I'm Watching You

Prosecutor Kristen Mayhew specializes in cases of assault on women. When a serial killer leaves letters for her at the scene of his crimes, it becomes clear that she is the focus of his crusade to kill men who escaped justice in court due to a technicality. Detective Abe Reagan is assigned to investigate and finds himself attracted to the young prosecutor. However, both Abe and Kristen must deal with the trauma each suffered in the past before they can find happiness with each other in the future.

I'm Watching You is another enjoyable romantic suspense novel by Karen Rose. While the solution to the mystery doesn't come as too much of a shock, there is still a great deal of suspense and angst to keep the attention of the reader. Kristen and Abe are both well developed with emotions that come across as authentic and dialogue that seems real. Supporting characters play important roles in the story, but may be developed more in future books in this long running series. Overall, I'm Watching You balances romance and suspense, making this a worthwhile read.

I'm Watching You
4 Stars

Synopsis
ASA Kristen Mayhew has a dangerous secret admirer. He writes her letters and leaves her gifts - the bodies of men who have escaped punishment for their crimes. Now, Kristen together with Detective Abe Reagan must follow the clues and stop the killer before his thirst for vengeance makes her a target for murder.

Review
Captivating characters and a gripping plot that makes a serious indictment against the justice system.

The story provides compelling insight into the mind of a man driven to kill out of a need for justice - even though he is a killer, it is difficult not to understand and perhaps even root for his actions. The questions of good and evil, right and wrong are put to the test in this book.

Even though it is easy to guess the identity of the culprit, the investigation is interesting and their are enough clues and red-herrings to keep you turning the pages.

The romance is engaging although there are one or two themes that don't appeal to me - the hero is a widower and is still hung up on his dead wife to a certain extent, and the heroine is a rape survivor. Nevertheless, they have a sizzling chemistry and their scenes together are intense and emotional.

Overall, an engrossing read and Karen Rose is becoming a go to author for me.

State Attorney, Kristen Mayhew has a reputation of a tiger in the courtroom and an ice queen everywhere else. Holding the highest conviction rate of any other state's attorney in her Chicago office, a vigilante is out there trying, convicting, and executing the "ones that got away" whether on technicalities or what he believes were tainted verdicts. Author Karen Rose does an incredible job of using suspense and tension to move the story along. She also manages to get the reader to sympathize with the vigilante.

A good suspense but the romance was just so-so. The story was fast paced and action packed. While both the hero and heroine had baggage to work through, I felt the heroine carried her secrets a little too long. Someone is sending attorney Kristen letters about his crimes and detective Abe is assigned to the case.

I can't believe it's been almost three years since I last read a Karen Rose novel. I have no idea why it's taken me so long, except that her books tend to be longer and I oftentimes have trouble fitting long books into my reading schedule. Her books have not disappointed me yet though, and I'm Watching You was no exception. It is a meticulously plotted story that unfolds slowly and methodically as it gradually builds to that final nail-biting climax. As I've come to expect from Ms. Rose, the body count is quite high, but despite the sheer number of deaths, for some reason, this one didn't seem quite as gory as the last one. Perhaps that was owing to the author using a different type of villain this time, who wasn't as utterly frightening, which I'll discuss later. In any case, I loved everything about this book, the characters, the plot, everything, and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

The heroine, Kristen is the primary focus character. She's a talented prosecuting attorney, who is a determined bull-dog in the courtroom. She's driven to seek justice for victims of violent crimes, because of painful events in her own past. In fact, it hurts her like she's reliving her own past every time she loses a case, but when that happens, the victims and their families often end up blaming her. As a result, she's admired and envied by some for her tenaciousness, but has become a convenient scapegoat for others. One of her admirers has become a vigilante serial killer, carefully choosing his victims from the list of perpetrators she unsuccessfully prosecuted, as well as the weaselly defense attorneys who represented them, and then dedicating his kills to her. Kristen is a very courageous woman. I greatly admired her strength and outward composure, even though inside, she felt like falling apart. She's been through so much in her life already and although her vigilante admirer would never hurt her personally, his actions end up causing her more pain and suffering. I was so glad that Abe was there to help her through everything. Kristen is a beautiful and compassionate woman who is anything but the frigid female she's been accused of being. If anything she's a woman with underlying passions that can only be tapped by one man.

Abe is a prince among men. He experienced his own personal pain when his pregnant wife was shot in the head by a bullet that was meant for him. She spent the next five years in a persistent vegetative state, before finally succumbing to death. Abe has lost so much, and he coped primarily by burying himself in his work. Throughout the years that his wife was on life-support, he worked undercover narcotics, only surfacing occasionally to visit his family. Now that she's gone, he's transferred to the homicide division. Abe first saw Kristen two years earlier and was extremely attracted to her. Of course, he felt guilty for that, given the state his wife was in, but since he was deep undercover at the time, nothing ever came of it. He hadn't seen her again, except on TV, until the vigilante killer case comes across his desk. As they start working in close proximity, the old attraction burns hot. Karen Rose really knows how to create some delectable heroes. I loved that Abe has been celibate all those years. It shows how committed he is in relationships and how much he truly loved his wife. Yet, when things start heating up between him and Kristen, he's very patient, never pushing her to do more than she's comfortable with. Abe is a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and I adore how he sees into Kristen. He intuitively knows what she's been through and wants to be the man to tear down the walls she's erected around herself and draw her out. Family means a great deal to Abe. He's always there to support them and vice versa, and they readily accept Kristen into their fold, which is exactly what she needs in her life. Abe is very protective of Kristen but at the same time he's a gentle man who cares for her tenderly. In fact, Abe is so sweet, I'm half-tempted to classify him as a beta hero, except that he is a cop after all.;-)

