Genre ~ fiction
Featuring ~ multiple timelines
POV ~ multiple 3rd person
Series ~ Spectrum Series ~ book 2
Release date ~ August 28, 2022
Page count ~ 343
My rating ~ 4⭐
My review:
Book 2 in the Spectrum Series absolutely needs to be read after The Killings Begin.
In this installment we are very thoroughly introduced to new characters ~ Frank, Isabelle and Lydia. As the story flows along we realize they play a big part in the story and how it correlates with our serial killer, Tracey.
Frank and Isabelle were childhood best friends, but never more than friends. There’s so much I can say about the ups and downs of their relationship, but I don’t want to give too much away.
It’s told in multiple timelines ~ starting back in the 80’s and moving along to 2012. Some chapters spanned years and others for just a short time. There was more in depth information on characters that were briefly mentioned in book 1, like Lydia. We were given another view of what we already read about, ie ~ we saw the other side of Raul’s wedding as Tracey sat near by in the restaurant, which I thought was clever.
I was excited to learn more about Tracey’s life. He’s traveling the world with Charlotte, whom he met at the end of the previous book. The river boat cruise is the perfect way to hide out and also provides a good cover if he may kill again. I feel like the authors researched well to provide great atmospheric details on all the different countries visited.
I was super sad about who they decided to kill off, but I can’t wait to see more about how that, and the investigative side in Raleigh, will play out in the continuing story ~ A Body Washes Ashore.
In my review for book 1 I said I was hoping for more murder in this one, but actually I was happy with how everything played out (except for the death) and wasn’t mad there wasn’t much on the murder front. There was still a bunch of inner monologue, but I expected it and quickly got used to it.
*Thanks to Bradley Pay and Novel Cause for my copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
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Book blurb:
Bradley Pay is back with a jaw-dropping sequel to The Killings Begin! Travel across the world and dive into the complex hearts and minds of Tracey Lauch and a cast of unsuspecting new characters in Death in a Dark Alley. Boasting the Spectrum Series’ iconic fusion of contemporary romance and psychological suspense, Bradley Pay has created another tangled web of love, loss, and an insatiable desire to kill.
Tracey Lauch may be a murderer, but he is still a man. Although his childhood abandonment trauma began decades ago, now his compulsion to strangle women who resemble his mother has begun to evolve. Outrunning his past, embracing love in the present, and creating a future free of investigation proves increasingly complicated.
Isabelle’s life in Brazil is burdened with mistakes and abandonment, too – but not in the same way. She falls in love with all the wrong men at all the wrong times, and her best friend Frank shows his true colors when, over and over again, he is not there for her when she needs him most. Aside from the stark difference that Isabelle is not a murderer, she and Tracey both desire love, a life partner, and the warmth of a family.
But what does Isabelle’s story have to do with Tracey? How can an innocent trip to Strasbourg, France, become a heart-stopping event that changes their lives forever?
Peek behind the curtains of this cold-case investigation and catch an intimate glimpse inside the characters’ lives.
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