Sunday, October 6, 2013

Scene of the Crime: Deadman's Bluff - Carla Cassidy (HI #1414 - Apr 2013)

Series: Scene of the Crime (Book 6)

BURIED ALIVE

FBI agent Seth Hawkins was on a mission to catch a serial killer. Yet his only lead-a mysterious azure-eyed beauty found buried alive in the local sand dunes-had no memory of how she'd been abducted. Or anything else about her identity.

The only thing Tamara Jennings knew for sure was the undeniable attraction she felt for the strong, handsome man who saved her life. It wasn't long before their passion flared out of control. But as memories of her forgotten past returned, would they lead her to the killer-and to a life she could share with Seth? 


Serial killer stories are among the creepiest and this one was well done.  I was hooked from the beginning.  Seth was on vacation, visiting his sister and niece, out riding his motorbike on the dunes when he stumbled on a woman nearly buried alive in the sand.  He gets her out but she has no idea of how she got there, or even who she is.  The local sheriff asks for his help in solving the mystery and Seth is glad to do it.  Without any memory of what happened and very few clues it is a frustrating endeavor.  It doesn't help that they are attracted to each other and have to fight it.  When the killer tries to fix his mistake Seth and Tamara are in a race to recover her memory before it is silenced forever.

Tamara's first memory is of Seth pulling her out of the sand.  She can't remember her name or how she got there just a sense of terror.  It took her a full day just to be able to talk again.  Seth was the only person who made her feel safe and she was relieved when Seth's sister invited her to stay with them during the investigation.  I liked seeing the way that she was determined to get her memory back so they could catch the killer before he strikes again.  I loved seeing her happiness as bits and pieces started to come back.  She was also attracted to Seth even though she knew it was a bad idea.  There was anything that could come of it but she wanted to feel normal.  It was interesting to see what she did with the various memories that did come and how they showed her that there were things that she didn't want to remember.  I liked the time that she and Seth spent together and how much they had in common.  She knew that she was falling in love with him and was probably going to get hurt but she embraced the feeling anyway.  When the final confrontation with the killer came her biggest regret was not telling Seth how she felt. I liked the fact she was brave enough to tell him later, even as he was pulling away.  I loved seeing her face all her memories and deal with them as she tried to move on with her life.

Seth was on a rare vacation when he found Tamara.  There was something about her that immediately grabbed him and he didn't want to let go.  Even if he hadn't been recruited to help solve the crime, there was no way he wasn't going to get involved.  I loved seeing the tenderness and care he treated her with.  She was very different than any woman he had ever been attracted to before.  He knew it was wrong and was sure that any feelings she had were just because of her loss of memory.  Seth has never planned to be married since he has seen very few cases of happy marriages.  The more time he spent with Tamara the more he could picture her in his life and that made him very nervous.  When an attempt is made on her life by the killer Seth decides that he won't let her out of his sight.  That only makes controlling his feelings even harder.  His terror when she disappeared showed him that he had fallen in love with her.  It was so hard to see him pull away from her feeling that what she felt was only gratitude.  I loved the ending and the way he went to her.

The whole serial killer theme was very well done.  There were a few brief glimpses into his mind, but never enough to give away who he was.  There were enough possibilities that it really kept the suspense going.  I didn't figure it out until near the end, thanks to one little clue.  I'm looking forward to the next book.



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