Wake to Darkness (Brown and de Luca #2)

Rachel and Mason thought the issues with organ/tissue transplants from his brother Eric, were over with a couple of months ago. But now someone is killing the organ recipients and cutting the donated parts out of the people while they are paralyzed and aware but unable to move. When the organ thief goes after Rachel, and his sister-in-law, Marie, Mason figures its time for Rachel, her niece and his entire family to go into hiding at a resort in the middle of nowhere for Christmas. Joining them is Masons partner, Rosie, and his wife to help watch over everyone. Only the trouble follows them there.

This story is more than just a mystery. Wed met a lot of the characters in the first book and this one is heavy on the different relationships and problems theyve been experiencing since Erics death. The situations are both realistic and some great insight is given.

But there is plenty of tension involving the threats as well as Rachels growing relationship with Mason. I found the who and why aspect of the mystery to be surprising. This story sucked me in as well as the first book did.

Id suggest reading Sleeping With the Lights On before reading this book just to have a better appreciation for what everyone is going through. There is a novella (Dream of Danger) available for free as of this writing that comes between these two books, but you wont be missing much if you dont catch it before this one.

Wake to Darkness is the second and a half book in Maggie Shayne’s Brown and De Luca series. The first one was Sleep With the Lights On, then followed by a short story entitled Dream of Danger. If you haven’t read Sleep With the Lights On, I suggest you do before you read this.

In the end of the first book, the “rat” inside the possessed Dr V said that his parts are still out there; implying that the killing can possibly happen again. This book addresses that. But this time, instead of the organ recipients becoming the killers they’ve become the victims.

Someone is killing people who received Eric Brown’s organs. Eric is the original serial killer in book 1, and he’s also Mason Brown’s brother. And like book 1, Rachel De Luca is still connected to these organ recipients through her dreams and visions. This due to the fact that she received Eric’s corneas.

I know my description probably sounds discombobulated, but Maggie Shayne really tells this story beautifully. She describes each scene, each location, each reaction, so vividly that you can’t help but immerse yourself into this world she’s created. My favorite part especially was the group’s arrival at Pine Haven. Based solely on her words, I was able to picture this beautiful Christmasland-esque getaway as if I was there myself.

So why only 4-stars?

The lead female in this book, Rachel De Luca, simply left a bad taste in my mouth. She’s a famous self-help author who used to be blind until Mason Brown (the lead male) gave her his dead serial killer brother’s corneas. She writes inspiring books about positivity yet she’s fake, she’s negative, and not remotely nice. And did I mention that she’s also mouthy, bitchy, and totally undeserving of Mason?

She clearly likes the guy, yet she tells him they can’t see each other. But when events bring them together, she flirts with him and taunts him. The moment Mason reciprocates to these hints, she tells him they can’t sleep together because it’s a bad idea. And since he’s a gentleman, he accedes. But then she gets mad because he didn’t sleep with her. I mean c’mon?! This sort of goes on through the entirety of the book.

Halfway through the book and I was exhausted and frustrated for Mason Brown. That said, I do look forward to more Brown and De Luca Novels from Maggie Shayne. Mason Brown is one dreamy character, and if I have to suffer through the annoying rants of Rachel De Luca to get more Mason then so be it. That’s simply how good a hunka-character Mason Brown is.

Maggie Shayne has become one of newest favorite authors after reading the first book in this series, Sleep With The Lights On, which I didn’t realize was a series at the time. I am so glad it was because I absolutely fell in love with the two lead characters, Mason Brown (what a hottie!) and Rachel DeLuca. I loved her sarcasm, her personality and the two of them together were magnificent! Ms. Shayne’s ability to keep the suspense going was marvelous, kept guessing all the way through and was totally surprised. My only disappointment was that Ms. Shayne could have added a little more to the romance between the two. I do think to get the true sense of the main characters, you need to read the whole series including the novella she wrote, Dream Of Danger. This book is about serial killing and the detective Mason Brown and the police consultant Rachel DeLuca. I choose not to give away any of the plot because I don’t want to ruin the suspense for the person who buys this book! I am sorry there are no more books in the series (4) and wish she would continue and write another. I had never read any books by this author until the first of this series and have discovered she has written quite a few which I intend to buy and hopefully they will be as good as these are!

This book was SO GOOD! Sleep With The Lights On was the first book in the series and I didn’t want to put it down because it was addicting from the first page to the last. Wake to Darkness is the second book in the series and, just as good as the first!
Rachel De Luca is a self help guru who was blind for 10 yrs until she receives the corneas of a serial killer whose brother just happens to be the detective investigating the murders when he found out his brother was the killer. In this book, Rachel is trying to adjust to her new life as a sighted person and Mason is trying to help his nephews and sister-in-law adjust to their father/husband’s death when bodies start popping up again. This book follows the ongoing investigation and it took me FOREVER to finally figure out who was responsible for all the problems! This book is fast-paced, scary, fascinating and something you most definitely want to read!

The most magical time of the year is anything but for Rachel and Mason with another killer on their heels once again who not only keeps getting closer to Rachel but has now become a threat to the remaining members of Mason’s immediate family. Running away to a luxurious remote ski lodge to hide and enjoy the season seems to be the only solution. Suspense definitely at its best with this one!

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