Book Title: Watching You
Author: J.A. Schneider
REVIEWED BY: CHELSEA
Series: Detective Kerri Blasco #3
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction
Goodreads
Date Read: 04/23/17
Pub Date: 04/25/17
5 STARS
A serial killer texts his victims first. A detective vows revenge. He comes after her.
In the chill of an October night, Detective Kerri Blasco is called to a bizarre murder scene. Leda Winfield, a young volunteer for the homeless, has been shot. Her cell phone displays the frightening text, WATCHING YOU, and into her back, hideously pushed with a hat pin, is a note with the same awful message. Leda’s socialite family and friends insist that no one would have wanted to harm her, but Detective Kerri isn’t convinced.
Until another random young woman is killed in exactly the same way. Kerri and her team profile a monstrous killer who enjoys terrifying his victims before stalking and killing them. But how does he get their phone numbers?
Kerri soon finds that the killer is after her, too, and that the key to finding him may just be in the homeless shelter. When the body count rises, she vows to stop the madman – even if it means battling her own personal trauma, risking her job, her love relationship with her boss Alex Brand, and her life.
She’s done it again folks! While I have thoroughly enjoyed Schneider’s entire Blasco series, Watching You is by far her best work to date. The tension was present from the beginning and I found I could hardly put this down when I needed to go back to “the real world”. Kerri is a tough detective, like many females in law enforcement that we read about, but in the Blasco series we get to see equal parts professional and personal character. That simple aspect is typically what causes me to connect well with a character; too much professional and our lead seems cold and unable to be related to, yet too much personal and our character seems unlikely to do her job well and further the mystery along. These books are well balanced and wholly satisfying on both ends.
Wow-that ending! I was completely taken by surprise. I in no way had this one figured out guys; I was completely stumped throughout and pleasantly shocked when I finally reached the conclusion. I find myself typically able to figure out the serial killer books fairly quickly, which is why I don’t dabble in those type thrillers as often; not so here. If you are looking for a fast paced crime fiction that feels current and leaves you breathless, look no further. While this is book #3 in the series and I do recommend picking up the first two books for character development and back story (and come on, all these books are less than 300 pages and extremely affordable for your kindle), you can still read this as a standalone since the cases do not overlap. Highly recommended and looking forward to more Kerri Blasco!
*Many thanks to the author for providing my copy; it was a pleasure to take place in the blog tour!
AUTHOR BIO:
J.A. (Joyce Anne) Schneider is a former staffer at Newsweek Magazine. She is the author of the Embryo medical thriller series, and of the Detective Kerri Blasco Police/Psychological Thrillers, Fear Dreams, Her Last Breath, and Watching You.
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