After Dark Book

This was another good romantic suspense from Beverly Barton. I very much enjoyed After Dark. Although not exactly part of a series, this book has characters that appear in Barton's novels in which Griffin Powell (himself not in this book) has at least a small role. I have not read these books in order, but as the hero of After Dark, Johnny Mack Cahill, has shown up in some of the other Barton books I have read, I was glad to read his story. After Dark did include my absolute least favorite plot line, but as this part of the storyline didn't involve either the hero or heroine, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book much.

Johnny Mack Cahill left his small Alabama hometown behind fifteen years ago, and has become a man to reckon with in Houston. He is stunned when he receives an anonymous letter saying that his son needs him, along with newspaper clippings reporting on the death of a well known favorite of his hometown and the subsequent arrest of the victim's wife. The vitim's wife and accused killer, Lane Noble Graham, saved Johnny's life fifteen years ago. He always admired her and knew that she was too good for the town's poverty stricken bad boy. Johnny Mack is unaware of having a son, and he knows that he didn't have that sort of a relationship with the boy's mother. Johnny Mack returns to the hometown he swore he'd seen the last of to try to learn the truth of whether he has a son, and to try to repay his debt to Lane Noble. Lane's life and all of the decisions she has made were forged out of her teenaged love for Johnny Mack Cahill. Over the years, that love has turned to hate, but when he shows up she knows that she needs his help to overcome the murder charge against her. As Johnny Mack and Lane try to come to terms with the past and find out who was behind the murder Lane has been charged with, they realize that they have strong feelings for one another. Johnny Mack has to protect Lane and her son from those who are determined that the truth shall not be discovered.

I quickly became caught up in After All, and couldn't hardly put it down. The book has quite a few characters, and while I was able to figure out parts of the mystery fairly quickly, there were still some parts that kept me guessing. I found this to be another winner by Beverly Barton.