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The Dark is Always Waiting
“Smart, surprising, and fast-paced…an excellent book. There were so many small moments that I really related to and were just brilliant." —Lisa Regan, author of Vanishing Girls
A MIND-BENDING CRIME THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HER HUSBAND’S LIES.
A PUBLIC SHOOTING
After surviving a public shooting and saving someone in the process, Alex Baines's life is forever altered. His marriage hangs by a thread. His leg is shattered from a bullet wound. And evidence is piling up that the attack was not random…
A GUNMAN WITH SECRETS
State Investigator Raquel Roth has never seen a case like this. A criminal who makes major mistakes, yet seems to have a master plan. And is someone pulling his strings?
A WOMAN WHO WOULD DO ANYTHING TO KEEP HER FAMILY SAFE.
Corrine Baines begins to worry someone is after her and her children, too. Everyone becomes a suspect in the plot to hurt her husband — who can she trust?
While the investigators race to prevent a terrifying new development in the case, Alex must confront the man who tried to kill him.
And Corrine must fight for her life… and the life of her children.
THE DARK IS ALWAYS WAITING is a crime thriller that will make you question what's real until the very end, from one twist to the next. Find out the truth and start reading! *This book was previously published as Breathing Fire, but has been completely revised into this definitive version.
A MIND-BENDING CRIME THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HER HUSBAND’S LIES.
A PUBLIC SHOOTING
After surviving a public shooting and saving someone in the process, Alex Baines's life is forever altered. His marriage hangs by a thread. His leg is shattered from a bullet wound. And evidence is piling up that the attack was not random…
A GUNMAN WITH SECRETS
State Investigator Raquel Roth has never seen a case like this. A criminal who makes major mistakes, yet seems to have a master plan. And is someone pulling his strings?
A WOMAN WHO WOULD DO ANYTHING TO KEEP HER FAMILY SAFE.
Corrine Baines begins to worry someone is after her and her children, too. Everyone becomes a suspect in the plot to hurt her husband — who can she trust?
While the investigators race to prevent a terrifying new development in the case, Alex must confront the man who tried to kill him.
And Corrine must fight for her life… and the life of her children.
THE DARK IS ALWAYS WAITING is a crime thriller that will make you question what's real until the very end, from one twist to the next. Find out the truth and start reading! *This book was previously published as Breathing Fire, but has been completely revised into this definitive version.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2023
56 people are currently reading
2389 people want to read
About the author
T.J. Brearton
46 books389 followersTimothy James Brearton lives in the Adirondack Mountains with his wife and three children. He's loved thrillers and police stories for most of his life. HABIT follows broken cop Brendan Healy down the rabbit hole of a human trafficking conspiracy. DEAD GONE delivers Florida cop Tom Lange into a criminal underworld and THE KILLING TIME introduces FBI agent Shannon Ames, a country girl in the big city.
http://tjbrearton.net/about
http://tjbrearton.net/about
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 28, 2023
The first half of this book is really good. Around the halfway mark it started to lose me and buy the end I was dragging myself over the finishing line.
May 27, 2023
Really a struggle to finish this one. The story seems to be a straightforward mystery/thriller. A man who is well-known as championing science/mindfulness over religion is shot when giving a speech. The shooter is able to escape in the general confusion of the aftermath, but he is soon apprehended by the police. The speaker, Alex, is shot in the leg, but feels terribly guilty that other people were injured during the shooting. His wife, Corrine, attempts to come to terms with the shooting, take care of their two young children, and generally keep it together as the police try to find the motive for the shooting.
So far, so good, but quite a large portion of the book is given over to extremely dry and tedious exchanges between Alex and talk show hosts & debates between Alex and other people on the science vs. religion question. On and on explaining his position on the matter and others offering differing perspectives. Way too much of the book veers off into these debates and explanations for there to be any tension or suspense regarding the whole shooting incident.
I finished it, but it was a struggle. I wouldn't recommend this book at all, since I'm not sure what it was trying to accomplish.
I received a copy of this book from a GoodReads giveaway.
So far, so good, but quite a large portion of the book is given over to extremely dry and tedious exchanges between Alex and talk show hosts & debates between Alex and other people on the science vs. religion question. On and on explaining his position on the matter and others offering differing perspectives. Way too much of the book veers off into these debates and explanations for there to be any tension or suspense regarding the whole shooting incident.
I finished it, but it was a struggle. I wouldn't recommend this book at all, since I'm not sure what it was trying to accomplish.
I received a copy of this book from a GoodReads giveaway.
June 6, 2024
4****
Really on the fence with this one. Throughout the whole book I was going to stop, yet a part of me wanted to see how things would end. Even though this was a story that takes you down some controversial and dark paths the ending turned the whole theory upside down. What a surprise.
