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devylish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cj_mo_2222's review against another edition
4.0
Sit back and get ready to enjoy an action-packed trip around the world as Sydney Fitzpatrick gets involved in another top secret and very dangerous investigation. “The Dark Hour” is the third in Robin Burcell’s series featuring Sydney Fitzpatrick, who is both an FBI Special Agent and a forensic artist. The prior book in this series, “The Bone Chamber” is a combination of an FBI thriller and a suspense novel in the same style as “The Da Vinci Code”. “The Dark Hour” is more of a true FBI suspense novel with computer hackers and the threat of a deadly virus thrown in.
This follow-up book is excellent, but not quite as exciting as the prior book in the series. It is fast-paced with action involving a large cast of characters, including the FBI, the CIA, secret agents, double-agents, black ops agents, as well as several villains. You definitely have to stay on your toes while reading to keep up with the storyline. The whole book takes place over one month from locations ranging from Washington, DC to Amsterdam, to Paris, and even the lost city of Atlantis! There is obviously a lot going on and like a giant jigsaw puzzle with seemingly unrelated pieces, there is a lot of chaos and confusion before everything comes together at the end. In the parts of the book when things became too confusing, my attention wandered. The most unique thing about this series is Sydney’s skill as a forensic artist, and although a drawing she does in this book is a key part of the story, she only does the one drawing. I would have loved to see more of Sydney in action doing her drawings and less of her dodging bullets.
Sydney’s professional partnering and possible romance with agent Zachary Griffin also plays a key part in the story. They make a great team and it seems there is a could chance their partnership will continue into future books. Although this installment doesn’t fully live up to the excellence of “The Bone Chamber”, it’s still an exciting story. The book ends with an informative, but scary, afterward by the author on the subject of bioweapons. I will definitely continue with this series to see what happens next in Sydney’s career and her personal life.
This follow-up book is excellent, but not quite as exciting as the prior book in the series. It is fast-paced with action involving a large cast of characters, including the FBI, the CIA, secret agents, double-agents, black ops agents, as well as several villains. You definitely have to stay on your toes while reading to keep up with the storyline. The whole book takes place over one month from locations ranging from Washington, DC to Amsterdam, to Paris, and even the lost city of Atlantis! There is obviously a lot going on and like a giant jigsaw puzzle with seemingly unrelated pieces, there is a lot of chaos and confusion before everything comes together at the end. In the parts of the book when things became too confusing, my attention wandered. The most unique thing about this series is Sydney’s skill as a forensic artist, and although a drawing she does in this book is a key part of the story, she only does the one drawing. I would have loved to see more of Sydney in action doing her drawings and less of her dodging bullets.
Sydney’s professional partnering and possible romance with agent Zachary Griffin also plays a key part in the story. They make a great team and it seems there is a could chance their partnership will continue into future books. Although this installment doesn’t fully live up to the excellence of “The Bone Chamber”, it’s still an exciting story. The book ends with an informative, but scary, afterward by the author on the subject of bioweapons. I will definitely continue with this series to see what happens next in Sydney’s career and her personal life.
claudetteb's review against another edition
3.0
The story is full of holes, and has some ludicrous (suspend your disbelief) situations, but I really like the characters, so it gets 3 stars from me.
melaniebopp's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting thriller - FBI, CIA, political thriller. There is a lot going on here, and it is fast-paced and interesting. You follow the main characters back and forth across the Atlantic as you try to match up what is going on in Europe with the conspiracies in Washington, DC. To me it reads a lot like a movie - would probably make a pretty interesting movie, actually.
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