Homicide Detective Ethan Stoneâs next case unexpectedly leads him to the beautiful and brave Isabel. He has seen a lot of horrific crimes, but nothing like this. As lead investigator he is tasked with keeping her safe while tracking down a deranged killer. He isnât about to mix work with pleasure but the pull towards Isabel starts to blur the linesâŚ
Isabelâs life has been shattered with the gruesome discovery of her murdered family. Can she outrun the killer who has his sights firmly set on her? How many more people will die in the process to keep her safeâŚ
Homicide Detective Ethan Stoneâs next case unexpectedly leads him to the beautiful and brave Isabel. He has seen a lot of horrific crimes, but nothing like this. As lead investigator he is tasked with keeping her safe while tracking down a deranged killer. He isnât about to mix work with pleasure but the pull towards Isabel starts to blur the linesâŚ
Isabelâs life has been shattered with the gruesome discovery of her murdered family. Can she outrun the killer who has his sights firmly set on her? How many more people will die in the process to keep her safeâŚ
Unknown
He had a need, a need so strong it couldn't be controlled. The desire for blood and death vibrated through his entire body.
"Where is she?â he yelled to the poor, brutalised family.
He had them tied and gagged, quivering in fear of the unknown. He looked around the quaint home; the family had done well for themselves, he surmised. He picked up a framed pictureâmother, father, son, and daughterâstroking his finger over her face, such a perfect looking familyâtoo bad they wouldnât survive.
He took in a calming breath and crouched down next to the wife. She was sobbing uncontrollably now; she whimpered as he unsheathed his blade.
He always preferred to use a blade over a gun, a blade was so much more personal. Yes, it took more planning, and it was sometimes riskier, but the joy of slicing through flesh and watching the searing pain in his victims was beyond gratifying, and he could always draw out the dying process.
"I am only going to ask this one more time.â He was looking directly at the husband, whose jaw was clenched, teeth clamped shut, clearly trying to find a way out of a situation that was hopeless. He looked into his angry gaze and wanted to commend him for his commitment to his family.
He had broken every single one of his fingers and toes, and still, he did not reveal the information he was after. With the blade pressed tightly against his wifeâs throat, the husband broke his gaze and looked to his wife. What he saw there was love, sorrow, and understanding. He mumbled a heartfelt, "I love you,â through the gag, tears streaming down his face.
The husband glanced toward his unmoving son, blood pooling around his awfully still body. Then his gaze locked with the killerâs; he could see the renewed determination. He wasnât going to say a word.
The killerâs blood raced with excitement through his veins; this was going to be fun . . .
The premise of Haunted was intriguing: a woman comes home only to discover that her family has been murdered and the killer seems to have a special interest in her. With the help of a detective, sheâll try to outrun the killer until heâs captured, but the bloodbath has only begun and this is a game the killer wants to win.
It promised to be perfect for me, yet... I will be dividing this review in two sections: things I liked and things that need to change. While I didnât enjoy this as much as I hoped to, I do think the book has potential and might appeal other people.
The idea of this book sounds incredibly interesting. I truly wanted to lose myself in this book, searching for the killer and enjoying a little romance on the side. In that way, the story delivered: I was intrigued by the action taking place in each chapter and wanted to solve the mystery along the protagonists.
The dynamics between characters are well-written and I found them realistic. I would have liked to explore them more, but they bring a lot of life to the story. I wonât say much about this part so I donât spoil anything, but I really liked the antagonist of the story. His reasons, his actions... everything creeped me out, which is a win in this case. Those are all the good things I can say about this book. The second part of this review is a little more critical.
This book needed more editing. There are too many run-off sentences, disconnected ideas in the same sentence, and weird wording. This pulled me away from the story, even in the scenes I was interested in. The editing is not only relegated to the writing, but also pacing and descriptions, which brings me to my second point.
The story suffers from a LOT of telling-not-showing. This made the reading experience exhausting and took a lot out of my enjoyment from the mystery. Since I was told so much, the clues were a little too in-your-face for me to experience that eureka moment I love in mysteries where everything clicks together.
As much as I enjoyed the character relationships in the story, as stated earlier, I felt like the characters themselves were too bland and two-dimensional. A big part of this relies on the issue with telling-not-showing. Descriptions of mannerisms, attitudes, and behavior are extremely important when weâre getting to know a character, and give a lot of depth to the story as a whole. This story was lacking that cohesive element.
I think the author has a lot of potential in writing mysteries and thrillers. Her plot structure is great and she doesnât treat the reader in a patronizing way (which is very hard to find in thrillers nowadays). However, this story wasnât it: more editing could have turned this ok-ish book into a great story.
People new to mysteries might find in this story a good place to start, though. It blends many elements into the story that would be appealing for people who donât normally read mystery or donât mind getting clues that quickly reveal the mystery.