Really on the fence with this one. Throughout the whole book I was going to stop, yet a part of me wanted to see how things would end. Even though this was a story that takes you down some controversial and dark paths the ending turned the whole theory upside down. What a surprise.
May 10, 2023
A man, a PhD in neuroscience, is a scientist and an atheist. He has made this his life’s work and did so quite successfully. His wife and children live in a showcase house in an upscale NY suburb, he too, when he isn’t traveling. Most recently at one of his speeches, a member of the audience shot him in the leg and also shot some of the other audience members. This has never happened to them before. This is the story that leads up to that shooting and what follows. I did not find it to be fast reading. It is more the type of tale you want to understand (especially their philosophies), so you may spend more time with it. I found it to be fascinating. Thanks to the author and publisher for an ARC for an honest review.
November 29, 2023
This is a slow burn suspense book with a lot of twists and some really unbelievable characters who don’t perform exactly as expected. It is also a commentary on faith and atheism and how confused people can be about what they truly believe. Alex Baines believes only in science but his world is upended when there is a shooting at one of his events and he is a victim. There is a conspiracy here that needs to be unraveled and quite a few twists. The book took me longer to read than it should have because it really didn’t hold my attention. I thought there was a lot of wandering to get to the main topic, that is, who fired the shots and ultimately why and who was really the victim. I didn’t relate to any of the characters although they were well portrayed. This is a good book if you enjoy a mind-bender but not so good if you like regular clues and everyday people and events.
Disclaimer
I won a copy of this book from Amazon for my Kindle. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
Disclaimer
I won a copy of this book from Amazon for my Kindle. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
May 10, 2023
I enjoyed this crime thriller. A mass shooting is just the beginning of this story. The action is non-stop, the characters are wonderful and the twists had me second guessing everything I thought I knew. I would recommend it. I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.
May 1, 2023
Another great read from TJ! Haven’t read anything he’s written that I haven’t had difficulty putting down.
October 15, 2023
A really good read from start to finish. Some great twists that made this one of those books that always ended with 'just read one more chapter'!
June 12, 2023
This is a well written book with strong characters and an intriguing storyline. The author does a great job developing the story and painting his scenes. He brings a thrilling story filled with action and mystery with enough twists along the way to keep you reading. Loved and recommend this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.
June 15, 2023
2.5⭐️ for me. This book started out good but quickly got boring. Was a bit hard to finish and became more about a debate of religion vs. science, then a crime thriller. The ending was a bit predictable as well. I also found there to be several unnecessary chapters that did absolutely nothing to progress the story.
November 26, 2023
In summary,this was the greatest load of boring neverending rubbish I ever read and it took me a new record age to finish only because I dislike giving up on a book which I so wanted to do at a very very early stage with this effort ..
No way it deserves even one star.
This was first and will be only encounter with this author.
No way it deserves even one star.
This was first and will be only encounter with this author.
August 21, 2025
Unexpected ending ...
Great reading! Kept storyline pretty interesting throughout and a hell of a twist at the end to top it off!
Great reading! Kept storyline pretty interesting throughout and a hell of a twist at the end to top it off!
May 13, 2023
OMG this was brilliant. I think this is the seventh or eighth book I have read by this author (one still to be published for which I was a beta reader) and maybe – probably – my favourite. There I said it.
I read it in two days on holiday. I love a good crime novel with a bit of religion chucked in the mix.
Dr Alex Baines is a neuroscientist, who lectures on science versus religion, has a podcast and has published four books. As far as he is concerned science can be proved using evidence, while religion is based on faith and therefore unproven. Unfortunately this isn’t popular with right-wing religious fundamentalists of both Islam and Christianity. They believe he is the portent of doom, and the reason why the world is going to hell in a handcart (except he doesn’t of course believe in hell).
So when he is almost shot and then wounded in the leg while saving someone’s life at a public appearance, his life changes forever. But was this a random attack or an act of domestic terrorism? And if it is personal, does that mean that his wife Corrine, and children Kenneth and Freda could also be in danger? And who can Corrine trust? Almost no-one it would seem. Can she even trust her own husband?
For State Investigator Raquel Roth, the case takes on twist after twist where everyone is a suspect. This is not your average perp – he doesn’t seem to care that he is in custody. Then one surprising turn of events that involves Alex confronting the gunman is totally outside everyone’s experience. Should he do it?
This was such an exciting read. I was sorry when it finished. I really loved everything about this book. My only question left at the end – do we agree with Alex? Or are we on the side of religion?
Many thanks to the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.
I read it in two days on holiday. I love a good crime novel with a bit of religion chucked in the mix.
