Hello Again (Evelyn Talbot Chronicles, #2)

by Brenda Novak

Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in remote Alaska, gets worried when a murder occurs on the outside that is linked to her past and to the high school boyfriend who tortured her and left her for dead.

• ISBN10: 143284640X
• ISBN13: 9781432846404
• Publish Date: 3 January 2018 (first published 3 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Wheeler Publishing Large Print
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 549
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

Wow! What a story. This was so much better than its predecessor, Her Darkest Nightmare.There were so many elements to this story. I could not imagine myself working with the criminally insane like Dr. Evelyn Talbot.

Imagine looking over your shoulder for 21 years not knowing when your psycho ex will attack. Knowing he is out there killing and the police cannot capture him. To make things more chilling you work with persons who remind you of your ordeal daily, placing your life in more danger. Well, this is the life of Dr. Evelyn Talbot.

Diving into the mind of a killer's, trying to figure out the reason for his actions is not a job for the faint of heart. All I can say is following Evelyn on this journey was both chilling and nerve-wracking.

After her kidnapping 18 months ago (at the hands of none other than her psycho ex) and betrayal from a former colleague, Evelyn has gained some form of normalcy in her life. Her relationship with Amarok has grown, and she has moved past her fears of intimacy. Everything appeared to be going well, but then someone murdered a high school friend, feeding on her fears once again. Is her ex responsible or is it someone who craves revenge? Meanwhile she has a new patient/prisoner called the zombie killer, who is highly intelligent and quite the sociopath.

Hello Again had me on edge from the first page. I could not stop listening. I enjoyed the mystery element, which was complex in nature. I had many questions in my head and the answers slowly came to light, which led to a few surprised reactions on my part. I feared for Evelyn and hoped she would be safe.

Evelyn and Amarok’s relationship developed nicely despite the many challenges. I thought the author struck a good balance between the suspense and the romance.

The story ended dramatically and had me hankering for more.

Narration
Once again Therese Plummer did an excellent job with the narration. I enjoyed the pace at which she read and it was a delight listening to her. I thought she did a great job with the voices for the large cast of characters, and her expressions were on point.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Hello Again by Brenda Novak provided another suspenseful and exciting tale in the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles.

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Hello Again was so eery, I felt the suspense during the whole story, and it just seems impossible to me that Evelyn will make it through the end. There is more than one enemy now, and my goodness, the ending left me speechless and breathless.

Story:

The suspense and the psychological thriller aspects were even stronger in Hello Again. Evelyn has more than one person she needs to be wary of, and her newest inmate is so smart and vengeful. He's at least as scary as Justin. Several things happen to bring more heat to Justin's revenge, and on top of that, there are murders that seem different from his MO, but could still be by him.

Amarok and Evelyn's relationship continues to grow, but there is an added complication there as well, as his ex comes back to Hilltop. I just can't wait to see what will happen next. The ending of Hello Again gave me chills.

Characters:

Evelyn is starting to loosen up more, while still being vigilant at work, and when it comes to following up with police to figure out where Justin might be.
Amarok is just awesome! He has so much love and hope. At the same time, he's strong and very smart, and if someone can find out where Justin is, it's him.
Justin is way off in this instalment, which makes him even more dangerous.

Writing style :

Hello Again is written in third person, past tense. The narrator is omniscient, and follows either Evelyn, Amarok or Justin. There is another character that is closely followed for a while as well. The pace is fairly slow, but this really worked for the kind of story it is - and it brings the eeriness to such a level it becomes impossible to ignore.

Feels :

Dread! So much dread, because I can't see how this can ever end well for Evelyn. At the same time, there is love and hope. And



So many of the psychopaths she studied pretended to be more than they were. Most weren't smart enough to pull off the charade.

But the reason Jasper had never been caught wasn't lack of good police work. Seasoned detectives had done all they could; there just weren't any leads.

She leaned away from him so that she could look into his face. She loved the contrast of his blue eyes with his black hair and dark beard growth, the strength of his jaw, the fullness of his lips. But right now she was more interested in what he was saying than his good looks.