It takes a while for things to heat up between Abe and Kristen, but I had no problem with that. Sometimes slower is better, and this was one of those cases. Their attraction is immediate and palpable, yet their romance progresses at a languid though steady pace. Given Kristen's history this made perfect sense. In the meantime, Karen Rose is masterful at building that romance and sexual tension with mere looks and touches which is something I can deeply appreciate. There's so much meaning in their every interaction, and Ms. Rose doesn't waste a single opportunity to explore their budding relationship. It was very nicely woven into the fabric of the mystery, such that I was never anxious while waiting to get back to the romance. The love scenes, while not overly descriptive, were very sweet and sensual. Even though the story unfolds within a mere ten day period, it felt like Abe and Kristen had known each other half their lives, which made the speed at which their relationship blossomed much more believable.

The main villain in I'm Watching You is the vigilante serial killer. He's an interesting departure from the terrifyingly cold-blooded murderers of the previous two books I read. Not only was I scared to death of those villains, I hated, loathed and despised them. I recall that one was so evil I even wanted to jump into the story and off him myself. The vigilante in this book is entirely different in that he actually comes off as somewhat sympathetic. We know from the prologue what's driving him to take such extreme actions, and he only targets individuals who, in his mind, and often in reality, have done something wrong but never been justly punished. Therefore, he's set himself up as their judge, jury and executioner. While his actions unintentionally end up hurting innocents, including Kristen, he never actually sets out to do those who aren't culpable any harm, and when he realizes that his actions are having unintended consequences, he has the decency to feel guilty about it. While what he was doing was definitely wrong, I'm not the only one who kind of sympathized with him. Some of the victims and their families wanted to throw him a party for ridding the streets of such evil, and even Kristen and the cops had a hard time condemning his choice of victims to target. Perhaps to give readers someone to truly fear, the author set up secondary villains in the form of a mob boss and his lackey who start meting out their own brand of vigilante justice after the mobster's son is killed by the real vigilante. Then there was Zoe, the mean-spirited, self-serving newshound readers will love to hate, who got far more than she bargained for in the end.

I've been reading Karen Rose's books in the chronological order in which they were published so that I can get the full effect of her complex character web. While all the characters in I'm Watching You are brand new to the character palette, many of the ones in this book will appear again in future books. Abe and Kristen themselves will pop up as secondary characters in several other books that take place in the Chicago area. Abe's brother, Aidan, seems like almost as good of a guy as Abe. He'll be a supporting character in the next book, Nothing to Fear, before becoming the hero of the following book, You Can't Hide. Abe's partner, Mia, can't seem to find Mr. Right, but she'll get her chance as the heroine of Count to Ten after playing supporting roles in the next two books as well as the later book, I Can See You. I was slightly disappointed to find that Jack, the head of the CSI team, and Julia, the ME, don't have their own book. I kept thinking these two needed a romance of their own. I guess they kind of got together, but it was little more than a mention. The rest of the police force and Abe's gregarious, close-knit family round out a superb cast.

I honestly can't say enough good things about I'm Watching You and Karen Rose's books in general. I love how she delves deep into the psyche of her characters, both good and bad, and allows the reader to really feel like she knows them. Reading this book has reminded me of all the reasons why Karen Rose became one of my favorite authors so quickly. I'm really looking forward to continuing my foray into her work, so I'll try not to wait so long this time to get to the next story.

Very exciting story of a serial killer, who, fastidiously slains his victims and anonymously shows them with to public defender Kristen Mayhew, signing his notes 'Your Humble Servant.' I couldn't put this thick book down until the end. 

Rose's strength is her storytelling. The narrative pacing is excellent and I kept turning pages even while I was appalled at the weak characterizations and somewhat anemic writing. Then again I have a preference for a sort of hyper-conscious, writerly writing that at least occasionally calls attention to itself. Rose's writing is either invisible--not so bad in a page-turner--or in places outright clunky. (Early on she repeats the sentece "He really was a handsome man" twice in a few pages and describes the same character as having "movie star" looks with no tongue-in-cheek element.

But the more serious failing is with the two protagonists, conventional hetero man and woman, cop detective and prosecutor. They are both suffering from what should be post traumatic stress, which she tries to write into their characters, but it's clear that Rose just doesn't have a feel for the ways in which trauma affects people's lives--or if she does, she reduces each of their symptoms to a single element (she is frigid, he is guilty), and this is with the most developed characters. Their interiority is entirely predictable and stereotyped, the rest are placeholders.

In spite of all of this, I'll almost certainly finish the book--which is, in the end, saying something--but I doubt I'll purchase another book by Rose.

Great book, I've read her other two and this one kept me wondering up to almost the last page. I thought the killer could be anyone, but I didn't have enough details-for me to guess who the killer was. Can't wait to get the next one.

Karen Rose writes a good mystery novel. Her characters are well drawn and interesting. Her stories are well plotted and well developed. You generally cannot figure out whodunnit...I didn't in this book, for sure. My only real complaint is that her main characters fall in lust within 5 seconds of meeting each other. I know this is supposed to be "romantic suspense" according to the book spine, but still. This one features prosecuting attorney Kristen Mayhew and police detective Abe Reagan. Someone is killing people in her honor, and letting her know in the process that he is able to see inside her house and is watching her constantly. She's a good enough writer not to have to resort to letting her readers know that there is going to be sex really soon at every opportunity. Just sayin'.