Dr Alex Baines is a neuroscientist, who lectures on science versus religion, has a podcast and has published four books. As far as he is concerned science can be proved using evidence, while religion is based on faith and therefore unproven. Unfortunately this isn’t popular with right-wing religious fundamentalists of both Islam and Christianity. They believe he is the portent of doom, and the reason why the world is going to hell in a handcart (except he doesn’t of course believe in hell).
So when he is almost shot and then wounded in the leg while saving someone’s life at a public appearance, his life changes forever. But was this a random attack or an act of domestic terrorism? And if it is personal, does that mean that his wife Corrine, and children Kenneth and Freda could also be in danger? And who can Corrine trust? Almost no-one it would seem. Can she even trust her own husband?
For State Investigator Raquel Roth, the case takes on twist after twist where everyone is a suspect. This is not your average perp – he doesn’t seem to care that he is in custody. Then one surprising turn of events that involves Alex confronting the gunman is totally outside everyone’s experience. Should he do it?
This was such an exciting read. I was sorry when it finished. I really loved everything about this book. My only question left at the end – do we agree with Alex? Or are we on the side of religion?
Many thanks to the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.
May 3, 2023
I would like to thank the author for inviting me to read an advance copy of The Dark is Always Waiting, a stand-alone thriller set mostly in Upstate New York.
A gunman opens fire at a talk Dr Alex Baines is giving. He gets shot in the leg while pushing a young woman out of the way. Detective Raquel Roth quickly captures the shooter, but feels that there is more to him than he presents. This is borne out when he insists on talking to Alex. Meanwhile Alex’s wife, Corrine, is struggling to save her marriage and work out what is going on.
I enjoyed most of The Dark is Always Waiting, which is a nerve jangling thriller with some good twists, although I was less interested in the philosophical discussions that permeate the dialogue. Alex Baines is a Richard Dawkins type figure whose love of scientific proof has led him to be described as an atheist, so he spends time expounding his viewpoint. To be honest I can’t tell you what this viewpoint is, because I switched off (I’m too old to care about abstract theories), although I did gather that it would be enough to inflame the American right wing.
The novel is quite slow in investigative terms for much of the novel, until it’s all go towards the end with both action and twists. It starts with the shooting and then covers both Alex and Corrine’s attitudes towards it with a big secret being revealed that adds to the turmoil. It’s the age old story of the career man neglecting his family in favour of work with a little philosophy thrown in. As I said, the finale is great as it throws in a big twist that I didn’t see coming. Kudos to the author for his misdirection.
The Dark is Always Waiting is a good read that I can recommend.
A gunman opens fire at a talk Dr Alex Baines is giving. He gets shot in the leg while pushing a young woman out of the way. Detective Raquel Roth quickly captures the shooter, but feels that there is more to him than he presents. This is borne out when he insists on talking to Alex. Meanwhile Alex’s wife, Corrine, is struggling to save her marriage and work out what is going on.
I enjoyed most of The Dark is Always Waiting, which is a nerve jangling thriller with some good twists, although I was less interested in the philosophical discussions that permeate the dialogue. Alex Baines is a Richard Dawkins type figure whose love of scientific proof has led him to be described as an atheist, so he spends time expounding his viewpoint. To be honest I can’t tell you what this viewpoint is, because I switched off (I’m too old to care about abstract theories), although I did gather that it would be enough to inflame the American right wing.
The novel is quite slow in investigative terms for much of the novel, until it’s all go towards the end with both action and twists. It starts with the shooting and then covers both Alex and Corrine’s attitudes towards it with a big secret being revealed that adds to the turmoil. It’s the age old story of the career man neglecting his family in favour of work with a little philosophy thrown in. As I said, the finale is great as it throws in a big twist that I didn’t see coming. Kudos to the author for his misdirection.
The Dark is Always Waiting is a good read that I can recommend.
May 7, 2023
All is not what it seems!!
When I received an offer of an Advance Reader Copy of The Dark is Always Waiting, I couldn’t say anything besides “sign me up.” This is the 15th book by TJ Brearton that I’ve read, so I felt like I knew what to expect. Based on my previous reading I figured I was in for plenty of action, a twist or two that would leave me questioning my conclusions as I read the story and a cast of characters who were well developed and plagues by a variety of normal human issues. The Dark is Always Waiting didn’t disappoint, not only were all my expectations met, but this story also contained a few extra wrinkles that set it apart from most of the previous books, to figure out those wrinkles you will just have to read this one and see what you think. If you enjoy a good crime thriller grab yourself a copy and settle in for some topnotch entertainment, I received an Advance Reader Copy from the author and chose to provide this review.
