2008: #88 – I'm Watching You (Mary Burton)

Book #88 was I’m Watching You by Mary Burton.  The back of the book reads:

He’ll Taste Their Fear…
The first kill was easy. The second much easier. No guilt, no remorse, just a rush of adrenaline surging through him as each life drains away, and the pleasure of knowing that their deaths help his beloved Lindsay. And there are so many more who deserve to die…

Hear Their Screams…
The first twisted gift to Lindsay O’Neil arrives hidden in a bouquet of flowers. When her estranged husband, Detective Zack Kier, is assigned to the case, Lindsay’s past comes back with a vengeance. Because only Zack knows the dark secret she lives with–or so she thinks. Now nothing can prepare her for the nightmare to come…

And Watch Them Die…
Everything Lindsay’s stalker does, every life he takes, is for her. But when Lindsay spurns his gifts, she and those she loves most become targets of a depraved madman whose rage is growing, and who is waiting, watching, closer than she ever feared…

This book is set in Richmond, VA, and I always get a little extra thrill when I read something that’s set in a place I am familiar with.  It’s like I’m in on a secret. Beyond that, I thought this was a decent book, with the twist of an extra bad guy. I could have stood a little more… something … between Lindsay and Zack. Some stronger push and pull, some more spark, just something.  I just didn’t feel the chemistry that was supposed to be between them, even when they were arguing.  The relationship just seemed kinda flat. But, I would read more from Mary Burton, especially since I now know she’s a local author. She has a sequel to this book (of sorts — it features secondary characters)  out in November.

Page count: 352 | Approximate word count: 96,800

2007: The Ritual Bath (Faye Kellerman)
2006: You Belong To Me (Mary Higgins Clark)