks have their flaws and strengths that make them good at what they do and make me connect with them and root for them. In Wait for the Dark, the author brings back the team of Hollis Templeton and Reese DeMarco while adding a pair of new agents, Kirby and Cullen, on their first case. Hollis and Reese are the key players once things get going.

Hollis was nearly destroyed by her own life tragedy before joining the team and has seen her share of evil which makes her shut down her emotions, forget to rely on her team, and take it all on herself. However, she is partnered with the stolid and dependable Reese who made it clear he has feelings for her and he is her partner and will not be pushed aside so he will carefully handle her troubles and be there for her when she is ready. There is as much suspense riding on this pair to figure out how to work together and be stronger as there is with the case they are working on.

I will confess that though I loved this one and was really into it on one level that I had an odd detached feeling, too. I think it was Hollis and her emerging new psychic powers. It was interesting, but more of a distraction to me when I wanted to focus on the group, the case, and even the romance rather than that. I also felt the actual killer and his issue was a let down compared to the early set up and ongoing build up. But that said, this was exciting and kept me guessing as well as riveted to the end.

I really need to go back and get the earlier books and I fully plan to continue with the series. These are for those who enjoy thriller or romantic suspense that's got a paranormal element and just a dash of romance.

I was given an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been hooked on Kay Hooper’s paranormal novels ever since I read “After Carolyn” in 1997. I was disappointed when she drifted from paranormal to romance and delighted when she introduced her first “Bishop/Special Crimes Unit” novel in 2000. “Wait for Dark” is the latest in the series with “oldies” Reese and Hollis and “newbies” Cullen and Kirby. It pains me to say it, but this book is not up to par with the rest of the series. Too much time is spent talking about a variety of psychic abilities and characters from other books, Reese and Hollis talk incessantly about personal issues, and we barely learn anything about Cullen and Kirby. The plot was somewhat predictable, not very exciting, and it seemed as if the agents were barely using their psychic abilities. The unsub was ultimately caught because the team is psychic, but we didn’t get much of an explanation as to how they figured it out. It would have helped if incidents that occurred, and things that were said, weren’t left hanging. Ms. Hooper usually gives more space to the unsub’s POV, but this time space that could have been better utilized was taken up by unnecessary dialogue (see above). I didn’t guess who the unsub was, or why the unsub was killing people, so there’s that. However, except for the final victim, we never really find out why the other victims were chosen. I hope this book is not a sign that Ms. Hooper is getting lazy, something that seems to have happened to many other prolific writers. On the flip side, maybe it’s just me. I’ve read so many of these books, including “The Bishop Files” spin-off books, that I may be on “Bishop overload.” This is a 3.5-star book that I’m upgrading to 4-stars, because (1) it’s a fast read and (2) there are very few editorial errors and (3) it can be read as a standalone. Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, because I love the characters and hope the next one will be better.