Kate Myers, a Forensic psychiatrist is seconded to an investigation to find the killer of a teenager girl in Begler County. Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater leads the team and he is the one she needs to convince that this killings is the latest in a serial killers spree. ( )

Ok,

Ok, this book was ok, not something I would read again, movie was bad though...I probably would not recommend this book ( )

Not sure why, but this book dragged for me. The plot was okay, typical romantic suspense, but it seemed to take forever to finish.

Chance of reading others in the series about 50/50 ( )

The Watcher
2 Stars

LAPD psychiatrist Kate Myers travels to Placer's Hill, California in search of the killer who murdered her twin sister 15 years ago. Kate must convince the local authorities, including skeptical detective, Ben Slater, that the killer at work in their community has been active for years, and that they must act quickly if they are to stop his psychotic descent into madness.

The prologue suggests this will be an intense serial killer thriller, but the remainder of the story does not live up to it's potential.

The serial killer premise is compelling and the killer's motivation quite original for this genre. The police procedural aspects start out well, but become contrived as if the author is trying too hard to make it all realistic and believable.

The finale is too drawn out and could have been more compact with about 50-75 fewer pages. Also, the heroine has a HUGE TSTL moment at the end when she distracts the hero and almost gets him killed. Seriously?! She's a police psychiatrist and should know better than to call out someone's name when he is confronting a killer... *sigh*

The romance is the weakest part of the story mainly due to the fact that there is simply too much going on in the hero and heroine's personal lives that creates unnecessary and manufactured angst. Both Slater and Kate are very prickly with each other and keep secrets that ultimately come back to bite them.

One other element that grates on the nerves is the underlying misogyny not on the part of the killer (which is to be expected), but from every other male character. They ogle the heroine at every opportunity and even the hero's attitude is disrespectful. Moreover, Kate is the lone female character in the book aside from the killer's victims, and one has to ask oneself if this town had no other women capable of speech.

All in all, it is difficult to believe that this book won the RWA Golden Heart Award. I'll not be continuing with the series. ( )

good book, mystery but a bit unrealistic in places. ( )