When I received an offer of an Advance Reader Copy of The Dark is Always Waiting, I couldn’t say anything besides “sign me up.” This is the 15th book by TJ Brearton that I’ve read, so I felt like I knew what to expect. Based on my previous reading I figured I was in for plenty of action, a twist or two that would leave me questioning my conclusions as I read the story and a cast of characters who were well developed and plagues by a variety of normal human issues. The Dark is Always Waiting didn’t disappoint, not only were all my expectations met, but this story also contained a few extra wrinkles that set it apart from most of the previous books, to figure out those wrinkles you will just have to read this one and see what you think. If you enjoy a good crime thriller grab yourself a copy and settle in for some topnotch entertainment, I received an Advance Reader Copy from the author and chose to provide this review.
November 24, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2023
This is a thoughtful thriller and by that I mean it provokes the reader to consider POV’s of religion and science.
Alex is an atheist who is on the circuit. Books, podcasts and in person seminars. He is popular but has his detractors.
A sudden change in Alex’s life changes the dynamics of his family and his world
There are forces who find Alex evil and they will do anything to harm him. But are the forces those who are close to his circle or are they zealots who find his teachings too evil to exist.
Not my favorite of Breatons books but solid novel.
3.5 stars
This is a thoughtful thriller and by that I mean it provokes the reader to consider POV’s of religion and science.
Alex is an atheist who is on the circuit. Books, podcasts and in person seminars. He is popular but has his detractors.
A sudden change in Alex’s life changes the dynamics of his family and his world
There are forces who find Alex evil and they will do anything to harm him. But are the forces those who are close to his circle or are they zealots who find his teachings too evil to exist.
Not my favorite of Breatons books but solid novel.
3.5 stars
May 22, 2023
What was supposed to be a lecture in a small area turns into a scene of a madman shooting everywhere. The gunman didn't even try to hide or run from the police. But h will only speak to Alex, his victim on what no one is really sure of. There is a lot of talk in this story about believing in God vs non-believers. Also, it has someone that Corrine and Alex trusted turns into a surprise for not only them but their family. Not one of my favorite book from this author. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book
May 30, 2023
I got this as a Goodreads giveaway.
I did enjoy the book, and that I didn't immediately have it all figured out. Where I did struggle a bit, and the book got a bit dry for me, was through some of the interviews Alex did after the shooting, but the biggest thing I skimmed over was a debate later in the story, it just wasn't my thing.
It was a pretty quick read and is wrapped up pretty nicely at the end.
I did enjoy the book, and that I didn't immediately have it all figured out. Where I did struggle a bit, and the book got a bit dry for me, was through some of the interviews Alex did after the shooting, but the biggest thing I skimmed over was a debate later in the story, it just wasn't my thing.
It was a pretty quick read and is wrapped up pretty nicely at the end.
May 10, 2023
I have followed this author for years. He never disappoints! The story line is solid and doesn't drift off (none of his stories do). That's what makes his books so good to read.
Looking forward to the next one.
Now for the legal part - I was provided an advance copy to preview before the actual release.
Looking forward to the next one.
Now for the legal part - I was provided an advance copy to preview before the actual release.
May 4, 2023
Alex Baines is doing a lecture and a shots are fired. He pushes a lady out of the way and gets hit in the leg. His live is changed forever. He is recovering in the hospital when a suspect wants to talk about other crimes, but will only talk to Alex. A thriller to keep your interest.
June 14, 2023
Unfortunately there is lots of danger for a lot of people. Will they figure it out before someone else gets hurt. Intriguing, fast paced, a not to be missed book.
November 6, 2023
Who shot Alex and why??? He coveted his life??? Thank you, Kenneth!!! I enjoyed this story and recommended the book.
July 18, 2023
I did enjoy this novel it's about Dr Alex Baines a lecturer about aeithism an odd subject in it's self.
He is giving a lecture when a gunman opens fire and to save a woman he gets shot in the leg, still bad and will take a long time to heal. He is married but spends more time lecturing and books signing that his wife is very neglected and is about to show him the door. The shooter does get caught but unfortunately for him one of his bullets hits a security guard and he died so it's now murder.
The FUN get involved and a police officer by the name of Roth is certain there must be a reason for the shooting?
It's quite a long book and a few Lulls in places mainly about his books and work which I think was a bit unnecessary but I would like to thank the author for a copy to read & review and I would like to just say I don't think this was his best work he has written better.
He is giving a lecture when a gunman opens fire and to save a woman he gets shot in the leg, still bad and will take a long time to heal. He is married but spends more time lecturing and books signing that his wife is very neglected and is about to show him the door. The shooter does get caught but unfortunately for him one of his bullets hits a security guard and he died so it's now murder.
The FUN get involved and a police officer by the name of Roth is certain there must be a reason for the shooting?
It's quite a long book and a few Lulls in places mainly about his books and work which I think was a bit unnecessary but I would like to thank the author for a copy to read & review and I would like to just say I don't think this was his best work he has written better.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews